The living room edit: Indian artistes on how to social distance and chill

Musicians, comics, artists and activists curate viewing lists and experiences to tide us over our social distancing woes

Jivraj Singh (of Parekh & Singh), musicians

The last few days, we’ve been writing songs, playing instruments, reaching out to friends and family, exercising, and sitting quietly. Watch:Ugly Delicious and Dave (Lil Dicky). Food+travel and comedy are good distractions. Learn: The MIT lecture, ‘How To Speak by Patrick Winston’. It is amazing. Also, the sound of chalk on blackboard is really soothing! Listen: Nischay has a playlist, P&S Top Picks, on Spotify — everything here sounds really good. Read: Anything that appeals to your interests, but doesn’t excite or disturb you overmuch. Good writing, like good sound, can be inherently soothing.

 

Kenny Sebastian, comic

Catch Don’t be that Guy (my comedy special on Amazon Prime Video), The Most Important Person in the Room (my soon-to-be-released Netflix special), and Bahubali part 1 and 2! And play Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Need for Speed Heat. They are so immersive, they help while away time effortlessly. My comfort viewing is usually classic Hollywood films from the ’80s and ’90s that I grew up with. I recently binged the Indiana Jones , Back to the Future , and Matrix series. I love watching older specials like Dave Chappelle’s Killin’’Them Softly . My favourite go-to platform is YouTube. From when I was 17, I love watching videos of all genres; it is how I learned my skills! I am also reading Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull.

Radhika Vaz, comic

Most folks I know have way too many shows they need to catch up on. But if you are that rare human who is being confronted with free time for the first time, here is how you can do some quarantimepass. Exercise: while this is what I like to do least, I’m using this forced confinement to build the disciple muscle. Yoga is my weapon of choice. Try ‘Yoga for Beginners’, a free app (my favourite kind) and the routines can be short and sweet or longer and sweatier. It is up to you. Watch: I’ve just binged two shows on Netflix. After Life , the most darkly hilarious take on death [OK, I know that perhaps a show about death isn’t the best recco at a time like this, but if we are going to die then you really wouldn’t want to miss this], and The IT Crowd [it is so well done that even if you are as far from an IT nerd as it gets, you will find yourself fully identifying with everything that happens]. Listen/Watch: I am slightly obsessed with Hollywood gossip. I am pathetic. Why do you think I outted that whole ‘do yoga’ business up front! YouTube houses my beloved Wendy Williams and Heather MacDonald. Wendy has a TV show, but they stream long segments. Same for Heather’s podcast, Juicy Scoop . Both women are hilarious and give you their unfiltered take on stupid Hollywood celebrity behaviour. Our Bollywood celebs would never behave that badly.

Manoj Bajpayee, actor: I watched ‘The Irishman’ twice. ‘Fleabag’ is a must for all, just to see the brilliance of every department, all in sync. Its a great series to catch while you are isolated.

Santosh Sivan, cinematographer-filmmaker: I am all alone in Mumbai feeding fish in the aquarium at home, doing terrace gardening, reading and browsing. Watch the web series, ‘Abstract: The Art of Design’ on Netflix.

Taapsee Pannu, actor: I rarely watch films multiple times; I feel you’re wasting time when there are so many new ones you can watch. My advice to the homebound: watch ‘Homeland’.

Adil Hussain, actor: I’m watching films and shows [many recommended by friends] on OTT platforms. I found the documentaries ‘Dirty Money’ and ‘The Bleeding Edge’ very revealing. I’m also working my way through a hard drive with films curated by my acting teacher in Pondicherry. I saw this wonderful Chinese film from 2013, The Nightingale, directed by Philippe Muyl. I think Mubi has some wonderfully-curated films.

Twinkle Khanna, actor-author-columnist: I am reading books based on movies and then watching the movie with my family. We are watching ‘Electric Dreams’ on Amazon Prime Video and I am rereading an anthology by Philip K Dick.

Ankur Tewari, singer-songwriter: Right now, I’m playing a lot of ‘Last of Us’, a zombie killing game in a post-apocalyptic world, because it is similar to what’s happening outside. I also suggest playing ‘FIFA’ because it is such a social game; you can play it online with your friends. I’m reading Leonard Cohen’s ‘The Flame’, compiled by his son Adam — a collection of his poems, some of which have been made into songs.

