ACCLAIMED dance production Sevens has recommenced a UK tour that it began at the end of 2021 with eye-catching performances.
The three-part dance and music based on the sacred, sometimes sinful, significance of the number seven features top talents including Abirami Eswar. The Kathak maestro, trained by Padmashri Pratap Pawar MBE, specialises in the Lucknow style, which emphasises grace along with speed and complexity.
She is happy to be a part of Sevens and discussed the show with Eastern Eye, along
with her close connection to dance.
What first connected you to dance?
Having been raised in Chennai, Tamil Nadu – the hub of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam – I was exposed to live music and dance from a young age. Watching these performances is what triggered my interest.
How would you describe your dance journey?
In short, it’s like a marathon. I’ve had my share of trials and successes, but through this process, I’ve learnt that falling hard a few times is important to figure out exactly where you stand to push yourself creatively. My experience has moulded me to be strong and face challenges head on. I stand with gratitude that without my previous experiences, I will not be where I am today, but the journey continues.
Tell us about Sevens?
It is an exciting production that showcases seven snags, seven steps and seven sins. It will have moments when you’ll sit on the edge of your seat, waiting with bated breath to see what happens next, and moments when you will be moved to tears. Also, moments when you will experience chills down your spine and moments that will make you ponder when you leave that seat.
What has the response to the show been like?
It’s been moving to hear encouraging and refreshing reviews from audiences of all ages. Some have even made an effort to travel and watch the show again in different venues. That should say something about the impact the show has made. One of the sins, Lust, has been a steady audience favourite and a complete eyebrow raiser.
What is your favourite moment in the show?
It’s difficult for me to pick a favourite moment but the first half, Seven Snags, is my favourite because it leaves me breathless by the end of it. It’s the nonstop dancing – if you blink, you’re out.
Who are you hoping connects with Sevens?
Sevens will resonate with everyone. Every audience member will have a moment or several instances when they connect deeply to the show. I remember one person telling me, ‘Ah, I wish I could freeze certain parts of the show to re-watch’.
What is performing live again after lockdown like?
I remember getting emotional seeing the stage when I performed for the first time following the onset of the pandemic. It feels surreal to be able to finally step on the stage and feel that powerful energy yet again. And most importantly, bounce off the incredible energy from the audience. It feels like I’m home.
Who is your dance hero?
To be honest, my dance heroes keep changing with time. I find it inspiring when a dancer thinks outside the box and decides to explore the challenge despite any criticism that may come their way.
According to you, what is the secret of a great dance performance?
It is the time and effort put behind the scenes during rehearsals. It’s also one’s ability to transform into character on stage.
What do you love most about Kathak?
Apart from the grace, speed, and complexity, it’s the subtle realistic expressions and arresting poses that end a breathtaking composition in a moment of stillness that I love the most.
Why should we watch Sevens?
It’s a daring show that you will not forget for a long time. It will be a live dance and music treat for those watching it after the pandemic. Imagine your friend going on and on about how amazing the show was while you could have watched it first-hand, so get booking now.
Srishti – Nina Rajarani Creations’ Sevens tours the UK until July 5. Visit www.srishti.co.uk
TOUR DATES
• March 22: The Rose Theatre in Ormskirk - www.edgehill.ac.uk
• March 30: MAC Birmingham - www.macbirmingham.co.uk
• April 2: The Place Theatre in London - www.theplace.org.uk
• April 10: Wiltshire Music Centre - www.wiltshiremusic.org.uk
• May 10: South Hill Park in Berkshire - www.southhillpark.org.uk
• July 5: Curve Theatre in Leicester - www.curveonline.co.uk
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5