Son Rise on Stage

Like most of his 20-year-old friends,Aditya Rawal loves football and cricket. The avid footballer’s life is on the brink of a career change as he calms his nerves for his first stage performance next month in Delhi. The play,called Bombay Talkies,is directed by Mumbai-based Vikram Kapadia. Acting might run in his blood,but football is what has kept actor Paresh Rawal’s son busy for the last five years. He admits that he always had “a keen urge to write and act”. “I got admission into HR College in Mumbai on the basis of my prowess as a footballer,so that took up my entire time,” says Aditya. Last December,he decided to audition for Bombay Talkies and was chosen as an understudy to actor Namit Das’s role. The play,a series of monologues,finds Aditya playing a young Gujarati boy,much like himself. “Though I’ve been practising for months,this will be my first proper stage performance as Namit will not be able to act this time,” says Aditya. Ask him who he looks up to for inspiration and the response holds no surprise. “My father,he’s a wonderful actor,” says Aditya. The South Hampton Football Club fan will soon fly overseas to pursue a course in screenwriting.

Mark his Moves

This pianist can also send people behind bars. Mark Damisch,who practices civil trial litigation in Chicago,will arrive in India next month to exhibit his skills on the piano. He will perform in Delhi and Chennai,with a concert being planned in Jaipur as well. Damisch began playing the organ as a four-year-old and,by seven,had graduated to the piano. Over the next few years,he performed across the world,including at Tchaikovsky’s House near Moscow,and in Wiesbaden,Germany,for American troops returning from Iraq. His 1977 world tour received words of approval even from President Jimmy Carter. Many of Damisch’s concerts worldwide have been for charities and he hopes his music will help people “learn from each other’s differences”. On the playlist for his India tour are Claude Debussy’s Golliwog’s Cakewalk and Fryderyk Chopin’s Ballades and Etudes.