Latest news with #Ashwath
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Here's what Chennai's parkour community is up to
When you think of parkour, scenes of people scaling rooftops and leaping through walls might come to mind. But that is not all parkour is about, it is a way of life, says the parkour community in Chennai. At a park in Indira Nagar, members of the Parkour Circle begin their regular Sunday morning practice by tackling various obstacles. 'Parkour is all about being comfortable and efficient in your environment. It engages and develops all the senses in the body,' says Prabu M, who has been running the Parkour Circle, mostly outdoors. For him, the introduction to Parkour began with a video clip from a French film 'District B13' on Orkut in 2004. 'This community has grown but also waned, as parkour started to take a hyper-masculine image. But now, with conscious efforts to collaborate with other art forms like theatre and dance, it is more inclusive and bigger than before,' says Mr. Prabu, who also works with children with intellectual disabilities, helping them learn parkour. Meanwhile, at the indoor parkour sessions in Ekkattuthangal, early on a weekday morning, a young crowd gathered at Chennai Parkour practising Kong vault. 'People often think parkour is dangerous and only for the young, but what they don't see is the foundation of building strength, flexibility and mobility for the first six months,' says Vignesh Raghavan, professional parkour practitioner and senior coach at Chennai Parkour. 'Only then, we introduce the more intense techniques. When done right, parkour is safe and for people of all ages,' adds him. Seeing the crowd in their 20s and 30s who have largely been making use of the parkour facilities in Chennai, it is the children now joining the queue. Radhika Kannan, whose 8-year-old daughter Mahika says parkour is a lot of fun, and attends Chennai Parkour classes. 'My daughter was always jumping around the house, and we thought that parkour was something she would enjoy, and a dedicated parkour training centre was safer. Even though she was hesitant to try all the moves at first, she started enjoying the classes a lot, especially as more children have been joining in. The facilities are safe and the coaches take good care of the students,' she says. 'What I have noticed is that, along with her physical strength, her confidence has improved tremendously. Now, she is happy to do any adventure activity, without fear holding her back,' she adds. Ashwath, a 36-year-old management accountant and parkour practitioner for 15 years with the Parkour Circle, started this only to flex among his peers, but it has become his whole lifestyle today. He says the community in the city is livelier currently, because more people are seeking a break from their monotonous routine. 'Here, you don't compete against each other, it is about working on yourself, and parkour indeed makes me mentally strong, not just physically,' says Mr. Ashwath. Stereotypes still persist When it comes to outdoor parkour, the presence of practitioners in public parks often felt like an unwelcome guest, mistaking it for reckless play. Moreover, Mr. Prabu points out a cultural stigma when it comes to women training outdoors. 'When you search for parkour online, what shows up are intense stunts, but we teach parkour as a more grounded practise. It is a constant challenge we are trying to break,' he says . 'There are a lot of women who wish to join, but they are often held back by families who see parkour as something too risky, and they are nudged towards conventional gyms,' adds Mr. Raghavan. As this senior coach was training the members, he says parkour is never about rooftop jumps, which only a few adrenaline-seekers chase but always about using both your environment and your body to move efficiently!
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Ashwath Bhatt: Ashwath Bhatt: If you are a true artist, your art must reflect what is going on around you
Actor has been playing the role of Saadat Hasan Manto in the play Ek Mulaqat Manto Se for over a decade, and he believes that we have inhabited the world that the late writer lived in. The relevance, in today's life and times, is a stark reminder that Manto showed us a world that was equally, if not more, apathetic. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'Imagine what Manto would say when he read about Gaza today – about lives being lost, of children dying. Nothing much has changed – in every generation, it seems like he is alive and writing about the world now. Truth is always uncomfortable and that is the reality of the world,' says Ashwath. Ahead of performing the play in the city, the Raazi actor spoke about Manto-yat, its universal appeal, his work and more. Excerpts: 'Manto's stories have universal appeal' as Saadat Hasan Manto in a still from his play. Ashwath says that reading Manto in the late 90s was a completely different experience for him. 'By then I had read Eugene O'Neill and Franz Kafka, among others, but I had never read anything so bold and strong. And I could relate it to what was going on in Kashmir at that time. Kashmir was always in the news – there was violence being reported every other day. I was extremely angry, and I could completely relate to Manto's stories and writings,' he says. While researching, Ashwath realised that nobody knew much about the perception of Manto and how he saw himself. 'And I thought this was an interesting character to play as an actor. Plus, Manto's stories have a universal appeal,' he adds. The actor explains that there are two parts to the play, set before - pre and post-partition. One is static and the other is moving. 'We all need to pay our bills and need the work' Ashwath reiterates the point that most actors in the industry make today, that the audience has evolved and has plenty of good content to choose from. 'Producers must realise that you need to give a big screen release some time before you decide to bring it to OTT platforms. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now If in 20 days, a new film is on OTT, how do you expect people to go to theatres to watch a film?' he asks. The actor says that the audience does not want to compromise on content. 'People have been exposed to Turkish, Spanish, Korean, Malayalam, and a variety of content from across the world. Bollywood needs to realise that people's tastes have changed,' he says, adding, 'A friend of mine who was a typical Bollywood masala film lover consumed a variety of content during the pandemic. Today he discusses Stanley Kubrick's films with me.' Ashwath also feels that good content is a huge struggle in Bollywood. 'The corporatisation of the industry, where you have a bunch of business school graduates deciding your script and storyline in 20 minutes, cannot produce great cinema. But we all need to pay our bills and need the work. It's not that there are no good stories written. But we need passionate producers to back them,' he adds. Ashwath Bhatt in Ek Mulaqat Manto Se 'Bollywood is not pure art, it's a commercial business' While the Indian film industry is not known to make political statements on global issues, Ashwath feels even if they are not politicians, artists have to be political. 'If you are a true artist, your art must reflect what is going on in the world. You cannot be distant. You can't not be connected to what is going on in your country, in your society, in the world. Whether you are part of the system or not. Whether you have raised your voice or kept silent – everything will be written about. You are part of history,' he opines. Referring to the Iranian cinema and theatre, Ashwath shares, 'Censorship is perhaps the toughest in Iran. But they have filmmakers like Jafar Panahi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, among others, who always find a way to be political through their work without compromising on entertainment or engagement value. That's what I call a connect, and that is art. But then, Bollywood is not pure art — it is a commercial business.' On avoiding the jingoistic tropes in commercial cinema Ashwath Bhatt as Malik in The Diplomat Ashwath has had a long run in Bollywood, playing crucial roles in films like Raazi, Mission Majnu and Kesari, among others. The actor admits that he was not ready to play the role of Malik, Director General of Pakistan's ISI, in The Diplomat, immediately after his role in IB71 (where he plays the ISI intelligence chief). 'If the director has a vision and clarity, it helps. Shivam Nair (director of The Diplomat) was clear he did not want jingoism, no bashing people from across the border. The film was based on a true story, and the brief was to keep it realistic. Initially, I was not sure and wanted to shy away from this typical trope. I had done a couple of films with similar supporting characters and did not want to go into that zone again. But Shivam convinced me. He gave me the freedom to create the character the way I wanted to, in terms of appearance, mannerisms etc, and I am glad the character stood out,' says Ashwath.
