Following the No?l Coward theatre’s African makeover, the clamour and bustle that has replaced it – which is apparent before you’ve even entered the auditorium – immediately sets the scene for the RSC’s next London transfer Much Ado About Nothing.
After more than 400 years, Shakespeare’s tale of one happy and another sparring couple never ceases to lack originality. While the play’s 2011 reincarnation at the Wyndham’s theatre saw two Tardis travellers take on the lead roles of Benedick and Beatrice, Iqbal Khan’s production has itself taken a journey through space and time to modern day India, where the Bard’s famous words are weaved seamlessly through unconventional oriental surroundings.
In front of intricate latticed windows and impressive stone-effect walls stands the central focus of Tom Piper’s elaborate set, a towering tree laden with ropes and an abundance of shiny paraphernalia, which later in the production – like a children’s hiding place – is to play an integral part in facilitating the mischievous antics of the comedy’s characters.
Himani Dehlvi’s elaborate costumes range from the spectacular, with Hero’s stunning, jewel-adorned wedding dress, to the functional, with her vibrant scarves serving as a cunning disguise. While the production ran the risk of straying into the realm of tacky Bollywood, Dehlvi’s traditional garments paired with Niraj Chag’s emotive music bring authenticity to the location at the same time as giving the Bard’s play a unique and interesting edge.
The multi-talented Meera Syal moulds her movements and emotions to the role of the fiercely independent Beatrice; her infectious and humorous cackle at the mere thought of taking a husband easily morphing into uncontrollable sobbing at the destruction of her cousin Hero’s relationship with Claudio. Her comic flouncing around the stage evolves equally effortlessly into tightly choreographed dancing while her delivery of the Bard’s words proves as powerful in song as it does in speech when she gets the opportunity to showcase her vocal talents during the show’s musical moments.
While Paul Bhattacharjee seems to let a hint of Welsh creep into his Indian accent, he contributes more than just a few “remnants of wit” to his performance as bachelor Benedick, who unwittingly finds himself having to cope in all manner of situations, from tree climbing to boot polishing.
While Syal and Bhattacharjee almost certainly lead the way in the comedy stakes, there is undoubted support from Simon Nagra’s talkative Dogberry, whose interaction with the audience sends ripples of laughter through the auditorium throughout the evening, Anjana Vasan’s irratic maid, who takes delight in waving one of Dehlvi’s traditional scarves like an inebriated football fan at a World Cup final, and an ensemble cast that enjoys provocatively gyrating at every available opportunity.
If it weren’t for the well-known story of Claudio’s love for Hero, which is broken apart by the deceiving Don John, and determined singletons Beatrice and Benedick, who are tricked before falling in love for real, you might forget that the play unfolding before you was penned by the hand of Shakespeare; the 16th century language placed within such an unusual context has a mystifying effect, disguising itself as something altogether more accessible.
Saturday 29 September 2012
Back-to-basics trend boosts cut-price brands
Renault's boxy Logan sedan had rear-view mirrors as an option - or so the joke went after its 2005 launch under the low-cost Dacia brand.
Its similarly cheap replacement, unveiled at the Paris auto show, has a chrome dashboard finish and other stylistic flourishes worthy of a mid-market rival. Touch-screen GPS and parking radar feature in all but the simplest versions.
In a brutal auto sales slump, "crisis cars" are coming of age in Europe, narrowing the gap with mainstream brands in everything from esthetics to fuel economy.
"The differences are becoming more subtle," said Renault saleswoman Chloe Gomez as she showed off Dacia's Lodgy minivan.
"We're getting customers who have plenty of money," she said. "They might have owned a (Renault) Scenic, but now they're looking for simplicity, and to save some cash for other things."
Dacia's success echoes a recent survey by Britain's AA motoring association, which found that a sizable majority of drivers would prefer to do without such extras as heated seats, electric parking brakes and rainsensing wipers.
The back-to-basics trend has lifted other cut-price brands, including Volkswagen's Skoda, General Motors' Chevrolet, Hyundai and affiliate Kia. It has also put the squeeze on Fiat, Ford, PSA Peugeot Citroen and GM's Opel at a time when their compact cars are being challenged by a wave of new rivals from luxury makers.
Renault's so-called Entry models were an initial flop in target markets such as India and an accidental hit back home. They have since become the French automaker's biggest earner, with profit margins above six per cent and heading for nine per cent soon, some analysts say.
Wage costs at their assembly plants are 5 euros an hour in Romania and 3 euros in Morocco compared with 30 in France. The factories also use hand-me-down tooling from other Renault plants to save on investment.
"There may have been an element of luck in the success of the Entry strategy," Barclays analyst Kristina Church wrote in a recent note. "But management certainly hasn't been slow to capitalize on it."
Badged as Dacia in Europe and Renault elsewhere, the Logan family has spawned variants including the Lodgy and bestselling Duster 4x4, drawing ripostes from GM, Peugeot and Volkswagen.
