Weekend buzz around Ranga Shankara

What's hot at Ranga Shankara Theatre Fest 2008 this week? A bird's eye view of all the exciting short films and plays that's waiting to grip you this week:

Nov 4 - Session 1: 2:00 - 5:30 pm
Performing The Goddess: The Chapal Bhaduri Story
44 minutes | Bengali with English subtitles

An intimate video biography of performer Chapal Bhaduri reminiscing about a lifetime in the world of Jatra, Bengal's traditional folk traveling theatre, discussing what it meant to play the role of a woman night after night, talking of the woman inside him, of sexuality, of a long domestic partnership with his lover, of the loneliness of living on the edges of conventional society - and showing how he metamorphoses into the Goddess in order to perform her story.

The director of the play, Naveen Kishore is a publisher, photographer, theatre lighting designer, graphic designer and documentary filmmaker. He also designs Seagull Theatre Quarterly and all Seagull books.

Moliere
Director | Ariane Mnouckine
133 minutes | French with English Subtitles

A film on Moliere's Illustre Théâtre Company highlighting his theatrical career.  A popular epic, the film is a tribute to theatre in a purely cinematic language. Chosen to represent France at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978, this great film tells the story of a man and his century: Molière and the reign of LouisXIV

About the Director
Ariane Mnouchkine is the director of theater and moderator of the troupe she founded in 1964, Théâtre du Soleil. She is also a screenwriter and filmmaker.

Gubbi Company
Director | M S Sathyu
18 mins | Kannada

This film highlights the celebrated theatre manager Gubbi Veeranna's theatrical career. A panorama of his plays is a testimony of the fact that he raised comedy from the confines of subplots to the main body of the play, paving the way for an array of imitators. The film sketches his rise as a theatre person in his own right and showcases the success of the Gubbi Company.

M.S. Sathyu is a distinguished theatre director as well as a stage and lighting designer who has contributed to theatre for over 40 years. He is also an award-winning filmmaker and has made films in several Indian languages, the most well known being Garm Hawa, a national award winning film.

Nov 5 - Session 2: 7.30 - 10:30 pm
Pageant in Painted Scenes
Director | Merajur Rahman Baruah
90 minutes | English

A documentary on the last commercial public theatre of India - the mobile theatre of Assam. The theatre, once an immensely popular cultural form, still thrives in the pockets of Assam. The range of ingredients run from melodrama inspired monologue to video projection; from folklores to contemporary international events such as WTC attack and from traditional song and dance to urban pop culture- making it a unique hybrid form. The documentary makes a contribution to the cultural study beyond the hegemony of the urban cultures and the cinemas.

About the Director
An independent filmmaker, Merajur Rahman Baruah has been involved in making documentaries and television programmes for over ten years now.  He received the Best Director award for "Shifting Prophecy" at the Hyderabad International film Festival, 2008. He is recipient of the Royal Commonwealth Society's Commonwealth Vision Award 2006 for his film "Beyond the Zero Line".

Maya Bazaar-The Survival of a 120-year-old Theatre Family
Director | K Madhusudhanan
Produced by India Foundation for the Arts
60 mins | Telugu

A film on Surabhi Theatre Company of Andhra Pradesh showcasing the survival of a 120-year-old theatre company. Envisaged as a journey with the repertory company, the film examines the everyday activities of these travelling actors and their families, rehearsals, exercises, the staging of the plays based on the epics and the Puranas, the audience, sets, make-up and costume design. The film also explores the traces of Parsee theatre, silent cinema from the Phalke era and the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma in the design of the theatre company's sets and costumes.

About the Director
K. Madhusudhanan is a painter, graphic artist and short filmmaker whose latest film History is a Silent Film was selected for screening at the Outstanding Short Films from International Festivals, Museum of Modern Art, New York in June 2007.

The Role of Theatre Brochures
Director | Anand Gupt
Hindi / English

'The Role of Theatre Brochures' is a rare collection that stands witness to several interesting aspects of theatre in India and other parts of the world. Apart from the facts and statistics related to theatre history, the film brings alive the philosophies and artistic principles of directors and designers. Of special interest are the processes through which these artistes evolved their individual styles and original ideas. Spanning over four decades, this collection of interesting brochures and posters includes material dated as early as 1960s.

About the Director
Anand Gupt, an ardent drama lover, was the founder-editor of 'Abhinay', a unique fortnightly magazine devoted to theatre. The magazine was printed on an inland letter.