CINEMA, MUSIC & ART WITH THE
JULY 2011 VOL 01 ISSUE 10 ` 40 www.thebrewmagazine.com
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FOREVER 18 Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JULY 2011 | 1
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EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the July edition of The Brew. The cover story this month, is the one and only Bryan adams who is arguably one of the most popular singers of our times.When i revealed to a few of my friends that he is going to be on cover, I could see the excitement and anticipation in everyone’s faces. When he was recently here in India to perform in Banglore and Hyderabad,we did review the concert in Hyderabad. During our research on him, I was amazed to find out that he has a huge philanthrophic side to him. His “Bryan Adams Foundation” aims to advance education and learning opportunities for children and young people worldwide, believing that an education is the best gift that a child can be given. The foundation is mostly funded by his photographic activities. He has also been part of various other social activities worldwide. This issue also carries the profile of legendary Hans Zimmer and the making of Kung Fu panda, the movie. I would like take this opportunity to thank Hindustan University for agreeing to sponsor a coloumn every month promoting young artists in music and art. A lots more brewing. Will keep all of you posted. Until next time. Sameer Bharat Ram Editor
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CINEMA, MUSIC & ART WITH THE
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Edited and Published by Sameer Bharat Ram, and owned by SM BrandMuni Consulting Pvt. Ltd, Published from No.609, Lakshmi Bhavan, Anna salai, Mount Road, Chennai - 600 002. Tel.: +91 44 4208 9392. Printed by K. Srinivasan at Srikals Graphics pvt. Ltd, No.5, Balaji Nagar, 1st street, Ekkattuthangal, Chennai - 600 032. Editor: Sameer Bharat Ram
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CONTRIBUTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD
Lord Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Archer established himself as a literary force with the publication of his first novel, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, in 1975. His third novel, Kane and Abel became a number one best-seller in hardcover and paperback all over the world and has sold over 3.5 million in the UK paperback edition alone. Now, 36 years later, Jeffrey continues to defy his critics and delight his fans. Published in 97 countries and more than 37 languages, Jeffrey Archer is firmly established, with international sales passing 250 million copies.
Mallika Sarabhai, Educated as an economist and a business manager, Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s best known Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers. She has taken her work and her company Darpana to not only over 90 countries around the world, but also to the farthest parts of India.
Gautami Tadimalla An apt example of a renaissance woman, Gautami has acted across Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada film industries. With over 20 years of experience in the film industry, she recently won the “Best Costume Designer” for her work in the movie Dasavathaaram. A multifaceted entrepreneur, Gautami also supports various social causes. Neeru Nanda A graduate from Delhi University. Passionate about writing, she freelanced as a feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF” (Rupa & Co), Neeru is now working on two novels and a series of books for children.
Ashok Verghese Is one of the youngest education entrepreneurs who is making a great difference in this field in the country. He is the Director of the Hindustan group of Institutions, again one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He supports the cause of promoting young talent in art and music.
Veejay Sai An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art, and loves traveling, researching literary and cultural history. He is an editorial consultant with over 40 brands and designers in and outside India and is on the jury for several prestigious awards in the arts across the country.
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CONTENTS
26
30
48
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16
46
VOL 01 ISSUE 10
FEATURES
10
centre stage with
YODHAKAA
14
EPIC TUNES
HANS ZIMMER
16
ORIGIN OF
FUSION MUSIC - Violin Sisters Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini
Jean-Luc Godard - AYSHA IQBAL VISWAMOHAN
48
Remembering the Masters
Remembering A.P.Santhanaraj - Pallavi Nandagopal
COVER STORY
30
20
BRYAN ADAMS
Samraat
REVIEW
Sarangi
14
44
Great Directors
26
FOREVER 18
46
THE GOLDEN AGE OF
KIM EDWARDS
THE PANDA SHINES BRIGHTER
THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER
40
- QUEENIE SUKHADIA
Evolutionary Basics of
Indian Cinema - SAMEER PURI
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MUSIC
CENTER
STAGE WITH What is Yodhaka?
Yodhaka is not a music group. It is a platform for contemporary music open to Indian musicians. It is not a set of ideology. It is a fluid setup and it is constantly evolving. We don’t have a set of rules. It comes from the influence we had, what we are having now and what might influence us in the future. These influences will always affect our music albeit in a good way.
