Kalkallol

Kaalkallol is the next stage in Arun Khopkar’s exploration of diverse ideas about art, following his earlier book Anunaad.

The essays in Vistaranari Vartule present a vibrant panorama of varied events, places, and personalities. Beginning with Mumbai in the post-1960s era, the narrative moves through the national gathering of artists at Kasauli in the 1970s and reaches the Festival of India in Paris in the 1980s.

The book features evocative literary portraits of numerous personalities, including Arun Kolatkar, Ashok Shahane, Bhau Padhye, Dilip Padgaonkar, and R. K. Laxman, alongside theatre practitioners, musicians, dancers, saints, spiritual leaders, intellectuals, and eccentric individuals. It also offers colourful depictions of places ranging from Mumbai’s illegal liquor dens to Parisian bistros.

Closely connected with Khopkar’s expanding artistic sensibilities and intellectual horizons, these essays also bring to light significant traces of contemporary cultural history.

In the first essay of Teen Kiran-Kendre (Three Centres of Illumination), Khopkar examines Satish Alekar’s plays through his original conceptual framework of Adhonatya–Natya–Urdhvanatya. In the second, he provides an illustrative and detailed analysis of Sant Tukaram, the timeless film produced by Prabhat Film Company. In the third, he explores the personality of Arun Kolatkar and, through a perspective rarely encountered in literary criticism, brings previously unnoticed poetic characteristics into focus.

A rich stream of language and profound thought, flowing from the depths of the author’s mind, connects all these essays.

Arun Khopkar possesses a deep and discerning understanding of cinema, literature, music, painting, architecture, folk arts, and numerous languages and cultures. With its naturally conversational style and occasional spontaneous, insightful observations, this book, like his earlier work Anunaad, is likely to become an irresistibly engaging reading experience.