NH7, Shakespeare, Krishna and a serial killer for your weekend

Some suggestions to enliven your lives if you stay in Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore

DELHI

Art

Myriad themes on canvas: Studio 55 Cafe And Art Gallery presents “Aesthetic Conscience”, a group art show by 15 artists on varied themes such as nature, religion, mythology, women and life in both abstract and contemporary forms. The exhibition will showcase paintings on acrylic and oils on canvas, watercolour and ink on paper, fabric on cloth, oils on glass, acrylic on wood and charcoal on cardboard. The participating artists include Aditee Garg, Anand Narain, Gaurav Chawla, Gulistaan and Kamlesh Tiwari.

Where: Studio 55 Cafe And Art Gallery, Sundar Nagar, Delhi
When: November 29- December 5, 11-7pm


Film

Tapas nights: Instituto Cervantes will showcase Tapas, a quirky Spanish comedy film centred around a tapas bar in a tranquilo suburb of Barcelona. The film is about secrets in love and life and coming to terms with them. The story focusses on four pairs of lovers, including a middle-aged woman and a young man; an elderly, drug dealing woman and her terminally ill husband; the tapas bar owner and his estranged wife; and two Chinese immigrants. The film stars Angel de Andres Lopez, Maria Galiana and Elvira Minguez.

Where: Instituto Cervantes, Connaught Place, Delhi
When: November 30, 4:30 pm

Poetry reading

Pride poetry: Bring Back the Poets are organising India's first Queer Poetry Slam as a part of the Extremely Queerious week at Fursat Se -A Cultural Café. Queer people, straight allies and everybody else who is interested in poetry are invited to come and share their stories.

Where: Fursat Se, Shahpur Jat
When: November 29

Theatre

Shakespeare in India: Piya Beherupiya is the Hindi adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Starring Geetanjali Kulkarni, Neha Saraf, Sagar Deshmukh among others, the play is directed by maverick theatre artist Atul Kumar and translated by Amitosh Nagpal. The multiple META award-winner play is a ‘nautanki musical’ and has received rave reviews for its performances.  

Where: Kamani Auditorium, Mandi House
When: November 27-30, 7.30 pm
Info: Tickets available on BookMyShow

Boyhood of another kind: Akshara Theatre will showcase The Revised Kamasutra, a play based on Richard Crasta’s amusing, nostalgic story of a young boy growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s on India’s southwest coast, and his quest for love, sex and salvation. During his journey from Mangaluru to Washington DC, the young boy meets many interesting girls, faces family conflicts and has some misadventures before meeting his destiny. Directed by Anasuya Vaidya and Sunit Tandon, the play also features songs from The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Neil Diamond.

Where: Akshara Theatre, Connaught Place, Delhi
When: November 30, 7:30 pm
Info: Tickets at Rs. 250-500

Music

A weekend of music: The multi-city Bacardi NH7 Weekender is on its final leg in Delhi this weekend, and has indie heavyweights such as Skrat, The Vaccines, Goldspot, AIB, Madboy/Mink, Nucleya, Sandunes among a host of other musicians performing.

Where: Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida
When: November 28-30, 3 to 10 pm

MUMBAI

Theatre

Small town satire: As part of Centrestage 2014, a festival for premiering plays, NCPA will show The Government Inspector, an English Play adapted from Nikolai Gogol’s eponymous work. Written in 1836, Gogol's classic is a comedy of manners and errors, oozing with satire as well as twists and turns. It also reveals the absurdity, spiritual bankruptcy and corruption typical of small towns. In its contemporary spin, the NCPA-Akvarious Production shows a group of money-grabbing officials in a small town who try to suppress public dissatisfaction and direct blame for various misdemeanours on each other before the visit of a government inspector. Directed by Akarsh Khurana, the play includes Adhir Bhat, Hussain Dalal, Adhaar Khurana and Dilshad Edibam Khurana among others.