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Hindustan University supports young talent in Music and art.This initiative with The Brew magazine is to get young bands noticed and promoted. Who all constitute Yodhaka? The setup has always been changing. In 2005, it was a different line up and a totally different set up. We had 8 people and all had different backgrounds. We did world music as well as Indian music with a twist. Our projects keep changing. People came in and have left. In 2006, Pradeep joined. A year after that Susha joined the group. We together started doing the Sanskrit slokas in 2009. The album featured me (Shiva), Pradeep and Susha. Now only I and Pradeep are the creative heads of the band. Why such a setup? We always wanted to contribute something to the Indian music, our expression of Indian music. We were looking at a set up that can do our work in a best possible and also a package to give that everyone could relate to. More than anything else, it was a natural process. It was an organic growth over a period of time. Yodhaka happened slowly and is still growing. Where do you belong in the music world? Now we are exposed as a band. Now people know that a band named Yodhaka exists. We don’t have star value nor do we do filmy music. We have a niche market and we manage to cater to a different kind of the crowd. We always tried to make everyone connect to our music. A 50 year old may not be able to appreciate trance music. A college
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guy may not be able to enjoy classical music. So we strive to strike a balance between them. We certainly don’t belong to a specific genre or a section of the musical society. We have performed at Night clubs, music halls, carnatic music setups and colleges. We have managed to reach to wider section of people than we originally expected. We are happy and we wish to keep it that way. Simple, so that it reaches everyone. How do you connect? We have a sound design in mind. It is not a directionless journey. I am really open to any kind of experiment. With Yodhaka, we had a design. We just needed the right kind of mind set, getting the right kind of people and sharing a common vision. We look for a healthy atmosphere, good ambience and people who share a common vision for the band. We would rather work with a small time musician who shares the Band’s vision rather than a celebrity musician who doesn’t support us. Our first album is already out. We gave our version of Sanskrit slokas in it. Now we are getting into fusing Tamil literature with contemporary music.
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allegro
C-100, 1st Avenue, Chinthamani, Anna Nagar East, Ch-102. Ph:26210558 Basement Shop : 144, Nelson Manickam Road, Near Metha Nagar Bus Stop, Ch-29. Ph:23740420
MUSIC
EPIC
TUNES 14 | JULY JULY2011 2011||Cinema, Cinema,Music Music& &Art Artwith withthe theBrew Brew
H work.
ANS ZIMMER (Composer) has scored over 100 films and been honored with an Academy Award®, two Golden Globes, and three Grammys. In 2003, ASCAP presented him the prestigious Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement for his impressive and influential body of
Hans’ interest in music began early, and after a move from Germany to the UK, would lead to playing with and producing various bands, including The Buggles, whose “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to ever appear on MTV. But the world of film music was what Hans really wanted to be involved with. Not long after meeting established film composer Stanley Myers, the two founded the London-based Lillie Yard Recording Studios together, collaborating on such films as “My Beautiful Laundrette.” It was Hans’ solo work in 1988’s “A World Apart,” however, that gained the attention of director Barry Levinson, who then asked Hans to score “Rain Man,” Hans’ first American film. Levinson’s instinct was right – the score’s Oscar® nomination that followed would be the first of eight. With Hans’ subsequent move to Hollywood, he expanded the range of genres he explored, and his first venture into the world of animation, 1994’s “The Lion King,” brought Hans the Oscar®. Hans’ career has been marked by a unique ability to adeptly move between genres – between smaller films and comedies (such as “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Green Card,” “True Romance,” “As Good As It Gets” and “Something’s Gotta Give”) and big blockbusters (including “Crimson Tide,” “Mission: Impossible 2,” “Hannibal,” “Black Hawk Down,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, “Batman Begins” and “The Da Vinci Code”). In the middle of Hans’ unparalleled pace of taking on new projects, his ability to re-invent genres is what is perhaps most striking. The film scores Hans has done this for speak for themselves, whether it has been for drama in “Rain Man,” action in Ridley Scott’s “Black Rain,” historical in “Gladiator,” war in Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line,” or the dark comic book world of “The Dark Knight.” Hans has received a total of 10 Golden Globe nominations, 10 Grammy nominations, and 9 Oscar® nominations, the most recent for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” His innovative and powerful score has been praised as the Best Score of 2010 by countless critics’ groups and has earned him BAFTA, Golden Globe, Grammy and Critics Choice Award nominations. His other Oscar® nominations include “Sherlock Holmes,” “Rain Man,” “Gladiator,” “The Lion King,” “As Good As It Gets,” “The Preacher’s Wife,” “The Thin Red Line” and “The Prince of Egypt.” Hans has been honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Composition from the National Board of Review. He also received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2010. His recent films include “Rango,” “Megamind,” “How Do You Know,” Nancy Meyer’s “It’s Complicated,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar 2,” “Frost / Nixon,” “The Dark Knight” and Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons.” Hans’ upcoming films include “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” directed by Rob Marshall; Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (December 2011); and “The Dark Knight Rises” (July 20, 2012), which will mark Hans’ fourth collaboration with director Christopher Nolan.
