THE NCPA has a rather interesting program lineup for us this month, starting with a Korean film festivaland ending with our Astad Deboo’s showing of his new work based upon selected poems of Tagore, which he is doing with hand-picked members of the Salaam Balak Trust whom he has been mentoring for the past three years. By all accounts, it promises to be a dramatic and memorable performance, and we cannot wait to see it.
Meanwhile, for fans of Shammi Kapoor, there is a show of Kashmir ki Kali on November 4, the story of young rich boy Rajiv Lal, who visits the gorgeous Kashmir Valley and falls in love with a local girl named Champa and of course there is opposition and of course young love triumphs in the end and some unsavory secrets are uncovered. Champa is played by Sharmila Tagore and there is Pran and others to complete the ensemble.
But that is not the point of this diary piece. The point is to take a look at the Dal Lake on whioch O.P. Nayyar’s songs were picturised, songs that swept Shammi to instant stardom.
It is a marvelous tribute to the man who died on August 14 this year and whose last rites were performed at the same spot on the Dal Lake, his ashes merging forever with the place that made him famous. May he rest in peace.