28
India Post
October 1, 2010 www.indiapost.com
Isheeta Ganguly's new fusion CD to be launched India Post News Service
NEW YORK: Fusion singer Isheeta Ganguly's new album Damaru-I Feel Your Rhythm - a crossover medley of music that weaves together Indian folk-pop, classical, lounge, elektronika, and Rabindrasangeet (the music of Rabindranath Tagore) is set to be released in New York on Oct 6. Released with Times Music in India in August, the album will be launched in New York by the Indo American Arts Council (IAAC). The CD launch party will include a special musical performance by Isheeta Ganguly, as well as the New York premiere of the "Bande Mataram" music video, featuring Bollywood superstar John Abraham, which has received significant national acclaim in India.
Rolling Stone magazine raves "Damaru, a six song, multi-lingual (its got songs in English, Hindi & Bengali) Tagore fusion album, is a tie-up of Ganguly's musical worlds and cultural contexts - jazz, gospel, pop & R&B at one end and Rabindrasangeet, the 2000 plus body of songs left behind by Tagore, on another." "It expresses Rabindrasangeet in a new language which is essentially my language', says Ganguly, who has also written the English lyrics for all of the songs. The album has been created in active collaboration with percussionist Tanmoy Bose, Bollywood composer Shantanu Moitra, and NY-based elektronika producer Phil Levy. "These melodic songs represent themes of patriotism, universalism,
Fusion singer Isheeta Ganguly
and love," says Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director of the IndoAmerican Arts Council. "The IAAC is proud to present artists like Ganguly, whose music represents the cross-cultural flux and multi-
layered journey in dual worlds." Isheeta is a crossover singer of the Indian Diaspora who began her musical journey at the tender age of seven and released her first Rabindrasangeet album at the age of fifteen. Raised in the US, Turkey, Japan, and Indonesia, Isheeta's music weaves together the many threads of her musical journey from her training in Tagore's music (under maestro Suchitra Mitra) to her versatile training and performance in jazz, pop, and R&B styles throughout her youth. She has released seven widely
Sahara bid to buy MGM, set up film city
S
Akshay Kumar
Sonakshi Sinha
A model displays a creation by Indian designer Arjun Saluja on the second day of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive 2010 in Mumbai on September 18. (Above) Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha on the ramp
acclaimed Rabindrasangeet albums since her childhood and, more recently, began incorporating sounds of jazz, gospel, and R&B into a contemporary fusion sound which appeals to listeners across the globe. She has performed and collaborated on a number of international multimedia projects including "Chiranthan" with Amitabh Bachchan, "Riot" with Shabana Azmi and Shashi Tharoor, "Still I Rise" with danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, and "Tribute to Tagore" with the late Ustad Vilayat Khan.
ahara India Pariwar's latest move of putting in $2 billion bid to buy Hollywoodbased film production and distribution major, Metro-GoldwynMayer (MGM) Inc, is a part of its larger plans for film production and distribution including setting up of a hi-tech Film City at Aamby Valley. Subrata Roy, Managing Worker & Chairman of Sahara India, informed that the group has chalked out mega plans in the film business that include developing a worldclass Film City and distribution of films through satellite. "Our upcoming Film City at Aamby Valley will be the first of its kind with hi-tech facilities for indoor and outdoor shooting, besides massive pre-productions and post-production facilities," added Roy. Elaborating on the concept of Film City, Roy said, "For indoor shooting, the Film City will have four huge air-conditioned domes. One of the domes will be like a city, complete with roads, street lights, houses etc., suitable for a specific city-location shoot. Likewise, one of the domes will depict a sea shore. The best part is that the skyline of the dome can be changed so that you can have the sea shores of Mumbai, New York or any other city you want. The dome with snow and changing skyline will provide an opportunity to film makers to shoot snow fall scenes of any Indian or foreign locale. Then there's this dome complete with forests. We will also have a huge pond, similar to the one which was used for shooting the movie, Titanic. We are already in the process of seeking details from global studios for setting up these domes." The studios at Film City, according to Roy, will have all pre and post-production facilities. "The whole concept is such that a film maker enters the studio with
an idea and comes out with a finished film. With the modern and hi-tech facilities at the Film City, film makers would be able to complete a film in just a month's time. Moreover, Aamby Valley provides excellent living accommodation and superb climatic conditions ideal for outdoor shooting. Speaking about Sahara's plans for film distribution, Roy said that they would modernize film distribution by replacing the old system of physically sending film prints to movie halls with the new system under which film prints would be distributed through a satellite link to cinema screens
‘Our upcoming Film City at Aamby Valley will be the first of its kind with hi-tech facilities for indoor and outdoor shooting, besides massive preproductions and postproduction facilities’ across the country. In a related development, Sahara is setting up 3-screen multiplexes across 217 townships planned by it which in turn will be linked to its upcoming Film City. Sahara Group with its assets totaling over $13 billion has diversified business interests that include financial services, real estate, infrastructure, print and televisions media, film productions, sports, healthcare, hospitality, etc. And if Sahara's recent initiatives meant to revamp its operations in media and entertainment domains come through as planned, these will completely change the face of film production and film distribution in the country.