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Jai ho A.R. Rahman has been nominated for his work in Slumdog Millionaire

Star World will telecast the 52 {+n} {+d} annual Grammy awards ceremony on February 1 from 6.30 a.m. onwards.

The Grammy awards has always been a mix of exhilarating performances, exciting productions and exceptional ratings, with almost every major international music star performing on the show. This year the event will also witness the performances of musicians and groups such as Bon Jovi, Beyoncé, the Black Eyed Peas, the Dave Matthews Band, Green Day, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Maxwell etc.

The Indian nominations include musical wizards A R Rahman, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. The track ‘Jai Ho’, which won Rahman two Academy awards and a Golden Globe, has been nominated in the category of Best Song written for motion picture, Television or other visual media. Rahman has also been nominated in the category of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for motion picture, Television or other visual media for “Slumdog Millionaire”. Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain has been nominated in the Best Classical Crossover album category for the album “The Melody of Rhythm”.

A repeat telecast will be aired at 6.30 p.m. on the same day

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The Hindu :

A photographic depiction of Tambu tent cinemas of Maharashtra left the audience spellbound

Magical Shirley Abraham and Amit Madeshiya share anecdotes on Tambu Talkies

In retrospect it was rather a voyeuristic experience for us city slickers, sitting in the posh ITC Gardenia admiring stunning visuals taken by Amit Madeshiya of the Tambu Talkies of Maharashtra.

Suddenly all the quaint traditions of India, seem to be hitting the cultural circuit of the world, brought into the limelight by our young Indian artists. The photo presentation by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madeshiya on Tambu Talkies which was about the Tambu tent cinemas of Maharashtra, was showcased by the IFA (India Foundation for the Arts) and Marg.

“These tambu talkies travel with ‘jatras’, which are annual religious fairs happening between October and June,” revealed Shirley. “A symbiotic relationship has developed over decades between the two and their continuing presence with young, new people entering the circuit shows that the tradition is alive and well.”

Writer and researcher Abraham has worked on the history of the Tambu Talkies and has recorded the oral narratives of the Tambu owners and distributors. Photographer Madeshiya has collaborated with Abraham and documented the touring tent talkies as they exist today in the districts of Maharashtra with his stunning visuals.

Every picture was a classic, capturing the audience profile, the ingenious projection systems used by these talkies, their innovative advertising strategies and the illusionary world conjured up by these talkies for their rural followers. Hundreds of people are drawn to these talkies and the photographic depiction of them drew us the viewers into that magical world. As Shirley explained, “The paraphernalia for the tent cinema was carted by bullock cart in the 50’s. Today, they use trucks which are modified for their projection units and they have survived by continuously evolving.”

With the Tambu Talkies, new professions evolved too, such as wiremen, or a local mechanic…More

The Hindu : C.K. MEENA

Palestinian writer Suad Amiry tells C.K. Meena if you do not want anger to drive you insane, you have to see the absurdity of the situation

Photo: Murali kumar k.Such a long journey Suad Amiry: ‘We don’t count by the number of kilometres (but) by the number of checkpoints’

When Suad Amiry has dinner with 15 of her closest women friends once every two or three months in a restaurant in Ramallah, waiters compete for a chance to serve them. While the women make heads turn with their unrestrained laughter, the lucky waiter hovering around the table is able to eavesdrop on their equally unrestrained chatter about their sex lives, husbands, mothers-in-law and such other deeply fascinating topics.

They call themselves CRIME (Committee of Independent Ramallah Menopausal Enterprise) and belong to what Amiry refers to as “my menopausal PLO generation” – women activists who were in a state of shock and depression in 2006 when Hamas defeated the Palestine Liberation Organisation and religious fundamentalism scored over the leftist cause. Amiry has featured the (heavily disguised) life stories of 10 of these women in “Menopausal Palestine”, published for the very first time in English by Women Unlimited and Kali for Women, India’s oldest feminist publishing house which turned 25 this year.

This book, Amiry’s third, was first published in an Italian translation by Feltrinelli. Alberto Rollo of Feltrinelli nearly had a fit when he heard Amiry’s preferred title. “If you put menopause on the cover nobody will buy it,” he told her. The title in Italian was “No Sex in the City”. Publisher Ritu Menon of Women Unlimited was, of course, only too keen to retain the original title.

Menon had had her eye on Amiry ever since a common friend Maria Nadotti gave her Amiry’s first and hugely successful book “Sharon and my Mother-in-Law”, which kept her in splits all through. The book was…More

The Hindu :

With top class facilities and stadiums, the sport is finding a lot of takers in the country

Photos: Murali Kumar K.Race to the top The city boasts of some of the best venues in the world

Taekwondo, the Korean martial art, has long been a popular form of sport in India. Much of the credit for the growing popularity of this sport in the country must go to the Taekwdono Federaton of India, whose Bangalore based Secretary General, Praveen Kumar, has played a vital role in popularising Taekwondo.

“We, at the TFI want to make it a niche sport. Over the past four or five years, there has been steady growth in terms of events, training facilities and foreign exposure for our players. We also have an able administrative set-up,” says Praveen

Praveen Kumar, who also runs an agarbatti factory, got hooked to martial arts, after watching the Bruce Lee classic, “Enter the Dragon”.

