TAJ EXPRESS: DON’T MISS THIS TRAIN TO BOLLYWOOD FANTASY LAND

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

A talented musician who dreams of following in AR Rahman’s footsteps. “If he is the Mozart of Madras, I will be the Beethoven of Bollywood!” A prince who lives incognito in a Mumbai slum and a beautiful actress – Kareena Kaboom, no less – who dreams of true love. A villain of the piece with his accompanying gang – all of whom just happen to be awesome dancers! Throw in songs and dances and gorgeous costumes and you have a Bollywood blockbuster in the Canadian premiere of Taj Express.

A cast of 26 dancers and three on-stage musicians come together in a high-energy celebration of new India’s pop music and Bollywood culture. Speaking of energy... Explosive doesn’t begin to describe the performances as the dancers present a nonstop mix of modern Indian, folk and traditional dance forms with a good amount of what this reviewer can only call top-notch gymnastics. They even pull off a typical Bollywood fight sequence and a slo-mo dream one! Dancing, twisting and contorting to oohs, aahs and spontaneous applause, they actually had some members of the audience dancing in their seats, and later, encouraged by the cast, in the aisles. They were all superb, but Rajitdev Easwardas as Arjun, Tanvi Patil as Kareena and the dancer who plays the poet’s muse deserve special mention.

Choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant to Rahman’s hits and an original title track by Salim and Sulaiman Merchant, Taj Express brings all the promised songs, dances and fun in true, larger-than-life style to Toronto. The show runs until December 1.

When & where: Until Dec 1 at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, Toronto. Tickets: $49 - $79 at www.ticketmaster.ca, by calling 1-855-985-ARTS (2787), or in person at the Civic Theatres Toronto box offices.

Mawenzi House invites you to its annual book launch

November 12. It’s a celebration of some of their recent authors and titles.

The Somali Camel Boy by Nur Abdi (fiction): Tragic, yet hilarious at times, as the camel boy negotiates the ways of his new life, this novel provides a rare insight into the complexities and conflicts of our world.

Waiting for the Rain by Lamees Al Ethari (non-fiction): In this memoir, Lamees traces her transition from an idyllic childhood in a large extended Iraqi family to the relative stability of an exilic family life in Canada.

Polychromasia by Mohineet Kaur Boparai (poetry): It takes on love, through confessional poems, the biosphere through the idea of geographical space over human time, patriarchy, class, and caste as it affects people, and the practice and appreciation of art.

Salt in My Life by Lien Chao (poetry): A sense of poetic and textual fluidity permeates this collection—embracing natural sounds such as heartbeats, electronic beeps, explosive thunderstorms, splashing raindrops, audible stillness, and eternal silence, as well as musical sounds and songs.

Paper Lions by Sohan S Koonar (fiction): Poignant, tragic, and at the same time exhilarating, this novel brings historical India to itself in the lives of its characters. Through their struggles India comes of age, as they do.

Fully accessible space, gender neutral bathrooms, books for sale, refreshments. When: November 12, 6:30 pm–9:30 pm. Doors open 6:30 pm, readings start around 7:15 pm. Where: Centre for Social Innovation - Annex, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2R4.

MORE THIS MONTH

 Second City’s latest: The Second City introduces a brand new show that invites audiences to bask in the glow of nostalgia. If I Could #Throwback Time sends audiences through a virtual time machine, mining comedy gold from ancient treasures like old school video games, Power Rangers and Canada’s long, complicated history of sweeping social injustices. Set to a soundtrack that’s sure to bring back some of your worst memories, The Second City’s latest takedown of life is full of lust, laughter, psychos, and “Sandstorm.” Performed and written by Tricia Black, Clare McConnell, Natalie Metcalfe, Alan Shane Lewis, Sharjil Rasool, and Chris Wilson. Tickets start at $28 and are available by phone at 416-343-0011 or at secondcity.com.

 Nov. 23: G Pinto in concert with live band and special guests. Featuring the brand new album Escape with six brand-new, original songs plus four cover songs (Sweet Child O’ Mine and Hotel California). Track #1 was shot on location in Northern Greece. Portion of the proceeds go to the Arthritis Society. 7:30 pm at Westdale Theatre, Hamilton. For details and info, visit www.gpinto.com or call 416-296-9494.

 Ongoing: AGO’s Infinity Mirror Room opens to the public. Yayoi Ku-sama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – Let’s Survive Forever is now a part of the AGO collection, the first contemporary artwork acquired in Canada through a major crowdfunding campaign. Fewer than 20 Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Rooms are on view worldwide. First realized in 2017, Let’s Survive Forever is larger than most, featuring mirrored orbs suspended from the ceiling and arranged on the floor. A mirrored column inside the room invites visitors to peer into a seemingly infinite field of silver spheres. Up to four visitors can enter the work at one time, and visitors can spend up to one minute inside. Access is included in General Admission. Info at ago.ca.

Symposium On jainism

June 20-2, 2020: Ancient Wisdom Meets the Modern Age, symposium on Jainism and mathematics. Inviting scholars from all over the world who have conducted original research in studying Jain scriptures, specifically for their mathematical contributions. Also seeking  papers on newly researched subject matter such as on transmission between Arabic, Greek, Chinese, and Jain mathematics; unpublished Jain mathematical texts in Tamil, Kannada, and other Indian languages and their antiquity; Jain number theory and its uniqueness; earliest positional notations, Jaina concept of infinity and modern infinity; unique and independent contributions of Jain mathematics in the outside world. Deadline for submission: December 31, 2019. Selected original articles will be edited and are likely to be published as a monograph. All travel, visa, boarding, and lodging expenses will be arranged and paid by the organizers. Send all responses and inquiries to contact@Jainmath.org and magnuseng@comast.net. More info at www.Jain math.org.

Free Desi Diary listings. List your event for free in Desi News and e-desinews. com. E-mail: desinews@rogers.com. Deadline for December listings: Nov 20, 2019.