Events of the week

Classic conundrum

What: An exciting contemporary take on the classic, Rajneesh Gautam’s Hindi play

‘The Curse of Hamlet’ is woven around William Shakespeare’s famous play. Produced by Akshara Theatre, it’s an 80-minute play where a clever ‘whodunit’ is woven into the play-within-a-play, set in a theatre company comprised of brilliant, flawed actors beset by internal conflicts.

When: July 22 – 31

Where: India Habitat Centre

Personal odyssey

What: A deeply personal story of migration from Pakistan to Canada, ‘Abu’ is a journey to the centre of a fragmented family as it grapples with religion, sexuality, colonialism and migration. Through a tapestry of narratives composed of family footage, observation and classic Bollywood films, homosexual film-maker Arshad Khan takes viewers through the tense relationships between family and fate, conservatism and liberalism, modernity and familiarity. Born in Pakistan, Khan believes in cinema as a catalyst for change. Interested in realism in cinema and the new wave in South Asian cinema, yet not restricted to any one cinematic genre, Abu, screened by Kriti Film Club, is his first feature documentary and has already won awards and critical praise around the world.

When: July 27 (7 pm)

Where: Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre

Epic villainy

What: Focusing primarily on their friendship between Duryodhan and Karna, Mahabharata is told from their perspective. Written by Puneet Issar, the play throws light on this friendship that defies caste and class – an issue that is still apparent in the socio-economic sphere of the country. Even today, this story delivers a message that is relevant at every stage of life. It shows how every individual has shades of grey, which is beautifully portrayed on stage. From the power cast to the dialogue delivery, costumes to stage setting, lighting, music, and props – every element on stage adds to the magnificence of the play. The actors do their roles with perfection and Puneet Issar stands out for his powerful depiction of Duryodhan. Even after all these years, he does justice to his role and even makes one feel for his villainous character.

When: July 27

Where: Kamani Auditorium

Angular strokes

What: Reflecting on the stories from his village in parallel to those from the city, artist Sunil Yadav distinctly marks the dual aspects of the two worlds, which form a narrative base to his works. His paintings are on display at the exhibition ‘An Archaeology of a New Identity’. With this series, what may seem like the mapping of a cityscape from a distance gradually discloses its micro constituents — floating objects and detached symbols from his memories, desires, traditions and associations, here co-existing to form an ambiguous narrative. Set within a monochromatic landscape, angular planes build familiar corners and intimate spaces over an underlying graph-like system of lines, that the artist employs to delineate the severe standardisations endured within these rapidly developing spaces. The experience of having used certain objects, but now defunct and museumised, brings about a sense of unease in the artist. For him, these spaces become memorials to the past lives of these now unconscious objects.

When: August 2 – 11 (11 am – 8:30 pm)

Where: Triveni Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen Marg