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MUSIC
ORIGIN OF FUSION MUSIC F
by Violin Sisters Dr. M. Lalitha (Fulbright Fellow, USA) and M. Nandini (CWIT Fellow, UK).
usion is the synthesis of two or more genres of music though it usually refers to the combination of Jazz – Rock. A musical genre by itself, Fusion started first with the merging of Jazz with other styles, particularly that of Funk, Rock, Rhythm & Blues. Initially jazz musicians mixed the forms and techniques of Jazz with the rhythmic structure from African-American popular music and Blues along with the electric instruments used in Rock. It is seen that the Rock and Roll is a fusion of Blues, Country music and Gospel. Fusion basically started in the late 1960’s with the works of Miles Davis and Tony William’s `Lifetime’.
Fusion music also includes a concoction of any musical style combined with Jazz including Blues, Rock, Indian, Folk, Eastern, Funk, African, Hip-Hop, Cuban, Avant-Grade, Latin – American, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Classical and any other styles of music. Often fusion does borrow from more than one of the previously mentioned styles. In Fusion when different musical idioms are combined each style should lose its earlier character and gain a new identity. In a mixture when different items are combined they
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do not blend but can be separated. Whereas when two or more are combined the result is that they lose their identity and gain a new form. Such should be the case in Fusion. Fusion is not a mixture of different world music traditions but a nice blending of the different music styles thus evolving into a new form. Thus Fusion is a path of creation and evolution. During 1960’s popular music in America started to change directions and as a result the taste of many audiences began to change. As a result their interests spread out to listening more to the music of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Rock, Soul etc. This caused anxiety among the Jazz musicians. It was Miles Davis, the father of Fusion who found a new approach and meaning by blending the elements of rock and soul with Jazz which came to be known as Fusion. Fusion took the harmonic and rhythmic aspects of Soul music (derived from hard bop, where the improvising to chord progressions along with a rhythmic grove centered around a strong bass line’ – Zareen Ali – Rave, May 2008 pg 52) along with the Modal improvisations (Using the Church modes, shifting the tonal centers to create new harmonics and patterns) developed by Miles Davis, Bill Evans and John
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Coltrane in the late 1950s and ‘60s. Improvisations in Fusion were based on Modal approaches. Apart from this, Fusion music also had complex time signatures, rhythmic patterns, structures, lengthy improvisations, funk backbeats, some elements of rock and complex ensemble compositions. Though earlier there were attempts to fuse Jazz and pop in 1960’s, it is seen that Miles Davis and Tony Williams were the most prominent artists of this movement so to say to be called as pioneers in Fusion music. Miles Davis replaced the acoustic instruments with the electric ones in his album - `In a silent way’ and `Bitches Brew’ released in 1969. Bitches Brew incorporated Rock with Jazz and moved heavily into electric music.
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Initially typically instrumental, Fusion music bands, used instruments such as electric guitar, bass guitar, electric piano etc. Artistes like Herbie Hancock, Jan Hammer and Chick Corea started using synthesizers such as the `Minimoog’ in their bands. It is said that Hancock was one of the first jazz musicians to use synthesizers. Though the style started in 1960, the most important decade when Fusion had its own identity seems to be during the early 1970’s while the musical style is more represented well now. During the 70’s many fusion groups who worked with Miles started their own fusion bands like the `Mahavishnu Orchestra’, `Herbie Hancock’, `Chick Corea’, `Brand X’, `Oregon’ etc fusing Jazz and rock styles. In 1972 Chick Corea formed his `Return to Forever’ band. Though
initially this group had more of Latin-influenced music, but later on changed to become a Jazz-Rock group incorporating elements from both Psychedelic and Progressive Rock. The `Mahavishnu Orchestra’ was formed by John McLaughlin having drummer Billy Cobham, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The music of this band had elements of both Psychedelic Rock and Indian Classical music. John also fused Flamenco in some of his works. Hammer used the `Minimoog synthesizer’ with distortion effects sounding it more like an electric guitar. In 1970’s the Latin-rock guitarist Carlos Santana’s band had elements of Latin Salsa, Rock, Blues and Jazz. Larry Coryell the Fusion guitarist with his band `The Eleventh House’ and
electric guitarist Pat Metheny are some of the other prominent Fusion musicians during this period. During these years, fusion became increasingly daring, popular and new with many experiments combining rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix with talented jazz musicians. Fusion often incorporated elements of world music — Latin, African, Indian, and Caribbean influences. FUSION COMBINING INDIAN MUSIC The history of fusion combining North Indian and Western musicians dates back to the 1960s when North Indian Musician Pandit Ravi Shankar on the Sitar collaborated with Bud Shank a Jazz musician. Pandit Ravi Shankar has also performed with legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin and collaborated with Philip Glass an American minimalist composer on Passages. During the same time the Indo – Jazz fusion mixing Jazz and Indian Classical Music was formed by John Mayer a Kolkata born Violinist and Saxophonist Joe Harriott. Even before this, Indian elements were incorporated in the fusion music of Miles Davis when he performed with Khalil Balakrishna, Bihari Sharma and Badal Roy. In the Southern part of India Dr. L. Shankar became a pioneer to start the group called `Shakti’ along with English Guitar player John McLaughlin. This group also had two rhythm players Zakir Hussian on the Tabla and T. H. Vinayakaram on the Ghatam. Shakti the pioneers of the musical genre World Fusion combined elements of Indian Music with Jazz idioms. This band was a roaring success and toured all over the globe. Though initially L. Shankar used the normal violin but later on he started using the 10 stringed Double Violin having two necks which he had invented in his tours, to cater to a larger audience. Credit should be given to Dr. L. Shankar as the First Indian to have conceived and developed a Double Violin and by making India proud. Their albums Shakti, A Handful of Beauty and Natural Elements were tremendous
hits. Yet another landmark in the history of Indo Jazz fusion was with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and his numerous fusion albums, since the mid-eighties with Zakir Hussian’s Making Music and L. Shankar’s Song for Everyone. The fusion works of Violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam opened up new venues in the World of fusion. He collaborated with legends like Violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Jazz Violinist Stephane Graphelli, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Steven Seagal, Arve Tellefsen, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample, Stanley Clarke, Jean Luc Ponty, Larry Corryel, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, John Surman and Maynard Ferguson to name a few. The concept of Neo Fusion was created by Dr. L. Subramaniam who composed The Double Concerto for violin and flute combining the best of both Eastern and Western Classical systems of music and also by creating a new form combining the Western Concerto and the Indian ‘Kriti’ form. His compositions `Reflections’ for Western Orchestra, Indian Ensemble, Choir and Chinese ensemble, `Moonlight’ and `Bhuddha’ for Violin, Koto, Shakuhachi, piano, Percussion and the `Astral Symphony’ for Symphony orchestra and Soloists from different world music traditions are some of the examples of the concept of Global Fusion created by Dr. L. Subramaniam. Other successful collaborations over the years have been between Ustad Sultan Khan (on Sarangi) and Marco Guinar (on Spanish Guitar) while Sarod Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Tabla Maestro Alla Rakha have also collaborated and worked with musicians from the West. This century is seeing many such works in fusion by musicians in India like U. Srinivas, the authors of this article Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini with their concept of Trans Global Fusion, Ravikiran and his concept of Melharmony, Rakesh Chaurasia, Rahul Sharma, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and his son Salil Bhat, Louis Banks, Kala Ramnath, Trilok Gurtu to name a few.
Grammy Award winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt who created the Mohan Veena and honorary advisor to the Muthuswamy Subbulakshmi MS Academy of Global Music has presented a historic collaboration with Jei Bing Chen a Chinese Erhu Player. Our album Lalitha and Nandini’s `Revelations’, a Trans Global Fusion album in the TOP 3 rating had a combination of violin, Electric violin’s Shahukachi, Keyboards, Drums and Indian Percussion. The music had elements of Jazz, Indian, Contemporary and the Zen meditative music. Our collaborations with the Bosch Bela String Orchestra (we became the First Indian Musicians and created history by performing in Bloemfontein, SA and this historical collaboration was premiered here), The three Tenor Boys, South Africa along with our South Indian Group of Musicians and the Quatre Bonne Conservatoire, Mauritius opened up more vistas in the world of fusion Music. Our other compositions for the Chinese and Indian Ensemble, Middle Eastern and Indian Ensemble, Japanese and Indian Ensemble, Indo - Korean collaboration have elements from these styles of music. Thinking of you, yet another Fusion album of ours which was in the TOP 1 rating for several weeks created history. Our compositions for fusion portray the different global music traditions. (Both of us were awarded two prestigious Fulbright Fellowships from USA and the CWIT fellowships, UK and had the opportunity to study Composition writing in Fusion music and Ethnomusicology/World Music). Collaboration with the different traditions of World music have other names like New Age music, Experimental, Neo fusion, Trans Global Fusion, World Fusion music, Indo-Jazz fusion and so on. Fusion and experimental music continues to grow day by day. The essence of Fusion music stands tall and gaining strength from different traditions of World music.