Among budget-conscious cars on show in Paris are Chevrolet's Trax compact SUV and refreshed Spark mini, alongside a Peugeot 301 and Citroen C-Elysee - new spartan models from France's larger mass automaker.
Pending a promised lowcost range from VW, the Skoda division is wheeling out its own answer to the Logan: the Rapid sedan, aimed squarely at demand for functional four-doors in Central and Eastern Europe and around the Mediterranean.
In France, where Renault employs about 50,000 workers, the core brand's car sales fell 21 per cent in January-August, cutting market share by 1.8 points to 18.4 per cent. Imported Dacias claimed 4.4 per cent of the market, up half a point.
Global entry range deliveries are set to rise almost a quarter this year to top 1 million vehicles, or 37 per cent of the group total, compared with 15 per cent five years ago.
By 2014, French-built models will dwindle to 20 per cent with Renault's "silent metamorphosis into a low-cost automaker", Morgan Stanley analyst Stuart Pearson predicts.
The original Logan did, in fact, include mirrors - but no power steering or electric windows.
Its engines and fuel economy were a generation behind, and the Soviet-hangover styling imposed a hard, drab interior and black plastic bumpers of the kind last seen more than a decade earlier on mainstream models.
Its similarly cheap replacement, unveiled at the Paris auto show, has a chrome dashboard finish and other stylistic flourishes worthy of a mid-market rival. Touch-screen GPS and parking radar feature in all but the simplest versions.
In a brutal auto sales slump, "crisis cars" are coming of age in Europe, narrowing the gap with mainstream brands in everything from esthetics to fuel economy.
"The differences are becoming more subtle," said Renault saleswoman Chloe Gomez as she showed off Dacia's Lodgy minivan.
"We're getting customers who have plenty of money," she said. "They might have owned a (Renault) Scenic, but now they're looking for simplicity, and to save some cash for other things."
Dacia's success echoes a recent survey by Britain's AA motoring association, which found that a sizable majority of drivers would prefer to do without such extras as heated seats, electric parking brakes and rainsensing wipers.
The back-to-basics trend has lifted other cut-price brands, including Volkswagen's Skoda, General Motors' Chevrolet, Hyundai and affiliate Kia. It has also put the squeeze on Fiat, Ford, PSA Peugeot Citroen and GM's Opel at a time when their compact cars are being challenged by a wave of new rivals from luxury makers.
Renault's so-called Entry models were an initial flop in target markets such as India and an accidental hit back home. They have since become the French automaker's biggest earner, with profit margins above six per cent and heading for nine per cent soon, some analysts say.
Wage costs at their assembly plants are 5 euros an hour in Romania and 3 euros in Morocco compared with 30 in France. The factories also use hand-me-down tooling from other Renault plants to save on investment.
"There may have been an element of luck in the success of the Entry strategy," Barclays analyst Kristina Church wrote in a recent note. "But management certainly hasn't been slow to capitalize on it."
Badged as Dacia in Europe and Renault elsewhere, the Logan family has spawned variants including the Lodgy and bestselling Duster 4x4, drawing ripostes from GM, Peugeot and Volkswagen.
Among budget-conscious cars on show in Paris are Chevrolet's Trax compact SUV and refreshed Spark mini, alongside a Peugeot 301 and Citroen C-Elysee - new spartan models from France's larger mass automaker.
Pending a promised lowcost range from VW, the Skoda division is wheeling out its own answer to the Logan: the Rapid sedan, aimed squarely at demand for functional four-doors in Central and Eastern Europe and around the Mediterranean.
In France, where Renault employs about 50,000 workers, the core brand's car sales fell 21 per cent in January-August, cutting market share by 1.8 points to 18.4 per cent. Imported Dacias claimed 4.4 per cent of the market, up half a point.
Global entry range deliveries are set to rise almost a quarter this year to top 1 million vehicles, or 37 per cent of the group total, compared with 15 per cent five years ago.
By 2014, French-built models will dwindle to 20 per cent with Renault's "silent metamorphosis into a low-cost automaker", Morgan Stanley analyst Stuart Pearson predicts.
The original Logan did, in fact, include mirrors - but no power steering or electric windows.
Its engines and fuel economy were a generation behind, and the Soviet-hangover styling imposed a hard, drab interior and black plastic bumpers of the kind last seen more than a decade earlier on mainstream models.
Thursday 27 September 2012
Bengali Movie Preview
Suman Ghosh directed Bengali film ‘Nobel Chor’ won many accolades and achieved many feats at various film festivals. The Mithun Chakraborty starrer went on to win ‘Best Indian Film’ in Bangalore Film Festival. Director of the film, Suman Ghosh is gearing up for his next interesting venture with another Tollywood icon. He has taken on board Prosenjit Chatterjee for his next film titled ‘Ringtone’.
Prosenjit is going to play a marketing person in a Mobile phone company who becomes fixated with the mobile. The degree of his obsession with the phone rises to such an amount that he starts to visualize the pre- recorded female voice which plays through the automated system during when he gets his call in waiting or switched off. He ultimately falls in love with that imaginary person.
