Much-awaited film releases, big-ticket gigs, cult shows and international art events. Presenting the cultural highlights of 2017
Promising Start
After the disappointing box-office collection of Hindi films last year, 2017 is expected to have a good start with Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees and Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil. It’s the big clash of 2017, as both the films release on January 25. But before that, get set for Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Haraamkhor on January 13, whose release was cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) recently. The other big releases of the year are Vishal Bharadwaj’s Rangoon (February 23), which is a romance-drama set against war; the delayed Jagga Jasoos (April 7), directed by Anurag Basu with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead; and Bahubali 2 (April 28), a much-awaited sequel directed by SS Rajamouli.
The Ladies in LA
They have both worked their way up to occupy the top spots in Bollywood and have since trained their eyes Westwards. Priyanka Chopra turned singer first, then made her international TV debut with Quantico, before signing her first Hollywood film. On the other hand, Deepika Padukone went on directly to make her big screen debut. And this year will see their Hollywood films hit the screens. First up is Padukone’s XXX: Return of Xander Cage in January, where she appears alongside Vin Diesel, while Chopra will be the antagonist in the reboot of Baywatch, which has Dwayne Johnson lead the squad of lifeguards.
International fare
Some of the Oscar front-runners such as Dev Patel’s Lion, Casey Affleck’s Manchester by the Sea, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight and Natalie Portman’s Jackie have already piqued the interest of movie buffs. Other interesting projects to look forward to are Beauty and the Beast, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Battle of the Sexes featuring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express. Not to be missed is DC comic’s Wonder Woman — the inspiring female superhero in an ocean of male superheroes — on screen this year. Israeli actor-model Gal Gadot-Varsanooman will play the lead role in the film, which is slated for a June release.
Darker Things
We have come a long way from the dark days of the late ’90s and early aughts when sitcoms with laughter tracks were the norm. If 2016 offered us a mere sip of wonderfully dark, off-kilter content in the form of Westworld, Fleabag, The Night Manager, Stranger Things, and The Night Of, then 2017 is set to get even more intense. Among the new shows that will premiere this year are a bunch of book adaptations, including Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Neil Gaiman’s bestselling fantasy American Gods and the deliciously weird Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, which will see Neil Patrick Harris star as the evil Count Olaf. This year will also see two cult television shows being rebooted — the David Lynch-directed Twin Peaks, featuring many of the original cast members including Kyle MacLachlan, and Star Trek: Discovery, which is the first in the series after 2005’s Star Trek: Enterprise. But perhaps the weirdest show on TV — and not necessarily in a good way — will be Riverdale, a dark, subversive take on the world of Archie Comics, which will feature murder, betrayal and an Archie Andrews with chiselled abs. There is also the seventh season of the much-loved Game of Thrones on TV this year. Hopefully, fans will also get a healthy dose of fantasy, violence and gore if the much-anticipated sixth book of A Song of Ice and Fire series, called Winds of Winter by George RR Martin releases in 2017. The author hopes fans will keep checking his blog to know the actual release date.
Udta, Punjabi!
AFTER making waves in Punjabi music and films, Diljit Dosanjh impressed everyone with his stellar performance in Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab. His beautiful rendition of Ek kudi…also won him accolades. In 2017, the actor has not one but two Hindi films slated — Phillauri and Kaneda, both with actor Anushka Sharma. He will be seen flexing some muscle in the Punjabi film Super Singh, and will also judge a music reality show this year.
Form Matters
It is not everyday that one gets to see hand sketches of some of the world’s most iconic buildings in India. This year, you will. “India Arch Dialogue 2017” brings to Delhi for the first time a compendium of drawings by 20 international architects in February. Taking forward their initiative towards a collaborative platform for art, architecture, interiors and visual arts, FCML — the luxury lifestyle brand — will work on the premise that “Architecture is Art”. The event, at Gallery IAQ, Delhi, from February 3 to 21, will host 60 projects, 30 talks and will see Indian architects presenting their work.
Waxing Eloquent
London’s Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is set to open its India franchise this year. As many as 90 statues will be unveiled at the Delhi space in June. From Mahatma Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from actors Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar — the museum, above Regal cinema in Connaught Place, will represent people from various fields. There will also be statues from Tussauds’ international galleries.
