Pandavaas to woo audiences at Mandaan

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November 15, 2019

Pandavaas of the Time Machine fame will be holding their debut live-performance at Mandaan 2019, Bengaluru on the 17^th of November.

With an interesting medley of songs under their belt Salil, Kunal and Ishaan Dobhal are all set to give their first performance to their fans, down South.

Speaking to Newspost, an excited Kunal fills us in, “we have always been portrayed as a Production House, and rightly so! But Anoj Joshi invited us to put on a stage show which was hard to resist, and I am sure after this show, everything will change for Pandavaas, for the better.”

Team of 20-25 artists from all over the hill-state have been putting in hours of rehearsals in Dehradun, to give that unforgettable performance.

So what can you expect from their maiden performance, Kunal tells us, “The two-hour programme by Pandavaas is being tailored made for their fans. What we are working on is an unplugged session, something similar to a Coke Studio Session for Bengaluru. Maangal geet, the complete series of Time Machine, combining folk and fusion is being experimented with.”

With passes almost sold out for Mandaan, almost weeks in advance, the one-day event begins at 10:30 a.m. and wraps up at 7:30 p.m, at the GKVK Convention Centre in Bengaluru.

A day prior to this Pandavaas will take part in a discussion with students of Mass Communication at the Symbiosis School of Media and Communication, Bengaluru on the 16th, where their Production House is being studied as a case study from Uttarakhand.

Founder Anoj Joshi of Mandaan, tells us why he chose Pandavaas over other singers, he replies, “I try to feel the pulse of the youth and see what they want. Pandavaas have done a lot of commendable work which has been appreciated by the young and old and that was the idea of bringing them to Bengaluru.”

Pandaavas promise not to let them down.

Music enthusiasts that pride themselves for their technical excellence and perfection, Pandavaas first show will be something that their audience will not forget in a hurry.

Savoy: Saga of an Icon makes waves

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Tania Saili

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November 11, 2019

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Savoy Hotel, WelcomHotel, Mussoorie — Pic Courtesy: Kshitij Sharma

62 minute featured-documentary “Savoy: Saga of an Icon,” dedicated to the hundred and seventeen year old hotel in the hill-station of Mussoorie is winning accolades, nominations and awards in India and overseas.

The film has won a slew of awards: ‘Platinum Award’ at the Latitude Film Festival, London; ‘Best Documentary’ Award and ‘Best Director’ Award at the Mindfield Film Festival, USA; ‘Best Voiceover’ Award at the Oniros Film Awards, Italy, ‘Best Editing’ at the White Unicorn International Film Festival, Kolkata, ‘Best Editing’ at The Florence Film Awards and also ‘Best Indian Documentary Film’ at the Crownwood International Film Festival held in Kolkatta.

It has been nominated for the Jaipur International Film Festival, India.

Cineddiction Films works as a tight team while shuffling roles. For ‘Savoy:Saga on an Icon’ Kshitij Sharma was the Director, Abhishekh Negi, Cinematographer, Deeya Dey, Production Manager and Bhaskar Sharma at the Sound. For five years now the young team has been making independent films. Collectively their creative work has been screened at more than hundred national and international film festivals, with fifty odd awards to their credit. Recently, Cineddiction Films Films won 34 awards for their recent project, “Devil” (Maupassant’s ‘Le Diable) presently being screened on Amazon Prime.

Savoy: ‘Saga of an Icon’ was shot in August this year, over four days but resting on forty years of research. The film uses sepia-tone images taken over a hundred odd years. Old pictures, sketches and memorabilia from personal collections along with rarely used footage from British Film Institute Library were put to effective use by the filmmaker. ‘The featured-documentary came together because of Producer, Mr. K. K. Kaya whose interest in the project never waned,’ says Ganesh Saili, who anchors the docu-drama.

