"We are all looking for something of extraordinary importance, whose nature we have forgotten; through my work, I am just putting light and sparkles on the memoir of those who have lost their memory. Because life is really too short to be insignificant," says our friend, the Goa-based artist Yahel Chirinian...
Yahel Chirinian
"We are all looking for something of extraordinary importance, whose nature we have forgotten; through my work, I am just putting light and sparkles on the memoir of those who have lost their memory. Because life is really too short to be insignificant," says our friend, the Goa-based artist Yahel Chirinian, about the extraordinary new phase that she has embarked upon.
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The new pieces, though fashioned in her signature mirrored mosaic style, feature giant ape heads, gem-encrusted skulls, flying fish and other primeval shapes, which, modelled against Goa’s vast blue skies and turbulent waves, have had riveting effect on her fans.
Yahel Chirinian with her new creations
“I like my creations to provoke emotions. They appropriate a place where another piece cannot be. More than décor, their function is to reveal,” says the attractive French artist and agent provocateur, who was born in Avignon, France, and has studied art in Paris, Rome, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Yahel Chirinian with her new creations
“Each piece is handmade in the workshop from a single piece of raw material gradually cut, manipulated, and polished to create a sculpture that is designed to inspire your life,” says the lady with the celebrated whimsy, who recently said, “I’ve seen the future and it will be Batman.”
Celebrating Sachin-da
The usual Literature Live! suspects were all there for the release of Sathya Saran’s book on legendary music composer S D Burman held at the new JSW headquarters at BKC, though some of them from SoBo, like Nandini Sardesai, said, “It’s only because of S D Burman that I’ve gone beyond Haji Ali,” reports a source.
(From left) Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Gulzar, Sathya Saran and Sangita Jindal
But, even die-hard SoBo crowd found the journey worthwhile, when chief guests Gulzar and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma spoke feelingly of their long association with the legend that was Sachin-da. The voice of Amin Sayani, recorded earlier, read passages from the book in his own inimitable style, while Dolly Thakore, in person, read some more, the names of Hindi songs not quite tripping easily over her tongue, says a source.
Anil Dharker, the indefatigable founder of ‘Literature Live!’, was particularly impressed with the art installations that dotted the venue of the book launch. Incidentally, part of the JSW building in BKC that had hosted the event had been festooned with old movie posters, while Burman songs played over the music system. “The vast array of snacks made it clear that vegetarians miss nothing by eschewing meat,” said Dharker. “The pav bhaji made on the spot was utterly butterly-delicious.”
Once more, with feeling
“Medha Gadgil, additional chief secretary, wants to work with ‘I love Mumbai’ on its anti-plastic drive,” said Shaina N C, the BJP spokesperson and devoted daughter of Mumbai’s most famous Sheriff, the dashing Nana Chudasama. She was talking about one amongst her father’s Mumbai-centric civic interventions, carried out regularly.
Rakesh Maria and Shaina NC
“Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria also said he will take 2,500 saplings for new police cops and each one will adopt them,” said Shaina about the well-attended gathering over the weekend, which saw the Chudasamas distributing saplings in their campaign to ‘green’ Mumbai. “35 centres across Mumbai came together to encourage Mumbaikars to adopt a plant, nurture it and contribute to the city’s green lungs,” she said.
David Attenborough SRK
Could there be anything more hilarious than the YouTube Clip depicting SRK at his exuberant and moony best in Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, being interpreted through the solemn and anthropological prism of Sir David Attenborough, that’s been doing the rounds on social networking sites?
Sir David Attenborough. Pic/AFP
Shah Rukh Khan
The handiwork of one more from the burgeoning populace of Indian net-wits, the clip features the plumy voice of the English broadcaster and naturalist, best known for the BBC’s Life series, tacked on to some of SRK’s meanest mating (dance) moves silhouetted against the Kashmir mountains. A brilliantly conceived juxtaposition, it makes for hilarious viewing. Cyber net-wits of the Indian diaspora take a bow!
Om Puri’s next
Whereas the jury’s not out on the merits of ‘The Hundred Foot Journey’, (‘A celebration of cardamom. A tribute to turmeric,’ raved Delhi adman Swapan Seth; whereas New York Times’ much revered movie critic A O Scott was decidedly underwhelmed: ‘likely neither to pique your appetite nor to sate it, leaving you in a dyspeptic limbo,’ he commented in his review); everyone agrees that Om Puri has done a splendid job as usual.
Om Puri
No one can be happier than director Sarah (The Sky Below) Singh, who is nearing completion on her latest film, which stars the legend. Titled ‘A Million Rivers’, the film, which Singh describes as ‘baby Bollywood’ (“because it mixes up several genres like film noir, melodrama, dark comedy, fantasy”), is expected to be ready in the fall of this year, with a sneak preview coming up in September in Mumbai. Filming with Puri occurred in Mumbai, while other locations included Punjab, Kashmir, Kerala, Pakistan, and New York.
Interestingly, Singh, the daughter of an American mother and Sikh father, stalled filming ‘A Million Rivers’ to campaign for her cousin Capt Amarinder Singh, the erstwhile Maharajah of Patiala, before the LS elections in Chandigarh. (He won) “The film is experienced as a surrealist narrative,” she says. “Early reviews have called it ‘a masterpiece’, ‘deeply disturbing and utterly compelling’,” she says.
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