Revolt against tradition Traditional family values and ideals compose the very fabric of Indian society. Unfortunately, various ruthless implications often stay hidden behind the veil of tradition. Balwant Gargi’s play Lohakut exposes the way it is used as a tool of oppression against women, specially in our villages. The focal point of the play is the mutual tension of love in a conservative family. Dealing with the high-handedness of society on the basis of gender, it launches a direct attack against orthodoxy and thus raises a basic question for society to answer. Its plot revolves around Santi, a woman who summons up the courage to seek a new life with her lover, despite having been married for 18 years. Though completely moulded in the Indian tradition, she is seen to be a victim of social mores and conventions, which she refuses to accept from her heart even though she has been forced to lead life by its rules. Providing an edge to this almost-revolutionary concept of women’s liberation in rural India is the fact that she is influenced by her teenaged daughter, who elopes with her lover on the eve of the conventional marriage arranged for her by her father. Design and direction: S.M. Azhar Alam. Event: Play in Hindi, Lohakut, produced by Little Thespian When: Today at 6.30 pm Where: Sisir Mancha

Art

Till May 6 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Madhumita Das Gupta as part of Kolkata Kala Kendra’s 9th annual group exhibition of art and craft. Till May 8 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: Recent drawings and paintings by Ujjwal Debnath, Sujit Kumar Ghosh, Indranil Ghosh, Kushal Mukherjee, Basudeb Sarkar and Chandan Mandal. Till May 8 at Academy of Fine Arts, West Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Skill of Creation — an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Ranjan Paul, Arpita Kar, Sukla Bhattacharya, Dipnarayan Paul and Moumita Sarkar. Till May 8 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South Gallery ‘A’; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Arati Das, Pinak Pani Nath and Tanmoy Naskar. Till May 8 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South-B; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Animesh Nandi, Sankar Mondal, Bela Karmakar, Sujit Das, Debangshu Das, Santanu Chatterjee and Abhijit Mollick. Till May 9 at the Promenade Lounge, Taj Bengal: The Vase and The Warriors of Love, a solo show of new works by Italian artist Tarshito. Till May 10 at Shree Art Gallery, 11 Gurusaday Road, Kusum Apartments, Flat no. 61, #9903235566; 3 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of exclusive paintings by Milanendu Mandal and other eminent artists of Bengal. Till May 10 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, 2nd floor; 4 pm - 8 pm: Scarlet Palette presents an exhibition of paintings by Jayanta Mukherjee, Saroj Sarkar, Biswarup Garai, Naba Kr. Chakrabarty, Badal Pal and Tapan Das. Till May 15 at Gallery with Difference, 152 S.P. Mukherjee Road, near Rashbehari crossing: Narrative Movements 2009 — a group exhibition of art, curated by Bibekananda Santra. Till May 15 (except Sunday and holidays) at Eye on Art Gallery, 3 Pretoria Street, 2nd floor; 12 noon - 8 pm: Forms of Narration, featuring the works of Arnab Mukherjee, Arpita Pradhan, Biswajit Mukherjee, Nandita Mukherjee, Subha Basu, Sudipta Dutta, Sumana Biswas, Sumana Ghosh, Sushmita Rakshit and Utpal Dutta. Till May 16 at Karma Art Gallery, 505 Keyatala Road, #9830005441; 11 am - 7 pm: Art Perfection presents Drishti, a solo exhibition of painting and sculpture by Raj Rishi. Till May 17 (except Mondays and May 13) at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, 1st floor; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of artworks and photographs by Satyajit Ray, entitled Rayimages. Till May 17 (except Sundays & holidays) at Museum & Art Gallery, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park; 10.30 am - 1 pm & 2.30 pm - 6 pm: Glimpses of Ancient India — paintings by Prabhatmohan Bandyopadhyay (1904-1987). Till May 20 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road; 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presents Somnath Hore: Bronzes, Drawings, Watercolours — an exhibition of the works of Somnath Hore. Till May 22 (except Sundays) at Akar Prakar, P 238 Hindustan Park, #2464 2617; 2 pm - 7 pm: A restrospective show of sculptures by Sarbari Roy Choudhury. Till May 23 at Experimenter, 2/1 Hindusthan Road, #98300 15854; 11 am - 8 pm (Monday to Saturday): Tell-Tale: Fiction, Falsehood & Fact 2 — contemporary artist’s narrative perspective on stories and storytellers. Featuring works by Amritah Sen, Anupam Chakraborty, Rajesh Deb, Sarnath Banerjee and Sujay Mukherjee. Curated by Dr Paula Sengupta. Till May 24 (except Monday) at Bose Pacia, Stephen Court, 18 Park Street, #40010148; 11 am - 7 pm: The Vase and The Lines — new works by Tarshito. Till May 25 at The Halo Heritage Art Gallery, 26 Ritchie Road, #9830050568; 3 pm - 8 pm: Heritage Happenings — an exhibition of sketches and watercolours by Samir Biswas.

