Have you wished to see the classical dance maestro Mallika Sarabhai move to blissful tunes? Here is the chance to witness it all live. Mallika Sarabhai will be in Kochi on the 25^th of September, this coming Sunday, to perform at JTPac Thripunithura. She will be performing ‘India: Then, Now, Forever’ at the venue.

This dance production which was choreographed by Miss. Sarabhai was widely acclaimed and was premiered in the year 2006. The production will showcase the unity and harmony that persists amidst the wide array of cultural and religious differences in our county. Our country hosts people and cultures which are extremely different yet we move in harmony. Undoubtedly, you would not see this anywhere other than in India. And this can be best showcased through a dance form. The idioms of tribal, classical, folk and contemporary dances will be used to highlight India as a bowl of cultures.

For enquiries and reservations, contact them at 9349528057 or 9349528107.

When we were invited to the curtain raiser show of S36, a band conceptualized and brought together by Kochi’s own Sreesanth, I secretly hoped he was not going to take this music thing fulltime, coz I for one have not had enough of him on the cricket field.

Last night, I went to JT Pac not knowing what to expect, and by the end of the show I had some concrete opinions about what I had seen. So here is my review :
I have to confess I missed a couple of songs, Mostly coz of traffic on a Sunday evening  ;), but as I got in to the theatre, the first song I heard was a rendition by Madhu Balakrishnan, that man is super polished on stage, what stands out most is his presence on stage and I’m convinced that comes from years of performing. But that is expected from one of Kerala’s foremost singers. I was here to listen to the singers I have never heard before. The next song was a tamil song by Deepak Das, one of the young singing talents in the band. He did not seem scared of the stage, he did not seem shaken up by the celebrities sitting in the first row, he belted out a clean number with the help of Latha Krishna. Harib another vocalist with the band sang a very well co-ordinated hindi number. Their rendition on ‘Allah Ke Bandhe’ got the crowd going and was a musical treat.

The highlight of the evening was an unplugged performance by the band, it truly showcased the amazing range the vocalists in the band have, I was particularly impressed by the two youngsters Deepak and Harib, the ease at which Harib reached those high notes were incredible. Madhu Balakrishnan was his amazing self. Another highlight of the evening was a song written and composed by Sreesanth himself. The tamil song was called ‘ Anubulla Azakai’ and was dedicated to his mum, I believe there was an ulterior motive. There was also a world cup song called Hello.

It was an entertaining evening of music, but the shining star was the exuberance of youth and the never say never attitude. There were people on that stage who had put in a lot of heart and soul into their performance and it was all in the open for people to see and enjoy. We should also commend Sreesanth for having put together a set of young artists to make this band, its his passion that made the evening happening, the same passion and heart with which he runs in and bowls on the cricket field.

Was it a error free evening, no, but it was the curtain raiser show, and they have a super mentor in Madhu Balakrishnan, and we know they will not lack support or passion. They will learn to use the equipment and sound to benefit their voice as they go along. Will I pay to watch them perform , Hell Ya…

The Band

Vocals :
Madhu Balakrishnan
Deepak Das
Harib
Latha Krishna
Sreesanth

Keyboard : Anoop
Lead Guitar : Sandeep
Bass Guitar : Chippu
Percussion : Shomi
Flute and Sax : Jose
Drums : Arunroop

Original Compositions : Deepak Warrier
Anubulla Azakai : written and composed by Sreesanth

Hello : The World Cup song
Composition : Deepak Warrier
Lyrics : Sreesanth.

Photographs of the event coming soon

The famous duo from Boing Boing is at it again.! But not on the silver screen this time, but through the play ‘Chayamukhi’ that will be staged at JTPAC on 17-October-2009.

Play Chayamukhi based on the interaction between Bhima and Keechaka, is making journeys of their own. The play opens with Bhima’s monologue, which starts with the line: “How much more distance to be covered?” Thus begins his journey, in search of his true love in life – only to realise that his love was never returned.The play is a fusion of the Mahabharata and the present world and the entire story is told and viewed through the eyes of three petty thieves who venture into the forest and witness certain events depicted in Mahabharata.Mohanlal played the role of Bheema in this Mahabaratham based drama.

Produced by actor Mukesh’s Kalidasa Visual Magic, the story revolves around the Great epic Mahabharath. Chayamukhi is written and directed by Prasanth Narayanan ,a versatile artist with an ever probing intellect ,a talented writer and a crazy director,Chayamukhi takes the viewer to the realms and thoughts never traversed before.For him, Keechaka is a poet and lover, who loves flowers and celebrates the winter festival to the fullest. Even Bhima regrets killing him, though he does so only because Keechaka deviated from accepted norms of the society. Mukesh plays the role of the kind man in this play. Before came to the stage, Mohanlal and his crew have rehearsed for sixty days to present the drama perfectly.

You read it rite..! Sivamani , India’s favorite percussionist will be performing @ Kochi . Be sure to get ur tickets right away..!

Performing with him would be Ramesh Narayan (hindustani vocalist), Stephen Devassy (keyboard), Ravi Chari (sitar), Satyajith Thalwaker (tabla) and Josy Johns (bass guitar).

Details

Reserve your seat..!

Jose Thomas Performing Art Centre (JTPac) brought to the city of Kochi, an adaptation of the Marathi blockbuster comedy Ek Lagnachi Ghosht, shaadi@barbaadi.com on 23rd May, 2009 in association with the Muthoot Pappachan Foundation. Radio Mango being the radio partner.

After his outstanding appearance in the famous Bollywood flick Hera Pheri; nothing less could have been expected out of this talented comedian actor Paresh Rawal.2.5 hours of non stop entertainment is how we can best describe this play. Paresh Rawal and his team (small screen artists) had the entire audience rolling with laughter with their exceptional performance.

Written by Umesh Shukla and directed by Paresh Rawal, the plot is based on a Gujarati guy falling in for a babe at a bus stop and how the story proceed leading to their blissful wedding to an equally chaotic post marital life. How the wife doesn’t see eye to eye with the mother-in-law and how the Gujarati guy (Paresh Rawal) goes through the brunt. I was looking forward to seeing Ye Jo hai Zindagi fame actor and wife of Paresh Rawal, Swaroop Sampat on the stage; however she didn’t come and her part was played by some other artist. Anyways, the show was simply hilarious and we all enjoyed it to the hilt.

I think JTPac is one of the good things that has happened to Kochi offlate. Thanks to Jose Thomas (Choice Group) and our very own Mohanlal, who needs no introduction, for brining to us a world class performing art centre at Choice School, Tripunithara. The acoustics are amazing however I feel the stage could have been a little bigger so that in future they have their option open for bigger performing bands and artists. Anyways, the management would know better, afterall it’s their vision.

So far there have been four performances, and I have been lucky to be able to attend three of them  – Dr. Subramaniam on his violin, Kavitha Krishnamurthy on vocals along with their kids; Cotemporary Jazz concert by Usha Uthup and the ofcourse the most recent Hindi play by Paresh Rawal. The one that I missed was Shobhana’s dance recital.

The management has done some intelligent thinking by inviting as special guests international diplomats for each of its show. It will not only help promoting Indian art and culture but also throw open the stage for international artists and exposing people back home to the world art.

The upcoming show that you can look forward to at JTpac, is the Malayalam Rock band – AVIAL playing on 6th June at 7:00 pm; also brought in association with the Muthoot Pappachan Foundation. Online booking for tickets can be done at www.jtpac.org