Director Kshitij Sharma, a regular visitor to the property since his school days, was smitten by the property and his visual ode is a living testimony of his love for the property and its rich history. “I first came to Savoy as a school boy and felt a deep connect with it. I read Mr. Saili’s ‘Mussoorie Medley’ and knew there would be no one better to regale us with stories of Savoy’s past, than someone who has been an inseparable part of this grand property.”

The team hopes that ‘Savoy: Saga of an Icon’ will someday serve as a sort of bookmark in the pages of the hill station’s history as well as the iconic mountain hotel.

Christmas comes early @ The Savoy, Mussoorie

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Tania Saili

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November 10, 2019

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Mussoorie, Festivities bring people together, even if they are a month away. In Mussoorie, WelcomHotel The Savoy is bringing in the spirit of Christmas, in advance, with the customary cake mixing ceremony.

Keeping its hundred and seventeen year tradition alive, the annual cake-mixing has over the years, become an inseparable part of the hotel’s Christmas celebrations.

In full attendance, the hotel staff, guests along with dignitaries come together for the customary ritual weeks in advance to, “blending an array of dry fruits such as cashew-nuts, sultana, black currant, almond flakes, dates, raisins, figs, apricots, glazed cherry, ginger peels, prunes, cloves, spices, mace, green cardamom, ginger powder, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg powder soaked in orange juice and choicest of spirits such as dark and white rum, white and red wine weeks in advance, to develop that festive aroma and taste,” Executive Sous Chef Prakash Negi, informs the gathering.

A head-start to the delectable Rum/Christmas cake, the twenty-minute cake-mixing ceremony was conducted under the wintery blue sky in the Central Lawns of WelcomHotel The Savoy. Guided by the Executive Sous Chef, the guests followed the instructions to the tee and worked on the perfect blend which goes into making a scrumptious traditional Christmas Cake.

For those who missed getting their fingers dipped into the traditional cake mixing pot, do not despair. “There is plenty of time to gear yourself to enjoy the fruits of labour, as the hotel is gearing up and coming out with special packages to bring in the festivities in Mussoorie, coming December” assures General Manager, Gautam Valli.

Film Conclave: Rolling, Camera, Action!

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Tania Saili

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November 8, 2019

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Dehradun, As a run up to Uttarakhand Statehood Day celebrating 19 years of the hill-state coming into being, a marathon of seminars dedicated to youth, entrepreneurs, industrialists and women achievers were celebrated throughout Uttarakhand.

On the eve of Statehood Day, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Union Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated a Film Conclave in Mussoorie.

Divided into three session, the Conclave saw an interesting queue up of Bollywood Directors ad artists from Vishal Bharadwaj, Rekha Bharadwaj, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Ajay Arora, Padmashree Soma Ghosh, Kavita Chaudhry, Taran Adarsh, Bharat Bhalla, Narayan Singh, Muzaffar Ali, to name a few.

Uttarakhand has been trying to promote itself as a film friendly State, working relentlessly to lure big Bollywood banners which won Uttarakhand the ‘Most Film Friendly State” award at the 66^th National Film Awards, 2018.

Speaking to the media, Actor-Producer Jackky Bhagnani said, “Uttarakhand has the perfect shot no matter which way you turn the camera. We hope that suggestions that we put across today, are worked upon.”

Welcoming all, Chief Minister Uttarakhand asked those who had gathered to voice their suggestions in order to ensure that Uttarakhand’s Film Policy could further woo the creative fraternity.

Union Minister Smriti Irani laid stress on regional talent being showcased along with national and international clients. Ensuring that content creation, production and management skills along with the digital media in regional languages were worked with in harmony.”

Thus far, over 200 movies, documentaries and serials been shot at its scenic locales with a continuous flow of talent from Bollywood, Mollywood and even Tollywood.

Post the three sessions, what new changes in favour of regional talent the Film Policy will see is anyone’s guess. But for those present, the Conclave was a step forward in the right direction.