PERFORMING ARTS

May 7 at Atmodaya Bhavan, La Martiniere for Boys campus; 6 pm: La Martiniere for Girls presents Tagore’s dance-drama Shyama as part of Bengali Cultural Evening. Passes may be collected for the school office of La Martiniere for Girls. May 8 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6 pm: Naba Pratisruti presents Chabbishey Rabi, featuring Lopamudra Mitra, Rahul Mitra and Sutapa Bandyopadhyay in solo recitals of Tagore song/ recitation. May 8 at Rabindra Sadan; 6 pm: Anubhav Foundation presents Utsarito Aalo featuring the formal launch of the book, Aajker Kunteera; dance programme by the students of Anubhav; drama Khela Gadi by Rangakarmee; and Tagore songs by Manoj Murali Nair and Manisha Murali Nair. May 9 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place; 6 pm: Classical vocal concert by Pandit Shyam Sundar Goswami, with Ustad Sabir Khan (tabla), Ustad Roushan Ali (sarangi) and Francoise Jalais (tanpura).

DRAMA

May 6 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Little Thespian will stage Lohakut, a play by Balwant Gargi. Design & direction: S.M. Azhar Alam. May 6 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Mangalik presents Manush Bhoot, directed by Samir Biswas. May 7 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Natya Aanan presents Satyajit Ray’s Hirak Rajar Deshe. May 7 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.45 pm: Mukhomukhi and Niva Arts present Atmakatha, with Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Lily Chakraborty, Poulami Basu and Snejuti Mukherjee comprising the main cast. May 8 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Rang Roop will stage Byaram Biram. Direction: Seema Mukhopadhyay. May 8 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Shouvanik will stage Fakka. Direction: Chandan Das. May 8 at Academy of Fine Arts; 7 pm: Rangakarmee will stage Chehre, directed by S.M. Azhar Alam. May 9 at Academy of Fine Arts; 2.40 pm: Bratyajan presents Ruddha Sangeet. Drama & direction: Bratya Basu. May 9 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents its latest production, Dournama. Direction and in lead role: Meghnad Bhattacharya.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till May 15 at 46 Satish Mukherjee Road, near Kalighat Park; 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts and Tasveer present A Long Exposure — an exhibition of photographs by T.S. Satyen. Till May 15 at South City Mall; 12 noon - 8 pm: Memorable Outdoors — an exhibition of photographs taken by Asish Bal, Samir Basu, Sandipan Das, Sanjay Thakur and Subrata Bose.

TALK

May 6 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 6 pm: Swami Shastrajnananda will speak on Vivek Chudamoni. May 6 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Shivananda Hall; 6.15 pm: Swami Sarvabhutananda will speak in Bengali on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. May 6 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake; 7 pm: Rabindranath Niyogi will speak on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita.

ANNIVERSARY

May 6 at Rabindra Charcha Bhavan, Kalighat Park; 6.30 pm: A programme to mark the 150th birth anniversary and 125th death anniversary of Kadambari Devi. Concept and direction: Tapobrata Bhaduri. Songs by Aniruddha Singha and Rajashree Bhattacharya.

EXHIBITION

Till May 7 at Artisana, 13 Chowringhee Terrace, 1st floor, #2223 9422; 11 am - 7 pm: Crafts Council of West Bengal and Rare present Resist, an exhibition of fabrics created through aunique Resist technique. Resist features a bold and distinctive range of textiles and garments by Suchi, in a fashion show (6.30 pm - 7 pm) and exhibition. Till May 7 at Soumya’s Creation, 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 10.30 am - 6.30 pm: Summerfare — an exhibition of unstitched salwar suits specially designed for the summer. Till May 7 at Utopia, 94C Bakul Bagan Road, #64552274: Celebrations and Krishnakali jointly present an exhibition of gift items, cards, organza printed cotton saris and unstitched suits. Till May 10 at Tagore Research Institute, Kalighat Park; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of books on Tagore and his works. Till May 10 at Gallerie 52d, 52D Hindusthan Park, #40086897; 12.30 pm - 7 pm: Fashion and Art — an exhibition which combines two of the most vibrant and inventive areas in the decorative arts today.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph,6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244