SAJAforum

PHOTOS: Ang Lee, director of, among other things, "Life of Pi"

A guest post from photographer Miriam Berkley, who has been a long-time friend of SAJA. Check out her work at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/MiriamBerkley/

On January 29, 2013, the Asian Heritage Network of the New York Times Company 
sponsored a talk with filmmaker Ang Lee, director and producer of the "Life of
Pi," which has been nominated for a multitude of awards, including a number of 
Academy Awards, and already won some others. It is Lee's top-grossing film to
date. Ang Lee has already won two Best Director Academy Awards: in 2006, for
“Brokeback Mountain,” and the 2001 Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language 
Film for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” The first photo here shows the
silhouettes of Ang Lee (center), Mike Hale (l.), one of the paper's film/TV critics, 
and David Magee (right), screenwriter of "Life of Pi" (which was also nominated for
Best Adapted Screenplay), onstage at The Times Center, watching a film clip from the
visually-stunning  "Life of Pi" starring Indian actor Suraj Sharma. The second image 
is of Lee responding to a question. PHOTOS BY @MIRIAMBERKLEY

 

FILM: Shundell Prasad's Debut Feature Explores Indo-Guyanese Identity in America

A still from "Festival of Lights,"  starring Jimi Mistry and Ritu Singh Pande.

[This is a post by SRILA NAYAK (@srilanayak on Twitter), a Master's student at Columbia Journalism School is a freelance journalist interested in books, politics and government.]

Shundell Prasad’s "Festival of Lights" opened on November 9, 2012, in New York. The movie portrays the Guyanese Indian community in New York, which emigrated from its politically turbulent homeland in the 1970s and 1980s.

Prasad’s maiden film, which she wrote and directed, tells the story of a family broken up by political violence: 3-year-old Reshma (Melinda Shankar) leaves Guyana for New York with her mother (Ritu Singh Pande). Her father, played by British-Indian actor, Jimi Mistry of "East is East" and "The Guru" fame, is denied a visa to the United States and Reshma and her mother are forced to leave Guyana without him.

The film telescopes the complexities of Indo-Caribbean-American identity through Reshma’s struggles as an angst-ridden teenager in 1980s Queens, NY and her journey to Guyana in search of her father and her lost cultural roots. 

A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, Prasad has worked for HBO and CNN and she currently resides in Los Angeles. Prasad, who moved to New York with her family as a six-year-old, made her debut as a filmmaker with an autobiographical documentary, "Once More Removed" (2007), that chronicled her own journey from her home in New York, via Guyana, to India, a country her forefathers left a century earlier to work as indentured laborers in the plantations of the new world. The film showed Prasad tracing her mother’s lineage to Muzzafarpur district in Bihar through ship records in Guyana.

Shundell’s second documentary "Unholy Matrimony" explored the issue of forced marriage of minor girls in Pakistan. 

She answered some questions from SAJAforum about the her career and her latest film.

What did you learn about Indo-Guyanese identity in the course of filming "Once More Removed"?
To make an independent film about one’s own background is gratifying. I had a fascination with my Indian origins because it was such a mystery to me. In the process of making Once More Removed, I learned that the Guyanese people and other people who got shipped around the world to work in sugar plantations have an amazing lineage that we are a part of. Our families lived in India for thousands of years and the cultural heritage that is ingrained in us simply doesn’t fade away after being outside the country for more than 100 years. There was an amazing sense of completeness for me personally because I had grown up in the West, not having a tremendous amount of Indian influence.

Was "Festival of Lights" also informed by your personal experiences as an American with Indo-Guyanese roots?

FILM: Desi-spotting at the Oscars

It's Oscar night in America, and here's the South Asian stuff I spotted during the broadcast...

10:40 pm: A.R. Rahman performs his Oscar-nominated song, "If I Rise"  (just learned he's on Twitter, @ARRahman).

9:55 pm: Gautham Krishnamurthi was shown in a photograph for the Science and Technology Awards that were given out at a previous event. Here's the official citation (and you can watch the video):

Chris Allen, Gautham Krishnamurti, Mark A. Brown and Lance Kimes, for the development of Queue, a robust, scalable approach to render queue management and one of the first systems that allowed for statistical analysis and process introspection.

Funny little side note: The video above was given the file name "http://www.oscars.org/video/popup/sta2010_03_allen_brown_kimes.html" - I guess Krishnamurthy was too long for 'em!

 

WEBCAST: Meet Aasif Mandvi and his new film, "Today's Special"

[shortcut to this post: http://bit.ly/sajamandvi ]

Here's the trailer for "Today's Special," a new film from Aasif Mandvi. See below for information about our webcast with him.

SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, and SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts - via BlogTalkRadio.com - with some of the leading South Asian names in global media, arts, entertainment, politics and much more...

Meet Aasif Mandvi, one of the most recognizable South Asian names working in American entertainment today. He's a star on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and a film and stage actor. He'll discuss his new movie, "Today's Special."

WEBCAST: Shabana Azmi, legendary Bollywood actress and activist

SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, and SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts - via BlogTalkRadio - with some of the leading South Asian names in global media, arts, entertainment, politics and much more...

Join us for a webcast with Shabana Azmi, one of the best-known actresses in India and the diaspora.  A former member of the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of parliament, she is a multiple national and international award winner and recently turned 60. There have been many retrospectives of her works around the world, incluidng one organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The Bollywood icon is kicking off another national tour in New York for her latest theatrical project, Girish Karnadʼs "Broken Images," directed by Alyque Padamsee. The play is a psychological thriller that brings out the various truths of the life of a celebrity writer. 
 
On a live webcast this Monday, the award winning actress, who has worked in over 140 films and theater plays, will discuss her career as well as her dedication to the Indian village of Mijwan. Her father, the well-known Urdu poet the late Kafi Azmi, began building this village that was once frozen in time. Today, it has a computer center and a sewing center among other developments that uplifts the life of its habitants - thanks mainly to the efforts of Azmi and her friends.

Interviewing her will be SAJA's Aseem Chhabra, freelance entertainment writer; and SAMMA's Pooja Kumar, award-winning Hollywood & Bollywood actress ("Bollywood Hero," "Flavors," "Anjaana Anjaani", "Law & Order") - and will be taking your questions live.

Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
Noon-1 pm NY time
9:30-10:30 pm Mumbai time
see local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1v0r

VIA COMPUTER: Listen live or later to a recording: http://bit.ly/sajaazmi
(you can set yourself an e-mail reminder there)

VIA PHONE: +1-347-324-5991 (you can call this U.S. number by phone or Skype to listen or ask questions

Or send your questions in advance via e-mail: saja at columbia.edu or via Twitter - @sajaHQ

To learn more about the tour, contact Neethu at nthomas at bitiya.org.

PREVIOUS SAJA-SAMMA WEBCASTS:

• Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, Bollywood stars
• Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. soccer and the most influential South Asian in U.S. sports
• Jay Sean, first South Asian male singer to hit #1 on US Billboard chart
• Vijay Iyer, jazz musician who had the most-acclaimed jazz album of 2009
• Post-Oscar webcast about "Slumdog Millionaire"
• Danny Boyle, director of "Slumdog Millionaire"
• A.R. Rahman, music maestro
• Ashok Amritraj, Hollywood producer
• Richard Pena, program director, Film Society of Lincoln Center
• Ram Gopal Varma, Bollywood director ("Rangeela," "Company," "Satya")
• Manu Narayan, actor, writer discusses his work
• PANEL: South Asians & Hollywood, on the eve of the 2008 Oscars

 

MAGAZINES: Freida Pinto on the cover of NYT Style Magazine

This cover is from the August issue of T, the New York Times Style Magazine, and features actress Freida Pinto of "Slumdog Millionaire" fame. We have added it to our collection of 150 U.S. magazine covers 1921-today.




See the full collection of our covers here.

MOVIES: Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in "My Name is Khan" + webcast

[Part 1 and part 2 of the video of the conversation above. The entire 1.5-hour audio webcast, with an in-depth discussion of their films and the state of Bollywood in India and the US, is available below.]

SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment and SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts - via BlogTalkRadio - with some of the leading South Asian achievers in global media and entertainment...

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, two of the biggest stars in Bollywood, are promoting "My Name is Khan," which opens in U.S. theaters Friday, Feb. 12, 2010.

You can talk to them live during this SAJA-SAMMA call-in show:
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010
11:30 am-1 pm NY time
see local time around the world here: http://timeanddate.com/s/1jt8

Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/02/01/shah-rukh-khan-and-kajol
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)

Or call-in to listen and/or talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Two entertainment writers on SAJA's board, Aparita Bhandari and Aseem Chhabra (@chhabs & host of AseemChhabraShow), will be interviewing the actors. We are not exactly sure which part of the 1.5 hours Khan and Kajol will be available (they have a busy day, including ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ). During the rest of the time, the hosts will discuss the actors' work and careers, the backdrop of this movie, and taking your live comments and questions. Many thanks to SAJA & SAMMA's @GiteshPandya for setting up these - and so many other SAJA-SAMMA events.

