The Hindu : 35 Indians for Edinburgh mela

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 18, 2002

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National

35 Indians for Edinburgh mela

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI Aug. 17. All his life, from childood, Balakrishna Vaidya has been painting huge film billboards in Mumbai; that span covers almost three-fourths of Bollywood's history. Now his moment has arrived. For, at the Edinburgh mela this month-end he would be painting his oeuvre in Scotland where the theme is Bollywood. Anupama Mehta is curating posters of Bollywood at the same location.

On August 31 and September 1, it would be India time at the mela, which, in its eight edition, features major events such as the Jazz & Blues Festival, the Festival Fringe, the International Book Festival, the International Festival, the Film Festival and the Military Tattoo. The "mela" itself is in its 55th year, making it as old as independent India and has a strong international draw. Vaidya and Mehta are part of the Indian contingent — of 35 artists — that would showcase the vibrant aspects of the country's performing and creative arts before an international audience. The mela's contents are rooted in South Asian cultures and would have Pakistani singer Shaqat Ali Khan and India's Sunidhi Chauhan and Sukhwinder Singh singing together.

Just prior to a small preview organised by the British Council here, Vaidya told The Hindu that "there is nothing stronger than a colourful Bollywood statement. Its impact would be palpable." Bollywood, with its huge capacity to churn out enormous number of films — of indifferent to great classical qualities — is known worldwide and apparently, this year's theme would strike a chord among the audiences that is said to throng the festival site from pre-breakfast hours to well past midnight. Many of the Indian participants don't even know "what a passport is.''

This mela, interestingly, is not going to be confined to Edinburg but would move to Ireland as well, with performances scheduled in Dublin and London where little known glass artists would design their wares and Orissa's Gotipura dancers would perform. Gotipura is a dance form that predates Odissi and is performed by 6 to 14-year-old boys dressed as girls and rigourously trained for five years.

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