30 October,2023 05:46 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Shadab Khan
The sky is tinged pink as the sun sets over the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mahim.
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The Rap 91 Live hip-hop concert at Mehboob Studios in Bandra last weekend brought some interesting street art to the city. Created by artists from four corners of India - NME and Zake from Mumbai, Left Hander from Bengaluru, Bongster from Delhi and REMS from Guwahati - they were interpretations of India's rap scene. Rabah AKA Left Hander brought along something that captured the Malabar region of Kerala, but is also familiar to Mumbaikars. "I've chosen to represent the region with one of the most recognisable institutions - a chai shop. Hip-hop is growing massively there. I wanted to bring together something that is both very local, but also recognised globally - everyone loves chai," he shared.
St Petersburg moved with the grace of lavani earlier this month as playwright Bhushan Korgaonkar and his team of Lavani Ke Rang travelled to Russia for a performance at the Baltic House International Theatre Festival on October 13. "They [festival organisers] had invited several Indian productions including us," shared Korgaonkar. The theatre-maker admitted that the team was apprehensive before the performance. "Lavani, as an art form, requires interaction and an enthusiastic audience. People had warned us that Russian culture can be a bit aloof and proper in theatres. But when we took the stage, they slowly opened up," he shared. Towards the evening, the crowd was grooving to songs such as Jimmy Jimmy and Disco deewane. "Russia does have a hangover of the '90s about Indian culture," he admitted, adding that the team also visited St Petersburg University to give a demo lecture on the art of lavani to the students.
Along with the seventh year of Harkat Studios' annual 16mm Film Festival which showcases analogue films, comes the Ek-Minute script competition where participants can submit ideas for a one-minute film shot on 50 feet of 16mm colour film stock. Artiste and festival co-curator Simran Ankolkar told this diarist, "The reason to have the script competition is to put the analogue medium of film in more people's hands and make it accessible." Sharing notes for potential participants, she added, "There is no criteria or genre given for the idea, the story can be a narrative, experimental, abstract, or a music video. Don't overcomplicate the medium. We noticed that the simplest idea or writing comes out best, and we focus on what is feasible since the selected five entries are shot only a week before the festival." Since no prior experience of filmmaking is required, people looking to explore their stories through analogue formats are encouraged to participate and send in their submissions before November 15. Those interested can log on to @harkat.studios for details.
For the last 302 weekends, the team of Beach Please have been working to rid the passageways of Mithi river of filth. Last weekend, they hosted another clean-up session at Mahim bay across the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. "The initiative began with a clean-up of Dadar beach back in 2017 by our founder, Malhar Kolambe. But soon, we realised the waste coming into the beach was flowing through the Mithi river," shared Akhilesh Adhikari, a volunteer with the group. Initially, the response was scarce, but it has grown over the years, he added. As for the continued effort, Kolambe remarked, "If you want to change something, you must be the change maker and take the first step."
