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Journalism of Courage
If you think he looks comfortable with the crow in Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kate, the song from the eponymous film which is topping the charts, it is because he8217;s used to the bird. He once lived in a house where three of them made it a habit to perch their droppings on him. He seems to have bad luck with crows. The one in the song kept dropping off to sleep the minute the director shouted action.
But that8217;s one of the few things that is not going Shiamak Davar8217;s way. The National Award-winning choreographer has not just cut an album, Mohabbat, but he8217;s also the star of India8217;s answer to Grease although, don8217;t say that aloud to first-time musical director Roshan Abbas. For Abbas, Graffiti: Postcards From School, would not have been possible without his friend Shiamak.
The grand-nephew of Hunterwali8217; Nadia likes working with kids there are 75 hyper-energetic teenagers from across the city in Graffiti, which is good because Abbas8217;s musical is a series of vignettes from school life. But there is nothing amateurish about the people behind the scenes: apart from Abbas and Davar, there is Feroz Khan, director of Gandhi vs Mahatma, and Valentine Shipley, Silk Route8217;s music director.
Although Davar, like Abbas, doesn8217;t think too highly of the theatre scene in the country, he maintains that theatre and dance are important as a release for young minds. 8220;Dance is all about keeping oneself fit and toned,8221; explains the man behind Dil To Pagal Hai8217;s slick numbers.
But even Davar would not have been able make Grease happen: it did when Abbas and Shipley met through a common friend. Shipley already had the tune ready when Abbas was introduced to him through a mutual friend. The opening line It8217;s cool to be in school8217; 8212; came up at the first meeting itself, and the rest, as they say, could well make for history. But Abbas is quick to add: 8220;Please, it8217;s not a line from Grease 8212; that was: It8217;s good to be at school8221;8217;.
The story of this 8220;first Indo-Anglian musical8221; is all about the time in school after the summer vacation and before the end of term the last few months of school in Class XII, which is what makes the musical so poignant.
Davar may not be acting in Graffiti, but it8217;s not as if he has no thespian dreams. He insists he8217;s a 8220;better singer-dancer than an actor-choreographer,8221; but as for acting, all he has to offer is a cryptic undertone: 8220;It will happen when it happens.8221; Until that happens, he plans to go ahead with his Shiamak Davar Institute for Performing Arts. Graffiti, by the way, is also an extension of his training. 8220;This venture is important to me as I love working with kids,8221; says Davar. 8220;But I make a point never to treat children like kids. I treat them like adults who have to be made aware of their responsibilities from an early age8221;.
Talking of which, Davar started singing at the age of seven, when he was still a 8220;highly emotional but mischievous brat8221;. He8217;s 36 now, so we can8217;t call him a brat, but we do have permission to call him good-looking. As he tells you, when he approached Polygram for his first album, Mohabbat, 8220;everybody at the studio gushed about how good-looking I was8221;.
And he8217;s not uttering a jhoot.
