“There is more to a film festival than just watching films”

The Director General of the just concluded 11th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, Mani Kaul, is a veteran film director. A graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India, he has made a number of films, including the acclaimed...

No show like the Chennai Season

Octogenarian violinist TN Krishnan is a picture of composure as he coaxes the most transcendental sounds out of his ancient violin.

And then there’s the context...

I have just recently returned from one pioneering rural tourism effort in India called Citrus County. Located in the Chhauni village of Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, it is offering quite a unique little number to hum.

Calling Card

It’s rare that Bollywood can resist Manish Malhotra’s gossamer chiffons and risqué cholis. And when he announces that his showstoppers at the HDIL India Couture Week would be sweethearts Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor acting out a prelude to their own nuptials, it is little wonder that the show is a jam-packed affair.

Readings by the lake

The Pushkar Lake may be bereft of water, the festival will have a new dimension this year. The cattle and camels will share the spotlight on the last day of October with a hitherto rare species at that venue , the intrepid author.

‘Spin me round like a record’

For all those who think that a disc jockey is nothing more than a human jukebox, think again. While they spin the latest music to make your night enjoyable, have you realised that some of the tracks you groove to have been created by the DJ himself?

Put your hands up for stand-ups

In a country bitten by the Bollywood bug, stand-up comedians are making their presence felt beyond the realms of television shows such as Seinfeld and the Drew Carey Show.

The Illusion of Depth

Despite the lull that the film industry has experienced this year due to the IPL followed by the two-month long producer-multiplex strike, there has been a flow of 3D animation films — Monsters Vs Aliens, Bolt, Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs — released between June and August 2009.

Return of the red dots

India Art Summit 2 is over. And relief seems to the overriding expression for the art frat. For Indian art in recent years has rivaled its more glamorous cousins in finan- cial growth, media column inches, and adorning the walls of the upwardly mobile Indian.

Reality check

There seems to be a breath of fresh air on television as non-fiction programming rapidly delves into bold and edgy domains.

Creativity undervalued

From talking birds to chatty woodland creatures, a voicing or dubbing artist can breathe life into a variety of animated characters.

Mirror image

Television production company Big Synergy has seen a growth of 450% in the last four years. Starting in 1989, Big Synergy has produced more than 30 series for television, including shows such as Kaun Banega Crorepati, Mastermind India, University Challenge, India’s Child Genius, Bluffmaster, Heartbeat etc.

'I am not here to perpetuate mediocrity'

OLE. Catchy, isn’t it? That’s the acronym for Osian’s Learning Experience referred to by India’s most ambitious art institution. And this step, the first of three, explains founder Chairman Neville Tuli, is the first towards establishing a university for the arts, slated to come up in Delhi a year after Osianama...

'I have a thousand stories to tell'

At any point, there are a thousand ideas swirling in Ram Gopal Varma’s mind. When he has a pressing need to turn an idea into a story, it’s the story that drives the genre he is going to tell it in. Through the years, Ramu, as he likes to be called — “it lets me get away with doing kiddish stuff,” he has explained in his blog — has delved in many genres. He has done a film on student politics (Shiva); he has directed a gangster trilogy, Satya, Company, D (produced by him), one of the best to come out of Bollywood, frilly romantic films like (Rangeela and Mast), family dramas (Sarkar Raj 1 and 2), horror and supernatural thrillers (Raat, Bhoot, Phoonk) and done two remakes — Sholay and...

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Events

“There is more to a film festival than just watching films”

No show like the Chennai Season

And then there’s the context...

Calling Card

Readings by the lake

‘Spin me round like a record’

Put your hands up for stand-ups

The Illusion of Depth

Return of the red dots

Reality check

Creativity undervalued

Mirror image

'I am not here to perpetuate mediocrity'

'I have a thousand stories to tell'

“A renaissance is happening in Hindi cinema”

Order of the Kids

Fear Factor

Going Live

“Popular can’t be immortal”

"The premium on knowledge is dipping by the year"

An era gone by