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| (From top): Pradeep Sarkar and Vidya Balan at Crossword; Satish Gujral (left) and Krishen Khanna at the latter?s 80th birthday bash |
Booked for success
Given the success of the film, there couldn?t have been a more opportune time to launch an English translation of Saratchandra Chattopadhyay?s classic Parineeta. Penguin India did just that on July 6 at Crossword?s outlet at Juhu, Mumbai. In fact, the new translation was published to coincide with the release of Vidhu Vinod Chopra?s film.
Not surprisingly, then, the publishers got the film?s director, Pradeep Sarkar, and debutante Vidya Balan, who played the lead, Lalita, to launch the book, which has been translated by Malobika Chaudhuri. Chaudhuri runs Mono Translation Bureau, a multi-lingual translation agency in Calcutta. She is translating several other Saratchandra novels as well, which are due to be published soon.
At the launch, Balan read an excerpt from the book ? the part where Lalita asks her benefactor and beau, Shekhar, for money to go to the Moulin Rouge with Girin, the eligible bachelor who has arrived on the scene and is attracted to Lalita.
The director and actor spoke about the making of the film and how they lived and breathed the text and characters for the two years that it took to make Parineeta. Balan also spoke about the onerous task of living up to the earlier version of the film, which set a high standard. The reading was followed by an interesting question-and- answer session.
Still going strong
The ITC Maurya Sheraton, Delhi, celebrated the 80th birthday of its first art consultant recently at its pub, Dublin. The birthday boy was artist Krishen Khanna who cut his celebration cake under the murals which he painted on the ceiling of the hotel lobby. The large-as-life beautiful fresco of ?The Procession of Life? took Khanna four years to complete panel by panel.
The cake-cutting was followed by the screening of a documentary film on Krishen Khanna that was watched by the artist and everyone who?d been invited to the party. Artists Vivan Sundaram, A Ramachandram, Nilima Sheikh, Paramjit Singh, Subroto Kundu, Ram Kumar and Satish Gujral were some of the familiar faces present.
Khanna was surrounded by family ? daughters Rasika, Malti and granddaughter Sonal. His wife Renu Khanna, sister Sarojini Chopra and sister-in-law Lolo Chatterjee related some memories of Khanna. ?He gave up his banking job one day after 15 years of it and pursued his passion ? painting. And though there was some initial opposition from our father, he finally gave in to his son?s love for art. It was the turning point in his life,? said Chopra.
Friends such as Sundaram and Ramachandran talked about Khanna?s experimentation with photographs. ?He was the first artist to do so,? said Sundaram who gifted him a book by Raghubir Singh called The Ambassador. Ramchandran and Paramjit Singh gifted paintings to the artist on the occasion.
The art of style
Art and fashion might be realms apart, but who says the twain will never meet? Three renowned fashion designers and an artist came together in Delhi to launch the newest hub in the city with an art and fashion installation. PSK, an entertainment centre in east Delhi has been developed on the lines of the India Habitat Centre and is being promoted by the Delhi government.
While well-known models sashayed down the ramp displaying outfits by designers Monapali, Shaina NC and Anjana Bhargava, artist Naresh Kapuria was busy painting the models. For the show he drew inspiration from the great periods of Indian art to create different strokes on the ramp. Call it body art or abstract art, the artist has his own interpretation, ?Human beings are an interactive canvas. Creativity is fluid and doesn?t adhere to any compartments in life,? he said.
Meanwhile the colours on the ramp held centre-stage. Six-yard wonders by Shaina NC brought the feel-good colours of pink and orange to the arclights. Shaina said, ?The younger generation needs to be introduced to the sari. We don?t need a Jemima Goldsmith or a Cherie Blair to tell us how cool it is.? The fusion forms of Monapali blended prints of ancient scripts, geometrics and organic forms to form exquisite artistic compositions. The third designer, Anjana Bhargava?s emphasis was on comfort, wearability and affordability. Her designs resurrect patterns and ancient arts into the rhythm of modern life.
Photographs of Delhi events by Jagan Negi and Prem Singh