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MUSIC
Sarangi
Samraat T
he declining popularity of Sarangi on the Hindustani classical concert stage was a great matter of concern in the last decade. Though a few apprehensive directors did manage to use this sophisticated instrument in their film projects, with many younger generation Hindustani instrumentalists neglecting their musical legacy seduced by the glitzy world of indypop culture, one felt there was soon going to be a serious lack of devoted young classical instrumentalists. Very little is known or written about the few genuine ones who slog day and night to uphold a legacy. One such promising musician who has not only got Sarangi back into active performance spaces but also broken new grounds in technique, style and presentation is the young Murad Ali of the Moradabad gharana. In an exclusive chat with Veejay Sai he shares his undying passion and commitment to keep the tradition of sarangi alive and make it accessible to younger music connoisseurs. Moradabad, a small town in Uttar Pradesh has been one of the heartlands of Hindustani classical instrumental music. Many senior Ustads have mastered the art of Sarangi, Tabla, Been and even vocal music from this gharana. How can one forget the legendary tabla player Ahmad Jaan Tirakhwa saab and great vocalists Ustad Chhajju Khan saab and Ustad Tajjammul khan saab who belong to this gharana? Murad ali belongs to the sixth generation of musicians from his family which has been serving music for the last 250 years. His grandfather
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Ustad Saddique Ahmad Khan saab and his father Ustad Ghulam Sabir khan saab need no introduction to the world of Hindustani classical music. One of the biggest assets of Moradabad gharana , unlike many other gharanas, is each and every musician is trained in both vocal and instrumental styles of performing. So a sarangi player also makes for a great vocalist and vice versa.
my grand uncles and many others who patronized this instrument. Many of them left to Pakistan during partition. So the Moradabad gharana has its branches spread far and wide. And now I think it’s time to give this gharana its due and that’s why I have kept it a little aside from Bhindi bazaar and let everyone know the original name’ says Murad clearing the air off this much confused turf.
Moradabad gharana is also famously known as the ‘Bhindi bazaar gharana’ for various reasons. ‘Moradabad was a place with many families of musicians. Ustad amaan ali khan saab’s family was one such family responsible for this name. More than that, it was people who would associate ustad ji
Moradabad is the foremost of gharanas that patronized Sarangi along with other gharanas like Panipat, delhi, Jhajhar and Kirana. Sarangi, an instrument whose history has been well-documented has several interesting stories. In the days of yore, in the Middle East one hakeem Boo
with the bhindi bazaar because he lived in Bombay for many years where there were other ustads with a same name. Over a period of time it became very easy to connect and identify to Amaan Ali khan saab of the Bhindi bazaar for all music lovers. He personally would have never said he belonged to Bhindi bazaar gharana. The second most important music family was that of table players Ustad Ahmed Jaan Tirakhwa saab. He belonged to Moradabad, though his style of playing was that of farooqabaad. The third was our family of Sarangi players. My great great grandfather,
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Ali Ibn Sina, a student of the famed Pythagoras is said to have gone into the forests to collect plants and roots for his herbal medicines when he heard strange music emanating from under a tree. On closer scrutiny he noticed that entrails of a dead monkey whose intestines were being rubbed by a dry twig under the breeze were producing this music. In Abul Fazl’s famous Aine-akbari this story finds itself with a different discoverer. In the current times, the strings of the sarangi are made out of goat’s intestines. In Rajasthan an earlier version of this
instrument called Ravanhattho and Kamayacha with three main strings and about 15 sympathetic strings was in usage for a long time. The Kingri in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the Kunju in kerala, Pen in Manipur and banam and kenara in Orissa were all various earlier rural avatars of the same Sarangi devoid of all ornamentation. From the point of view of its shape and structure the ancient musical instrument without the frets called Ghosvati or Ghoshak veena was perhaps the closest to the latter day Sarangi. In more modern parlance, the Pinaki veena, a gut-string bow instrument described in Saranga deva’s Sangeet Ratnakara (13th century A.D) bears a close resemblance to the sarangi we know. The modern day sarangi is a far accomplished and highly engineered instrument. ‘Sarangi Sau rangi’ , (the sarangi has a hundred colour) is an adage that goes aptly well with this instrument’s virtuosity to create such delicate and fine music. Played with cuticles and the lowest part of the finger nails, it is not an easy instrument to master. What started off as an accompanying instrument has slowly taken shape of being a classy solo concert instrument, thanks to the undying efforts of Ustads from all these gharanas. Speaking of his early days of learning music Murad recollects his taleem under his gurus. ‘I would have to spend many studious hours in riyaaz. It was not easy to see my cuticles bleed and feel the pain. I would just stick bits of tape around my fingers and carry on with my music practice’. Years of such hard work was bound to pay well and Murad won the first prize at the all India radio national music competition at the tender age of sixteen in 1992. Ever since then, there has been no looking back for him. Having accompanied the likes of Smt Girija Devi, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Gopal Mishra, Pandit Briju Maharaj and many more senior artists from the world of Hindustani classical music and dance, he is currently an ‘A’ grade artist from AIR Delhi. Murad who feels that vocal music is important, like his seniors first learnt vocal before he graduated to taking the
