Jiah Khan’s suicide comes as a warning to all heartbroken lovers.


I am looking at pictures of Suraj Pancholi and want to pull out my every single hair. I want to call out to Jiah and shake her: “Look at him!!! Is this man worth a suicide, when you have everything going for yourself?” The pain she causes her parents, her friends, her nation, all over some loose canon of a boyfriend.

Upsetting.

of course, there must have been an underlying depression, because you just don’t end your life cuz you are blue and things don’t go your way. But even people who are not clinically depressed, can touch rock bottom and have thoughts of suicide. I don’t know how thin the line has to be, for someone to take the actual steps. From time to time we are all depressed, so it’s really something that concerns us all.

My heart broke on several occasions. I spent years crying over some love sorrow nonsense. At the end you look back and realize the futility of it all. What a waste of time and energy!  There is so much to live for, to enjoy There are so many other forms of love that surround us. So even if we got burned, promises were broken or romantic love is unrequited, take a deep breath, shake off your insecurities and look at all the other areas of your life. Make it a point to see the good around you, ESPECIALLY when love sorrow knocked at your door. Life is larger than the notion of romantic love, sentimental love, or whatever love. We need to experience every facet of life, including pain and loss, to live life at its fullest.

It never feels okay to get burned, but we have to accept it and walk through the ring of fire from time to time. It’s not a big deal, afterall, with everything around us and within us in constant evolution.. And here is my tip of the day, throw your love sorrows into a bucket and out of the window. Keep that open until the sun rises. And rising it will.

 

 

Suraj Pancholi arrested in Jiah Khan suicide case

Suraj Pancholi arrested in Jiah Khan suicide case
Jiah and Suraj Pancholi reportedly dated for a year
Actress Jiah Khan’s friend Suraj Pancholi has been arrested by Mumbai police in connection with the 25-year-old’s suicide. (Read: In letter, Jiah wrote: If I stay here, I will crave you)

Suraj, son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, has been charged with abetment of suicide, a non-bailable charge, based on a complaint filed by Jiah’s mother Rabiya Amin Khan, the police said. He is likely to be produced in court today. (Also read: Once Bollywood’s brightest young thing)

The 23 year old Suraj reportedly dated Jiah for nearly a year. He was the last person she spoke to on the phone, police said, before hanging herself in her Mumbai home on June 3.

Suraj and his father Aditya Pancholi were questioned by Mumbai police for three hours on June 4.

Jiah left no suicide note. However, a six-page letter addressed to an unnamed person has been found and handed over to the police by her family.

In the letter, which appears to be written to a former or present boyfriend, Jiah says, “If you’re reading this I might have already left or about to leave. I am broken inside.”

Jiah talks about “kissing goodbye” her film career and claims that a promise of an engagement after a year of dating was broken.

“Your life was about partying and women. Mine was you and my work. If I stay here I will crave you and miss you,” says Jiah, accusing the boyfriend of cheating on her, in the poignant letter. (Also read: Actor Jiah Khan commits suicide in Mumbai home)

Jiah’s mother Rabiya told the press, “The letter does not have a name, so who it is addressed to is something you can only ask Jiah. But because of the incidents in the past and what she told me, all of these things point out to Suraj Pancholi.” She also said that she had urged her daughter to end the relationship.

http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/suraj-pancholi-arrested-in-jiah-khan-suicide-case-377781?pfrom=home-latest

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) inducts Mira Nair into its Hall of Fame


image found at asiasociety.org

A well deserved honor for the accomplished Orissa-born filmmaker.  Mira Nair was my introduction into Indian films in 1991, watching Mississippi Masala with a young Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury. I still love this movie. And I love Mira Nair, whose voice is bold, unapologetic and poetic at the same time. The Namesake is perhaps my favorite. I must have watched it 100 times over.  Mira Nair work covers two continents, the merging of cultures, ancient and new.  She weaves together the different tapestries, but her heart beats to the tabla and sings to the sitar.

Congrats, Mira Nair!!

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS INDUCTS
MICHAEL FINDLAY, ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL, MIRA NAIR AND FRED WILSON
INTO THE NYFA HALL OF FAME

NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is proud to announce that author and co-director of the Acquavella Gallery Michael Findlay, composer Elliot Goldenthal, filmmaker Mira Nair and visual artist Fred Wilson will be inducted into the NYFA Hall of Fame on Tuesday, April 23rd at Espace (635 West 42nd Street). The evening begins at 6:30 with a cocktail reception featuring interactive art by past and current NYFA grantees, followed by dinner and remarks from all the honorees. Tickets start at $500 and tables at $5,000; tickets for the Young Patrons After party, which begins at 9:30, are $250. Tickets and tables at all levels can be purchased at www.nyfa.org.