The film also stars Prosenjit’s real life better half Arpita as his wife. The first couple of Tollywood will be seen as a newly wedded couple. The relationship between this couple who are from a very well-to-do family gets bitter due to the awkward obsession of Prosenjit’s character.
Prosenjit and Arpita are going to be paired for the first time after their marriage. Their last film together was ‘Deva’ in 2009.
There is another big name in the cast. He is none other than the very versatile Anjan Dutta. Anjan Dutta is essaying the character of a senior research scientist who deals with the kind of psychological problems Prosenjit’s character suffers in the film. Reports say Suman Ghosh sketched the the character of Anjan Dutta keeping him in mind. Anjan Dutta’s character will be seen as a man who has an offbeat view of the world and who is going to be make Prosenjit his experimental subject making things more complicated for him.
The film is going to be of hybrid genre of black comedy and science fiction. It is to start as a comedy which mocks the impact of new-age technologies and its impact in human relationships and then it molds into a science fiction with the entry of the scientist, i.e. the character of Anjan Dutta.
"When you actually have the the ball in your hand you control the game," Wilder, Jr. said. "You control if your team scores or protecting the quarterback you just determine the game when you actually have the ball in your hands and I just wanted to be able to play that role on the team."
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher envisioned the same role.
"Go watch his [high school] games," Fisher said. "Every run that was supposed to be a three-yard run was a five-yard run. He can bend. He has great hands. He has good lower-body flexibility. Everybody said because he ran high. But he can bend. He didn't run high because he was stiff. He can bend [and] he can drop his weight. He has good vision.
"That's why he'd be a good linebacker," Fisher added. "You can't tell me a guy can tackle in space but can't run in space. Now, tackling in space is more difficult than running in space. So I never understood that analogy."
Wilder, Jr. ultimately signed with the Seminoles as part of the 2011 class because of Fisher's desire to use him as a running back and assistant coach Eddie Gran's track record of producing NFL runners like Ronnie Brown, Deuce McAllister and Cadillac Williams to name a few.
But after a freshman year that saw him struggle to learn the playbook and average a little more than 13 yards rushing per game as a seldom-used reserve, the thought that he might be better suited to play defense in college began creeping into Wilder, Jr.'s mind. He even went so far as to tell himself that a switch would be in order if his sophomore season played out like that of his rookie campaign.
Prosenjit is going to play a marketing person in a Mobile phone company who becomes fixated with the mobile. The degree of his obsession with the phone rises to such an amount that he starts to visualize the pre- recorded female voice which plays through the automated system during when he gets his call in waiting or switched off. He ultimately falls in love with that imaginary person.
The film also stars Prosenjit’s real life better half Arpita as his wife. The first couple of Tollywood will be seen as a newly wedded couple. The relationship between this couple who are from a very well-to-do family gets bitter due to the awkward obsession of Prosenjit’s character.
Prosenjit and Arpita are going to be paired for the first time after their marriage. Their last film together was ‘Deva’ in 2009.
There is another big name in the cast. He is none other than the very versatile Anjan Dutta. Anjan Dutta is essaying the character of a senior research scientist who deals with the kind of psychological problems Prosenjit’s character suffers in the film. Reports say Suman Ghosh sketched the the character of Anjan Dutta keeping him in mind. Anjan Dutta’s character will be seen as a man who has an offbeat view of the world and who is going to be make Prosenjit his experimental subject making things more complicated for him.
The film is going to be of hybrid genre of black comedy and science fiction. It is to start as a comedy which mocks the impact of new-age technologies and its impact in human relationships and then it molds into a science fiction with the entry of the scientist, i.e. the character of Anjan Dutta.
"When you actually have the the ball in your hand you control the game," Wilder, Jr. said. "You control if your team scores or protecting the quarterback you just determine the game when you actually have the ball in your hands and I just wanted to be able to play that role on the team."
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher envisioned the same role.
"Go watch his [high school] games," Fisher said. "Every run that was supposed to be a three-yard run was a five-yard run. He can bend. He has great hands. He has good lower-body flexibility. Everybody said because he ran high. But he can bend. He didn't run high because he was stiff. He can bend [and] he can drop his weight. He has good vision.
"That's why he'd be a good linebacker," Fisher added. "You can't tell me a guy can tackle in space but can't run in space. Now, tackling in space is more difficult than running in space. So I never understood that analogy."
Wilder, Jr. ultimately signed with the Seminoles as part of the 2011 class because of Fisher's desire to use him as a running back and assistant coach Eddie Gran's track record of producing NFL runners like Ronnie Brown, Deuce McAllister and Cadillac Williams to name a few.
But after a freshman year that saw him struggle to learn the playbook and average a little more than 13 yards rushing per game as a seldom-used reserve, the thought that he might be better suited to play defense in college began creeping into Wilder, Jr.'s mind. He even went so far as to tell himself that a switch would be in order if his sophomore season played out like that of his rookie campaign.
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