King of Spades

The Tiatr setting Loretta. The papers described it as a goan play based on the popular Tiatr form. Ab Theatre toh suna tha, but yeh ‘Theater mein Tiatr’ pehli baar sun raha tha. Googled  and found out that this Tiatr is a type of musical theatre popular in the state of Goa since colonial days, the  language mainly being Konkani. The drama consists of 6 or 7 acts called pordhe . The acts are interspersed by songs which need not be directly linked to the content or the issues of the main drama. There are 2 or 3 songs between each of the acts. In case you find that too much to comprehend, guess for the lesser mortals one can say,these are like Nautanki fillers! Short and maybe not so sweet for some but definitely effective! Goa, with its free flowing culture and charm, always  lifts up your spirit in more ways than one. Now a goan charm combined with this folk or Tiatr style of storytelling, was a potent cocktail. So decided to give it a shot over the weekend. Now a sh...

Carefree and free spirited, running around the Jungle in a yellow chaddi with the song playing the background-“jungle jungle bath chali hai pata chala hai, chaddi pehenke phool khila hai… phool khila hai…” the images of Mowgli and his friends are still sharp in my mind.  Have lost count on the number of Sundays this animated series entertained us on the idiot box on Doordarshan during our childhood days. Mowgli’s friends were our friends and we all hated, some even feared Shere Khan. Even in our group all of us had names. I, for one was Bagheera, the panther. Mowgli’s trusted friend/mentor guide .Missed out on being Mowgli since I was big for my age amongst my peers and on Baloo because there was someone bigger! Was awaiting this one and when the movie released in India this week, was amongst the first to catch it over the long weekend. The plot is nearly the same. Mowgli, a man cub is discovered by Bagheera and handed over to Raksha and Akela, the wolves who raise him up as thei...

After Cheeni kam, Shamitabh yet again in Ki&Ka we have a unique concept from the director R Balki . His ideas are unique for sure and quite quirky. This time around the quirk is on the preconceived gender roles that we as a society have decided for our ladKAs(Boys) and ladKIs(Girls) . While the ladkas have to be the breadwinners , ladkis have to take care of domestic duties, be at home and play the supporting role to their men. This is what has been a traditional norm in the Indian society. While this has definitely changed  in the last 10 years or so, we have still a long way to go in being a gender equal society, especially where the mindset is concerned. Kia(Kareena Kapoor Khan) plays a strong headed, ambitious corporate woman who is all about to challenge this mindset. Single, successful and unmarried she is completely career driven and does not believe in just being a pillar of support to a building, when she can be the whole building herself. Success driven she has her ...