The NYFA Hall of Fame was created to both honor the work of artists to whom NYFA provided critical support early in their careers and recognize philanthropists and patrons of the arts who have had an impact of the City’s cultural community. Past honorees include: Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio; Todd Haynes; Christian Marclay; Kathleen O’Grady; Suzan-Lori Parks; Wendy Perron; Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas, and Andres Serrano. Bios of 2013 inductees:

Michael Findlay (Patron of the Arts) is the Co-Director of Acquavella Galleries, which specializes in Impressionist and Modern European works of art and post-war American painting and sculpture. In 1973 Findlay helped organize an art auction at Sotheby Parke-Bernet to benefit survivors of the Nicaraguan earthquake and since then has been involved in many such fund-raising activities. As Vice President of the Art Dealers Association of America, Findlay assisted in the recent appeal that raised over a million dollars to benefit non-profit and commercial galleries devastated by Hurricane Sandy. His book The Value of Art was published by Prestel Publishing in 2012. Mr. Findlay will be introduced by visual artist Billy Sullivan.

Elliot Goldenthal (NYFA Fellow in Music Composition, 1989) creates works for orchestra, theater, opera, ballet and film. Most recently he scored Julie Taymor’s film version of The Tempest. In 2003, he was honored with the Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the score to Taymor’s film Frida. In 2006, Goldenthal’s original two-act opera Grendel, directed by Taymor, premiered at the Los Angeles Opera and was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in music. He was commissioned by the American Ballet Theatre to compose a three-act ballet of Othello, which debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in May 1997. Additionally, Goldenthal has been nominated for three Oscars, two Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards. Mr. Goldenthal will be introduced by soprano Jessye Norman.

Mira Nair (NYFA Fellow in Film, 1988) is the writer, director, and producer. At the University of Delhi she started out in the theater department acting, but turned to photography and eventually to documentary filmmaking at Harvard.

Read more >>
Mira Nair’s filmography
2013 Words with Gods (segment “God Room”) (post-production)

2009 Amelia

2009 New York, I Love You (segment “Mira Nair)

2008 8 (segment “How can it be?”)

2008/I Migration (short)

2002 September 11 (segment “India”)

2002 Hysterical Blindness (TV movie)

2001 The Laughing Club of India (TV documentary short)

1998 My Own Country (TV movie)

1987 Children of a Desired Sex (TV documentary)

1985 India Cabaret (TV documentary)

1983 So Far from India (documentary)

1979 Jama Masjid Street Journal (documentary)

Anurag Kashyap part of Sundance jury


This is fantastic news indeed.   Finally somebody here in the US paid attention.  Showing   Gangs of Wasseypur in Cannes earlier this year and then in Toronto opened new doors. To have him part of the jury will make me follow the festival with even greater interest.  Kashy could be very instrumental in regard to exporting Indian film to the US..  I hope he makes great connections at Sundance because there is a lot to be said about the under-representation of Indian film here, starting with distribution, advertisement…
it always aggravates me that Indian films are ignored on a lot of sites and even listed in the category of Foreign Film. eg Netflix, moviefone IMDb upcoming releases. Nada. Zilch.. Poorly reviewed and misunderstood.  People wrongly associate Indian film with just romance and song and dance. Yes, music might be an integral part, but young filmmakers have found innovative ways using music as part of the narrative, something the West can actually learn from.
But that’s besides the point. India has a large pool of creative young talent just waiting to rise and get some recognition abroad. The time has come.  Proud of Kashyap, his work, his intellect and happy to see him being recognized as the innovative filmmaker he is and trailblazer in this native country.
Here is the article I found on ndtv.
Anurag Kashyap part of Sundance film festival jury
Press Trust of India | Thursday, December 20, 2012 (Mumbai)
He is currently working on his next venture titled Ugly.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is part of the prestigious jury for the 2013 edition of Sundance film festival.

The director’s epic crime saga Gangs of Wasseypur is also screening at the festival in the Spotlight section of the festival.

Anurag Kashyap is part of the 19 members of five juries awarding prizes at the festival, which runs from January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Anurag Kashyap, who has directed films like Black Friday, Dev D, Gulaal and Gangs of Wasseypur I&II, will take part in the festival as the jury member for the World Cinema Dramatic section alongside director Nadine Labaki and producer Joana Vincent.

