Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023: A celebration of Indian artists
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SINGAPORE – The 22nd edition of Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival Of Arts, from Nov 17 to 26, promises an edgier vibe and original commissions that celebrate Indian artists and their works. The offerings at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay range from a solo dance work tackling taboos associated with female desire to an absurdist play where everything that can go wrong does. Ahead of the festival opening, The Straits Times takes a closer look at some of the selections.
Immigration play Fistful Of Rupees asks how one can settle into a new city
Fistful Of Rupees by Shiv Tandan reflects his own tussling with belonging.
PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY
For a while after he moved from Singapore to Mumbai in 2015, award-winning playwright Shiv Tandan could get no replies to his requests to meet business associates there.
In at least three instances, he sat waiting at meetings where nobody showed up. It was only later that he learnt that this was because he did not understand the locals’ concept of time.
The 32-year-old associate artist at Singapore’s Checkpoint Theatre says in a Zoom video interview: “In Mumbai, time is thought of in broad strokes, not like in Singapore, where we are used to setting precise appointments on Google Calendar.”
Singapore was the first country I travelled to, says Bollywood singer Armaan Malik
Bollywood singer Armaan Malik’s music has amassed more than 10 billion streams online.
PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY
Indian singing star Armaan Malik has a soft spot for Singapore – it is the first country he travelled to for a holiday when he was a child.
“I vividly remember the thrill of exploring this vibrant city. Sentosa, in particular, was a peak core memory for me with its stunning beaches and fun attractions,” he says in an e-mail interview.
Returning to Singapore to headline his first concert here, he adds, is a dream come true. The 28-year-old’s gig at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Nov 18 is part of the arts venue’s Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023.
See Kumar like never before in The Great Indian Mix
Veteran comedian Kumar will put on a 90-minute stand-up comedy focused on the nuances of Indian identity.
PHOTOS: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY
Speak of a show by veteran comedian Kumar, and a distinctive brand emerges – jokes that are local, risque and even a little crude, all likely to be delivered in a killer gown and stiletto heels.
But at the Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023, the iconic entertainer who has provoked audiences with his transgressive humour for more than 30 years will venture into uncharted territory.
He will put on a 90-minute stand-up comedy focused entirely on the nuances of Indian identity, with a script written by Sharul Channa, one of the few full-time stand-up comediennes in Singapore.
Agam Theatre Lab’s Twin Murder In The Green Mansion brings on laughs as a play breaks down
Agam Theatre Lab's Twin Murder In The Green Mansion is described as “part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, all mayhem”.
PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY
Putting on a successful play is no mean feat, but it is nothing compared to staging one that must pretend to go wrong at every turn.
“If a normal play goes wrong, it’s quite easy to cover up. But in this play, we have to make it look wrong, but it cannot actually be, or it will be a failure,” says Subramanian Ganesh, 39, who co-directs Agam Theatre Lab’s knockabout Twin Murder In The Green Mansion.
Based on the British play The Play That Goes Wrong (2012), the light-hearted comedy at Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023 is described as “part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, all mayhem”.
Dance productions Forbidden and Naga Mandala focus on female empowerment
Naga Mandala is a dance interpretation of the popular folk tale of the same name by Girish Karnad.
PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY
Female empowerment is at the forefront of two dance performances, Forbidden and Naga Mandala, at Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts at the Esplanade.
Championing that empowerment is Forbidden by dancer-choreographer Aditi Mangaldas, who uses dance to question the taboos and punishments surrounding female sexual desire.
Over a Zoom video call from her home in Delhi, the 63-year-old says she began thinking about female sexuality in 2019. “I realised that though I come from an extremely liberal family, in terms of me being a woman, pursuing my passions and being a sexual being, there was hesitation around feeling sexual desire.”
