Category: Lookit!

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Listen

Surabhi Saraf live in Mumbai

The San Francisco-based musician performed for the first time in India on Thursday, at Mumbai’s Max Mueller Bhavan, Kala Ghoda.

Surabhi Saraf performed at Mumbai, and India, for the first time ever. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago MFA degree holder played two tracks from her debut album, Illuminen EP, in which, in her own words, she “layers the sound of my voice over the droning percussions of aged fans that are augmented by lights and live video, creating an immersive soundscape.”

She played Illuminen, which she exhorted the audience to listen to with their eyes closed. This was an attempt by the artist to “draw the focus inward, negotiating ideas of entertainment, experience, sensation and sensationalism with the conviction that it is actually the numbing of certain sensory realities that generates crucial moments in socio-cultural transformation.” Watch the clip of the track below:

Her other performance, Spinning Four, was about “a visually rich immersive sonic experience that stimulates external senses. From my memories of Indian classical music to the multiplicity of sounds emerging from old mechanical fans, this performance deals with the phenomena on which we all depend, wind and breath. I layer the sound of my voice over the droning percussion of the rotating blades of aged fans powered by electric motors. Once on the air, these sound waves become electrical impulses and data that are manipulated through my laptop in real-time.”

(Picture courtesy surabhisaraf.net)

 

Categories
Film

May the best of the worst win

The Bollywood Razzies are here. In a year when Bollywood produced piles of rubbish, it’s tough to pick a winner.
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Have you heard of the The Ghanta and the Golden Kela? Before you call the moral police, let me clarify. These are the names of awards especially created for Bollywood. The Ghanta and Golden Kela Awards are the Indian counterparts of the Razzies (for Hollywood). Both the awards are independent and not related to each other. It doesn’t matter who gives them away or if the winners have the b**ls to collect them; what matters is that these awards symbolise the awakening of the janata and that Bollywood can no longer bullsh*t the audience without being b**chslapped in return.

The Ghanta Awards are in their third year and the Golden Kelas are a little older at five. Both are very popular on social media and they encourage users to vote online. 2012 was one of the most creatively-challenged years for Bollywood, hence there is plenty to trash this time. But before I cast my precious vote to elect the best of the worst, let’s review the various categories and nominees in each award.

Worst Actor 2012

Akshay Kumar is a clear winner with four straight flops: Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore, Joker and Khiladi 786. Ajay Devgn comes a close second with Son of Sardaar and Bol Bachchan in both the Awards. Surprisingly, Salman Khan only features in The Ghanta Awards list for Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2. Kat got your tongue, Golden Kela?

Worst Actress 2012

Sonakshi Sinha for Rowdy Rathore, Joker, Son of Sardaar and Dabangg 2; basically everything she did. Katrina Kaif, Deepika, Bipasha, Priyanka Chopra are the rest of the nominations. Everyone, except for Kareena Kapoor, has made it to the lists this year.

 

Worst Film 2012

Oh, this one is tough. There are just five options for the Ghantas and six for Golden Kelas in the worst films category, but they could very well expand their list to include more from the pile of garbage Bollywood produced last year. I like Golden Kela’s list better. They’ve got the crapfest full on with Housefull 2, Son of Sardaar, Khiladi 786, Dabangg 2, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Joker. All these films were headache-inducting tortures that took away 80 minutes of the audience’s lives. The Ghantas have Student of the Year on its list, but I think the audience deserves a special award for having sat through this film and lived to tell the tale.

Worst Director 2012

Let’s give Shirish Kunder a lifetime pass for the Worst Director Award in both these awards, along with free home delivery. The Golden Kela has Arbaaz Khan vying for this spot for Dabangg 2. Maybe it’s time Arbaazbhai renounces the world and goes back to his planet. Whenever he does go, he should also take Vikram Bhatt (Raaz 3, Dangerous Ishq) along.

Worst Song 2012

Wikipedia should catalogue this into a series. Even this year, as always, Bollywood will make a generous contribution to this. A special volume should be dedicated to our nasal champion Himeshbhai. All the songs of Khiladi 786 have the magical quality of inducing violent behaviour, enough to start a prison riot. *chops own ears off*

Worst Sequel 2012

Jannat, Raaz, Jism, Housefull and Dabaang should jointly accept the award and officially STOP MAKING ANY MORE SEQUELS! The end has no end. The Dabaang prequel will haunt us soon. *shudder*

Both the awards have other unusual and interesting categories, such as:

Golden Kela Awards:

– Most Atrocious Lyric Awards. My pick is ‘Po Po Po’ from Son of Sardaar.

– Why Are You Still Trying Award – For people like Jackie Bhagnani. “Jackie, who?” you ask. Sigh, never mind.

– Baawra Ho Gaya Hai Kya Award – And the winner is, the Indian audience for spending money on a ride to hell and back with this slushpile.

and the Ghanta Awards:

– Worst Rip-Off/Remake – Barfi!

