Le magazine de lAlliance Franaise de Bombay

No. 123Dec/Feb 13

ImpressIons december-february 20132

T I M E O N Y O U R S I D E

The Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi Ista Hotel, Pune Horniman Circle, Mumbai

Hermes.com

01_215x280_Impressions_Inde_UK.indd 1 06/08/12 14:17

december-february 2013 ImpressIons 3

Directrice de la publication Anne DUBOURG

Rdactrice en chef Clea CHAKRAVERTY

Maquette Maquette Neaha NAGPAL, Spenta Multimedia Impression Spenta Multimedia Traductions et corrections Elonore CORDOVA, Ritika RAMASURI

Illustration et photographie David CORDINA, Elonore CORDOVA, famille ENGINEER, Soumaya JRONDI, Claude PAUQUET-Agence VU, Jean-Philippe RAIBAUD, Ritika RAMASURI, Atout France, Consulat gnral de France Mumbai, MAEE, AF de Vancouver, Unifrance

Ont collabor ce numro Jean-Sbastien ATTIE, Sumitra BADRINATHAN, David CORDINA, Elonore CORDOVA, Amruta DATAR-CAMPUS France, Nadir GODREJ, Shreya MAPARA-IFFCI, Ritika RAMASURI, Consulat gnral de France Mumbai

Remerciements Toute lquipe de lInstitut Franais en Inde

Tirage 2500 ex

Sommaire/Contents

2013 announces a year of everything French. Try to win the Fondation Alliance Franais photo competition to bag a trip to France before plunging into the Bonjour India festival from January to March. It will lead you straight in the Francophonie events. As Impressions always tries to improve, we have now a section for the distinguished members of our Alliance Franaise. And a surprise for the next issue. Belle et heureuse anne tous !

Editorial

RETOUR SUR4 Heritage Days and Taste Week made

up our quarter

ON Y TAIT6 A rendez-vous with French cinema

RENCONTRE AVEC 8 Henri Demarquette, violoncelliste

prodige

BOOKS10 The French graphic novel 12 De vive voix : Bastien Vivs 13 Voix dhier : Hugo Pratt14 Notes de lecture15 Keniz Mourad

CINEMA16 Indie movies17 Focus: Princess of Montpensier 18 Our DVDs selection

WATCH (OUT)19 Photography competition 21 Tech moments

FRANCE EN BREF22 Gay marriage in France

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20

28

24

DISCOVERY24 France on a budget

AF MONDE 26 AF de Vancouver

FRANAIS EN MARCHE 48 Actu50 Productions tudiantes : Thtre 52 Campus France

REGARDS CROISS53 Bharati relates her French experience,

Agns her stint in Mumbai

MEMBERS PAGE54 Mrs. Gul Engineer

BUzz57 Nouveaux venus

FRANCE PRATIQUE 58 Le service emploi pour les Franais

Mumbai

CALENDAR60 December 2012-January 2013

FRENCH CORNER62 Amruta Patil, ltoile de la BD indienne

27-47 COVER STORY: BONJOUR INDIA FESTIVAL Discover in this issue the highlights of the festival of France in India, in Mumbai.

Have a moment of ecstasy watching the Preljocaj ballet (P32) and eating during the gastronomy extravaganza Floating Buffet (P42). Enjoy a real Indo-French theatre collaboration with Gates to India Song (P38), while peeping behind the scenes of

the Prithvi theatre (P37)or the NCPA (P35).

54

ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE BOMBAYhttp://bombay.afindia.org

contact: mag.mumbai@afindia.org

Theosophy Hall 40, New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400020

Tel: (91-22) 22 03 59 93 / (91-22) 22 03 61 87 Fax: (91-22) 22 06 61 57

Cover is composed of various pictures from the events of the Bonjour India festival.

Le magazine de lAlliance Franaise de Bombay

No. 123Dec/Feb 13

ImpressIons december-february 20134

RetouR Sur..

Comprehend the need / Ami Saha

Anvita Paraunik

Huda Tayob

Anvita Paraunik

Huda Tayob Huda Tayob

A City for all / Ami Saha

HUDA TAYOB, ANVITA PARAUNIK and AMI SAHA won the Heritage Days Hidden Mumbai photography contest The winners of the competition Hidden Mumbai were rewarded on the 18th of September, at the Caf Zo, after the jury composed of Matthieu Foss, Fabien Charuau and Elise Van Elst Foster deliberated at the Alliance Franaise de Bombay.

The winning pictures had been on display for a month at the Lower Parel's trendy Caf Zo.

At Herms, Mumbai, the ancient art of French craft making

Heritage Days

Ritik

a Ra

mas

uri

december-february 2013 ImpressIons 5

RetouR Sur..

