Poetry knows no boundaries
By Parvesh Handa
“POETRY knows no boundaries and artists in Pakistan always wish for the friendship among people of both countries,” said Gulzeb Zeba, 30-year-old poetess from Karachi during her visit to Ambala to participate in the 25th Bazm-e-International Mushaira organised by Sham-e-Bahar Trust recently. She was extremely delighted to visit India for the first time and was touched by the warm welcome given by the people here. “The political reasons have drawn an LoC between the hearts of people of both countries,” said Gulzeb.

Audioscan by ASC

Webber to work with
A.R. Rahman
RENOWNED music composer Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Bollywood’s music genius A.R. Rahman are working together on an Indian dance musical, provisionally entitled “Bombay Dream”.

Marketing theatre need of hour
By Gurmeet Maan

ANDRETTA, a sleeply little village near Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, a shrine for the connoisseur of art, being associated with such great artists as Sobha Singh and Norah Richards, and a perfect rendevous for the Theatre and Television Department of Punjabi University, Patiala, to unleash theatrical performances twice a year, became a unique occasion this time in many a way.

The atmosphere reverberated with two superb dramatic performances, “Jasma Odhan” and “Evam Inderjit,”, and scholastic interaction among a galaxy of theatre experts. The show turned out to be a bonanza for the department itself, with a commitment by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, to equip it with the latest gadgets such as Betacam camera, editing, mixing and dubbing tables. He then went on to declare the setting up of university’s Regional Centre for Art and Culture at the university’s Writers’ Home and holding of an all-India theatre festival every year on the pattern of Harvallabh Sangeet Sammelan. He also committed himself to the introduction of theatre and television as a subject in colleges at the undergraduate level.

Each of the three-day festival, held from October 29 to 31, 1999, beginning with intellectual discussions at the seminar on “Punjabi Theatre: Possibilities and Challenges in the New Millenium”, culminated in cultural programmes in the late evenings bedecked with folk and sufiana kalaams, dances, informal tete-e-tetes.

The presence of such stalwarts as Harpal Tiwana, Gursharan Singh Ajmer Aulakh, Jagbir Singh, Devinder Daman, Navnindra Behl, Sunita Dhir, Sudharashan Maini, Yogesh Gambhir and Balraj Pandit provided an unprecedented and exclusive embellishment to the programme organised by TTV Department in collaboration with Punjabi Academy, Delhi, and Punjab Arts Council, Chandigarh, thanks to the untiring efforts of the Head of the Department, Dr Gurcharan Singh. Meditations in the mornings, used as “theatre games,” shaped the occasion for the “seekers to meet themselves”.

The festival was kicked off by a formal inauguration of the seminar by Dr Ahluwalia whose capacious vision and pragmatic sensibility guided him to think of adopting the end of the second millennium as an opportune time for launching the “Multi-Faculty Millennium Symposia Series” at Punjabi University. While the plays focussed on victory of the labour class over the feudals and the plight of an artiste who finds himself to be an “outsider” to this world, the seminarians responded by laying emphasis on the “marketing aspect of the theatre” to save it from the “invasion from the sky” launched by satellite channels and tailor it to catch up with the emerging societal needs.

Initiating the debate, Dr Ahluwaila said, “We will have to psyche ourselves up to meet the challenges of the third millennium by making theatre professional and multi-dimensional in view of its vast magnitude and the corresponding exploration of enormous depths of the Punjabi sensibility”. He stressed on shrugging off the idea of localising the Punjabi ethos and theatre as the new millennium was going to open diverse options, the era, as it is, belonging to the expanion of mind into unimaginable dimensions. The local motifs, dramatic forms, traditions and styles would have to be related to a “participatory culture” and the advanced, awaiting techniques of “mixing and packaging” for upstaging the Punjabi theatre in this era of competitive marketing, he added.

Dr C.L. Gupta, a noted litterateur and Chairman of Himachal Pradesh School Education Board, gave a call for drawing future’s blueprint conducive to the development of theatre in a systematic manner in the post-modernist and post-industrialist world where marketing holds the spotlight. Drawing attention to Marshal McLuhan’s Concept of “Medium is the Message”, he called upon the joint family of intellectuals and artistes to transform the medium of theatre into product (message) that can adroitly be transacted and marketed.

Quickly acknowledging the view, noted theatre and film director, Harpal Tiwana expressed the view of making theatre independent, in any form whatsoever, for its proper flowering and burgeoning. The new Punjabi satellite channels can go a long way in providing perpetual opportunities to those who have the knack to adapt themselves to newly emerging situations. Gursharan Singh and Ajmer Aulakh chipped in to support Tiwana’s views by stating that dedication, commitment and diligence are pertinent for the artistes, particularly of this generation, to cope with the new challenges in the field of theatre too, as in other disciplines. These challenges, which should not be mistaken for problems, in the field of theatre, in fact reflect the challenges of life as a whole.

Gursharan Singh, Dr Satish Verma, Dr Jagbir Singh, Dr Navnindra Behl and Dr Devinder Kumar presented their research papers on various aspects of theatre vis-a-vis challenges in the new millenium.

Adapated by Rana Ranvir into Punjabi, Shanta Gandhi’s “Jasma Odhan” depicted a naive Gujarati folk tale, drawn out of collective unconscious of the ever-migrating and working class. The play’s directors, Dr Yogesh Gambhir and Dr Gurcharan Singh, handled defty the different scripts which incorporated salient features of Bhavai and naqlan, coupled with complex theatrical technicalities, and led it to win a thundering applause and achieve due eclat.