Sarangi. ‘Vocal music is very important especially for sarangi players. When you learn the intricacies of Khyaal and other genres like dadra, tappa, thumri and so on in vocal, it becomes far more easier to practice it on the instrument’ says Murad. His grandfather the great Ustad Saddique Ahmed Khan saab was also a student of Hindustani vocal for twenty years before his gurus allowed him to touch the sarangi. A strong grounding in vocal becomes an essential part of an instrumentalist’s journey into musicdom. There have been many sarangi players who have mastered this instrument. But there have been a very few who can be credited with making sarangi the solo instrument. ‘Ustad bundu khan saab’s name stands out first. He was responsible for changing the presentation and the music of sarangi and taking it to a new stature. After him come Pandit Gopal mishra ji and Pandit Ram narayan ji who was responsible for making it popular in the music festivals across the world. There have been many others too, but you need to see who got the opportunity and who got the right platform to present their skill’, says Murad. The Sarangi has also been one of the main instruments to provide music for Kathak as a dance form to grow. ‘Initially when I set out to become a solo concert performer, my father also encouraged me to experiment. I was to learn how to play the lehraas with tabla or pakhajwaj as an accompaniment or how to play it with dance. For that I worked in Bharitiya kala Kendra in delhi for about six months to learn this art. The people there wanted me to stay back when I was leaving six months later, but this stay extended for six years and I had to beg myself out of that place to continue my work. But what I learnt there was priceless. The Sarangi is one of the most versatile instruments and can be played with all genres of music and dance forms if it is mastered the right way’, adds Murad. The Sarangi has come a long way. With the passing over of Hindustani musical patronage from royal courts to emergence of havelis and kothas of the nawabs, the Sarangi started
to become associated with mehfils and tawaifs or nautch girls. A little known fact is that even famous senior Hindustani vocalists like Ustad Abdul Karim Khan saab, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan saab and Ustad Amir Khan saab who had begun their artistic careers as Sarangi players disowned their instrumental past on their path to fame. From classical concerts the Sarangi came to be a more popular instrument among lighter semiclassical forms like Ghazal and soon was adopted by the film industry for playback music. But how many ever such confrontations later, the Sarangi continues to survive the onslaught of time, space, technology and more
an ideal accompaniment to Hindustani Classical music. The subtleties that can be acquired through sarangi cannot be attained through harmonium due to its limitations. But lately, just for convenience sake, sarangi is being replaced by harmonium. One of the other reasons why its popularity is on the decline is also because of the fact that it is a difficult instrument to learn and master. But Murad with his determined efforts has been credited to elevate the status of the instrument with his fusion concert tours and other musical alliances. ‘I have toured with music groups like Indian Ocean and Shubha Mudgal Ji’s group and we have seen how widely sarangi has been
to constantly keep re-emerging as an instrument worth all ages and all times.
appreciated. I have collaborated with pianist Anil Srinivasan from Chennai and done classical fusion. I love innovation and love experimenting because this instrument easily accommodates such practices. Its musical limitations are almost negligible and hence for a player like me it comes as a blessing’ says Murad speaking about his musical collaboration.
Whatever be the origins of this instrument, many people have come forward claiming to be its original inventors in the past. ‘Earlier sarangi had 4 strings of Sa, Pa, Sa and Pa. In this last century, it was reduced to three strings. Now if I put the forth string back and say it is my invention, it is not right’, says Murad demystifying all these false claims of older artists who were supposed inventors. Being close to human voice and able to replicate patterns of vocal music, the Sarangi is
There is a falsehood generated by popular perception that Islam is against music and those Muslims who practice music are anti-Islamic. Breaking that myth once the late Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan saab had said that
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those who say music is anti-Islamic know nothing of music or of Islam. ‘This is not true. Music is very much a part of all cultures. I have been to Jerusalem to the tomb of one of our saints and I was surprised to find the design of a violin engraved on his mazaar in that dargah. There were music notes written on the chaadar along with figures of other musical instruments because the saint himself must have been a person of music. So there is no such thing in Islam. That kind of culture which encourages excessive alcoholism, domestic abuse and violence and other immoral activities must not be encouraged anyways be it Islamic or not. It’s harmful for the society anywhere in the world. In fact Islam says a lot more things are haraam, why target something as divine as classical music? Classical music is pure and nothing can touch it’, says Murad with affirmation against all these rumours that do more harm to music and to Islam than anything else. Having over a dozen albums of solo and non-solo music albums to his credit, Murad is the new face of Sarangi amongst the performance and festival circles. The ‘Saurangi’ festival conceived and created by him and his team of efficient musicians was a landmark festival in the history of Sarangi as well. It is an annual feature marked on the musical calendar where a sarangi symphony is performed by a dozen players who play a scripted symphony. For the first time ever in the history of Hindustani classical music, the best of hundreds of Sarangi players and music connoisseurs gathered under one umbrella to enjoy a festival dedicated to this instrument. ‘In the past Pandit Ram Narayan did a similar event with hundred sarangis but that event was on a different level. I have tried to put together an Indian symphony like how Pandit Ravishankar used to do the national orchestra with different instruments’, says Murad about the Saurangi festival. Murad along with his twin brother Fateh ali , sitar player , vocalist imran khan and tabla player Amaan Ali have formed a group called ‘Taseer’. Taseer as a band has collaborated with many
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more musicians from across the world according to the needs of performances. Ask him if he believes if it’s possible to become a full time professional musician and he says ‘Yes! Why not! It depends on how much riyaaz you do, how committed you are to your music. Nothing is impossible’, he says. With such exponents like Murad Ali in its fold, the Sarangi can be proud to make a fresh come-back on the concert stage more actively. Murad proved many a
critic who thought that the sarangi was on the verge of extinction, totally wrong with his innovation, bowing techniques and newer musical collaborations. With a well-established aesthetic sense deeply rooted in his great legacy and in the tradition of his Gharana, so far as we have musicians like Murad Ali we can all say that Sarangi and its pristine music are in safe hands.
