Puccini: Tosca
(120 min; 2011; dvd; English subtitles)

With Angela Gheorghiu (Flora Tosca); Jonas Kaufmann (Mario Cavaradossi); Bryn Terfel (Baron Scarpia); Lukas Jakobski (Cesare Angelotti); Jeremy White (Sacristan); Hubert Francis (Spoletta); Zheng Zhong Zhou (Sciarrone); William Payne (Shepherd Boy); John Morissey (Gaoler)

A Royal Opera House Production in association with the BBC
Stage Director: Jonathan Kent
Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor: Antonio Pappano

Jonathan Kent’s atmospheric and evocative production of Tosca features three of the finest singers; Angela Gheorghiu’s sensitively portrayed Tosca is paired with Jonas Kaufmann’s intense and compelling Cavaradossi, while Bryn Terfel is thrillingly malevolent as Scarpia. Antonio Pappano’s masterfully paced conducting captures all the drama and beauty of Puccini’s exhilarating opera.

Introduced by Sunit Tandon

SCREEING SCHEDULE

Indus Basin Interrupted: A History of Territory and Politics from Alexander to Nehru

By Uttam Kumar Sinha (Vintage Books: 2022)

Discussants: Shri Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan; Dr. D.V. Thareja, former Member, Central Water Commission; Dr. Ashok Behuria, Senior Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; Col. D.P.K. Pillay (Retd.), Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; and Dr. Uttam Kumar Sinha, Senior Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and author of the book

Moderator: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Considered one of India’s finest masters of abstract art, Ambadas Khobragade (1922-2012), this exhibition is a tribute to mark his birth centenary year. On display are paintings and drawings spanning seven decades of the artists’ practice, from the collection of Dhoomimal Gallery as well as from private collections. The display includes personal letters, photographs, old catalogues and writings on Ambadas and his work

Curated by Shruti Lakhanpal Tandon in association with Dhoomimal Gallery and Prayag Shukla

Inauguration by H.E. Mr. Hans Jacob Frydenlund, Ambassador of Norway on Friday, 16 June 2023 at 18:00

As part of this exhibition, there will be several related programmes in the Art Gallery:

SATURDAY 17 FROM 11:30 TO 19:00
A Day with Prayag Shukla
Shri Prayag Shukla, art critic, poet, writer and a close friend of Ambadas Khobragade will interact with visitors to share his memories and views on Ambadas and his art

SUNDAY 18 AT 17:00
Poetry Reading
By Gagan Gill

Followed by
Ambadas and his Relationship with J. Swaminathan
Talks by Ashok Vajpeyi and Shridhar Iyer

WEDNESDAY 21 FROM 11:00 TO 13:00
Special Curatorial Walk for the Hearing Impaired 
Curated walk and drawing session with Sign Language interpreters

Conducted by Noida Deaf Society 

THURSDAY 22

FILM ■ C.D. DESHMUKH AUDITORIUM AT 18:30
The Way I See – Celebrating Ambadas (India)
(60 min; 2023; Hindi and English)
Produced by Dr. Shruti Lakhanpal Tandon, Founder, Ushaarth Art Foundation who will introduce the film

In this interview-documentary on Ambadas, artists, poets and writers introspect on him and his work, tracing his life’s journey through personal anecdotes and critical observations. The viewer is taken through a visual documentation and evolution of Ambadas’ paintings and drawings over almost seven decades of his art practice

Screening will be followed by a discussion with Shri Prayag Shukla, poet, writer and friend of Ambadas and Dr. Shruti Lakhanpal Tandon
 

Sitar Recital

By Soumendra Goswami from Delhi, disciple of Pandit Kushal Das

At 19:00
Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Shatavisha Mukherjee from Kolkata, disciple of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar
 

Veena Recital

By Radhika Ramakrishnan from Delhi, disciple of Kalaimamani Vidushi R.Ramani

At 19:00
Carnatic Vocal Recital

By Sai Sundhar from Delhi, disciple of Dr. Radha Venkatachalam
 

Author, columnist and Chair of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust, Kishwar Desai in conversation with Sujata Prasad and Oroon Das

Second programme in a new series of monthly conversations staged in collaboration with Ahad Anhad

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

The River (France/UK)
(99 min; 1951; French/Bengali/English)
A film by Jean Renoir

Recipient of the International Award, Venice Film Festival 1951; NBR Award for Top Foreign Film, National Board of Review, USA 1951; and Top Ten Film Award for Best Film, Cahiers du Cinema 1951

Based on a novel by Rumer Godden, the film is a lyrical account of a British teenage girl’s romantic awakening during the last years of the Raj. Although Renoir choose not to recreate India in a studio but to film on location in India itself.

(Collaboration: Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)
 

Selfish Mind, Slavish Body: A Quest into Self-Identity

By Laljee Verma (Hay House Publishers: 2022)

Chair: Shri Gurcharan Das, Writer and Public Intellectual

Speakers : Maj. Gen. (Retd.) R. C. Suri, Specialist in Military Technology; Prof. Bindu Puri, Professor, Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, JNU ; Air Mshl (Dr) L. K. Verma, AVSM (Retd) & Author of the Book
    
   
   
   

Berlin 750 Years
(81 min; 1987; dvd)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

In 1987, Berlin celebrated the 750th anniversary of its founding, and on May 1st, a significant musical event opened the official celebration of this anniversary. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of its Music Director, Herbert von Karajan, played the Divertimento in D major, K. 334 by Mozart and the sensational tone poem Thus Spake Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. 

Introduced by Sunit Tandon

(97 min; 2022; Hindi with English subtitles)

Director: Shaunak Sen

Multiple award winner including Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema-Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2022; Golden Eye Award, Cannes Film Festival 2022; Grierson Award (Documentary Film), London Film Festival 2022; Recipient of the Pare Lorentz Award, IDA Award for Best Feature, & IDA Award for Best Director, International Documentary Association Awards 2022; among others

In one of the world's most populated cities, cows, rats, monkeys, frogs, and hogs jostle cheek-by-jowl with people. Here, two brothers fall in love with a bird - the black kite. From their makeshift bird hospital in their tiny basement, the "kite brothers" care for thousands of these mesmeric creatures that drop daily from New Delhi's smog-choked skies. As environmental toxicity and civil unrest escalate, the relationship between this Muslim family and the neglected kite forms a poetic chronicle of the city's collapsing ecology and rising social tensions.