Uttarakhand’s first all-women Ramleela

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Tania Saili

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November 7, 2019

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Chamoli: Women between the age group of 9 to 54 years old are creating history in Uttarakhand. Coming together from five hill-districts they are making their mark on a creative platform. Maa Nanda Ramleela Manch an all-women theatre group is enacting Ramleela, which has for centuries been considered as a traditional male domain.

Five years ago, Maa Nanda Ramleela Manch a dream-child of Lakshmi Shah, Aarti Gosain and Beera Pharswan came into existence and is now making waves in the interiors of Garhwal.

What started as snippets from the Ramayana and regional folk stories such as Ma Nanda, Savitri, Tilu Rauteli and Angad-Ravan Samwaad being performed by the all-women troupe in various village fairs, they gradually started garnering support and fame, and has to-date witnessed four, eleven-day Ramleela.

Beera Pharswan, one amongst the three who started this initiative, remembers with nostalgia the first Ramleela they staged at a wedding point in June 2017, in Agastyamuni. “When we first started this initiative, we never dreamt we would reach this height. We faced a lot of difficulties and opposition, but we grew stronger and more motivated with every woman who joined us, from 3 to now 35, is how we have grown in numbers.”

And the rest as they say is history. Lakshmi Shah, a teacher by profession, and a mother of two tells us, “We are trying to give middle-aged women, housewives a platform where they can showcase their hidden talent. Except for the role of Hanuman, (which village elders objected to being played by women) all the other characters of Ramayana are played by us.”

The Director and actors have found a way to work out the distance and the busy schedule of all the characters. They make sure that their jobs and household chores are not ignored at the cost of rehearsals.

Multi-talented Lakshmi Shah, who has been the Cultural Secretary of HNB Garhwal University, can play the role of Sumanta or Sabri or Kevant or Ram, with graceful ease.

The 35 women actors spread across five districts from Almora to Chamoli onto Rudraprayag, Pauri and Tehri, translating Bhavani Dutt Joshi’s Ramleela on to the screen, hasn’t been easy. Lakshmi recalls, “my husband a lawyer by profession was aghast when I was to play the role of Sita. He sent my daughter to talk me out of it, but I did not relent,” But all that has changed, “ today he is my biggest support. He saw what this meant to me and how encouraging our women elders of the village were.”

Dr. Dataram Purohit who set up the Department of folk performing art and culture, in Srinagar, Garhwal. And has been archiving and propagating Garhwal’s rich tradition with courses like theatre, folk music and folk forms speaks with a visible sense of pride, “Maa Nanda Ramleela Manch is making their place in the creative world. This is a 180degree role reversal and is a positive sign that our womenfolk are coming into their own.” Adding, “There is a renewed sense of awakening and coming of age, which is very heartening to see.”

Like any other theatre group, Maa Nanda Ramleela Manch has one more dream to accomplish and that is to perform live in Mumbai in front of none other than Superstar Amitabh Bachchan himself. Lakshmi speaks for the entire troupe when she signs off, “Dreams come true for those who dare to dream.” And who are we to doubt!

Mussoorie Library lights up

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Tania Saili

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November 4, 2019

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lights, mussoorie library, kitabghar, gandhi chowk — Mussoorie Library

Mussoorie, Another tourist attraction is on the cards for visitors to the Queen of Hills this season. The hill station’s oldest living institution, the iconic Mussoorie Library a.k.a Kitabghar, in its 175^th year is all set to be illuminated with lazer lights by a dynamic architectural lighting system.

This Victorian Era building that stands in all its glory today is because of the combined efforts of a British merchant, missionaries and officers of the Military Establishment living in Landour Cantonment. They got together to found the Library. This time around, the efforts of the State Government through the MDDA and CPWD have led to the façade of the building being lit up by Philips India. They have done similar projects in the country at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Varanasi Ghats, Howrah Bridge and the Indian Parliament to name a few iconic buildings.

Enhancing the grandeur of the Mussoorie library with different hues, these facade lightening are programmable lights which come-on as soon as the sun sets.