Pipette

Soumaya Jrondi, cultural coordinator tries a Nitrogen frozen rose

Chef Ranveer Brar, Christophe Lavelle, Nicolas Poussielgue, scientific attach

A emulsifying dish Chef Gutrin gets ready

There is little in common between the biophysicist Christophe Lavelle of CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and the knives of chef Nol Gutrin. Same goes for the heads of TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) and IHM (Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition) in Mumbai. However science and gastronomy were truly united during one week. This year, the Alliance Franaise de Bombay in partnership with IHM, Novotel Juhu and the Department of science of the French Embassy invited Christophe Lavelle, Nol Gutrin and Frdric Monzo to create an artistic culinary experience for Mumbaikars. Nol Gutrin , a member of l'association Escoffier, has extensively contributed to the art of molecular gastronomy and heads the restaurant Le Cristal at Futuroscope in Poitiers.

Molecular cuisine : A success

At the workshop held for the students of IHM, Christophe Lavelle explained as Chef Gutrin demonstrated the processes. The students learned techniques of basic and inverted spherefications, gellified liquids and cryogenics while combining innovation with tradition.

The day before, a dinner at Novotel gathered about sixty French and Indian VIPs. artists, journalists, businessmen, cooks and Francophile friends invited by the Alliance Franaise de Bombay and its partners who enjoyed cep ice-cream, marbled foie gras with ceps, sauce into a pipette, miniature gellified candied apples with seaweed extracts, capsicum snow, agar-agar-based confections and other unbelievably delectable Indian dishes. Explosion of senses and almost literally of the food: the guests discovered the fun side of French gastronomy.

The week was entirely dedicated to the presentation of molecular cooking to different audiences: students of IHM, IIT Bombay, Mumbai University and TIFR. The trio then conducted four workshops in Mumbai to train professional chefs in the particularities of molecular gastronomy.

For the students of French language, the Taste Week was the occasion to learn the language of gastronomy and dietary culture. The cultural team of Alliance Franaise had organized a crpes workshop at Nashik, a seminar for the employees of Sofitel and a day full of literary games and wine and cheese tasting session for the students of AFB.

Tables, workshops, science but also taste and French language lessons, can't wait for the next session!

For the 3rd consecutive year, the Alliance Franaise de Bombay honoured French gastronomy and its most surprising forms. Take a look back at a week full of steam, bubbles and discoveries.

ImpressIons december-february 20136

on y tait

The city which gave birth to Bollywood was entertained this fall with a very strong French presence as the 14th Mumbai Film Festival gave once more the opportunity to screen many French movies. This Rendez-vous with French Cinema festival was a huge success with the presence of French actors and directors such as Jean-Paul Rouve, Carine Tardieu and Soko.

The special section Rendez-vous with French cinema seeks to establish an exhilarating platform for showcasing the various facets of French contemporary cinema, helping Indian distributors to promote new French films and celebrate the growing Indo-French ties. Among the numerous French

France and India, in love with cinema films playing at the 14th MFF, Rendez-Vous with French cinema section opened with acclaimed director Jacques Audiards Rust and Bone De rouille et dos on the 20th October. Other important films that were screened as part of this section included, Sylvie Testuds Another womans life (La Vie dune autre), Farewell, my queen (Les Adieux la reine) by Benoit Jacquot, Leos Caraxs Holy Motors, Laurence Anyways by Xavier Dolan, Our Children (A perdre la raison) by Joachim Lafosse, Olivier Assayass Something in the air (Aprs mai), Le Grand Soir by Gustave Kervern and Benot Delepine, The Dandelions Du vent dans mes mollets by Carine Tardieu and Twice upon a time Quand je serai petit by Jean-Paul Rouve.

To emphasize the close ties that lie between France and India, on the 1st of November, H.E Franois Richier, Ambassador of France to India, on behalf of the French authorities conferred the honour of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier de lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres) on the distinguished actor Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the Beauty queen of Indian cinema celebrated her birthday with her friends and family. This prestigious distinction comes in recognition of her invaluable contribution to the world of cinema and the development of Indo-French cooperation in cinema, art, and culture. Some noted Indian recipients of this honour in the past include Shahrukh Khan, Raghu Rai, Nandita Das, late Habib Tanveer, and Upamanyu Chatterjee.

The Bachchan family with H.E Franois Richier, Ambassador of France in India

The French delegates light the diya

Dilip and Shobhaa D, Shyam Benegal, chairman of the MAMI

Jean-Paul Rouve (center), famous French actor with Jean-Raphal Peytregnet, Consul General of France in Mumbai

Anurag Kashyap, jury, enters Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

The French delegates and the jury at the opening of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema