Writer-director Manoj Shah has come out with an unusual musical comedy Save Our Souls. It is the story of Raoji and Rana - two brothers who share a very close relationship. While Raoji has an extramarital affair with Mary, Rana prefers not to get his hands dirty - he just watches Raoji and Mary together in bed.Aghast at this unbecoming behaviour, their parents descend from heaven and curse the brothers saying that they won't get moksha after death. After much pleading, a condition is attached to the curse. Raoji can get moksha only if his grandson, Amol, does not consummate his marriage till one month after the wedding. And Rana can achieve moksha only if Raoji's grandson's wife gets pregnant within one month of marriage.So some 60 years later the ghosts of both the brothers appear at Amol's wedding and create chaos. The play has been produced by Telepark and the cast includes Sheeba, Babloo Mukherjee, Amit Behl, Akashdeep and Anuradha Chandan.At Nehru Centre Auditorium, Worli, on December 21, 1997. Time: 7.30 pm.Net factorThe Sri Rajarajeswari Bharata Natyam Kala Mandir, a 50-year-old city-based training institute now has its own web site. Sounds amazing but that was the only logical solution that the teachers of the institute could come up with, for their students based abroad.The ancient Indian dance form of Bharat Natyam has a lot of students and many more who are interested in it, living out of India. The teachers of the institute toured abroad to teach the distant students the padams and the various intricate aspects of the classical dance. But when the teachers came back the training abroad stopped, almost immediately. Therefore the web site.More information on Bharat Natyam on: bharathanatyam. com.Colourful insightA thirteen-part series titled A Painter's Portrait looks at contemporary Indian painters. The objective of these 69-minute films, in English, is to present an overview of the painter's personality, background, work and the sources of inspiration for the benefit of the viewers. Produced by Ms Cine Arts India, the film has been directed by the well-known film director and television producer, K Bikram Singh. Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee, Gieve Patel, Jogen Chowdhury, Amitava Das, Krishen Khanna, Gogi Saroj Pal besides others will feature in the films. A Painter's Portrait, at Little Theatre, NCPA, on December 19. Time: 6.30 pm.Four cornersShalini Sawhnev's new gallery, The Guild, is already a busy place. Its second exhibition brings together four artists from four corners of the country. Iranna G R is from Delhi and though he is 25, his work seems like that of a much older man. Many of his paintings depict pain as an abstract force that is translated visually in bruised textures and razor sharp cutting edges. His work is priced between Rs 22,000 to Rs 48,000. Anant Mehta is from Gujarat and his canvas', tagged between Rs 1,800 to Rs 16,000, depict the miseries, addictions and little joys of small town lives. Rane D S has studied in Mumbai but his childhood was spent in coastal Maharashtra and that dominates his paintings. Priced between Rs 3,000 to Rs 35,000, his work, to an extent, has evolved from the miniature tradition of Indian art. The most unusual of the lot are works by Sisir Kumar Sahana who is from Hyderabad. His paintings, known as glass reliefs, involve melting and moulding glass at varying degrees of temperature and firing colour to stain glass. These are priced between Rs 28,000 to Rs 68,000.At The Guild, Cuffe Parade till January 05, 1998. Time: 10.00 am to 6.00 pm.