– Worst Couple – Abhishek Bachchan with anyone, even a log of wood.

– WTF Was That – That one time where you almost threw your shoes at the screen, then remembered you were wearing Osho chappals, so you just closed your eyes instead.

– That’s Anything But Sexy – Tough one again, but nothing can beat the awful dance steps in the ‘Cheeni’ song from Department. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feature on the list.

But are these awards really an eye-opener for for our filmmakers? Will they stop and think about the trash they are serving the audience? I don’t think so. Maybe we need some kind of penalty, where the audience is entitled to a refund for a bad film. This will surely make them behave themselves in future.

Voting for both the awards is now open. You can log on to http://theghantas.com/vote/login.php and  http://goldenkela.com/voting/vote.php

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Pictures courtesy galleryoneindia.in, wikimedia.org, hindi.way2movies.com)

Categories
Eat

Liquid spheres

The Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai, offers cocktails that go beyond mere melting in the mouth – they are designed to explode!

This month, it’s time to raise your glass to welcome the New Year as The Eau Bar offers up a selection of innovative new cocktails that will change the way you drink.

The Oberoi is offering a range of cocktails that are created by the hotel’s resident mixologists, who employ the ‘Spherification’  technique. Sounds intriguing? It is. Spherification is a culinary process of shaping a liquid into spheres. It transforms liquids into what, visually and texturall,y resembles caviar.

Spherification was originally discovered by Unilever in the 1950s, and brought into the spotlight by the creative team at el Bulli under the direction of Executive Chef, Ferran Adrià. The basic technique is ideal for obtaining spheres with very thin membranes, barely perceptible in one’s mouth. Upon taking a sip, the spheres will seemingly ‘explode’ in the mouth, releasing the flavoured liquid within.

The special cocktails on offer include the Cosmolecular, made of vodka and cranberry juice, with orange liqueur on the side; Strawberry Martini, made with vodka, with a strawberry sphere on the side and Champagne cocktails, served with either strawberry pearls or almond pearls, among others.

(Pictures courtesy foodgps.com, touchofmodern.com. Pictures are not of actual drinks but have been used for representational purpose only)

 

 

Categories
Film

Let’s sex it up. Not.

M wonders how, despite rampant sexual harassment within it, Bollywood will address the subject in this Friday’s big film release.

Bollywood never ceases to amaze me. The Friday release this week is Inkaar (starring Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh) and it delves into the subject of sexual harassment at the workplace, and how a man deals with allegations of abuse from a female colleague. I am keen to see how the film explores this issue, coming as it is from the horse’s mouth. Okay, I’ll come straight to the point.

When the Hindi film industry releases a film on sexual harassment, I want to see a disclaimer at the start of the film stating: ‘This film is not a piece of fiction and is based on real life instances from the producer/director/executive producer, etcetera’s lives. Due to the brief duration of the film, all the victims and their stories could not be covered. Viewers’ discretion is advised.’

The following is a true story.

An executive producer (EP) of a major film broadcasting house was fired and immediately hired by another broadcasting company. Like they say, one man’s dirt is another man’s treasure. Well, this guy did have loads of dirt on him. To begin with, he was fired or to put it politely, “asked to leave” because of the constant complains of sexual harassment he meted out to his female colleagues. In fact, tales of his behaviour were known to all and sundry in the industry. This didn’t stop him from doing the same at his new workplace. He believed that when you work at a film production company, you are expected to flirt a little to keep the atmosphere ‘light’.

He also believed that wearing a skirt to work makes the female colleague ‘available’ and that she’s ‘looking for some action’. So, he thought he did the right thing by constantly passing nasty remarks about their appearance and their clothes at the workplace. He even told stories about how he was popular amongst starlets, and how they sent him titillating pictures of themselves on his Blackberry Messenger.

Sometimes, he would even tell his males colleague to “go for it” and ask the superiors if they were “screwing” their subordinates (of course, the subordinates were women). He would narrate numerous stories about how, at his previous organisation, he would conduct ‘screen tests’ at hotel rooms and put the tab on the production budget. Stories about him luring young, struggling actresses and taking advantage of them were aplenty. He would drool at new faces and purposely set up meetings at the office to prove he was the alpha-male of the pack; the other men in office would wonder what they had to do to be as charming with the ladies as he was.

Of course, he also had stories of the industry to tell. The most disturbing incident he narrated was of an industry head honcho. He didn’t name the Person, but said that he was once present at a party at this Person’s house. After the guests left at around 4 am, this Person, intoxicated, walked straight into the domestic help’s room and locked the door from the inside. He stepped out of the room a few minutes later and crashed on the couch in the living room. The Person’s wife, who had watched him step in and out of the help’s room, got up, walked into her bedroom, came out with a bundle of rupee notes and when to the help’s room. She walked out again without uttering a word to anyone.

