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The Hindu : y>

Golden pair Catch Kajol and SRK in My Name is Khan

Dish TV has entered into a strategic marketing alliance with Fox Star Studios for the promotion of the forthcoming movie “My Name is Khan”. The movie stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol and is directed by Karan Johar. As part of the promotion, Dish TV will showcase exclusive interviews with Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan and showcase exclusive videos. Dish TV will also run a contest, where participants will get a chance to meet Shahrukh Khan at his home.

“My Name is Khan” features Shah Rukh as an unconventional hero Rizvan Khan, who embarks on a journey across America to win back the love of his life, essayed by Kajol. It showcases the manner in which his personality touches the lives of many and inspires a nation. The movie releases in theatres across the country on February 12.

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The Hindu : y>Are pimple-free cheeks and fairness-meter checks the core around which we want to shape and mould the character of our little lasses, wonders BINDU TOBBY

Photo: AFPPretty babies Too much, too soon

If the recent news piece on a celebrity mom straightening her twoyear-old daughter’s hair had piqued me; seeing first-hand, my neighbour’s ten-year-old daughter refusing to have dinner in her attempt to lose weight, and her mom reminding her to stay indoors lestshe get tanned, downright irked me.As a size zero lauding, anti-ageingcream using, Botox-inducing, beautyparlour lounging generation, are weso obsessed with externals looks andunconsciously passing on the samehype and drama to our future generation?Are weightlessness, pimplefreecheeks, fairness-meter checks,blemish-free skin and neat rows of(of artificially braced) teeth the corearound which we want to shape andmould the character of our little lasses?Says Piya Bose, mom of nine-yearoldRohan, “Though I don’t have adaughter this gets me all agitated.Recently, at my son’s friends’ party, Iwas shocked to see a nine year oldwearing coloured contact lens thatmatched her party dress. The otheryoung girls wore clothes that weregarish, skimpy and way too `adult’and all these clothes had been boughtby their mothers!”She adds shocked, “One little girlconfirmed that she gets her eyebrowsshaped at the salon regularly andmost of the moms there admittedthat they take their daughters alongwith them to salons. One of themeven asked me, if one can get braceson kids to improve their smile thenwhy not straighten hair if that looksgood?”Building strength of character”It is competition everywhere, vyingto be like the models and filmstars we see around us. What wedon’t realize is that these people arein industry where they have to dependon their personal trainers andmake-up artistes to look like that,since it’s part of their job requirementto a good extent”, says AliceLeen Jacob, a former model herself.Being mom to a 20-year-old daughtershe adds, “Surely, we mothershave our own tips to help our girlslook graceful but ultimately,…More

The Hindu :

JNU professor Manoj Pant is giving a new tune to the timeless epic, the Ramayana

Photo: Sandeep SaxenaSYMPHONYPant has composed tracks in different genres like rock blues and jazz

The story of Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Ravan continues to find an expression on the artistic horizon. The ideal characters, the concept of Dharma and the devotional element, which are the hallmark of Ramayana — one of the two great Hindu epics – are enough to keep creative minds enchanted. Now, it has caught the fancy of Manoj Pant — economic advisor to the Government of Nagaland and a professor at the Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where he teaches International Trade theory. He is composing a rock musical on the Ramayana.

Away from the numerous dance ballets, plays, classical dance and music recitals where the narrative has always been set to traditional Indian music — even if the text was being viewed in a universal context — Pant is lending it a new hue. The two-hour musical has borrowed the tale from Kumaoni Ramlila, which is translated into Hindustani and set to different genres of western music like rock, jazz and blues. So, what you get in this musical package are a number of songs interspersed with minimal dialogues. Running into roughly four acts, the songs in each one of them will be backed by western music arrangements.

“For instance the song in the first act on Sita’s Swayamvar sung by a sad and disappointed Raja Janak, “Toote nahin chaap sita rahe kunwari”, after nobody has been able to break the bow, is a blues composition. The number in the fourth act, “Tum mere jaise purush main tum jaisi naari, ye sanyog vidhi racha vichari”, is rendered by Surpanakha. Ravan’s sister is smitten by the handsome Ram and Lakshman and, dancing in front of them in the jungles, she…More

The Hindu : y>Ranga Shankara presents Robinson and Crusoe, a fun-filled story

Production team Gracias Devaraj and Omkar

Ranga Shankara’s latest production Robinson and Crusoe, under AHA! Theatre for Children initiative will premiere on February 5. The objective of AHA is to bring the best of world theatre to the young people of Bangalore.

