A travelling film fest and Woody Allen's comedy to make your weekend more lively

Some recommendations for your weekend

DELHI

Dance

Playing with fire: Kathak exponent Vidha Lal presents, Colours of Fire, a choreography by the duet Vidha and Abhimanyu Lal. Fire, like every sustaining particle on earth, it has its own harms and benefits. It instills a feeling of auspiciousness, warmth and energy, and yet, it can be all-comsuming. Inspired by these nuance, the choreographers bring forth the many colours of fire, depicting its various moods and meanings.
When: September 21, 6.30 pm
Where: Kamani Auditorium, Mandi House, New Delhi

Theatre

Side-splitting: Actor-director Saleem Shah presents an adaption of Woody Allen's Side Effect.Allen draws heavily from his own love life and thoughts on women psychology for his dark comedies. Inspired by three of his wittiest and funny stories The Lunatics Tale, Retribution and Remembering Needleman , this Indian adaptation is a tribute, of sorts, to Allen. The cast includes Shah and Vishal Singh.
When: September 20, 7.30 pm
Where: ML Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi
Tickets are available at www.bookmyshow.com. The play is open to audiences over 15 years of age

Mangalore to Washington: Akshara Theatre presents The Revised Kama Sutra, a comedy adapted from Richard Crasta’s eponymous novel. The play is an amusing, nostalgic story of a young boy growing up in the 60’s and 70’s on India’s southwest coast, and his quest for love, sex and salvation. It takes the audience on a journey of humour, music and dance from Mangalore to Washington DC., with adventures, conflicts and girls along the way. The play, starring Sunit Tandon, Nisa Shetty, Rakesh Palisetty, Dhruv Shetty and others, features favourite songs of the 60’s and 70’s, from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Neil Diamond. Shetty performs live renditions of ‘Abhi to main jawan hoo...’, 'Fever', and other popular songs. Directed by Anasuya Vaidya, it has been adapted for the stage by Jalabala Vaidya.
When: September 20 and 21, 7.30 pm
Where: Akshara Theatre, Baba Kharak Singh Mark, New Delhi
Tickets are available at www.bookmyshow.com. The play is only open for adults

Art

A balance of desire: Tantra Foundation and Georges and Jenny Bloc Foundation present "Recycling Desire", an art exhibition.The artworks on display reinterpret the Smara-hara Yantra, an ancient tool for meditation that signifies control of desire to restore the lost harmony between human's and nature. The presentation recontextualises questions regarding sustainability in a consumer-oriented society.
When: September 18 to 21, 11am to 7 pm
Where: Art Gallery, Annexe Building, India International Centre, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi

MUMBAI

Film

Film on wheels: The travelling film festival, Jagran, will reach Mumbai in its concluding stage after travelling across 15 cities in the country. It will present films under several sections including cinema of the uprising, international competition, Indian showcase and country focus (Cyprus). Cinema of the uprising will feature films showcasing the strife of human beings who rose against oppression. The festival will bring an eclectic mix of cinema from Cyprus, which is the country in focus, while also screening 13 films from various other countries. Also part of the festival are a master class and workshops where eminent filmmakers and film personalities will take guests through the journey of filmmaking. Among the significant films in the festival are are Do Beegha Zameen, Bandini, the Oscar-nominated Outside the Law, Barbarians, A Patriotic Man and Break Loose.
When: September 22 to 28
Where: PVR Cinemas, Andheri and Cinemax, Versova
For registration, visit www.jff.co.in

Cinema of Russia: As part of its weekly screenings, Russian Centre for Science and Culture will show Yo Ostayus (I’m staying), a film by Karen Oganesyan, which explores the idea of life after death. The protagonist, Dr. Victor Tyrsa, is skeptical about the afterworld but is forced to confront it when an accident leaves him in a space between life and death. The movie features the last performance of Russian actor Andrei Krasko, who died shortly after the filming.
When: September 19, 6 pm
Where: Russian Centre for Science and Culture, Pedder Road, Mumbai

