CITYLIGHTS

Role Reversal
Theatre and film personality Mohan Agashe was in the city last week to conduct a theatre workshop. Narrating an anecdote from his acting career, he said, "A noted filmmaker once called me for a script narration session, and was very keen that I accept the assignment. I sat through the hearing patiently, trying to understand what was happening.At the end of the session, he noted the perplexed look on my face, and asked me the reason for my confusion. I told him honestly that I hadn't really understood my role in the film. He then told me with a poker face that there really was no role for me."
"That's why we need a good actor - because non-role performances are tougher!" Agashe chuckled, enlightening the audience about the complexity of essaying undefined characters.
Saying It With Flowers
Actor Nana Patekar donned the mantle of the emcee for the recentlyconcluded 'Vasantotsav' in the city. After thanking the opening performer Rahul Deshpande, Patekar proceeded to hand a bouquet to the artiste. Having done that, he requested Deshpande to pass the same bouquet around, much to the amusement of the audience.
"Don't be mistaken - we have enough bouquets to go around," Patekar explained. "Only, these people don't take them home, and they remain lying around. They're given with great love, and it feels bad to see them strewn about. That is why I'm asking him to circulate the same bouquet."He then went on to ask the stage hands to bring more bouquets to prove to the audience that there really were enough of them.
Motormouth!
Vasantotsav saw a stream of witticisms from its emcee Nana Patekar, which bordered on the somewhat risqu���� at times. As a 50-member German orchestra set up their instruments, he narrated an anecdote from his life. "People butcher our names in the western world. A friend of mine called Shithole (pronounced shee-tho-le ) once went to America where the airport authorities pronounced his name the way it is spelt (shit hole). The perplexed authorities proceeded to ask him if his name really was that. The embarrassed gentleman then changed the spelling of his name to 'Shitole' to avoid further confusion in the US of A!" Patekar grinned.
The actor then proceeded to introduce the German orchestra, saying, "Those sitting in the centre row are 11 sisters, behind them are their husbands. Those looking a little elderly and sitting in the back row are their uncles, and their kids are loitering about somewhere ." Luckily for Patekar, he escaped with his dig on the orchestra members because he said it all in Marathi.
Scientific Temper
At the inaugural meeting of the international year of astronomy (IYA) at the IUCAA recently, a senior member of a national science institution gave a rather sarcastic presentation.
He started by raising objections to the IYA logo saying it was gender-biased . "There are two men in the logo - at least the child could have been a girl," he said.
Proceeding to take a dig at TV channels , he narrated how a channel approached him for a sound byte during the lunar eclipse last year. "I insisted that they meet me at night during the eclipse - and they dutifully turned up. I had the advantage of the fact that I was going live.
So I went on air, berating them for being unable to get a scientist in their studios to discuss the eclipse, and having settled for a pundit to narrate the details of the phenomenon," he said. He ended his narration exhorting all members of the scientific community to insist on an opportunity for a live telecast when approached by the media.
Just as the audience thought he was done, he launched into a reading of a letter sent by an official from a sister organisation about its plans for the IYA. "We are producing a new planetarium show, which I would have had to produce anyway - IYA or no IYA. But since this is the astronomy year, we are using the tag," he read out. Now if only people would learn the art of subtlety.
Paper Tiger
At a recent press conference, one of the city's prominent personalities kept insisting that the reporters give "prominent, front-page display with a bold headline" to the news.
"It would be so sad if the news was published, but the people did not read it because they did not see the news item," the gentleman further said.
The individual in question was a media-friendly personality who is used to being in the news for all the right reasons , and generally garnered more than his fair share of newsprint in publications across the city. It left this scribe wondering why, after so many years of interaction with the press, the person still remained so insecure about receiving due press coverage, and conveniently clueless about the workings of newspapers.
Minding One's Qs
Film director Subhash Ghai did not seem to be in a great mood during a press conference organised as part of the ongoing Pune International Film Festival on Sunday. Or perhaps it was the questions posed to him that got his goat. A certain scribe (who seemed to have memorised Ghai's curriculum vitae ) started off his question by speaking at length about the director's career in the film industry until Ghai cut in: "What is your question?" When another asked him if he intended to make more movies like 'Black and White' dealing with social issues, Ghai replied in the positive. On being further asked what issues he planned to make films on, Ghai seemed to have misunderstood the reporter. "Don't you know what issues are?" he shot back. Later, however , a couple of queries asked of the director had him saying, "Good question!" So maybe it was the questions and not Ghai's mood that was to blame.
Numbers Game
At the foundation day of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) on Friday, S Sivaram, the institute's director , introduced the chief guest to the audience . Sivaram mentioned how the chief guest, Samir Brahmachari, director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, was easily approachable. "Brahmachari is one of the very few high-profile people in the country who willingly gives his cell number to anybody who asks for it," Sivaram said. This indeed is a rare quality , as most scribes will tell you that it is often very difficult to get through to top government officials in the country. When Brahmachari finished his lecture and was about to leave the stage, a really old man in the audience got up and said, "I have a question for Mr Brahmachari ." When Brahmachari obliged, the man said, "What is your mobile number?" leaving the audience in splits.
Cyber Magic
Apress conference was held at the police commissionerate recently to announce the schedule of 'Cyber Safe Pune, 2009', organised by the city police to spread awareness on cyber crimes. Many senior officials were at the venue , eager to ensure that people understood how such criminals function. One of the reporters present provided just the opportunity. He told police officials that he was curious as to why every time he visits the police headquarters at Shivajinagar , he sees the cyber lab wearing a deserted look. A senior official jumped at the chance to explain the basics of cyber crime. He said, "We have put a 'cyber lock' on the lab. You see the room from outside and think it is shut. But things are functioning normally inside. It is similar to how you think your credit card is safe inside your wallet, but somebody is using it on the sly." A point well made.
(Contributed by Aditi Uptat, Chitra Nair, Swati Shinde and Mihir Tanksale)