Limelight: one of Chaplin's best works

Can you imagine Charlie Chaplin in a serious role? That sounds quite strange but it's true. Charlie Chaplin had made and acted in such a film. Limelight is a serious and autobiographical film by Charlie Chaplin. It stars Chaplin as once-famous comedian who saves a ballet dancer from killing herself. Nursing her back to health, he helps the dancer regain her self-esteem and resume her dancing career. In doing so, he regains his own self-confidence and eventually has a triumphant comeback. 

When the film was released in 1952 it was heavily boycotted in the United States because of Chaplin's alleged communist sympathies and the film failed commercially. But it became massively popular in Japan, Europe and around the world.

However, it was re-released in the US in 1972. This allowed the decades-old film to be in contention for the 45th Academy Awards where Charlie Chaplin won his only competitive Oscar. Today, the film is regarded as one of Chaplin's best and most personal works.

The music of the film is par excellence. The instrumental theme to the film composed by Charlie Chaplin and titled "The Terry Theme", became very popular. In 1973, over 20 years after the film's first release, Chaplin and his musical collaborators Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell were awarded an Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score. It was the only competitive Academy Award that Chaplin ever received (he had previously received two Honorary Oscars). 

Chaplin spent more than two years writing the script of Limelight. As a preliminary, he wrote the story in the form of a full-length novel entitled “Footlights”. The novel, was not published or apparently even intended for publication. It had lain in Chaplin's archive for decades, and was published for the first time in 2014. The novel was pieced together from a mix of handwritten and typed scripts by Chaplin's biographer David Robinson. It was published by the Cineteca di Bologna, an Italian film restoration institute which has been digitising the Chaplin archive for his family.

Coming back to the film,  Limelight is for those who are an ardent fan of Chaplin's art and can love him even in a serious role. It is for those who have an ear for fine western classical music and a taste for Opera and Ballet. And for those who love serious cinema. 

I can't give any ratings for the movie, you can't rate a legend's work. But I would just sum up with a review of Bosley Crowther of The New York Times who had called the film "a brilliant weaving of comic and tragic strands, eloquent, tearful and beguiling with supreme virtuosity".

~ Priyanka Singh

Jashn-e-Rekhta: The largest celebration of Urdu language

After a hiatus of three years, Delhi celebrated its love for poetry. The seventh edition of Jashn-e-Rekhta, the world’s largest Urdu language literary festival was organised at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi from December 2-4, 2022. The festival was a feast for Urdu poetry lovers and literary enthusiasts. The gala was home to Ghazal, Qawwali, Mushaira, and Sufi performances, Book discussions, panel discussions, conversations on films, and participation in Islamic calligraphy workshops. Jashn-e-Rekhta was inaugurated in the presence of renowned lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar along with Sanjiv Saraf—founder of the Rekhta Foundation, a charitable trust for the promotion of Urdu. 

Over the course of three days, the much awaited festival brought to stage well-known performers such as Bollywood actors Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Ratna Pathak Shah and Diya Mirza, Renowned Poets  Kumar Vishwas, Shailesh Lodha and others, Singers Maithili Thakur, Yawar Abdal, Pratibha Singh Baghel, Shilpa Rao and Rahgir, Music director Sheykhar Ravjiani and many others. Several young poets also presented their poems. The session had Amardeep Singh, Balmohan Pandey, Vikram Gaur Vairagi, Yasir Khan Inam and many more. The women poets’ mushaira hosted some of the leading contemporary female poets including Poonam Meera, Madhavi Shankar, and Priya Malik among others.

-- Priyanka Singh 

पुस्तकायन: बच्चों में पुस्तक संस्कृति जागृत करने का एक सराहनीय प्रयास

इंटरनेट की दुनिया में बच्चों का पुस्तकों के प्रति प्रेम कम होता जा रहा है। बच्चों में पढ़ने की रूचि को बढ़ावा देने के उद्देश्य से साहित्य अकादमी ने पहली बार पुस्तक मेले का आयोजन किया। बाल साहित्य की थीम पर आयोजित 'पुस्तकायन' नाम का यह मेला 11 से 18 नवंबर तक नई दिल्ली के रबीन्द्र भवन परिसर में आयोजित किया गया। 'आज़ादी का अमृत महोत्सव’ के उपलक्ष्य में आयोजित इस पुस्तक मेले का शुभारंभ प्रख्यात लेखिका नासिरा शर्मा द्वारा किया गया। इस अवसर पर साहित्य अकादेमी के उपाध्यक्ष माधव कौशिक, संस्कृति मंत्रालय की संयुक्त सचिव उमा नंदूरी, राज्यसभा सांसद सत्यनारायण जटिया भी उपस्थित थे। इस पुस्तक मेले में विभिन्न भाषाओं के 65 से ज्यादा बाल लेखकों ने और तीस से ज्यादा प्रकाशकों ने  हिस्सा लिया। आठ दिनों तक चलने वाले मेले में अकादमी ने बच्चों के लिए कई रोचक और ज्ञानवर्धक कार्यक्रम आयोजित किए। बाल लेखक से भेंट, बाल साहित्य का वर्तमान परिदृश्य पर विमर्श, बच्चों के लिए कविता, कहानी लेखन और कार्टून चित्रांकन कार्यशालाएं, और बाल कलाकारों की सांस्कृतिक प्रस्तुतियों जैसे कई रोचक और रंगारंग कार्यक्रम आयोजित किए गए। बच्चों को ‘अपने प्रिय लेखक से मिलिए’ कार्यक्रम के अंतर्गत - बालस्वरूप राही, दिविक रमेश, क्षमा शर्मा, कमलजीत नीलों, पारो आनंद एवं असद रज़ा आदि बाल साहित्यकारों से मिलने का अवसर मिला। इस दौरान 14 नवंबर को बालदिवस के मौके पर 'बाल साहित्य पुरस्कार अर्पण समारोह' का आयोजन भी किया गया। पुरस्कार अर्पण समारोह में 21 भारतीय भाषाओं के साहित्यकार शामिल हुए। बच्चों को रोचक कार्यक्रमों के माध्यम से पुस्तकों से जोड़ने वाला ये पुस्तक मेला फिर से बच्चों में पुस्तक संस्कृति को जागृत करने का एक सराहनीय प्रयास है।

