The Kala Ghoda Art Festival 2017

Reason to Smile: It is for the first time with this festival that all the 9 days were under my kitty to take a plunge on. Usually it is not common for people to check out the Kala Ghoda Art Festival that comes every February of the year hosted by the Hindustan Times Media (9 day event- first weekend to the second weekend of Feb) with such huge and long art / event schedules to be attended all days. It is this excitement of being able to attend any show at the right time without having worried about deep pockets and office timings to be met, that I chose to visit Irish House for all the stand up comedy acts by the event. Artists like Anirban Das Gupta on how lazy can people be in Kolkotta, Siddharth Dudeja on how capitalism is the cancer to our society, Abhishek Upamanyu on how he assumed he would be killed by his dad, Sourabh Pant on how he stands by his son for all odds, Kunal Kamra on why he would like to sleep all day, Neville Barucha on who would want to marry him, Jiya Sethi on why her parents think she is no more young for marriage, Dhruv Deshpande on how sick we as audience were, Sonali Thakker on being a proud gujarati girl with no relatives in the USA, that totally laid the house down with laughter and killed it big time ! It was a hilarious week all through with so much original content to ponder our thoughts on. And.. The best part about this festival is that all the shows are FREE of cost. 

The festival that showcases all forms of 'art' as the name suggests every year. It has something for everyone. The Literature Shows, Cineplays, Movies, Children shows, Pottery Making, Photography Workshops, Heritage Walks and Rides, Stand Up Comedy Acts ofcourse, Dance and Music Concerts, Some very popular and well known plays by celebrity artists like Anupam Kher and Nina Gupta - Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha is also a treat to watch in the cold and chilly evenings at the Horniman Circle near Asiatic Library one of the finest venues for the show. The food stalls at every nook and corner seemed very delicious but I am the last person to be concerned about that. So there isn't much from me on that 'counter'

Venues separately were chosen for certain shows - Cross Maidan, NMGA, Mc Gia Hall, Horniman Circle, Irish House to host some of the music, dance, and play concerts. Celebrity guests like Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan also did not choose to budge for such a mega event most famous for its art lovers :) The installation of art pieces were also seen placed beautifully that depicts a certain scientific art philosophy at the Kala Ghoda and several other chosen areas. 

The crowd keeps increasing in number day after day, unfortunately just to show off their selfies and groupies with their family and friends. I call it unfortunate for the sole reason that the main art at display is totally ignored by the people. The installations of the horses and the magic cube of 8 and 3 were made to be used to click pictures, not to decode the art that lies behind, but to ensure their FB profile pictures and cover photos gather unlimited 'likes' :P Nevertheless, perhaps that's also the fun some youth enjoy the festival for. I do wish if I could suggest that they have barricades around the installations so that the unwanted crowd that it attracts do not damage it for some reason. After all, there lies the effort of many hands who made it to the center of the festival !   

Cheers to HT Media for hosting the event, the curators and the organizers who made it all open for all sorts of art lovers and the audiences to gather as much as we could, have fun, ensure that we check these 9 days in our calendars, and make it happening ! It was indeed a remarkable event with such a vast schedule to pick up from. Thank you all for being so giving and applauds for the wonderful set up of the 'artistic' event.