My Fortune...

My Father,Mr.Govind Vidyarthi always spoke about his Fortune and Wealth.His friends..I love to flaunt mine too...Introducing my dear friend Alok Mathur.His love and generosity has enveloped all who know him. I have been addedly blessed,that inspite of living in different cities,we have remained in constant touch over the last 24 years. His wife Romila (whose real name is Seth),though a vegetarian who only eats kaaalay waaalay chholay,laughs at all my jokes and Arjan their son, doesnt mind getting his cheeks pinched by me... (love compounded and matured...)...Through ups and downs ,through euphoria and despair ,through Old monks and groggy mornings...Alok has been constant...Ever present...never changing...Not even has his hairstyle changed !That evening too he was there.First listening to the mesmeric sounds of the Beens and then to help me down from the roof after my photo taking spree..."Oye Ganjay...I love you"-Kaalooo .

The Conductor...

Maverick Roy

Roy,since graduating from the National School of Drama has made a niche for himself directing plays and spectacles,rich in design and grandeur...

As I perched myself on the roof of the tenement at the Bharat Scouts and Guide ground...I experienced watching a dervaish...There was a trancelike feel as the "BEENS" hauntingly played as Roy conducted...Bagpipers one had heard of,but 60snake charmers playing in unision is an experience which will stay with me for a while...

Roy's Charmers...

I was in Delhi for two whole night shoots at the Red fort for my Telegu Film Atithi..I visited my friend Roysten Abel as he rehearsed with more than 60 snake charmers for a spectacle they were putting up for the innaugration of the Central Park at Connaught place...

Sealed and final !

Actors,Director,Film maker,Marketing whiz,Music company owner...All transfixed as Seal performed.This is one artist,who has caught a bullet fired at him with his teeth...He carries on..While holding on to a day time job in a company.
Any support to him will be a phenomenal contribution to keep this work alive in its land of birth..Thanks Mr. Seal for making our evening.Hope you like the pix.

Dont try this at home...

We were close to him...Ready to catch him...
I have a feeling,thats what he wanted...

The needle popped from the .....Eye !

Blowing Minds...

Thats what he did...to all of us...

We shrieked and clapped...

Our Blaine...

The stage was set on the Bhawanipore terrace.
Friends were there,so were some whom I was meeting for the first time.
Bikram Ghosh,whom I had heard of and seen on hoardings in Calcutta was there with his wife Jaya.
I had worked with Jaya in my first Bangla film a few years back.
My chat with Bikram was insightful.
I got a peek into the maverick world of a much travelled,internationaly acclaimed virtuoso,who a few years back encountered the dilemna of ... What next,after years of playing with Ravi Shankar !

But he too like the rest of us had not expected what Prince Seal,our "Blaine"... wove around us !

Princely Seal of a Magician !

After a hard days work in Cal,good friend Ringo,Suman and I trooped down to Saurav's for a Bangla meal...

What awaited us,was something we had never ever seen in real life.

It was Magician Prince Seal !

For the better part of the 45 mins we were there,he left us dumb struck...

An exponent of close quarters Magic...He stood less than a feet away,prim and proper with a razor sharp moustache...Seal left us giggling ,wide eyed and embarassed with his dexterity and calm!

Cards were guessed,coins flew out of OUR HANDS,a glass next to my plate dissapeared...
It was a David Blaine..in Cal.
We wanted more..and more people to see him..and feel stupid as we were feeling. So we confimed a performance on Suman's terrace at Bhowanipore!