Straight from the heart

IT IS perhaps the first allbum of its kind. Conceived composed and performed by women artistes, Virgin's ``Man Ke Manjeere'' gathers the flavour and folklore of different regions. Passionately sung by Shubha Mudgal, Antara Choudhary, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Diwaliben Bhil and Rukmabai, the album by Breathrough, an organisation committed to increasing public dialogue on human rights through popular culture, is unique and completely different from anything you've heard so far.

Each song is painstakingly crafted to speak of women's dreams and desires, to tell the stories of what women are going through in various parts of the country, or better still, of how women perceive themselves. Nagged by self-doubt and unaware of her own strength, she is sometimes the Mother Earth (Maati) whose presence ignites the hearth. It is because of her that the crops sway in the fields and the homes are warm. She accepts that she is special, accepts her power. Rocked by the breeze, saluted by the seasons and adorned in dust, she is frequently drained, but full of hope, standing testimony to the footprints of several voyagers who have travelled the route.She is sometimes the stream (Jheel). Numbed by the stillness surrounding her, she is bored of silence, bored of contemplation and wisdom, hungry for change. She wonders how the moon, her only companion in this deafening solitude, survives... Wordless yet self-sufficient, consistently dignified in isolation. Perhaps, therein is the secret of its mystique. But truth lies in movement and if it is her destiny to move ahead, find new paths and new meaning, she will...

Self-denying, and often ignorant of her own talent (``Kesariya Balam''), she is amused by the attention. ``I would hum to myself because singing made me happy, made my heart feel lighter. I didn't know I was creating songs. Nobody said that to me. In fact, nobody understood what I sang until you labelled me an artiste'' she confesses. Wild and robust, she's happy with revived confidence.

``Man Ke Manjeere'' or the jangle of the heart, is a tantalising number celebrating the fading darkness to welcome a saffron dawn. It celebrates a woman's soaring spirits. At last, she has buried her doubts, made friends with herself. Initially awkward, she has finally mustered the courage to express herself, to confide in her parents (``Babul Jiya Mora'') about her choice of a bridegroom. She does not want to marry a trader or a king, she has no value for money or gold. She'd rather marry a blacksmith, for only he would make her shackles melt, and set her free...

Gone are the days when she would endure pain (``Beeti Raina''). Gone are the days when she would repress anger. Today, she can step aside and watch her past. Detached... uninvolved. Today, her focus is on herself. She weaves solitary dreams independent of baggage, careful not to let them slip, mindful of the darkness and the debris she may stumble into, completely indulgent and full of longing. This is one time she isn't going to give up on her dreams (``Khwaab Khwaab''). The stakes are high but she is determined to follow it to the end. She's waited too long (``Intezaar''). Years, decades, or is it centuries? Vacant-eyed, consumed with desire. For too long she has put her dreams on hold, hung them out in the courtyard... stuffed cotton wool in her eardrums to deafen the haunting echoes. Jostled the flower tree in anticipation that its fragrance will at some point absorb her. She has walked on the soft grass, chatted with the singing bird who consoled her, promised her that her time would come too, when she would be blessed with her share of sunshine. Has the day come finally...?

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``Ismat Apa'' is Motley's first Hindustani language production featuring three of the author's (Ismat Chugtai) short stories presented as one-man acts. Produced by Jairaj Patil and directed by Naseeruddin Shah, with music by Vishal Bhardwaj and lighting by Michael Nazareth, what makes the play unique is that it is the first time that Naseer, wife Ratna and daughter Heeba have come together on stage. Witty and warm with extraordinary insights into human relationships, the play is a tribute to a spirited and a fiery writer who was much ahead of her times.

``Mughal Bachcha'' enacted by Ratna Pathak Shah, is about the successors of the great Mughals. The landed gentry of Uttar Pradesh in the times of the British Raj, unable to come to terms with their crumbling status, cling on to the tattered remnants of their ancestors' past glory. Within this wry and perceptive social commentary, is interwoven a love story of epic proportions. The story of ``Gori bi'' and ``Kaley main'', a sad story of ego conflicts suppressing personal desires and letting outsiders ruin what could have been a lasting and intimate relationship. It isn't easy delivering such long passages of dialogue with minimal movements, but Ratna holds your attention sitting on a chair taking you down memory lane as she turns the pages of her sepia-tinted album.

``Chhui Muee'' narrated by Heeba Shah, is a tribute to the power of the rural woman, expressed through an incident of a childbirth witnessed by three fascinated and differently affected women, in a train compartment. A first person account, it could well have been a personal experience of the writer. In her debut performance, Heeba Shah proves that she is her father's daughter, and that acting is in her genes.``Gharwali'', by Naseeruddin Shah, is a heady satire on the institution of marriage and on the social mores of the prevailing times (1940s). What is fascinating about the writer is that her observations on human relationships ring true even today. Naseeruddin Shah playing Mirza who is recounting his association with his maid-turned-wife-turned-maid Lajjo. Naseer is riveting, not letting your attention waver for even a minute. He makes you laugh, cry, reflect and review. That's the beauty of Ismat Chugtai's writing too. She cracks the whip, but without a sound. Sensitive without melodrama and provoking without preaching, the play is a stimulant for decaying emotions in current times.

The play uses just a master bed as a prop, with only the bedspreads changing for every character. The play of shadow lighting is dramatic. ``Ismat Apa'' is a not-to-be missed play for theatre lovers and more important, for all budding and stagnant writers.

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There are just 200 IMAX theatres in 26 countries around the world and another 77 currently under construction. The construction of India's first IMAX Theatre commenced in January 2000. Fifteen months later, in March 2001, the IMAX Adlabs Theatre, spread over an area of 1,00,000 sq.ft., has a seating capacity of 520 and the world's biggest screen, measuring 13,700 sq.ft. When the date was fixed for inauguration, nobody was certain if the theatre would be ready, except one man. He made a commitment and he kept his word. Manmohan Shetty of Adlabs Films Ltd., India's premier motion picture processing laboratory, has done India and the film industry proud by creating the first of its kind theatre in the Indian subcontinent with the world's largest dome screen.

Using the most advanced projection system and the largest film frame in motion picture history, along with 12,000 watts of digital wrap-around sound immerses the viewer, in what is called an incredible motion picture experience!

BHAWANA SOMAAYA

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