Alicia Dsouza, Illustrator: 1) Salt, Fat, Heat, Acid: Based on Samin Nosrat’s best-selling book, the show premiered on Netflix in October 2018. "It's my favourite food show." 2) Pushpavali: The second season of Sumukhi Suresh's show is out (on Amazon Prime). "I know and love the characters." 3) Peep Show: The series follows the lives of Mark Corrigan and Jeremy "Jez" Usborne, two dysfunctional friends who share a flat in London. It's my favourite British comedy.

Anurag Kashyap, filmmaker: Watch ‘Succession’ on Hotstar. Revisit ‘Watchmen’ and ‘Breaking Bad’, as well as the entire body of work from your favourite directors.

Appupen, graphic artist: I enjoy anything by Mœbius [the pseudonym used by French artist, cartoonist and writer, Jean Henri Gaston Giraud]. Visually, it is the best parallel universe or escape fantasy. He has the key to that other world where I try to go. Then, there are films by Rolf de Heer, the Dutch Australian filmmaker. It is beautiful filmmaking.

Bina Paul, film editor: Definitely feel-good films. Not the time to feel depressed and sad. My selection would include Hollywood classics such as ‘Casablanca’, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, ‘The Sting’, ‘Roman Holiday’, ‘Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner Tonight’ etc

Geetu Mohandas, actor-director: I am re-reading for the nth time Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide. He is one of my favourite authors. In addition, I am fine-tuning my script for my next film.

Naseeruddin Shah, actor-filmmaker: I’ve been catching up with the Anthony Burgess books I haven’t yet read. There are few better writers of the English language; I’d suggest giving him and Bernard Shaw a try.

Jaya Jaitly: I have been watching ‘Dirty Money’ on Netflix... It has got me thinking that actually so much of what is wrong in the world, including the way we’re suffering now is about the loss or the desire for gain of money…. So much of this world is balanced on money; surely it’s time to rejig our minds and our priorities.

Kajal Aggarwal, actor: Among podcasts, I enjoy listening to [Indian American entrepreneur and investor] Naval Ravikant. I [often catch] Ted Talks and one of my favourite motivational speakers is Brene Brown (in photo). I also listen to Simon Sinek.

Kenny Sebastian, comic: Play ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’ and ‘Need for Speed Heat’. I love watching older specials like Dave Chappelle’s ‘Killin’ Them Softly’. My favourite go-to platform is YouTube. From when I was 17, I love watching videos of all genres; it is how I learned my skills! I am also reading ‘Creativity, Inc’ by Ed Catmull.

Naveen Richard, comic: There’s something about those feel-good 90s films such as ‘Forrest Gump’, ‘Cast Away’, ‘You’ve Got Mail’, ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and ‘Home Alone’. When you watch them, you feel like a kid again.

Jivraj Singh of Parekh & Singh, musicians: Watch ‘Ugly Delicious’ and ‘Dave’ (Lil Dicky). Food+travel and comedy are good distractions. Nischay has a playlist, ‘P&S Top Picks’, on Spotify — everything here sounds really good.

Radhika Vaz, comic: I’ve just binged two shows on Netflix. ‘After Life’, the most darkly hilarious take on death [OK, I know that perhaps a show about death isn’t the best recco at a time like this, but if we are going to die then you really wouldn’t want to miss this], and ‘The IT Crowd’.

Raghu Dixit, indie musician: Watch Kannada movie ‘Love Mocktail’ — because I have made interesting music in it. ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ has a simple storyline made powerful by incredible acting by Prithviraj and Biju Menon.

Rajiv Menon, director: This time has given me a chance to catch up on fiction books. I just finished ‘A Man Called Ove’ by Fredrik Backman. Apart from Carnatic music, I’ve been listening to ‘The Planets’ [a seven-movement orchestral suite] by English composer Gustav Holst. From the UK Top 40, my picks are ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd and the new James Bond track, ‘No Time to Die’, by Billie Eilish.

Rasika Dugal, actor: Having just finished ‘The Spy’, I’m now watching ‘Unbelievable’. I would recommend ‘I Lost My Body’, a drama/fantasy animation film. Beautifully scripted and skilfully visualised, it takes you through a journey of loneliness and love in a city.

