E-Paper
Heads of the tale
Two men in gold, 40 crores worth of art and desi sci-fi — 2009 did pack a punch.
Art & books
500 art works, 54 galleries, 17 countries — the second India. Art Summit was bigger than ever. It housed art close to Rs 40 crores, of which over 50 per cent sold!
It was a great year for the lovers of European art. Works by artists such as Salvador Dali, Patrick Hughes and Serge Mendjisky were on display in the Capital. But the icing on the cake came in November, when the Spanish Cultural Center presented 100 original etchings from Picasso’s Suite Vollard Collection.
Indian literature took a break from the ‘literary’ and made room for several titles in fantasy & science-fiction — from the Harry Potter-esqe Shadow in Eternity trilogy and Ashok Bankar’s critically acclaimed Gods of War, to the futuresque Beast With a Billion Feet and Cyberabad Days.
Music
Musical genius AR Rahman made the world sit up and go, Jai Ho. He clinched two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe for the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack and composed a winning score for the Vince Vaughn-starrer Couples Retreat. The composer also appeared in the video of Akon’s Beautiful and did the Jai Ho remix with Pussy Cat Dolls.
Lyricist Gulzar shared the Oscar with Rahman, but more significantly, took desi junta on a nostalgic trip by penning Dhan Te Nan for filmmaker Vishal Bhadwaj’s Kaminey. The magnetic duo turned the thrilling background musical piece of the 70s into a club anthem.