Coming back to Mr EP; he didn’t stay in the new organisation for long either. The women in the new organisation also complained to the bosses. The reason for his exit is still unclear, with most reports hinting at ‘under-performance’. In one year, Mr EP had walked all over the production house’s already non-existent work culture; he was insensitive and loathsome and everybody knew about it and tolerated it. This is exactly what perplexes me; when Bollywood turns around and makes a movie on sexual harassment. The industry that sells dreams is also known for its debauchery and immorality, and men like Mr EP reinforce the cynical view one already holds against the entire fraternity.

I am very keen to know what the filmmakers have depicted in Inkaar and how far-off or close it is to the ground realities of  filmy battlegrounds. I’ll watch this one to gauge Bollywood’s point of view on the subject.

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Picture courtesy sabhot.com)

Categories
Watch

VIDEO: Activist Sulaiman Bhimani attacked

RTI activist Sulaiman Bhimani’s office was attacked by a group of men two days ago, but they fled within seconds. Bhimani himself sustained a minor injury.
by Krishnaraj Rao

On the afternoon of January 12, at about 3 pm, eight unknown men entered Mumbai-based RTI activist Sulaiman Bhimani’s office located at Goregaon with sticks and swords, and smashed a laptop, a printer-scanner and a computer keyboard.

The attack ended within 10 seconds as Bhimani’s neighbours raised an alarm. While retreating hastily, they slashed wildly at the nameplate with their swords, and kicked at the wooden door frame, smashing it. Bhimani escaped with only an injury on his finger.

Fortunately, this entire episode was captured on two CCTV cameras installed inside and outside Bhimani’s office. (The man seen on the right in the pink shirt is not Bhimani, he is a visitor. Bhimani, being directly seated under the CCTV camera, is not visible in the footage below.)

A man wearing a T-shirt is seen entering from the main door into the office of Sulaiman Bhimani, and abruptly smashing a laptop, before dropping his stick and fleeing. The other assailants are seen through the glass, swinging wildly to damage the office equipment before they retreat. The attack ended within 10 seconds. Bhimani, who suffered only an injury on his finger, is not seen in the footage as he was seated directly under the CCTV camera.

The man in the blue shirt talking on the phone is a visitor, and he completely fails to react as the people wearing handkerchiefs and carrying sticks and swords walk into the cabin. (This man is the “rounder” of a well known security agency.) While retreating hastily, the assailants slashed wildly at the nameplate with the swords, and kicked at the wooden door frame, smashing it.

Bhimani feels that the men were sent by a local builder due to his expose that involved a builder, MMRDA and a plot of land at Gilbert Hill. (Read details of the case here). The builder and unlawful elements mentioned in this report suffered losses of several crores when MMRDA cracked down on them recently, evicted 50 tenants with police action, and served eviction notices on 102 others. They have criminal records, and have allegedly threatened Bhimani in the recent past.

An FIR was registered under IPC sections 452, 427, 323, 143, 144, 147, 148, 149 in the matter. The case has been made against eight men for rioting, criminal intimidation and unlawful assembly.

Krishnaraj Rao is an RTI activist.

(Picture and videos courtesy Krishnaraj Rao)

 

Categories
Event

A round table on inclusive development

Mumbai University hosted a discussion on inclusive development for Indians recently. One of the invitees gives us this pitch report.
by The Association of Muslim Professionals

The Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) was one of the exclusive invitees from the social sector participating in a round table brainstorming on ‘Indian Inclusive Development at the turn of the 21st century at JP Naik Bhavan, ICSSR, Mumbai University. The discussion was jointly organised by the Center for Research and Debates in Development Policy (CRDDP), New Delhi and the US-India Policy Institute, Washington DC, and was coordinated by Dr Abdul Shaban of the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai and presided over by Professor BL Mungekar, Rajya Sabha MP.

This round table was for brainstorming to provide a framework and highlight key facts in the most simplified manner possible, so as to facilitate a debate for strategising policy engagement. A case was also made during the discussion regarding the need to have independent debating platforms in major States of India where regional issues can be articulated and policy papers prepared. Syed Najeeb, Head PR and Communications (AMP) represented the organisation at this significant event which also had high-ranking bureaucrats, political dignitaries and other members from the social sector in attendance.

Sharing his views during the discussion Najeeb said, “We need to have a two-pronged approach to tackle the current issues in the community. We need to work not just on the policies and schemes at the macro level but also ensure its proper implementation at the micro-level. Apart from that, we also need to do some self-introspection and there is a need to bring an attitudinal change within ourselves and then only can the communities prosper. Also, we need to take proper measures to put to rest the apprehensions of certain communities in the country.”

Some luminaries who shared their views at the event included renowned social activist Asghar Ali Engineer, NCP MLA Nawab Malik and Congress MLA Amin Patel.

(Picture courtesy bizforum.org. Picture used for representational purpose only)

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