The First Leaf - A Children's Play for Adults

First the good things....
It was very commendable for AHA, the Ranga Shankara Group to come to North Bangalore saving us a few miles and many hours of journey across the magic box-ridden, silicon-laden mini streets of Bangalore to go to Ranga Shankara. They did a neat little job in Seva Sadan, a neat little auditorium safely tucked in 14th cross Malleswaram.

The play that they presented today was called the First Leaf and it was billed as a play for children. It was a play on how a group of kids along with well wishers convince a stubborn man and the stubborn people in the community general to grow trees and save the environment. Was it a play for 5 and above...sure if all the 5 year old were PhDs!!! Was it a laudable attempt? You bet. I felt that the core theme of the play was may be a little bit of OHT (over head transmission as we used to say in our college days!!) for kids. I would know because I had two kids (6.5 and 4.5) with me. What held them and had them glued was the slapstick humor. That was the disappointment for me, as I slide into the whine segment.

Too much of stereotyping..the fat bad guy part especially. I know it gets the laughs, but it is too much of a stereotype. There were glitches as was accepted by the director, but it is how the group manages the truth of the moment that makes theater fun. I don't think this team was ready for that. The adults who played the kids could have done better if they had watched real kids in action. They were, I thought, playing adults playing kids. But that was okay, they got the energy part right.

I would have loved if the team had made an attempt to sing the song that was in the play on stage and not have a playback...it was kind of cheesy. Also I felt the cast was not used to the stage. It would have been wonderful if they had gotten used to the stage.

I am sure they will take care of the obvious glitches in the shows to come. The icing on the cake for me was the awe that my kids had looking at the stage and the lights during the play. They went to see the stage after the play was over. It was enjoyable to watch the awe and excitement in their little faces when they climbed the stage and touched the tree. They were touched by the magic of theater!! And for that two thumbs up to AHA!!

Fearless!!!

After a long time, I got to watch a movie where I was feeling miserable to hit the pause button. May be the fact that I watched some ordinary movies this weekend helped. But this one was special. The movie is Anjaathey...Wiser men have discussed this a lot.

There have been comments on what the Director did in excess and how he should have cut it short, yaada yaada yaada. The way I looked at it was that as a Director, Mysskin, gave us a story. Did I like it? Absolutely, resoundingly yes.

I loved the story telling, I loved the way many things were set up. There were some predictable moments, some over the top...The good part was I was going along with the director over the top as well! While on stage, it is the actor who has to respond to the truth of the moment, this movie demonstrates that Cinema is always the directors baby. He has good performances from all of the actors. It is refreshing to see a chocolate boy hero like Prasanna do a role that people would not touch with a barge pole. The only good shot of him you get to see is a photograph that comes thorugh a fax machine! He is in the dark all the time. But he makes an impact. Naren makes a good impact as well. Excellent modulation and wonderful delivery in many places. Pandiarajan was a revealation. He can act! Music was good and to the point. I can go on and on, but it is safe to say this is one of the better 3 hours that I have spent in the recent past.

Fearless...way to go!!!