In a glamorous event organized by Parthiv Gohil titled Gujarati Jalso, legendary singer Purshotam Upadhyay and I were felicitated by were Pujya Ramesh Oza with a shawl and an idol of Goddess Saraswati.
One of the oldest institutions Gramaphone in Ahmedabad popular for hosting musical nights for senior citizens had a special plan for Women’s Day.
They asked dancer Padma Bhushan Kamudiniben Lakhia to felicitate me for being conferred the Padmashri title.
It was a house full of 2000 plus audience and the night was young.
What made the evening special was that Kamudiniben Lakhia also released my recently published book Once Upon A The In India.
It has been a week of eminent company both in Mumbai and outside. In Ahmedabad I was privileged to share the dais with fellow Padmashri prolific writer and historian Vishnu Pandya felicitated by renowned Ila ben (SEVA) Bhatt at the Gujarat Vishwa Samaj function and a week later, in a more glamorous event organized by Parthiv Gohil titled Gujarati Jalso, legendary singer Purshotam Upadhyay and I were felicitated by were Pujya Ramesh Oza with a shawl and an idol of Goddess Saraswati.
Doordarshan celebrated Women’s Day with a show titled Naayika featuring likeminded women, for the print media, of course this is a special date and they have the knack of always finding new perspectives to old topics. The festivities continue, will share more tomorrow, about another event in another city.
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Some are born to art and some cultivate art as a passion from a parent or a guru. Tamanna Tanna is the fourth generation dancer in the family, she is fortunate to be born to parents/ grandparents who are legendary artists, accomplished choreographers respected in classical dance form and also in popular films. Trained by the erstwhile Guru Smt Daksha Mashruwala an expert in Oddisi dance form, Tamanna was further enhanced by her mentor Namrata.
It was an unusual Arangetram held at Sangit Mahabharati Amphitheatre in Juhu in the most unusual manner. There were fairy lights, flowers and of course legendary guests. Everyone who is a name in classical dance form was present to bless the talented dancer.
The venue was the star of the evening. A cement stage surrounding a real Peepal tree looked exotic, on one side was the idol of Jagannath and on the other side sat the renowned musicians. Some of us were seated on the chairs, there was a special row for the Gurus and the students flocked on the grass.
When the show ended there was delicious South Indian and Punjabi food served to the guests, when you got home you were thinking of Tamanna as an artist and her special parents Samir and Arsh Tanna who laid the red carpet for their princess.
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After a roaring success in 2013 and 2014, Gujarati Jalso is back to celebrate its third edition in Mumbai. Emphasizing on the art and culture of Gujarat this outstanding festival is the brain child of eminent singer Parthiv Gohil and Ajit Shah in association with Shri Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal (SVKM) and Image Book Cultural Trust.
Parthiv Gohil describes Gujarati Jalso as a festival of seven moods and colors which include decor, food, books, music, theater, poetry and literature all under one roof and presented by the best talents in all fields.
Starting with a Dairo featuring BhikhudanGadhvi, JagdishTrivedi, KirtidanGadhvi, BihariHemu Gadhvi, DevangiPatel, and Tanishka Sanghvi the festival opened with a dance reflecting Gujarati glory choreographed by Samir-ArshTanna.
Day 2 was devoted to excellence in theatre featuring Monologues by legendary artists and all of them sparkled on stage. The second half was devoted to poetry, so if the first half sparkled in expressions, the second half, devoted to poetry sparkled with words. The best in the language showcased their latest offering and the audience was hungry for more.
Day 3 the finale was dedicated to music, Gujarati songs over the years presented by different voices made the evening special. A special segment was reserved for felicitations and I am privileged to be honored with my fellow recipient of Padma Shri, maestro Purshotam Upadhyay a festival as special as Gujarati Jalso.
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Film Review: Commando
Date: 03.03. 2017
Producer: Jayantilal Gada, Reliance, Vipul Shah
Director: Deven Bhojwani
Cinematography: Chirantan Das
Cast: Vidyut Jamwal, Adah Sharma, Esha Gupta
Rating: 3 stars
In the days of remakes and remixes, filmmaker Vipul Shah is smart to come up with a sequel of his franchise. Commando 2 combines action with a cause: of bringing home Black Money stacked up in countries outside India.
The only way to accomplish this is to nab international crook, Vicky Chaddha/ Thakur Anoop Singh, so the Home Minister/ Shefali Shah dispatches her trusted team to Malaysia to bring the criminal home and expose everyone involved in the racket.
Predictably, the operation does not go as planned and in the process, there are many twists and turns, many surprises for many of them.
The film opens in Taiwan and travels back and forth from India to Thailand packed with super action performed from rooftops, junkyards, crowded malls, markets and buzzing airport.
The actor’s fire bullets and knives like saucers and when weapons are missing, they project mastery in fist cuffs and martial arts!!
Commando 2 showcases sprawling mansions, dazzling cars, speeding boats, breathless bouncers and scantily dressed heroines all in the name of glamor.
Fortunately, there are no songs, no item numbers and minimal dialogues. They have taken the Action speaks louder than words literally, so if you like super locations, super action and super bodies then Commando 2 is for you.
If not, just watch it for the cinematography, the daredevil stunts and for the flawless Vidyut Jamwal. He is worth it.
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In the morning over breakfast at the hotel, Prem Chopra and I discussed if it was true that Urdu had disappeared from our films. We did not agree entirely and nor did the rest of the panelists in the Guest Lounge just before the session.
Out of the four speakers – Prem Chopra, Sharmila Tagore, Javed Siddiqui and me as moderator only Javed Siddiqui is an authority on the topic and we let him travel us through the origin and the progress of the language in India and Indian films.
There was a time, when the opening credits of every Hindi film appeared in three languages namely English, Hindi and Urdu… There was a time, when most big banners started with a couplet that went something like ‘Muddiin lakh burra chahe toh kya hota hai? Wohi hota hai jo manzoore khuda hota hai!’
I shared that as a child I did not understand the meaning of the heavy words but we liked the sound of actor Murad’s booming voice and it was an indicator to us to fasten the seat belts and get ready for an engaging narrative.
Over the decades, slowly and steadily, we lost the voice-over, then we lost the three language credit titles and finally, we lost the fragrance and flavor of the extremely sophisticated Urdu language.
Siddiqui disagreed that we lost the fragrance, as long as our songs, ghazals continue, the fragrance lingers…
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I was in Delhi to attend the Rekhta Festival. In just three years Jashn –e Rekhta has become an annual event to reckon with attended by all the big names of Mumbai, Delhi and abroad. I believe that most film/ literature, in this case language festivals become successful because of primarily the content but also because of the people associated with it. In the case of Rekhta this is absolutely true. Aparna and Sanjay Saraf met every guest and panelists feel like a part of the family.
The evening opened with a concert followed by a party at Rose Garden, India International. There were bureaucrats, poets, artistes, media and lovers of the language. The star of the evening was Saurabh Shukla complimented for his performance in Jolly LLB 2. Strangers who had nothing to do with show business sat at Saurabh’s feet to discuss and dissect his performance and explain to him why they loved him so much.
Writer director Salim Arif blocked a table in a remote corner and hand held Gulzar saab and Javed Siddiqui towards it before more people asked them for a photograph. In a little while MS Sathyu and Saurabh Shukla joined too.
The weather was beautiful and the food delicious, as we relished or parathas dipped in sarson ka saag, as the night turned colder and the wine glassed tinkled, the moonlight gently watched over us and we were tempted to break into old Hindi songs.
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