Though, this is work in progress and has its share of teething-problems, sources tell us that the work will be completed within a short span of time and will add to the charm of the Mussoorie Library.

Hony Secretary, Ganesh Saili, had this to say, “Gratifying to know that the State Government has zeroed down on this historical building after all these years. After all it is the only town-square named after a building!”

A thought which is reiterated by local resident Nitin Gupta who adds, “The fact that they have chosen Mussoorie Library and the Shaheed Sthal as the only two places to be illuminated by these lights. It is a great honour for us.”

In 1843, a Library Committee was formed under Vansittart, the Superintendent of the Doon, as its Chairman who used his personal money to create this Library. Afterwards, it was transferred to a trust ‘to be held forever in trust for and on behalf of the Mussoorie Library Committee.‘

May their tribe flourish!

To catch a glimpse of what’s in store, click here: https://youtu.be/EF45jaoeEAo

Citizen Exemplary Award goes to Tsering Luding

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Tania Saili

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November 2, 2019

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Rajpur, Tsering Luding, a resident of Rajpur since the winter of 2004, has lived each day based on the ancient wisdom of compassion, non-violence and brotherhood, qualities which she credits to, “my parents who adopted these from home, which is India and we try to practise these in our daily life.” A strong ,reliable ally and an asset to the community her efforts found recognition when Tsering was felicitated by the Citizen Exemplary Award 2019 at the Rajpur Nature Fest held in Rajpur, Dehradun.

Working simultaneously with three Dehradun based NGOs Doon Buddhist Committee, Sakya Hospital and Tara Foundation, Sherin as she is lovingly called by those who know her well, finds ample time to save the life of tiniest insect to nature conservation, animal well-being, helping poor and sick people, empowerment of women and weaker sections of the society, education of the poor & needy children, cleanliness drive, recycle project, etc,the list is endless.

Sherin also serves as a beautiful ambassador of Himalayan culture, its people and the rich diversity of Uttarakhand. For decades she has made every possible effort to promote peace, harmony, and sense of oneness among all fellow human brothers and sisters whose lives she has touched.

Amongst the spectrum of values her biggest attribute has been to carry out her work diligently with courage and compassion for benefit of one and all. Doing her best to stay away from the media’s glare, attention or spotlight Sherin has worked upward-onward with utmost sincerity.

Sherin is a constant source of inspiration and hope for the young generation who look upto someone who has always believed in action more than words. She signs off saying, “The Earth is our home, and we all are family members and we need to look after each other and our homestead to be happy, healthy and at peace.”

Awaiting Mussoorie’s magical winterline

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Tania Saili

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November 2, 2019

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Temperature inversion, inverse air-currents, smog, smoke, dust, moisture and anything in between is the perfect recipe for Nature’s glorious spectacle: The Winterline.

As another wintry evening descends upon Mussoorie, what is missing this time of the year is the Winterline. Up until last year, in October, no matter which direction you headed in the hill-station, you would definitely walk into plenty of brave-hearts braving the winter chill, facing the sunset with a smart phone in hand ready to entrap Mussoorie’s winterline in all its glory.

Author-historian Ganesh Saili says: “While all over the world, at the end of the day, the sun ends its journey behind a fixed geographical feature. This maybe a mound, a hillock, or the sea but up here in Mussoorie, it’s different. The sun ends its journey behind an aerial line to form a perfect Winter line.”

Greek mythology has it that the Goddess Venus, wore a magical hand crafted belt called the Girdle of Venus. It was made of gold filigree crafted by her husband, the not-so-handsome Smith-God Vulcan, who was in awe of his wife’s beauty. Besotted, he carved her this priceless gift. It is this girdle or belt or kamaar-bandh, call it what you will that is known as the Winterline.

Literally making hay while the sunsets, most hotels in town cash in on this natural phenomenon. Get to that balcony, sit-out point, or decks to get an uninterrupted view of this awe-inspiring phenomenon. You will find the sky aflame with hues of pink, yellow, orange, blue and mauve light up the horizon, with the silhouette of the hills, trees, buildings highlighting the winter line even further.

