VIR DAS
The Bunker Buster
As one of India’s first – and unquestioningly best known – standup comics, Vir Das is credited with kicking off the comedy movement that is now exploding in the form of open mic nights, standup shows, comedy consultancies and more across the country.
An established stand up comedian, actor and musician, with live shows like Walking on Broken Das and History of India, TV shows like Ek Rahin Vir, News on The Loose and RIPping the Decade and movies like Badmaash Company and Delhi Belly to his credit, Vir performs to sellout audiences when he takes time off from his film commitments to tour. He’s one of the most coveted performers on the Indian scene today.
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NASEERUDDIN SHAH
The Effortless Icon
In the annals of the Indian film industry rarely has there been an actor to have won such universal respect from his peers, with some of filmdom’s most substantial works to his credit including Aakrosh, Sparsh, Mandi, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Mirch Masala, among others.
Awarded both the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan titles, Naseer has won three National Film Awards for Best Actor apart from a host of other Indian and international honours. Having moved from being an actor to being a symbol of excellence in the performing arts, Naseer will call upon his extraordinary skill and experience to create magic at THiNK as he performs an exclusive, riveting dramatised reading of Saadat Hasan Manto’s epic Toba Tek Singh.
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INTERPRETI VENEZIANI
When they first exploded on the Venice music scene in 1987 – a setting known for some of the most skilled
classical musicians in the world – they immediately gained a reputation for youthful exuberance and all-Italian brio.
Today this ensemble is one of the highlights of any trip to the romantic city of Venice, playing some of the world’s most legendary Western classical music with a distinctive style all their own. They demonstrate the true power of music and its ability to be at once moving, exhilarating, evocative, exuberant, emotional. Now a landmark on the international music scene in their xxVIth Venice concert season, Interpreti Veneziani play to over 60,000 specta- tors a year from all over the world.
The great talent of the musicians who make up this group is their skilled interpretations of the Baroque, Clas- sic and Modern repertoires with virtuosity, emotion and engaging variety, which are a keystone to their success both with the public and critics.
They’ve performed at the Festival of Melbourne, at the Bayreuth Festival, concerts at the Royal Palace in Stock- holm, in the World Vision telemarathon in the Kirov Theatre for the revival of the name of the city of St. Petersburg, the concert at the osaka Symphony Hall in live broadcast for Japanese radio, concerts at Suntory Hall and Kjoi Hall in Tokyo. Concerts in the United States, Japan, Canada, Latin America alternate every year in their calendar with concerts in the world’s most prestigious halls.
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Sadhana Rao
The Music Educator
She’s a music educationist with a passion for taking the world of songs to children in their schools and
communities.
As co-founder of Art Links Learning, Sadhana Rao builds relationships with conservatories to take their evolved traditional and classical music to schools in structured form from the ages of 2½. But her breadth of knowledge about the layers and textures of both Indian and western classical music, as well as her keen ear for musical talent, extend the reach of her influence to audiences outside the learning circle.
A passionate believer in the concept that music knows no hierarchies, Sadhana leads a pool of trained faculty and educationists to take classical music mainstream. As curator of the daytime music performances at THiNK, she has helped construct disparate musical influences into a cohesive whole.
A master’s in social work from Delhi University, she honed her research, consulting and execution skills at the Administrative Staff College of India. Living in Chennai, she continues to be a student and researcher of western classical and Hindustani music. Most recently, she has embarked on a project to spawn Music & Arts Learning Circles & Communities for different genres and interest groups using online social technology.
