 "weekend")
Music
Beyond the brief
Music virtuosos will take instruments beyond their conventional roles in the Aadi Anant: From Here to Eternity festival. Zakir Hussain, the world-renowned tabla maestro, will show off the instrument’s versatility by using it for its typical purpose — to give rhythmic accompaniment to Hindustani music and Kathak dance — as well as for presenting a more active and creative solo performance. Sitar exponent Niladri Kumar will play alongside him.
Where: Tata Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai
When: December 14, 2019
Zakhir Husain and Niladri Kumar
Notes of nostalgia
Bengali music legend Kabir Suman, known for creating “Tomake Chai”, “Jagorane Jay Bibhabori”, “Gaanola”, among other songs, returns to perform Kheyal sangeet in the purest form and share his life stories and poetry.
Where: Nazrul Mancha, Kolkata
When: December 25, 2019
Kabir Suman
Dublin to Mumbai
Irish rockers U2 will belt out “Where the Streets have No Name” and several other wistful anthems, which they wrote in the late 1980s for the first time in India. Nostalgia is expected to reign at the concert as crowds wave their arms and sing along to tracks of The Joshua Tree album like “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for”. There will also be giant screens projecting films shot by the band’s long-time visual collaborator Anton Corbijn.
Where: D Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
When: December 15, 2019
U2
Dance
Ballet ballet
Dancers from the Russian Classical Ballet group promise to enthral audiences as they perform Don Quixote, Bluebird, Spartacus, Coppelia and Paquita.
Where: Arya Auditorium, New Delhi
When: December 21, 2019
Russian Classical Ballet
Time-honoured
Dance styles as diverse as Manipuri, Kuchipudi and Yakshagana will be presented at the Kalakshetra Foundation’s 66th Annual Art Festival. Music and dance from the Northeast region, too, will be represented in this Chennai event with Prashanna Gogoi and his group’s production called Bihuti. There will also be music recitals — a Hindustani classical performance by Sanjeev Abhyankar and Carnatic renditions featuring vocalists S Sowmya and Ranjani-Gayatri.
Where: Kalakshetra Academy, Chennai
When: December 20, 2019-January 1, 2020
Kalakshetra Foundation’s 66th Annual Art Festival
Theatre
Travel heavy
A play about boyhood wonder, which features a transcultural cast of actors and musicians, is returning to Bengaluru after 120 shows across continents. Directed by Andrea Gronemeyer, Boy with a Suitcase is the story of a 12-year-old, Naz, who sets off on an adventure-filled, often arduous journey to be with his sister in London.
Where: Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru
When: December 14, 2019, 11 am
Boy with a Suitcase
Cop in control
Actor Amol Palekar takes to the stage after 25 years in Kusur as a retired assistant police commissioner, Dandavate, who volunteers in the police control room. He receives various calls for help from which mystery slowly builds and unravels. The sound design becomes a character in the play, which is adapted by Sandhya Gokhale from Den Skyldige (written by Gustav Moller and Emil Anderson), as it makes the audience question its assumptions.
Where: Multiple venues in Pune and Mumbai
When: December 21-28, 2019
Kusur
Telling tales
A storytelling festival next year will showcase some local and faraway oral traditions ranging from folk ensemble to shamanic storytelling and dastangoi. Both young and old are expected to participate over the course of three days. Led by artists, authors and journalists from various parts of India and the world, the festival hopes to revive the culture of storytelling.
Where: Park Exotica, Udaipur
When: February 21-23, 2020
Comedy
Hold that thought
Catch Kunal Kamra taking his special Fresher Thoughts on the road for a final tour, before ending the show in his home town Mumbai. Uncles, journalists, politicians, and all life become the target in his jokes, which intend to make people laugh and think.
Where: Multiple venues across cities (for details, visit www.bookmyshow.com)
When: December 2019
Keeping up with Kumar
Dreams of singing and serenading will play out on stage in the musical comedy Jhumroo. This is the story of Bhola, a young ad agency employee with an unexceptional voice who still wants to be a singing star and confess his love for a co-worker. With some help from the spirit of Kishore Kumar, he makes it to a reality show. The cast is led by Gaurav Gera.
Where: Kingdom of Dreams, NCR
When: Various dates in December
Jhumroo
Dining Out
Eat street
As many as 70 stalls will pop up for a Christmas Bazaar to serve food and handcrafted jewellery and clothing. With music and bright lights in the mix, this may be a good place to make an evening of shopping for holiday gifts.
Where: The Bohemian House, Bengaluru
When: December 14, 2019
Raid the closet
That Yellow Closet, a Hyderabad pop-up concept, will have a Christmas edition. Holiday revellers will get a chance to pair food with shopping, and mix things up by attending a workshop or exhibition while there.
Where: Fat Pigeon, Hyderabad
When: December 15, 2019
Christmas Bazaar
ART
Commute on canvas
Walking through Soul City is a retrospective of Sudhir Patwardhan’s unmatched work as a chronicler of Mumbai. He has painted the in-between, overlooked realities of the city that make up its pulsing heart. Spread over NGMA’s vast galleries, his works show the consistencies, changes and injustices in life there. The exhibition has been curated by Nancy Adajania.
Where: National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
When: Until February 12, 2020
Missed calls
After winning the 2019 Joan Miro Prize, Nalini Malani has returned to Mumbai with a solo show, Can you hear me? The title is a reference to a 2018 animation about a minor girl who was raped and whose screams went unheard. The careless or deliberate neglecting of the dispossessed and their wretched cries become the centre of the exhibition, which uses bright colours and peculiar sounds to amplify the irony and absurdity of this scenario.
Where: Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai
When: Until January 2, 2020