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CINEMA
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e da’, ther g Fu Pan n u are ‘K le f p o t peo release stion tha at defies e u ince the q S g “ in one burn uestion th ? For Po, f “Kung has been er. The q irector o d w s e n goose a th n , o to n Nelso o’s dad a r him to finally t titles perate h n P s e u e r is Y d y r fe e h if if d W enn ree on is: gical fo 2,” had th – Head of Story, explanati Warrior, it was lo gical father and to ” m Fu Panda a a d e n n r a o io D g P past and his b lo ng Fu the Dra d learns his pervisor er is not e u e th first “Ku w S h o , fa s ll o e s is c fo h n g oin ge is not eque as Po realize . While d eacock’s challen in Actions S irector. And just n ig o r ls o e is N p h g that eD The rior, seek somethin gon War Sequenc d Shen. — r a r o te d it D L fa e f to o th d films. An t is tie orking oming ts c w r e a e b l th a to ti is r it ma is tha his path random, inently in th about who he there journey. m s n o a r w w p o n s r e e e r “J tru had h also figu sa Cobb, arns the mental my.” cer Melis was really instru hen he le t Shen and his ar u w d o ly r n p e o s n o is n d y ed o n n a a fr State , n is g o ere to c we learn beginnin o is able Nelson, “ tory. If th acters and P s s o e e u P from the th n s ti e a p n es co se char f g to sha rst film,” all shapes and siz on Warrior. in helpin this material, the ing the director o “In the fi ag in r e D n m e s io m o s th o w ame roes c ogres c er bec e r e h p H b who kno l t . a a d n to our r n e th a tu J , it is estiny ost na leads us ld d m r t te o is e h w fa th t d is s a e a th w at protec rn th fulfill Panda 2’ el, we lea le into our lives th u q e s e to ‘Kung Fu p us In th ging peo le.” I grew up allowing imaginab tiny – brin at challenge us… Nelson, “ ought that s h e u d Y r e if r th ctor Jenn s, and I b I nd those al.” Says dire ong action movie u Panda.’ et, us a F ll potenti g fu 8, when n r u u o K ‘K e s g n z d o n li o er of 200 a” hit y in a r H e m m r to t m S a u f with s th o e d in a be in th Pand y as He ll of us to ry began k one Kung Fu a “ to in r s ’s th sensibilit fo n I ’s The tale o o o . h ti P a Anim e globe. y gung this film s tt th k n e r s o d r o t n p h a u W s s o u a th r w sa at p t in spiration Dream da tinued th ’re all conversan re screen dle maker with a n n a tu o e c P ic c I p u n d F n ie n o g d a o u we un moti aming no d a widespread a ing on ‘K ys is that e day dre n of the ke d in work ome with us, and u y from n th e fo f A n o s . r s u w e o jo rn sc r n his greatn o fu o P g n d vernacula ed experience ha g and the manne u ie k ti of ac onpan har Fu ily accom ung fu hero. The p re tellin g p a n 3 a u e h 2,’ that s w ‘K o y e h r k w tak to than $63 s the sto super fan dy grossed more oal was to emy g d fu r a u it inform g c n O A u . e k for th come l.” d y e it is told v il te h le a m ic t in h fa x t e w m d s to in nd ok s no ewe the n packe re Film a wide, wa ior, his n nd Po to r tu ld r a r a ’ a o e a w F d w r n d e n a P ate ustry’s a bett millio to the Best Anim he animation ind become ersion in r s m fo a h im ® o d r r P s e (t s Awa Just as his deep lm follow ie Award e reflects r Nelson: “This fi e 10 Ann m o h — really s ie adventur e v nor). film, we o rts mo g fu. P t h a s n l r t u s a fi k ly e ti f e r h w o a e th hig ith eople of m tan world Cobb, “W ted movie that p tradition rise abou r a e e k t c e th a u e d s in th o r o s e a mor stion anim ose wh States p often que make an re are th there are ro’s past and the set out to id d he anointed thority. ge his au n e ll a h c to
J
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could enjoy with their families for years to come. We were intent on making a film that felt timeless, while being respectful to the kung fu action genre. We knew when we made the first film that we created a character with a lot of depth and levels of story we weren’t able to touch on. What we have in the sequel is the evolution of a hero—which isn’t a straight path, or
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a standard arc. And evolution takes time, so we’re committed to going with Po on his journey. When ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ started to take shape, it was an organic extension of the story that we began.” ‘Kung Fu Panda’ screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger were thrilled to return to continue Po’s