COMEDY: "Desi OC" and "Bobby Khan's Ticket to Hollywood"

There’s Hollywood. There’s Bollywood. Then there’s Bobby Khan.

Bobby Khan will try, fail, and try again to crossover from Bollywood to Hollywood when Raising Desi Production’s "Bobby Khan’s Ticket to Hollywood" debuts this year.

A venture of California-based Atif Mirza and Tarun Shetty, Raising Desi Productions has gained popularity through its online show, "Desi OC" (short for Orange County in California), attracting at least 1 million hits online.

With the standard sunshine, palm trees and pretty faces of a young adult drama, Desi OC follows young South Asian Americans and their friends through the dating scene, family life and career woes.

“We essentially go off of what we’ve been experiencing ourselves,” Mirza said.

WEBCAST: Ram Gopal Varma, a leading Bollywood director

[COMING Friday, Jan. 15 (noon EST), SAMMA/SAJA webcast with Jay Sean, who hit #1 on the Billboard charts with "Down" - WEBCAST LINK: http://bit.ly/sajammajay]

SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment and SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts with some of the leading South Asian achievers in global media and entertainment...

A conversation with Ram Gopal Varma, director of "Rann," a fast-paced drama set in the world of media in today's India; starring Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal and Ritesh Deshmukh.

Varma is a leading Indian film director, screenwriter and producer and a voice of the new Indian popular cinmena. Varma has directed, written and produced films across multiple genres— psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, politician-criminal nexus, and musicals —and in a number of languages, including Telugu and Hindi. His biggest movies include "Rangeela" (1995); "Company" (2002) and "Satya" (1998). Join us for what promises to be a lively discussion about Bollywood, cinema and the changes happening in the world of Indian arts and beyond. Follow him on Twitter: @RGVZoomin

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010
10-10:30 am, New York time
8:30-9 pm, Mumbai time
See local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1j41

==> Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/01/14/films-ram-gopal-varma-bollywood-filmmaker
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)

Or call-in to listen and/or talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Send your questions/comments via e-mail to saja[at]columbia.edu (subject = webcast) of via Twitter  @sajahq. You can also use the chatroom that will be open at the link above to ask live questions. You can also post your questions in the comments section below.

===> As always, you are welcome to quote from anything said during the FREE, WORLDWIDE webcasts (50+) at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja

DOWNLOAD TO iTUNES: These audio webcasts are also available as downloadable MP3 files for your personal collection and on-the-go listening. If you want to subscribe to these as podcasts on iTunes, go to "Advanced" within iTunes, then select "Subscribe to podcast" and type in http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/feed and hit OK.

RECENT SAJA MOVIE WEBCASTS:

CONV: Panelists Detail Challenges Of Documentary Production

[ See all SAJA@15 Convention & Career Expo coverage ]

Whether working independently or as part of an established organization, documentary work is full of challenges, a trio of filmmakers said while sharing their experiences with convention attendees Saturday.

The Doc Maker’s panel featured a married couple reporting for Current TV -- Mariana Van Zeller and Darren Foster  -- and the independent Sarah Singh.

Van Zeller and Foster produce half hour documentaries on international affairs while Singh recently finished a feature on the partition of India and Pakistan called "The Sky Below" – a film she pulled off with no crew and very little funding.

Singh detailed the struggles of independence from a well-known and well-funded channel or production company. An artist by background, Singh described her a film as a challenging process of discovery.

She and Van Zeller and Foster detailed the struggle to reach the eyeballs of audiences, especially those in U.S.

Working for Current TV means that Van Zeller’s and Foster's content has an audience. Singh however has had to work harder to get her film in front of people. She currently has been promoting the film at festivals across North America. Van Zeller and Foster have a somewhat easier path toward viewers, but because their content isn't heavily reliant or closely tracking ratings, it is hard for them to decipher exactly what films of their viewers flock toward.

Van Zeller and Foster, however, have a complex challenge to tackle even with their exposure through current TV: how to get Americans to shift their gaze from the stories of Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Jessica Simpson to those of unrest, conflict and the human experience around the world.

Still, the pair is hopeful, believing that the interest is international news is there but remains an unfulfilled void within the news industry.

Singh, however, is perhaps more realistic, saying that as the large media corporations in America are driven by ratings that international coverage would like  take a back seat to more entertainment-based news.

-- By Sweta Vohra, University of California at Berkeley graduate student.