The artistic blending of folk dances and folk music of Punjab and Gujarat brought the two cultures in a unique proximity and a multi-hued embrace. Pinki Sagoo, Lakha Lehri, Rana Ranvir, Beenu Dhillon, Pretty and Roopinder Rupy played stellar roles to make the production a lively, vibrating and pulsating success.

Rana Ranvir’s poetry and visuals and Balraj Pandit’s direction carried Badal Sircar’s “Evam Inderjit” to glorious heights of success. The play related to the idea of an artiste who walks ahead of the society that is stereotyped. Evam, the hero, in an effort to cut this circle, finds himself trapped in his own creation that pushes him to the “middle of nowhere”.

Poetry knows no boundaries
By Parvesh Handa

“POETRY knows no boundaries and artists in Pakistan always wish for the friendship among people of both countries,” said Gulzeb Zeba, 30-year-old poetess from Karachi during her visit to Ambala to participate in the 25th Bazm-e-International Mushaira organised by Sham-e-Bahar Trust recently. She was extremely delighted to visit India for the first time and was touched by the warm welcome given by the people here. “The political reasons have drawn an LoC between the hearts of people of both countries,” said Gulzeb.

Gulzeb started writing poetry at the age of 12 and her first poem was published in March, 1980, in “Akhbar-e-Khamteen”, an Urdu weekly in Pakistan. She has written more than 1,200 ghazals (lyrics), 300 nazranas (poems) and several pieces of quitat (songs of four sentences) till now. Her first book “Gul-e-Regzar”, a collection of lyrics was published last year. Her forthcoming book “Habse Beja”, based on Mazahia poetry, is likely to be released soon and two other poetry books, “Caktus” and “Aks-e-Jaan” are also in the press.

“At present, I’m preparing another book ‘Zinda Kahaaniyan’, which is a collection of my four much-appreciated stories already published in leading magazines in Pakistan. Among these ‘Talafi’, a 60-page story, was also awarded by the Pakistan government in 1988,” said Gulzeb.

She was thrilled to see Indian women driving two-wheelers and wearing modern dresses. She said, “In our country, the social atmosphere is still conservative and women, especially from rural areas, are not allowed to wear modern dresses in public places or ride two-wheelers”.

Gulzeb got married in 1985 to Nisar Ahmed Nazamani, a landlord, who, according to her, feels proud of the talent of her life partner. “I go through the hectic daily schedule of my publishing and printing business and also manage to look after my two children, 13-year-old son Asad Ulah and 12-year-old daughter Hira Saani,” said Gulzeb, who was inspired by her mother to take up this profession in spite of her father and brother being opposed to her performing on stage. She given more than a thousand stage performances since 1985, including few “Bazm-e-Adab”, a special programme for adult audiences.

Regretting her short stay here Gulzeb said, if given a chance, she would like to visit India again and again. “If only getting visas was not so difficult!” she said.

Gulzeb praised the initiative taken by India’s Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for his effort to bring about cordial relations among people of both countries. “God knows when the barrier to cross Wagha and Attari borders will be lifted!” said Gulzeb wistfully.

Audioscan by ASC
In keeping with Rajshri tradition

Hum Saath Saath Hain (HMV): Music has been the kingpin of almost all Rajshri productions. This one seems to be no different. Like the film, the album drips with family values and good, clean fun. The songs may or may not touch the dizzy heights achieved by “Hum Aaap Ke Hain Kaun” bus is likely to give a good competition to any other contemporary album.

And the song that is most likely to do well in popularity charts is hare hiwda mein nache mor Mkare ta ta thaiya... (Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hariharan, Anuradha Paudwal, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan). Raamlakshman has worked wonder with a lilting folk tune.

On the other hand, ABCDEFGHI... is a new experiment. Lyrics may sound juvenile but the overall impact is mature.

One noticeable feature is the chance given to new lyricists. Dev Kohli and Ravinder Rawal are known names but R. Kiran and Mitali Shashank are not. Both of them give a good account of themselves.

Antakshri has become an integral part of Rajshri films. Here, it is used more as a parody of earlier hits, including Deedi tera dewar deewana...

THAKSHAK (HMV): One cannot help admiring Asha Bhosle. She is singing with the same elan for A.R. Rahman today which she displayed under the baton of O.P. Nayyar many decades ago. The older she becomes, the more naughty her voice turns. She and Rahman weave pure magic in Rang de... which is the piece de resistance in this album, packed with many other brilliant renditions.

If Jumblika... has contours of a big hit, Toofan ki raat... has Hema Sardesai emulating Rahman’s own style of singing to perfection. Sukhwinder is a regular in Rahman repertoire. Here he sings his own lyrics in Dholna... .

This is a Govind Nihalani film and only he could have included a purely classical number like Dheem ta dare... by Surjo Bhattacharya.

Rahman loves to give a chance to new singers. Here the most poignant song has been sung by Sujata Trivedi (Boondon se baaten...).

All lyrics excepts that the Dholna... are by Mehboob.

BACARDI BLAST: Virgin Records in collaboration with Bacardi-Martini India has launched this remake compilation of latest chart busters. It is the first part of a series of such albums.

It contains cover versions of 19 chart toppers such as We like to party... (Venga Boyz), Baby one more time... (Britney Spears) and I want it that way... (Back Street Boys).

Webber to work with
A.R. Rahman

RENOWNED music composer Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Bollywood’s music genius A.R. Rahman are working together on an Indian dance musical, provisionally entitled “Bombay Dream”.

I’m utterly taken with Indian music,” Andrew Webber, producer of the well-known musical “Fantom of the Opera”, said after watching Hindi film “Taal” at an Indian cinema in Harrow.

Lord Webber said he planned to attend a concert by Rahman in Dublin this weekend. —PTI