The eighth edition of Hyderabad Literary Festival, to be held from January 26 to 28 at Hyderabad Public School, will bring together authors, poets, academics, literary enthusiasts, performing artists, storytellers and just about anyone with a creative bent of mind. The country in focus this year is Spain and the Indian language in focus is Kannada.
Here are some highlights to look forward to:
Talking movies
Girish Kasaravalli retro: In association with Moving Images, the festival will have select film screenings. Among these, look out for the Girish Kasaravalli retro. Three films directed by the acclaimed Kannada film-maker will be screened. Ghatashraddha (January 26; 2pm), the director’s debut film, which won three national awards and figures among the list of 100 best films in the Paris Film Archives, is based on a story by UR Ananthamurthy. Dweepa (January 28; 11am) is based on a novel by Na D’Souza and discusses displacement in the wake of a dam construction. Gulabi Talkies (January 27; 2pm), based on a short story by Vaidehi, portrays the Indian passion for cinema and the changes it brings about in a village with the arrival of the first colour TV. Girish Kasaravalli will also be in conversation with Nikhila H on ‘Films and Literature’, on January 27; 10.50 a.m.
Tom Alter tribute: The lit fest will pay tribute to late actor Tom Alter. The 2016 film Life Flows On traces the lives of three dementia patients. The film will be introduced by actor and writer Astri Ghosh. January 28, evening.
Deccan rocks: Hyderabad – City of Rocks , directed by Saravana Kumar Salem, focuses on rock formations in the city that date back to millions of years. January 26; 11am.
Remembering Shashi Kapoor: Sanjna Kapoor will be at HLF for a plenary session ‘Junoon of the Kendals and the Kapoors’ (January 27; 4.30pm).
The 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions Shakespeare Wallah starring Shashi Kapoor, Felicity Kendal and Madhur Jaffrey will also be screened. January 27; 11am.
On the stage: Your storyboard: Formerly with the corporate sector and now a full-time educator at Ahilya Education Society, Toral Shah will be conducting workshops for children as well as hosting a session titled ‘3,999 cups and more’ (January 26; 11.50 am). In this stage talk cum performance, she will discuss different ways by which creativity and originality can reinforce a ‘Why not?’ and a ‘So what?’ approach, basically fuelling participants to question the norm. The session will encourage students to create a story, illustrate, make a storyboard, and enact it. She will also be conducting a story writing workshop for children (January 28; 11am).
Tribute to Appaji: Vidushi Girija Devi, fondly referred to as Appaji, will be remembered in Vidya Rao’s session in which she will discuss the bandishes typical of the Banaras ang which she learnt from the late musician. January 26; 2.30 pm
Romancing the stage: Arundhati Nag will talk about the world of theatre, sharing anecdotes from some of her best plays in different genres. She will also enact a portion from Girish Karnad’s play Bikhre Bimb ( Broken Images ). January 27; 12 noon
Folk art: Bringing the Telangana tribal art form Mandeccula Katha to the lit fest is Kadem Sammaiah. Mandeccula Katha denotes storytelling through the cattle herd. January 27; 3.10 pm
Gauri Lankesh tribute: kShaNabindu , a poetic performance, will pay tribute to late journalist Gauri Lankesh. The poem written by Mamta Sagar will be sung by Vasu Dixit and Bindumalini Narayanaswamy. January 28; 12 noon.
Other tributes to Gauri Lankesh are: ‘A life in courage and compassion’ a conversation between Chandan Gowda, Gita Ramaswamy and Kannan Sundaram, on January 28; 10.50am.
‘Gauri Lankesh’s urgent Saaru’ will have N Pushpamala dressed as Bharatmata and present one of Gauri’s favourite recipes. On January 28; 12.45pm.
Food cultures: This segment features a few women at the forefront of food culture — Rajyashri Goody, Anne-Marie Melster, Madhu Reddy, Himanshu Kapoor and Padma Koppula. Moderator is Lina Vincent Sunish. January 28; 3.10pm to 4pm
Madhu Reddy, Katarina Rasic, Kalpit Gaonkar, Antara Mukherjee, Rajyashri Goody, Swathi & Vijay will also showcase their curated exhibitions in collaboration with ‘Artport_Good Food’ that highlight different aspects of food and art, on all three days.
Art at HLF
Shrishti Art Gallery is curating ‘The meandering road to enchantment’ showcasing works of different artists. “We will have installations, sculptures and paintings. Some of them will highlight 21st century issues, there will be artworks that use recycled material, and an art corridor will focus on Telangana iconography — the land, festivals, people, monuments and so on,” says Lakshmi Nambiar of Shrishti.
At the HLF, also step into the Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museum store to browse through Gandhi- inspired merchandise that promotes the spirit of Ahimsa.
Foot artist Bandenawaz Badshah Nadaf will present an art exhibition and live demonstration.
Writer and broadcaster Sumanaspati will present ‘After the Moment’ a photography exhibition. Through 30 photographs, he intends to make visitors think about what happens after the crucial moment in which we click a photograph to document an event/moment. What makes a photograph live on?
Interludes
Promoting a concept: January 27; 5.20pm to 6 pm
As an aside to the literary discussions and stage talks, these interludes will engage visitors with conversations and new creative perspectives.
Harshad Dinkar Fad will present an edition of The Human Library, where books are people and reading is a conversation.
Hyderabad chapter of Ka se Kavita, which began in August 2016, will have a session at the HLF, conducted by Minakshi Chaudhary and Praveen Pranav.
Himanshu Singh and Devika Das will discuss their forum ‘Rise of Literati’. “Our forum is both a reading and writing platform, designed to bring together book lovers and budding authors,” says writer and literary enthusiast Devika Das.
Santosh Mohan Veeranki of Tale Tellers Troupe will host a session in which he will help people overcome stage fear by practising storytelling.