It has been a good year for the director with Wasseypur doing well at the home box office besides travelling to festivals like Cannes and Toronto. Set in Bihar’s Dhanbad district, it was also honoured at Asia-Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane and Asia-Pacific Film Festival (APFF) in Macau, held recently.

“It is a truly special film for me and I’m overwhelmed with the audience reception and happy to know that the team’s efforts have been honoured at such large platforms,” Anurag Kashyap said in a statement.

renaming my paw pal “SpeedySingh”


This shall be my anthem.

 

If Rob Lowe can play a Canadian hockey coach who is fluent in Hindi, coaching a Punjabi ice hockey team,  then there are no more boundaries.

 

I used to be ein ShellyMingh,  now  I shall be SpeedySingh.

Shelly 2

 

 

And if you think I am cute… you should watch

“Speedy Singhs” – the movie.

 

PS there is apparently an English language version, which my Port Washington Library didn’t acquire since we are all speaking Hindi here :-)

but I must say it was fun listening to Rob Lowe hindi bol rahe tha.

Read up on the movie, co-produced by Akshay Kumar, starring Vinay Virmani and Anupam Kher, here on IMDb:

http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1736552/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

a huh.  mystery solved. it even comes with an English title.. “Breakaway”  ( I like Speedy Singhs better…).

so, okay, the movie is a X-ing between Bend it like Beckham and The Cutting Edge. Great for teenagers and hockey fans alike.

 

If you enjoy the idea of an all Indian ice hockey team but you think it’s fiction, think again:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Khiladi786’s genius soundtrack


I am going to watch Khiladi this weekend, and I am excited. Not so much because I love bodies flying through the air, car collisions and firecracker-Kung-Fu. Well, I do love Akki, but that’s besides the point.

My autistic and predominantly non-verbal student LOVES Bollywood music, so whenever a new movie comes out I am showing him the trailer and the songs. I show him Stardust magazines with all its glamorous Bollywood stars. When I point and ask him “who is this?” he will identify the star with 100% accuracy. On our frequent walks I may start humming a BW tune and lo and behold he will know one or two lines of the lyrics -without understanding a word. Point in case I was humming after a very long hiatus Chammak Challo and he knew the title and who’s acting in the movie.

Today I was telling him about the upcoming Khiladi and I went on Youtube to show him the trailer and then the songs. I had seen the trailer but I had no idea how many beautiful tunes it had!

From my student’s point of view here are the songs he liked best: (with passionate repeat-listening..)

Hookah Bar

music and lyrics  and vocals by Himesh Reshammiya

in second place came The Lonely Song, credits go again to  Himesh and Yo Yo Honey Singh & Hamsika Iyer
Lyrics by: Shabbir Ahmed

followed by Saari Saari Raat also by the ultra-talented Himeshji, GEE!!

and we liked Long Drive, music Himesh.  sing sing: Mika Singh

for some reason Balmo came last in our favorite countdown:

music Himesh, singers  Shreya Ghoshal and Sreeram

I mean, this movie is a musical treasure chest

and off I go to buy the CD :-)

can’t wait to see these beautiful songs on the big screen!!

– which makes me laugh because before my Bollywood mania days  I DESPISED music and dance in movies. Go figure.  What a turnaround.

Thank you Youtube, Eros Entertainment and T-series for all these great Bollywood video clips

And thanks Bollywood for adding another dimension to my life. With its colors, its music, its stars, it just brings so much joy, not just to me but all the peeps I can share this passion with. Like my wonderful student.

Midnight’s Children US release date still in the dark


From the wonderful filmmaker Deepa Mehta, who brought us the impressive  trilogy Fire (96),  Earth (98)  and Water (2005) (which always top my list of recommendations),   the irreverent comedy  Bollywood Hollywood (2002)  and the deeply disturbing Heaven on Earth (2008), here comes her maybe greatest venture Midnight’s Children, based on the prize-winning novel by Salman Rushdie.

Music by the multi-talented composer and songwriter Nitin Sawhney, whose music never ceases to inspire.

