19 May,2021 04:33 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Satej Shinde
A rooster makes for an unsual co-passenger for a man on his bicycle, at Thakur Village in Kandivali on Tuesday.
In 2017, Zakir Hussain approached Mumbai-based filmmaker Sumantra Ghoshal with a request, ahead of a concert that the tabla maestro was scheduled to perform at G5A auditorium in Mahalaxmi with sitar virtuoso Niladri Kumar. Would Ghoshal acquiesce to make a film about the concert? "I said that I will do it, though I wasn't terribly interested in recording concerts. But I also said that I would make something that I wanted to explore, and Zakir being Zakir, he said, âOkay,' because he is so secure in his talent," Ghoshal (inset) told this diarist.
The resultant film, The Space Between the Notes, has now been selected for screening at the New York India Film Festival next month, apart from being nominated in the Best Documentary category. About one of the themes he eventually touched upon, Ghoshal shared, "What I wanted to explore, via the gift of the concert that Zakir presented to me, is the relation between Indian classical musicians, who don't quite know what they are going to play beforehand, but nonetheless end up performing for three hours. I wanted to find out what propels them to play off each other, like jazz musicians also do." Now, that makes for a fascinating subject.
Ex-journalist Peter Griffin has launched a new series of conversations on YouTube, called Table Talk. In it, he invites people from different walks of life to talk about their relationship and experiences with food, such as theatre personality Kirtana Kumar, who moved from Bengaluru to live full-time on a farm. "An upcoming episode features anthropologist Dr Kurush Dalal talking about what ancient Indians ate," Griffin shared.
The damaged bookstore after the ficus tree (left) was uprooted. Pic/Facebook
Of all the tragic incidents that took place because of Cyclone Tauktae on Monday, the bookstore at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu being damaged will disappoint bibliophiles the most. The shop was dealt a blow when the ficus tree located within it was uprooted.
Thespian and Prithvi regular Makarand Deshpande shared, "It has some really quality books, whether it's novels or texts for research. In fact, I think that all the books in my house are from that shop." Here's hoping that we see the space back in action in its original avatar.
Here's your chance to lay your hands on prints that some internationally recognised photographers have created, and contribute to a good cause at the same time. Delhi-based arts platform Offset Projects has started an initiative called Together for Covid-19 Aid, for which they contacted a bunch of noted shutterbugs, including Ronny Sen and Sohrab Hura, asking them to contribute prints that can be sold to the public. The money thus collected will be donated to the NGOs Hemkunt Foundation and Swabhiman Society. "We wanted to raise funds in a manner that is not limited by art-market dynamics," shared Offset Projects founder Anshika Varma. Log on to offsetprojects.in by May 30 and choose a print that you like.
From Chhod babul ka ghar to Pyaar kiya toh darna kya, music director Naushad Ali, or Naushad, has given us innumerable hits. This weekend, the Asiatic Society of Mumbai has organised a tribute to the music icon. "It'll be hosted by Kaka JP, a veteran of Bollywood music, particularly the Golden Era. He's one of the founders of the Naushad Sangeet Samiti. Kaka has a huge collection of original tracks, from which he's culled out some memorable pieces by Naushad, which he'll present with memorable anecdotes about the music director and his creations," shared vice-president Yogesh Kamdar. Tune in to their YouTube channel to rewind the years.