Richa Chadha, actor: I’m watching everything I think I should catch up on and some releases that I missed, like the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer ‘Dream Girl’ and director Rohena Gera’s ‘Sir’. I’m also watching ‘High Maintenance’ on Hotstar, though I’m a little late to the party. I am also reading a book by [Serbian political activist] Srdja Popovic called ‘Blueprint for Revolution’, which is about laughter and activism.

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Ankur Tewari, singer-songwriter

Right now, I’m playing a lot of Last of Us, a zombie killing game in a post-apocalyptic world, because it is similar to what’s happening outside. I also suggest playing FIFA because it is such a social game; you can play it online with your friends. This is a great time to read books. I usually pick up non-fiction, and William Dalrymple’s Anarchy is a great one to keep you away from screens and social media where there’s a lot of half-baked information and hysteria. I’m reading Leonard Cohen’s The Flame , compiled by his son Adam — a collection of his poems, some of which have been made into songs. I’ve also been making playlists and old-school mix tapes, and sending them to friends [I did a deep dive into the ’80s for a friend’s birthday]. And live jams on Instagram.

Karnataka Bengaluru 13/09/2019 Artist George Appupen with his work, Pic to go with Metro Plus Report. Photo: Sampath Kumar G P /The Hindu

Appupen, graphic artist

When I am not well, I want to read Bone , the American comic book series by Jeff Smith. It is the most comfort I can think of. It has some darkness but it is also a fantasy, an epic kind of thing. I also enjoy anything by Mœbius [the pseudonym used by French artist, cartoonist and writer, Jean Henri Gaston Giraud]. Visually, it is the best parallel universe or escape fantasy. He has the key to that other world where I try to go. Finally, there are films by Rolf de Heer, the Dutch Australian filmmaker. It is beautiful filmmaking.

Naveen Richard, comic

There’s something about those feel-good 90s films such as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, You’ve Got Mail, and Home Alone. When you watch them, you feel like a kid again. There’s a show called Community, by the creator of Rick and Morty. It was super niche [every episode was a different genre] and hilarious, and something that people need now. At times you want an escape, just like The Office. This is also a good time to catch up on quality music. Some of my favourite tracks include ‘A little bit like magic’ by King Harvest [it reminds you that the world is not such a bad place], ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers [a great morning song], and ‘A satisfied mind’ by Bobby Hebb [tells you to enjoy the simple things in life].

Musician Raghu Dixit

Raghu Dixit, musician

I’ve been spending time with my family for the last two weeks. I’ve watched Love Mocktail on Amazon Prime Video. It is a hit Kannada film and I have made interesting music in it. Ayyappanum Koshiyum is another one. It has a simple storyline made powerful by incredible acting by Prithviraj and Biju Menon. A good series is Mindhunter on Netflix, one of the best psychological investigative thrillers around. Heal is a documentary (on Netflix), if you need something to inspire you in troubled times as this. And finally, there is Punch Brothers - Live at Paramount Theatre on YouTube. One of the best live acts, it is a stimulating concert video by a great band performing live.

NEW DELHI, INDIA - JANUARY 3: Politician Ms Jaya Jaitly During the opening ceremony of the 32nd Annual Dastkari Haat Crafts Bazaar, at Dastkar Mela at Dilli Haat, INA, on January 3, 2018 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Shivam Saxena/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Jaya Jaitly, activist

I have been watching Dirty Money on Netflix. It has got me thinking how so much of what is wrong in the world, including the way we’re suffering now, is about the loss or the desire for money. Surely it is time to rejig our minds and our priorities. Vikram Sampath gave me his new book, Savarkar . There has been so much opposition to it by people who have not read it – it’s only archival material; they’re not taking anyone’s side. It’s just fact and we should know the facts before we take decisions or form opinions. I went to a lit fest recently, and the whole audience was not even prepared to even think about looking at it objectively. I don’t like that sort of thing, so I’m reading that now.

Alicia Souza, illustrator

I’m watching Salt, Fat, Heat, Acid , the Netflix show based on Samin Nosrat’s best-selling book. It is my favourite food show. The second season of Sumukhi Suresh's Pushpavali is out on Amazon Prime Video. I know and love the characters. And there is Peep Show . The series follows the lives of Mark Corrigan and Jeremy ‘Jez’ Usborne, two dysfunctional friends who share a flat in London. It is my favourite British comedy.