A play designed for the young and young at heart, “Robinson and Crusoe” is about two soldiers from different countries who get stranded together on a roof, surrounded by nothing but a vast ocean and the development of a friendship between them. It is fun-filled, easy to understand and there is comedy, energetic action and fantastic stunts too.

The play is directed by Gracias Devaraj, a Bangalorean who has moved to Germany 25 years ago. Ranga Shankara has pulled together a powerful team as the cast and crew for the play.

The production boasts of a top notch team of actors, musicians and designers from across the country and abroad. The actors are Tariq from Mumbai, and Satya, a Ninasam graduate. The music has been composed by Praveen Rao and the stage has been designed by Christian Thurm, from the Schnawwl Theatre Mannheim, Germany. Robinson and Crusoe is also supported by the German Federal Cultural Foundation/ Wanderlust Fund and Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan.

The play runs from February 5 to 7 and the venue is Ranga Shankara. Tickets priced at Rs. 100 are available at Ranga Shankara and www.indianstage.in

The play begins at 7.30 p.m. On Sunday, it is at 3. 30 p.m. Visit www.rangashankara.org.

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The Hindu :

A seminar recently discussed the many problems that Indian sports faced and made an attempt to find solutions

Photos: Murali Kumar K.IMPERATIVE NEED Coaching must be treated as a specialised profession, felt experts

“India is an open society… but with a closed mind, while China is a closed society with an open mind. The difference between the two is for all of us to see,” says Prof. R. Venkata Rao, Vice Chancellor, National Law School at his address during the recent two-day workshop on ‘Latest Trends in Sports Coaching’ conducted by the Sports Authority of India, South Centre. The seminar dealt with contrasting standards in sports in two of the most populous countries in the world.

Ahead of the crowded season – with India playing host to two mega events — the hockey World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, SAI has taken the onus of correcting the many “maladies” that affects Indian sport.

The core issue was the lack of a functional system. Planning and execution of many projects remains on paper. By the time, official approval is granted, the idea becomes outdated and not feasible. “Sports is a very complex subject and should be addressed with the care and commitment it deserves,” says P.P. Mathai, former director of SAI, in the course of a presentation on ‘Realities of Sports in India’. The lack of accountability, inefficiency and superficial approach to the basic needs is appalling, at the federation and state association level.

L.S. Ranawat, Executive Director (Academics), SAI, sounded a word of caution against the over-dependence on ‘foreign coaches’ by various federations. “Huge sums of money is spent on getting the services of many so-called experts. This is detrimental in the long run. The commitment level of these players is also often questionable.” However, he adds, “Some disciplines face a lack of expertise and face the need for foreign experts.“In events like rowing, gymnastics…More

The Hindu :

Thank God for the Oscars, writer Kamini Mathai knew that she could safely end her biography of the musical phenomenon A.R. Rahman with it

An anecdotal biography Kamini Mathai: ‘There are many things that moved me about the man. He likes attention, but he doesn’t hunger for money’

It was sheer journalistic persistence that took Kamini Mathai through her book, “A.R. Rahman – The Musical Storm”.

Having worked as a journalist for a decade Kamini realised that she had taken on the most difficult assignment of her career right from the day she started; the putting together of A.R. Rahman’s biography.

“I first sent him a sms. There was no reply. I kept repeating it. After two months or so, he said ‘yes’,” recalls Kamini.

But that ‘yes’ didn’t mean much; she went to his Kodambakkam house and waited for hours hoping to get his darshan; she got to meet Rahman briefly. He heard to her proposal and said, “Well, I’m not ready yet,” and walked into his studio. Soon Rahman realised that Kamini was not the kind to give up. But what could one get from a man who is frightfully reticent. Hardly a biographer’s delight!

The answers seldom went beyond ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘maybe’, ‘I don’t know’ or sometimes met with complete silence. “I have to meet your mother,” Kamini announced one day; she understood that talking to Rahman would get her nowhere; it was like hitting a wall.

“No,” he was certain. When he came back after several hours, he was surprised to see Kamini still waiting in the visitor’s room. “Why don’t you leave? I told you it’s not possible?” the musical genius had told her gently. “I’m going to stay put till you give me consent. Even if it means delivering here,” a fully pregnant Kamini said resolutely. Rahman looked a bit flustered: he stood there for a few seconds and called out…More