Heritage

Walk and talk: Alliance Francaise is conducting guided walks through the city with Rafique Baghdadi and Sancia Sequeira. The walks will focus on one locality each including Bandra, Mazgaon, Dharavi, Byculla inner city, Matunga and the Irani cafes in South Mumbai. The stroll around Bandra will showcase the transformation of the tiny fishing village into an address for celebrities and expats. In Mazgaon, walkers can glimpse one of the former seven islands that formed the city communities that history, while in Dharavi, they will observe both a sprawling slum and an economic wonder. Byculla, which is home to religious sites, as is Matunga with its South Indian temples and Gujarati dharamshalas. Participants can also hop around the city’s remaining Irani cafes, known for their tea and baked treats.
When: September 20 to 25, 9 am
Where: Various locations in the city
For details, visit bombay.afindia.org/events/categories/overview/

Art

Memory games: Pocket Maps of the Mind (Residues of Memory) is an exhibition that examines the various facets of memory. It looks at how we select, store and internalize memories to create “perilous utopias” which “can never be destroyed, because in our mind’s maps they will always exist as residues of memory.” Curated by Veeranganakumari Solanki, it includes works by Prayas Abhinav, Nandan Ghiya, Sonia Jose, Payal Kapadia, Prajakta Potnis, Sahej Rahal, and Sandunes + Wolves.
When: Till November 7, 11 am to 6 pm
Where: TARQ, Colaba, Mumbai

Dance

Dance of elements: Performed by C V Chandrasekhar and troupe, Panchamahabhutam is a look at the idea and philosophy of the five primordial elements - earth, space, water, wind and fire. An invocatory verse of Siva is followed by five sections each dedicated to the five elements. As part of the Nakshatra Dance Festival 2014, the NCPA will also host a two day Bharatanatyam workshop by Chandrasekhar, who is one of the best known practitioners of the dance form.
When: September 20 to 21, 10 am (workshop); Sept 20, 7 pm (performance)
Where: NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
Price: Rs 1000 (two-day workshop); Rs 300 to Rs 400 (performance)

Music

Grand piano: In its Western Classical Season, the NCPA will host piano recitals performances by Maria João Pires, Ashot Khachatourian and Julien Brocal. The artists will perform compositions by Beethoven and Schubert. Pires is of Portuguese origin while Khachatourian and Brocal hail from Armenia and France respectively.
When: September 21, 7 pm
Where: Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
Tickets: Rs 300 to Rs 750

BANGALORE

Theatre

Road trip gone wrong: Maryade Prashne, the Kannada version of Lutz Hübner’s play, Ehrensache, which was translated and adapted from the English by veteran theatre director Surendranath, returns to Ranga Shankara. The play looks at how a road trip taken by four friends turns tragic when one of them is stabbed to death and another left for dead. It also raises questions about gender politics and the power of money.
Where: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar, Bangalore
When: September 19 to 21, 7.30 pm and additional show at 3.30 pm on September 20 and 21

Subverting banality: A television chat show with an accomplished serial killer; a woman trying to negotiate with her husband’s kidnappers, a poet who writes poetry for road safety; two friends who can’t get the name of a place right. These are some of the sketches in Trivial Disasters, the play by Ajay Krishnan, which takes episodes from daily life and subverts them into hilarious sketches.
Where: The Humming Tree, Indira Nagar, Bangalore
When: September 25, 8.30 pm

Music

Jazz by the brewery: The Hadouk Quartet, an acclaimed jazz ensemble, comes to Bangalore. The quartet consists of Didier Malherbe, a wind instrument maestro, multi instrumentalist Steve Shehan, keyboardist and music producer Loy Ehrlich and guitarist Eric Lohrer. The evening promises to take you into the world of jazz and an imaginary folk universe.
Where: Windmills Craftworks, Whitefield, Bangalore
When: September 19 and 20, 9.30 pm
Info: Passes available at www.bookmyshow.com

Save the date

Bollywood dreams: Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust presents, 'Bollywood Bandwagon' , a puppet-theatre show inspired by the Hindi film industry. Raj Razdan, Jehangir Khan, Vicky Kapoor, Kamini Katyal and Maya stand on the edge of a film set, watching the goings-on. The play gradually makes its way into the more intimate spaces of the industry And the further inside it goes, the farther it moves from the shiny veneer, till the magical becomes mundane and the people inside look the same as the ones outside.
When: September 27 and 28, 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm
Where: Where: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar, Bangalore
Info: The show is open to adults only