Where: Experimental Theatre NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
When: November 30, 7 pm
Tickets: Rs 200-400

Birthday bumps: The Centrestage 2014 showcase will also include Happy Birthday Sunita, a Rifco Arts (UK) production. The play unfolds in the household of the Johals, a British Punjabi family, who are throwing a party for daughter Sunita’s fortieth birthday. While the curries simmer and rotis are slathered with full-fat butter, layers of underlying family drama also come to the surface. When everything is set,Sunita is nowhere to be found. Written by Harvey Virdi and directed by Pravesh Kumar, the play stars Shabana Azmi, Ameet Chana and Russell Floyd among others.

Where: Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
When: Dec 2 & 3, 3 pm & 7 pm
Tickets: Rs 500, 400 & 300/-

Cooking up a story: Saag Meat, a Hindi play by Kopal Production, brings to life a story by Bhisham Sahni about the relationship between two classes of a Punjabi family. Jagga, the loyal servant stays with his wife in a servant quarter. An undesirable incident forces him to commit suicide. Sumitra, the protagonist, narrates the incident while cooking saag meat. At the end of the play, the audience learns the truth about Jagga’s death and get to try the freshly cooked meal. The play is directed and performed by Seema Pahwa.

Where: Sunken Garden, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
When: Dec 7, 8.30 pm

Music

Jazz it up: The Diva Project, started by Manasi Scott and Suchitra Pillai, will perform in the old-school acoustic style in addition to playing their latest compositions. The group has collaborated with renowned musicians in the country including Gino Banks, Sheldon D'silva, Jarvis Menezes, Shanon Pereira and Razzaq Shaikh.

When: November 28, 9 pm
Where: Tilt All Day, Lower Parel, Mumbai

Film

Family history: Directed by Guillame Suon, About my father follows Phun-Guth Sunthary while she struggles to learn the truth about her father’s death in S21, a detention and torture centre run by the Khmer Rouges in Cambodia. The film will be screened by Alliance Francaise de Bombay in partnership with Institut Français

Where: Alliance Francaise auditorium, New Marine Lines, Mumbai
When: December 1, 6.30 pm

Art

Krishna on canvas: Contemporary artist Archana Srivastava will exhibit a series of paintings themed around ‘Divinity of Lord Krishna’. The 18 oil on canvas works display the artist’s style of figurative compositions.

Where: Jehangir Art Gallery, Fort, Mumbai
When: December 1-7

BANGALORE

Music

Jazz fiesta: A three-day jazz festival comes to the city, featuring the Doris Lavin Quintet from Cuba, John Di Martino, James Carter and Helen Sung from the US and Carlos Bica and AZUL from Portugal, among others. Two acts will perform each evening and the repertoire spans mainstream, funk, afro and Latin jazz.

Where: Amphitheater, UB City, Vittal Mallya Road
When: November 27-29, 7 pm onwards
Info: Passes (Rs 950 per evening) available on www.indianstage.in

Theatre

Not a disaster: An interview with a celebrity serial killer. Overenthusiastic parents awaiting “good news” from their only son. A wife who doesn't want her kidnapped husband back. These are among the eight comic sketches that make up Trivial Disasters, which takes banal episodes from everyday life, and turns stereotypes on their heads. The play, written by award-winning playwright Ajay Krishnan, is being performed by Sandbox Collective.

Where: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar, Bengaluru
When: November 29 and 30, 3.30 pm and 7.30pm
Info: Passes (Rs 200) available on www.bookmyshow.com

Film

The Gurkha ritual: Britain began recruiting Nepalis into their army 200 years ago and the Gurkhas, famous for wielding the curved khukuri knife, have seen numerous wars: 200,000 fought in two world wars; 50,000 were killed. Gurkha income and pension, though meager, has helped prop Nepal’s economy. Today, paid manifold times better, Nepalis continue to be lured to the British Army, undergoing grueling tests to win the very few positions available. The documentary Who Will Be A Gurkha takes a look at this phenomenon, including the recruitment, carried out with meticulous British planning.

Where: Everest Talkies, Near Bangalore East station, Frazer Town
When: November 27, 7 pm