An exhibition of Nirmal Dutta’s works at the Artists Circle had some vibrant drawings, quite a few water colours and several paintings. At 77, Dutta, though unwell, still works with great gusto. Dutta is a keen observer of the various moods of nature and that of people around him. All this provides him with enough grist for his artistic mill. At times, it is a comedy, at others, a tragedy. Often, his works assume a visionary character. The artist has a strong draughtsman’s fist and his sense of colours is excellent. In his black and white drawings and sketches, he captures contours and then moulds them into meaningful forms. Landscapes and people collectively go into the making of wonderful compositions.

Sandip Sarkar

Predictable word play

Pierrot’s Troupe from New Delhi finally debuted in Calcutta with three plays at G.D. Birla Sabhagar for Sanskriti Sagar. The effusive leaflet (and the announcer), further called Ghalib in New Delhi “satirical, hilarious and witty”, performed by a cast that was “highly sarcastic, at their wittiest best in the play”. To be self-congratulatory even on the ticket (“a brilliant Hindi comedy”) didn’t seem all that clever; hilarious, maybe. Playwright-director M. Sayeed Alam brings the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib down to earth to check out the world after him. That device, by now cliched, had its predictable word play, some of it genuinely funny, and was critical of today’s age, its mind and manners. The play was carried through by Digambar Prasad as Ghalib and Harish Chabbra as the Bihari, Jai Hind, with a smart ‘Dilli-Punjabi’ cameo by Niti Sayeed.

Anil Grover

Mixed palette

Art Works ’06 at Indian Museum exhibited a mixed bag with works of founder members along with those by newer members. While Suchibrata Deb’s medieval elephant springs out from a chess board to create a fantasy, Partha Pratim Deb’s drawing of a face-like form reminded one of a hive from which ideas gush out like bees. Among members, Alok Bhattacharya’s paintings with people in a grim situation, Barnali Das’ boats, Debasish Bhattacharya’s patient in a lonely room, Prashanta Neogi’s solitary figure in a garden of colours are commendable. Also, Sibanando Mondal’s ceramic armourish suit — without the robot inside — deserves mention.

Sandip Sarkar