A mega festival of Indian arts

Rang – the annual festival of Indian arts is back with its third edition. And, it is not just a theatre fest this time, but includes five mega events under its umbrella. There is Manchnaad - The Theatre Fest, Kalamkaari - The Literature Festival, Cinesthesia - The Film Festival, Shutters Creed - The Photography fest and Parampara - The Folk festival. Programmes are on at various venues till July 28.

Rang is the brainchild of The Film and Theatre Society – a vibrant young theatre group in the Capital. Under its founder-president Atul Satya Kaushik – a commerce graduate from the prestigious Sri Ram College of Commerce – FTS has scaled great heights in a very short time. Today, it boasts of over 60 members, 50 stage shows of eight full length theatre productions held in over nine different Indian cities.

Commenting on the third edition of Rang, Atul says, “Art and culture is truly ubiquitous. This festival celebrates the power of expression to unify people across regions and cultures. Given last year’s success, we aim to elevate the festival by bringing theatre groups from other cities, like Mumbai. Also, we are extremely excited to promote sister arts like photography and film-making through this platform.”

This year Manchnaad - the theatre fest features three productions by FTS. These include Arjun Ka Beta (July 26, 7 pm), the classic Koobar aur Kaaki (27th, 7 pm) and the premier show of its brand new play Draupadi (28th, 7 pm). Also, a live chat between Atul and noted stage and film actress Sushma Seth will be conducted on July 27, 6:30 pm. All of these will be held at Sri Ram Centre (Mandi House).

The Shutter’s Creed photography team has invited entries for a contest this time. These include three genres Vintage, Streets and Portraits. The best entries are up for viewing at Alliance Francaise till July 25 (2-9 pm) and will move to the Sri Ram Centre Lobby for viewing till July 28. The lobby will also host a photography workshop (July 28, 3-5:30 pm) and felicitation of the contest winners thereafter.

On July 24, Kalamkaari – the literary wing is organising a panel discussion on ‘Sexuality and Manto’ (6-7:15 pm), readings from Manto’s Khushiyaan and Shyaah Hanshiye (7:30-8:45 pm), a lab for young Hindi playwrights (4-6:30 pm) and a Hindi play script reading session (7 pm). These will be held at Alliance Francaise. Then, a grand Kavi sammelan is slated for July 25 (6-8:30 pm) at Hindi Bhavan, ITO. Gauhar Raza, noted scientist and leading Urdu poet will grace the event with his presence.
Parampara has put up stalls of paintings and handicrafts by rural artisans while puppetry shows and live performances by folk artists have been organised on all the days at Shri Ram Centre and the Little Theatre Group auditorium. Don’t miss this for anything!
DHNS