He quips, “Initially, I wanted to be like Lee and decided to learn Kung Fu. It was difficult to find good instructors in the city. I started learning karate at YMCA ,.I took up taekwondo, trained at the KGS club and became an administrator in 2000.”The TFI and the State association have been conducting many national events in Karnataka, especially Bangalore. An International referee’s seminar and refresher course, a senior National championship at Bangalore and National inter-zonal meet at Dharwad were held recently. “Bangalore is a very popular venue. The city offers world-class facilities as far as taekwondo is concerned. The Sree Kanteerava indoor stadium is a spacious and self contained place that can host any event of any magnitude. Hotels and other facilities are also easily available near the stadium . I have been to several international meets, and have found that Bangalore scores in terms of both infrastructure and venues to several other cities. This fact has been acknowledged…More

The Hindu :

François-Marie Juskowiak’s deft fingers perfectly complemented Marion Baglan’s gracious vocals

soaring melody Marion gave a soul-stirring performance

French soprano soloist Marion Baglan and pianist François-Marie Juskowiak evoked a thunderous response from a packed audience at The Alliance Française in a concert recently.

The evening began with “Der Hölle Rache” (aria of the queen of the night) an excerpt from the Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One of his strongest works, this piece voices the struggle between virtue and revenge and virtue’s ultimate triumph.

Marion executed the flamboyant tune with a flurry of expressions and voice modulation while François played with deft excellence.

Wearing a long, flowing red dress, Marion gracefully walked across the stage with her hands on her hips as she delivered “The maids of Cadiz” by French composer Léo Delibes .

The 1863 buoyant melody set in lively tones narrates the song of seductive young ladies that reject the favours from three men: a bullfighter, a dark dashing Spaniard and the jealous Diego.

Marion went on to intonate another creation of Delibes titles “Where is the young Hindu?” an excerpt from Lakmé. A vocally brilliant and colourful piece, Marion executed it with fantastic flair and accent.

The opera piece talks about the Brahman Nilakanta who forces his daughter Lakmé to sing hoping that the Englishman Gerald who desires her, will show up and identify himself.

Marion continued to enthral the audience with “You gave me the most beautiful dream”, where Lakmé and Gérald are united but to save him from her people, Lakmé bites the flower of the poisonous datura plant and declares her love for him as she dies.

“Lead me to the person that l love”, an excerpt from Robinson Crusoé by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach followed where François’ deft fingers orated notes perfectly complemented Marion’s gracious soul-stirring voice in the romantic piece.

François played two piano solo pieces during the concert – the First…More

The Hindu :

Neetu Chandra says she is hungry for meaty roles

Photo: Murali Kumar k.Standing tall Neetu Chandra

“I don’t trust him,” laughs Neetu Chandra when you tell her Ram Gopal Varma is calling his latest film “Rann,” a men’s film. “I have a good role. I play a Muslim model. It is very different from the roles I have done before. There are other women too in the film and all of them are wonderful,” Neetu says about “Rann”, her first film with Amitabh Bachchan and Ram Gopal Varma.

She says being a part of the powerhouse combination of RGV, Amitabh Bachchan and Paresh Rawal has been inspirational. “They are amazing people who put in lots of hard work. When everyone is perfect, people expect a lot from such films and even a small role gets noticed,” the actor says.

Neetu was in Bangalore with the team to promote “Rann”. On sharing screen space with the big B, she says: “It is every actor’s dream and I started my career in advertising with Mr. Bachchan in a Parker pen ad,” she says smiling.

In awe of the superstar, Neetu says the actor brings out the best in his co-stars. “Though you become conscious of the superstar standing there, he makes you feel comfortable. He is so fantastic in his work that you would want to bring out the best in front of him,” say the actor. Neetu will be seen in “The Apartment” by Jagmohan Mundhra, and in projects with Vipul Shah, Raj Kanwar and Aneez Bazmi’s “No Problem” starring Sanjay Dutt.

Her Tamil film “Theeradha Vilayaatu Pillai” in which she plays a villain, will be released in the first week of February. “I am a greedy person, hungry for meaty roles. What I look for is versatility,” adds Neetu, who plays a hardcore action-glam girl in “No Problem”.

Neetu was seen in Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Traffic Signal”, Priyadarshan’s…More

The Hindu :

Prashant John says while his novel, Second Degree, is set on campus, it is very different from Five Point Someone

Photo: Murali Kumar K.Write stuff Prashant John

“Joining a gruelling management course after working for a few years is indeed a different experience. It throws you out of the comfort zone you may have created for yourself. It is fun and strenuous at the same time. This book aims at charting such a journey,” says Prashant John, the author of “Second Degree”, a book that deals with his experiences at IIM Ahmedabad.

Prashant insists though the book is about campus life, “it is fairly different from books such as ‘Five Point Someone’. ‘Second Degree’ is basically a humorous take on the academics that make the IIM’s the best B-school in the country,” says Prashant, who quit a cushy IT job to join a one year management course at IIM Ahmedabad.

He says, “I had been working for a few years and had tuned out of the concept of studying per se. The course is very intense, but we did manage to have a lot of fun. The idea for the book germinated when a regular blog I maintained at the institute used to receive a lot of attention from fellow batch mates.”

The Mumbai-based writer says: “The book is not very similar to the blog. The blog will not be understandable to people who were not part of the batch. Moreover, it lacked continuity. The book is generous mix of imagination and real events.” Apart from writing Prashant also manages Kwench, a company he co founded with three others from IIM. Kwench aims at providing corporate library solutions and enables employees to access books that cater to their professional and personal reading needs.

“It basically aims at popularising reading in India.”

Prashant feels that any book that manages to draw people to towards reading is successful.

“I find…More