Black-ish
Using a kind of scorched earth policy, charcoal is growing increasingly popular in culinary and cocktail circles, both nationally and internationally. Industry experts predict a flare up in the number of chefs and mixologists infusing dishes and drinks with its smoky notes through smoking and other techniques. Chefs, however, need to be careful while using charcoal as it is a carbon, which can be harmful.
India Art Fair
The sales might be down but the art market in India is buzzing nevertheless. The new year will begin on a promising note with the India Art Fair (IAF) in Delhi. Apart from the showcase at NSIC Grounds in Okhla, the event will see several significant collaterals and exhbitions across the city. While Jitish Kallat will present over two decades of his work in the exhibition, “Here After Here” at the National Gallery of Modern Art, the line-up of solo shows includes artists such as Prabhavathi Meppayil, GR Iranna, and Vibha Galhotra. At the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Roobina Karode will curate “ReVisions: Perusals on the Indian Modern A Consortium of Exhibitions”, presenting a dialogue between visual arts, architecture, theatre and photography.
Spade Full
Founded in 1993 by former style editor Kate Brosnahan and business partner husband Andrew Spade, the Kate Spade New York label is one of America’s best known handbag and accessories brands today. In association with Reliance Brands Limited, the label will mark its India debut this year . Starting March, the brand will be sold from stores in Delhi.
Love, Actually
Manav Kaul returns to the stage after a decade with Chuhal, a romcom that centres around a liberated woman and a man with conventional ideas. The play was staged in Mumbai in November, and it’s only now that it comes to Delhi. In Chuhal, Kaul plays Sudhir, a school teacher, who is looking for a bride among the families of a provincial town. He seems to have found the perfect girl in Aarti (played by Sugandha Garg) but she turns him down. A dialogue begins between the two on their idea of love and that forms the premise of the play, which will be staged at Sathya Sai Auditorium in Delhi on January 15.
Summer dreamin’
Mumbai-based director Atul Kumar steps into the strange forest with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which he adapts and titles Khwaab-Sa. At the centre of the story are the fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania, four young lovers whose relationship status is complicated, a group of villagers rehearsing for a play and a jester called Puck. Add to this a purple flower that has been shot by Cupid’s arrow. Kumar had woven a spell with his adaptation of Twelfth Night in to Piya Behrupiya. He collaborates with contemporary dancers and musicians, among others, for Khwaab-Sa. The play will open in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai in January.
For the record
Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, created history when she came out as a transwoman and underwent a sex-change operation in 2015. Part of the famous Kardashian clan, the Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete will release her memoir, Secrets Of My Life on April 25, 2017. Written along with Pulitzer-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger, who also wrote the cover story for Vogue magazine on her transition from Bruce to Caitlyn, the memoir will be a tell-all tale.
Princess forever
In a bid to mark Princess Diana’s 20th death anniversary, an exhibition titled “Diana: Her Fashion Story” will be held at Kensington Palace, starting February 24 . It will showcase some of the most iconic dresses worn by her — from the gowns she adorned in the ’80s to the chic suits of the ’90s. The exhibition will also put on display some fashion sketches done by her. Waiting for Small Things AFTER TWO decades, Booker-winner Arundhati Roy is set to publish her second novel, titled The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. This comes after the phenomenal success of her first, The God of Small Things, which was released in 1997. The upcoming book will be published by Hamish Hamilton.
Go Supersonic
After Sunburn moved to Pune from Goa, the next big festival to have followed suit is dance music fiesta, VH1 Supersonic. To be held from February 10-12, it will feature international acts such as Above & Beyond, Nervo (pictured above) and Dash Berlin. There’s a lot of buzz in the industry about Swedish DJ Eric Prydz who will also perform at the festival. Another act that’s garnering some interest is the debut tour of American musician Mike Posner, known most for his track I took a pill in Ibiza. He will perform in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru from January 25-27.
All that jazz
The legendary Jazz Yatra, which began in 1978 in Mumbai, had changed the city’s musicscape. After a long hiatus, the Yatra, which was one of India’s biggest festivals at the time and had Mumbai’s jazz fans queuing up at Rang Bhawan, will surface in Delhi to mesmerise the audiences with some classic jazz.
To pay a fitting tribute to Niranjan Jhaveri’s brainchild, American jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan will perform in the Capital next month. Known for his peculiar tapping technique where he taps the fretboard with both hands to deliver notes, Jordan, who has collaborated with Quincy Jones and Richie Cole, will perform at One Golden Mile on February 19.
Resource: http://indianexpress.com/
Resource: http://grandiose.org.in/
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