This year, the magic is late in the coming. Maybe it is so on account of the unprecedented cold or overcast sky. No one knows for certain.

Every evening, residents stare into the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of that elusive delight, in a place where no two evenings are ever the same.

Come join in the prayers of the residents to the weather-gods for respite. Let them give back to our hills the winterline. May it continue to spin its magic and have us hooked for life.

Director Milan Luthria shoots in Mussoorie

By

Tania Saili

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November 1, 2019

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shoot, movie, actor — Pic Courtesy: Devender Dev Uniyal

Mussoorie, Director Milan Luthria and his film unit of approximately 150 people are shooting in Mussoorie for their yet ‘unnamed’ remake of Telugu romantic-action RX100 which was released last year, helmed by Ajay Bhupathi.

A recee for suitable locations was completed a few weeks back and then the film unit moved in on the 23^rd of October and has been shooting since. The final wrap of the unit from Mussoorie will be done only by the 3^rdof December, which makes it a 41 day long shooting schedule

Shot on location in parts of The Library, Language School, Lal Tibba, Landour, The Mall, Camel’s Back Road, Hathipaon Road, George Everest etc the unit will practically cover every inch of the hill-station.

Actor Ahan Shetty, son of Suniel Shetty will be making his debut with the movie and has been in town for the past ten days with actor Saurabh Shukla. Lead actress Tara Sutaria will be arriving in town this week to complete her schedule.

Tight security on location ensured that fans who made their way to the hill-station from in and around the hill-station could only catch a glimpse of their favourites from a safe distance.

And assisting the film unit are Dehradun’s Line Producer of ‘The Impressions’ group Mayank Tiwari, who had this to say, “The unprecedented weather has added its own charm to the shooting. We have employed junior artists, spot boys, security and bouncers locally so that there is some employment even in off-season for those who need it.”

Shot under the Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment banner who have given multiple super hits like Super 30, Baaghi, Baaghi 2, Kalank and many more. It is no surprise then, what the fans can expect from this remake, which is slated for a 2020 release.

Valley of Flowers sets new record

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Tania Saili

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October 31, 2019

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Chamoli, Since the 1^st of June 2019 to-date i.e. 31st October is when the famous Valley of Flowers shuts-shop for winter, the Valley has set a new record. Contributing close to twenty- seven lakh, sixty thousand rupees to the State exchequer which were collected from the 17, 424 sightseers compared to the 14,965 visitors who visited the valley last year!

“16,904 Indian visitors along with 520 foreigners made their way to Uttarakhand’s pristine Alpine meadow in the five months that it was open this year,” Ranger Brijmohan Bharti tells us.

At an altitude of 11,500 ft in Chamoli District, the six kilometer long and two kilometer wide ‘U’ shaped UNESCO World Heritage Site is part of the Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve. Interlaced with waterfalls and rolling hills, carpeted with over six hundred varieties of floral species. Home to the elusive Black Bear, Monal Pheasant, Snow Leopard and Musk Deer makes it a must-visit for those who want to treat their eyes on the rich flora and fauna the place has to offer.

Post Kedarnath Disaster in 2013, the State Government had banned the entry of tourists to this alpine meadow for three years, giving the meadow enough time to replenish and rejuvenate. In the year 2016, in an attempt to revive tourism, the meadow was re- opened to trekkers, naturalists and tourists from home and abroad.

For few, the annual opening of the Valley of Flowers from June to October was a welcome move while others worried about how the influx of tourists, receding glaciers would upset the equilibrium of what is considered the most beautiful place on earth.

For young trekking enthusiast Gayatri Saili who recently visited the Valley, it was a trek of a lifetime, “I hope those who come visiting are conscious trekkers who don’t leave behind heaps of garbage, but walk away as they found it. Scenic and pristine, ” she signs off.

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