Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Suresh Karkera

Heights of Hazard

Workers without safety gear move precariously along the facade of the CSMT building.

Park that thought

Walkers at Shivaji Park, Dadar. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Earlier this year, we had written in this section how LYPMumbai, which curates experiences in public spaces in collaboration with local civic bodies, artistes, entrepreneurs and community groups, had started a petition, requesting that beaches, prome-nades, parks and gardens be open from 7 am to 8 pm. With the authorities now allowing such spaces to remain open from 6 am to 10 pm, the folks at LYPMumbai are a happy lot. Co-founder Tina Nandi shared that the idea first came up in 2019, and that during the pandemic, too, they pushed for staggered and safe use of these public spaces, as scientifically, there's a lesser chance of transmission outdoors if protocols are followed. "We started the campaign to also highlight that it should be our priority to increase available public outdoor space. I wish parks hadn't opened so late, but we're grateful that they have now, and as per the timings that we had fought for," she said, adding that they hope to restart their Love Your Park (LYP) Days in
September. "In January, we started LYP Day, but had to stop after February-March. The aim is to get people outdoors in a safe manner after all this time of isolation."

Best foot forward

With the sixth edition of BC One Cypher India scheduled for September 4, six dancers are ensuring that Mumbai is well-represented in the finals. They include B-Boy Flying Machine, B-Boy Wildchild, B-Boy Tornado, B-Boy Flexagon and B-Boy Shafi, as well as B-Girl Bar-b. "I'm quite excited to make it to the top 16 this year. Being a defending champion from 2019, I am quite confident of my chances. The competition is going to be tough, as they are all very good breakers," B-Boy Tornado told us. B-Boy Flying Machine (in pic) added, "I'm going all in. If I win this year, it's going to be my fourth BC One title! We've not been competing for a while now, so this year's BC One will show the hunger in us, which we've been nursing since the last two years." The global finals will be held in Gdansk, Poland, this November.

Staging a conversation

A conversation series called In the Round, being presented by the theatre programme SMART and the India Foundation for the Arts, will explore how different theatre artistes banded together to help people from the community who were badly affected by the pandemic. The first edition on August 25 features Sapan Saran who started the TheatreDost initiative in Mumbai; Delhi-based Anurupa Roy who helped puppeteers across India; Sanjoy Ganguly, founder of the Jana Sanskriti NGO in West Bengal; and Nisha Abdulla, a Bengaluru-based artiste who works at the intersection of theatre, community and education. Sameera Iyengar (in pic), core team member of SMART, will moderate the talk. "The value of what these people have done is phenomenal, and we want to honour that," she said. Visit SMART India on Facebook to tune in.

Australia calling

Filmmaker Aditya Kripalani's new work, Not Today, which explores the theme of suicide prevention, is making a buzz at film fests. The film, starring Rucha Inamdar and Harsh Chhaya, has now been selected for the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2021, where it is set to have its Australian premiere. The director, who is also known for films like Tikli And Laxmi Bomb, Totta Pataaka Item Maal, and Devi Aur Hero, shared with this diarist, "The film Not Today is about a young girl whose first day at work as a suicide prevention counsellor ends up being very tough. IFFM has some very good films this year, and we had Tikli And Laxmi Bomb play there, too. So, it feels good to be selected there again."

Singalong with Bandra's best

A pre-pandemic edition of the zonals at St Andrew's auditorium

For 66 years, St Andrew's All Bandra Zonals has provided musicians, theatremakers, dancers and other performing artistes a chance to showcase their talent. With the world going online, the iconic event is also taking the digital route this year. But instead of a contest, it will be a celebration, shared Melody Laila, who is hosting it with Daniel Dsouza, Erica D'Souza and Brian Tellis. "Over the years, tonnes of talented folk have emerged from this competition, who are now doing it on a professional scale. In the online format, the celebration will showcase artistes who've been a part of the zonals in the past 66 years," Laila told this diarist.

The four-day live show will play out on August 28, 29 and September 4 and 5, and comprises big acts such as Usha Uthup (in pic) and Lesle Lewis, among others. "There will also be a 100-plus-member international choir conducted by USA-based Shaila Miranda and produced and engineered by Calvin Vaz," Laila said, adding that viewers can tune in on their Facebook and YouTube channels.