-- प्रियंका सिंह 

India Art Festival: Back With a Bang

 

The India Art Festival, showcasing contemporary art works, was organised at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi from October 13-16, 2022. The contemporary art fair, founded in 2011, is considered to be one of the biggest Indian Art Fair Network that hosts art fairs at New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The exhibition showcased artworks of over 450 artists, 25 art galleries with 4,500 artworks. The festival highlighted emerging artists who exhibited their innovative art alongside other established and master artists. The festival featured works by at least 450 masters and established artists, including FN Souza, Krishen Khanna, MF Hussain, Tapas Sarkar, Sunil Das, Suhas Roy, and Ajay Sameer. The participating galleries included Beyond Square, Mriya Arts, House of Emerge, Eminent Art Gallery, Uchaan, Gallery Nataraj, Roopchand Art Gallery and many more. The artworks were in the form of prints, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, ceramics, lithographs, and installations. 

~ Priyanka Singh 

Ghalib In New Delhi : A Review

Imagine Mirza Ghalib, in his long robe, roaming in Delhi in autorickshaw and speaking Hindi in Haryanvi and Bihari accents! Now imagine him in a T- shirt and Bermuda with a tennis racquet in his hand and talking on mobile phone! Is it possible? Yes, when a playwright wants!

Ghalib in New Delhi, a play written and directed by Dr. M Sayeed Alam, is a laugh riot and a political satire. The story is set in present time Delhi and describes the extremely funny account of the rebirth of Mirza Ghalib. The plot revolves around the identity crises that Mirza Ghalib faces after his rebirth in Delhi in 21st century. The play shows the dilemma of one of the greatest Urdu poets of India who is lost in his own city and is not recognised by anyone. The bard is baffled by the deteriorating language of people and tries hard to adjust in today's society. In his journey to reach his haveli at Ballimaran, he meets a foul-mouthed Paanwali, gives bribe to a Delhi Policeman and picks nuances of his Haryanvi accent, stays with a student from Bihar in a room rented out by a Punjabi landlady and eventually turns into a celebrity!

 

The play is not just hilarious but is also full of satirical references regarding present political and social scenario which make it all the more entertaining. The satire and pun are interwoven with the storytelling. Dr. Sayeed's portrayal of Mirza Ghalib is outstanding. He enacts the role of a Septuagenarian quite effectively. The appearance, slow reflexes and the rugged voice of an old man look natural. Other characters like a student from Patna enacted by Manish Singh and a Haryanvi speaking Delhi policeman played by Yashraj Malik have also done commendable performances. Their haryanvi and bihari accents, in a way, show the gradual transformation of Delhi in terms of its language, baffling Mirza Ghalib and making the play more humorous.

 

But as there are good and not so good about everything, so is with the play. The role of Paanwali is interesting but the dialogues are not up to the quality that the overall play has. Other characters like people from Advertising agency, Autorickshaw driver, Bus driver and Rickshaw wala have not much to do. Most of the play goes well with the limited things used but the scene near a bus stop in old Delhi where an autorickshaw driver is repairing his autorickshaw is not easy to comprehend as there is no prop used to show the vehicle. Also, the horse-cart driver is standing with just a leash and there is no prop used for the horse either. So, it takes time to understand what they are doing. Apart from these little things, the play is fully entertaining, a rip-roaring comedy and is going to stay in one's mind for a long time.

 

The play, which has been performed in India and abroad for more than 500 times, is produced by Pierrot’s Troupe, a renowned theatre group which was formed in 1989. The group performs plays in Hindi, Urdu and English. Some of their popular plays include Ghalib in New Delhi, Mohan se Mahatma, Cut Cut Cut, Big B, Maulana Azad, K. L. Saigal, Ghalib, Massage, 1947, Chacha Chakkan in Action, Letters of Ghalib, Lal Quile Ka Aakhri Mushaera and Sons of Babur.

Priyanka Singh