Till March 31: Bonjour India by Joel Suganth, a photography exhibition that relives the beautiful moments and the magic of the wonderful performances, during the Bonjour India Festival in Chennai (at Alliance Franciase).

Till April 10: Dots and Triangles, paintings in small format by K. Srinivasan (at Forum Art Gallery).

March 20: Inauguration of The Playhouse – Cheria aana at 39/46 Ram’s Square, 2 Village Road, Nungambakkam. Special performances by Hans Kaushik, Shakila Arun, Krishnakumar and Joel at the inauguration. Programmes scheduled here are: Toddler Theatre (for 2-3 year olds), Campfire Tales (Storytelling for 5-15 year olds) and Strings (a dedicated space for Puppet Theatre for children 3 and above).

For more details contact: littletheatre@gmail.com

March 20-31: Retrospective of paintings and drawings by Oviar Mannar K. Madhavan (1907-1977). Original works and prints will be on show. The paintings of Gods of the Indian Divinity took vibrant forms in the art of Madhavan and almost all litho presses in Sivakasi have the original paintings of these forms, which have been reproduced as religious prints in calendars and posters and other art forms to be enshrined in temples, houses and public halls for worship.

Madhavan also did portraits of personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajagopalachari, Kamarajar, C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi, among others. His paintings and cut-outs during election campaigns were instrumental in laying a strong foothold for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu. (At DakshinaChitra Art Gallery.)

March 22: Saveurs et Traditions du Sud de I’ Inde by Sophie Girot & Viji Varadarajan: A chance encounter in local market was for Viji and Sophie the beginning of a long friendship. Inspired by Viji, Sophie began to experiment with her new-found vegetarian South Indian recipes. She photographed the dishes each time and thus came about their idea of a new cookbook in French: Saveurs et Traditions du Sud de I’ Inde (at Alliance Francaise).

March 22: An exhibition of painting by D. Dhasan, a self-taught artist (at Aakarsh Gallery, Chamiers Road).

March 27: Aikya India 2010: The first in a series of annual events in support of Smrutha Dhvani, a fund for retiring artistes in the field of dance and music. This year, a spell-binding concert will feature Aruna Sairam and sets by Thota Tharrani. She takes audiences through a journey of India by singing in 16 different national languages. For more information info@ globaladjustments.com (at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall).

April 1-30: Ocean by Joel Suganth, a polaroid exhibition of meditations on the ocean (at Alliance Francaise).

April 3: Documentaries on Madras, a prelude to the Madras Day 2010 celebrations in August. To be screened are: 1. Mylapore Festival – on the annual cultural fest held around Sri Kapali Temple; 2. Kannagi Nagar – on life in a sprawling colony in the southern suburbs of the city which has been promoted by the State as a home for those ‘evicted’ from the banks of city rivers and as a part of tsunami rehabilitation. 3. A Catholic Community’s Feast – A small community which settled in the San Thomé has been celebrating in Mandavelipakkam its traditional feast dedicated to Saint Lazar, patron of the lepers, (at Alliance Franciase, 3 p.m.).