Film, art and literature buffs in the city can soon look forward to interesting exchanges in these areas between India and Russia.
As a first step, the Indo-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and Russian Centre of Science and Culture will set up Sirkazhi Govindarajan – Tchaikovsky Indo-Russian Dance and Music Illam, a music club that will organise dance and music performances on a regular basis.
From Salsa to Bharathanatyam, and Russian folk music to Carnatic, every month would see a medley of performing arts from both the countries, beginning July 24.
“It is a wonderful initiative and will be the right platform to integrate Russian and Indian art forms. For artists, the awards will be an international honour. And for Russians who want to learn Indian dance and music, the club would be the right guide,” said singer Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram, son of Sirkazhi Govindarajan.
In line with the success of Tamil films in Russia and the popularity of Russian directors in India, the Chamber has plans to set up ‘Sivaji Ganesan and Sergei Bondarchuk Indo-Russian Film Service Bureau,' which would screen Tamil and Russian movies every month. Following the screenings, discussions about the film and the filmmaker by celebrities from Tamil film industry would be held.
Film Library
Indian and Russian film festivals would become a regular affair after setting up the bureau, said the Chamber Secretary P. Thangappan. A ‘Sivaji–Bondarchuk Film Library' will be set up as part of the bureau and the library would feature DVD collections of Sivaji Ganesan and Bondarchuk films.
Apart from movie screenings, the bureau would facilitate movie trading between the two countries. The bureau would also institute ‘Sivaji Ganesan' awards for Russian artists and ‘Bondarchuk' (director of ‘War and Peace') awards for Indian artists, in an attempt to bridge the movie culture of both the countries.
A literary forum at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture would also take shape shortly. The Pushkin-Jayakanthan Indo-Russian Literary Forum' would serve as a platform to recognise and honour Tamil writers and Russian writers who have contributed for Tamil works.
“We seek to familiarise Russian art and culture among Tamils and popularise Tamil films in Russia. This way, both the countries that have a rich history in cinema would learn about each other,” Mr. Thangappan, who is also the secretary of Indo-Russian Friendship Society, said.
