* Dread, but make it funny
One can perhaps view Love, Death & Ketchup as Varun Grover’s attempt to cope with his worst nightmares, through humour. In it, he weaves satire into stories of personal anxieties, ranging from mortality to the world running out of ketchup.
It’s weird and autobiographical, with a dash of existential musing, typical of Grover’s stage persona. Expect poetic humour, political observation and sharp introspection. The show, which toured the US and Canada last year, is for those who love stewing in someone else’s intrusive, uncomfortable thoughts. Come for the humour, stay for the absurdity, and (hopefully) go home with something to think about.
WHEN: March 15, 8 pm
WHERE: Kala Mandir Auditorium
ENTRY: Prices start at ₹1,999
* Cry Daddy, laugh harder
In Cry Daddy, Anirban Dasgupta, father to a toddler, riffs on the ridiculousness of everyday events as a man-child who suddenly found himself in the midst of fatherhood.
Debuting at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival last year, Cry Daddy touches upon the raw nerve of Dasgupta’s unfulfilled dream as a child: that of becoming a sportsperson. So what does the comic do? He turns the set into a game, complete with a scoreboard that lets the audience rate each joke.
There’s something for everyone: anecdotes on parenting, the dashed ambitions of a middle-class man, a whole lot of cynicism. Expect riskier riffs too, that might just elicit a gasp, besides a chortle.
WHEN: March 15, 5 pm and 7.30 pm
WHERE: Kala Kunj Auditorium
ENTRY: ₹799
* Sisters in song
Sisters Antara Nandy and Ankita Nandy began their “balcony concerts” during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Six years on, they have moved beyond the confines of the home to perform at live events.
Trained in Hindustani classical music, the duo segues seamlessly between genres and styles ranging from Bollywood film music to Assamese and Bengali folk songs and contemporary pop covers. They often perform in multiple languages within the same set.
Antara Nandy first gained recognition as a finalist on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs in 2009. In the lockdown, the two artists’ performances went viral for their inventive use of household objects as percussion instruments.
The sisters have collaborated with artists such as AR Rahman and Sonu Nigam, and their live performances are usually homages to the many stalwarts who inspire them. This is a chance to catch them live.
WHEN: March 15, 6.30 pm
WHERE: GD Birla Sabhaghar
ENTRY: Prices start at ₹300
* Sunidhi Chauhan’s homecoming
Sunidhi Chauhan is bringing her I Am Home concert to Kolkata. The songstress’s newfound zeal on stage has meant full-power spectacles that showcase her vocal range and electric stage presence. In earlier stops, Chauhan has performed her Bollywood hits to dramatic choreography and a live band. Some of the shows have featured surprise appearances by pop stars such as Alisha Chinai (in Mumbai) and actor Sanya Malhotra (in Delhi).
On opening night in Mumbai, 20,000 fans showed up to cheer on a star they grew up listening to. This is your chance to be there too.
WHEN: March 14, 5 pm
WHERE: Aquatica
ENTRY: Prices start at ₹2,500
* The storyteller’s stage
Ghar, the open-mic series by Tape a Tale, is meant to be a gathering that eases the storyteller and the romantic out of you. It is designed as a community-driven, intimate space for writers, poets and performers to share revelries and heartbreaks alike.
The format of the event is not rigid, in keeping with the intended relaxed pace. Performers are chosen at random and given short slots to encourage both first-time storytellers and seasoned spoken-word artistes.
WHEN: March 15, 2.30 pm
WHERE: The Talent Hub
ENTRY: ₹200
* A house of memories
Actor-filmmaker Arpan Garai’s play, Basabadol, adopts an intimate theatrical language in which the protagonist is a house about to change hands. Through this unusual tale, he explores identity, memory and belonging, amid a sparse but intriguing dramatic structure in which banal objects such beds, shoes and furniture show signs of remembering the past.
There are conversations between an ageing homeowner and a broker that reveal trepidations about displacement, inheritance and the emotional labour of vacating a home. Garai deliberately keeps dialogue to a minimum, with silences, objects and gestures doing much of the emotional work. The result is an atmospheric performance that looks afresh at the silences and interior lives of domestic spaces.
WHEN: March 15, 6.30 pm and 8 pm
WHERE: Kolkata Centre for Creativity
ENTRY: ₹250
* Rannaghor meets Bandra Born
In a special edition of Sienna’s chef’s table series, titled Rannaghor, the restaurant’s head chefs Avinandan Kundu and Koyel Roy Nandy join forces with Mumbai chef Gresham Fernandes, known for restaurants such as Bandra Born and Salt Water Cafe. This marks Sienna’s first tasting-menu collaboration within Rannaghor. Expect the establishment’s contemporary approach to Bengali ingredients and Fernandes’s produce-driven cooking to collide in a riot of flavour.
The multi-course menu will be prepared and presented by the chefs, making this exchange between two distinct culinary philosophies a memorable one.
WHEN: March 14, 7.55 pm
WHERE: Sienna
ENTRY: Prices start at ₹7,500
