Vikas Kohli's Association with the Gemini/Genie Awards, Award-Winning Indian Playright, & Award-Winning Canadian Director

Wednesday, Nov 28th - Mississauga - Composer and Music Producer Vikas Kohli of FatLabs is keeping busy with a myriad of projects.  The following is a summary of three such projects: Where There's A Will Vikas Kohli has written the music for Sawitri Threatre's production of "Where There's A Will".  This was the first full-length play written by Indian playwright Mahesh Dattani.  Dattani is the recipient of India's National Academy of Letters' Sahitya Akademi Award and is famous for his film Morning Raaga starring Bollywood legend Shabani Azmi.  The play, directed by Christina Collins, is the story of a rich businessman who tries to control his family through his will. "The characters in this play are stuck in such an awkward situation so I had a lot of fun writing an equally awkward original score," says Composer and Music Producer Vikas Kohli of FatLabs. Showings from Dec 6, 2012 through to Dec 9, 2012 at Sampradaya Theatre, Mississauga.  Visit www.sawitri.ca for tickets. Canadian Screen Awards This year the Gemini Awards for Canadian television and the Genie Awards for Canadian film have merged into the Canadian Screen Awards.  Composer and Music Producer Vikas Kohli of FatLabs has been selected to be part of the inaugural jury for recognizing the best talent in Canadian film, TV, and digital media.  "Someone must have switched the ballots for jury selection," jests Kohli adding, "I feel that I'm reviewing the work of Canadians who I look up to.  It's humbling and an honour to be selected to be a part of such a prestigious event."  Produced by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the awards will be hosted by legendary comedian Martin Short and broadcast live by CBC Television at 8pm (8:30pm NT) on Sunday, March 3, 2013. MallaMall Composer and Music Producer Vikas Kohli of FatLabs has written the music for the feature documentary MallaMall, by award-winning director Lalita Krishna.  The film tackles how the affluent middle-class in India have created demand for superstores that threaten the small entrepreneurs of traditional bazaars and corner stores.  "We used the music in MallaMall to reflect where we are chronologically and geographically in the film.  Perceptive viewers will hear South Indian flavours in shots of the Bangalore farmers market and Punjabi flavours in shots of Dehli; And the music evolves with the influx of western corporations," comments Kohli who also points out "Unusual for documentaries, I wrote the background score as well as several songs.  This included an original Bollywood song, a song created from an ancient Sanskrit prayer, and creating a modern arrangement of a devotional Bhajan."  MallaMall has so far screened at the Calgary International Film Festival, Vancouver South Asian Film Festival, and FILMI Toronto's South Asian Film Festival.

StarBuzz, Toronto-