Midnight’s Children premiered in September 2012 at the Telluride Film Festival  and was presented shortly afterwards at the Toronto Film Festival. Hopefully we’ll get to see it soon here in the US. What takes it so long!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life of Pi


 

This is a movie I have been waiting for feverishly. But I have to bite my nails until Sunday.  The new cinematic venture by Ang Lee, Life of Pi,  promises some spectacular visuals. And to my delight it has an almost all-Indian cast, which includes the great Irrfan Khan, Tabu and newcomer Suraj Sharma in his role as Pi Patel, the zookeeper’s son, who gets stranded, shipwrecked, with a hungry, disoriented tiger as only company. [ Look who’s coming for dinner. Could it get any worse? :-) ]

Santiago-born cinematographer Claudio Miranda has worked on several movies as chief lighting technician in the past, did commercials, music videos. Light is the alpha & omega in photography and cinematography. Right off from the trailer of Life of Pi  that sensitivity becomes obvious. Miranda’s website gives a glimpse of his talent: www.claudiomiranda.com. He honed his skills as cinematographer in  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and TRON: Legacy.  Godknows, Miranda might very well become one of our most influential cinematographers in time, but that’s just a gut feeling. He seems to be the perfect match for grandmaster Ang Lee, who is directing this new 3D extravaganza. I am not a fan of 3D but this one I believe is worth the nuisance.

Ang Lee’s work speaks for itself. Eat Drink Man Woman. 94. Genius. If you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out. Sense and Sensibility (95) based on the Jane Austen novel starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant. Lives spinning out of control in  Ice Storm (97) with Kevin Kline.  unforgettable. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) which popularized flying up walls and jumping roofs defying gravity. nough said.Oh and the Oscar winner, the epic Brokeback Mountain with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, which included a lot of manly sex, longing and heartache. I can still smell the campfire, the grand wide landscapes and cowboy boots. Ang Lee always delivers. Life of Pi will be another exceptional film from this masterful filmmaker.

I feel like a kid counting the days until Christmas: 2+1/2.  My only regret is, I haven’t read the book. But maybe that’s a good thing. Sometimes it works better this way around. Movie first, book later. For me, at least. More suspenseful.

“Dancing with the Stars” sizzles with Bollywood flavor


AWESOME!

Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd

Season 14: Derek Hough and Maria Menounos

BUT I LOVED BEST THIS ROCKING BHANGRA:

Derek Hough and Shawn Johnson dancing to Bhangra

SHABASH! :-)

I bet it’s not the last time we will get Bollywood-inspired dances on this show. They are always a sure hit.

Even though the guys are all doing a good job…. Bollywood-moves are not in our exactly in our collective DNA.  Maybe they should invite Hrithik :-)

Brad Pitt on Indian cinema and working in Bollywood


Hollywood/Bollywood cross-pollination. It would be awesome if Brad Pitt were to play in a Bollywood movie!!  I know a lot of Indians who are almost apologetic about their movies. It would restore their faith  :-)

image found on google

……..”Indian cinema seems to be growing very well at its own pace. I would love to work in a Bollywood film as there is so much drama and colour in the films there,” Pitt told IANS in an email interview.

“The film making, I hear, has evolved a lot in India and of late we have witnessed some good films making a presence at the Oscars and the world stage,” added the actor.

The presence of Indian films and their artists has witnessed a boost in the western world in recent times. International premieres, opportunities for actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, as well as A.R.Rahman’s Oscar-winning feat for Slumdog Millionaire have drawn international interest in India’s cinematic offerings.

“That tells you a lot about the quality of the actors and the films. You never know when I might decide to work in a Bollywood film and do one of those dance numbers with the whole crew in the backdrop,” quipped Pitt, who shot in the country for 2007 movie A Mighty Heart.

The 48-year-old actor, who has been named among the sexiest men in the world multiple times, is especially fond of former Miss World Aishwarya. He says he is open to work with her.

“Given a chance, I would like to work with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan because she’s a versatile actor. She has worked brilliantly in films like The Mistress of Spices, The Last Legion, The Pink Panther 2 and Provoked to name a few,” said Brad Pitt.

“She is one of the most popular actresses of Bollywood, who has achieved huge acclaim in the west for her style, beauty and acting skills. I think we missed an opportunity to be cast together for the movie Troy,” he added.

Aishwarya was reportedly offered to essay the historical part of Briseis, but she turned down the offer by director Wolfgang Petersen. Troy, released in 2007, continues to be one of Pitt’s best performances till date.

Meanwhile, Brad Pitt has finally decided to enter wedlock with his lady love Angelina Jolie, with whom he makes up the popular ‘Brangelina’ brand. The couple have six children. Though his wedding date is yet to be fixed, the actor has wished India’s ‘Saifeena’ – Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor – all the best for their D-day next month.

“To be honest, I really think Saif and Kareena can be called Bollywood’s sexiest couple so far. I am glad to know they are getting married soon. I wish them all the success for a happy married life,” he said……

 

read the whole article here:

 

http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?keyword=bollywood&ID=269369&subcatg=&nid=269369