story. Aibel sums up the thoughts and feelings of the creative teams when he offers, “Working on the first, it was fantastic, a giant collaboration. I think the best thing we can say about the group of people working on the first movie is that they all wanted to be a part of the second movie. That’s pretty rare in Hollywood…I mean, the heads of nearly every department on this
movie were in the same job on the first movie. People say once they started working for Po, they didn’t want to leave.” “I think that also means,” Aibel continues, “that a lot of our time was spent on the first movie laying the groundwork for the environment and building the characters and now, a lot
of that creative energy was freed up to push the limits and see how much more fun we could have—this meant bigger action sequences, deeper character work, a larger look at this amazing world.” Joining those already mentioned, among the ranks of film artisans returning to “Kung Fu Panda 2”
are: production designer Raymond Zibach; head of character animation Dan Wagner; editor Clare Knight; art director Tang Kheng Heng; composers John Powell and Hans Zimmer and supervising animator, kung fu choreographer and storyboard artist Rodolphe Guenoden, among others.
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MUSIC
“I
’ve been on the road nearly all my life , been around the world bout a thousand times”. That may sound pompous to many but in reality , merely a humble declaration that Bryan Adams has achieved almost everything there is to achieve in the music business and still doesn’t seem to be getting tired anytime soon .“Life doesn’t change it’s a Gibson or a Fender ”, a line so simple (and probably intended that way) seemed to strike deep . Both excerpts to Bryan Adams hugely successful 2004 album : Room Service , the title track seems to talk about the grass being greener on the other side and some of the shortcomings of fame . Yes Bryan Adams does live the rock n roll life and his larger than life image had captivated audiences for over 3 decades. My fascination of Bryan Adams started early. It was way back in the sixth grade when I got my first Bryan Adams cassette , a 22 song collection of his greatest hits so far . At a time when pop music was a staple on Mtv , I remember being astonished by the fresh energy Bryan’s voice would bring to every song . Also what seemed a random assortment of 22 hits was my first introduction to rock music ….. Bryan Adams style !! Funny part is that more than a decade later I still have that old cassette, and the songs have mysteriously not aged a bit , even Westlife is considered old tight now . It all starts with a track that doesn’t represent the general sounds of Bryan Adams , the flamingo guitar laden ‘Have you ever really loved a woman’ . The track features guest guitarist Paco de Lucia and is one of the softest hits on the compilation. Might I add that the song is also a favorite among Adams huge (and not surprisingly )female fan following . Once the elaborate Spanish guitar arrangements end , the piano brings in one of Bryan’s most commercially successful songs : ‘Everything I do , I do it for you’. An instant hit with all ages , this song is full of slow moments and still is a couple favorite but to me has aged more quickly than the others . Next on is a more bombastic ballad titled ‘Please forgive me’ . I was and still
BRY AN
ADAMS
FOREVER 18 30 | JULY 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew
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am amazed at how soft and mellow Keith Scott (Bryan Adams highly underrated lead guitar player) sounds in the beginning and how harsh it gets towards the latter half. With a studio recording continuous shot used in the music video , and a cameo appearance by the studio owners dog , this song is still as delightful as ever and has an iconic MTV video to ride its weight . Right next is a collaboration of legends so to speak with the likes of Sting from the Police and Rod Stewart joining to sing the harmony filled ballad ‘All for love’ again Bryan’s raspy voice stands out . Another ballad at number 5 , the beautiful piano driven Heaven (a concert favorite till this day) . With the end of the fifth track you start to think that your appetite for ‘soul rendering’ ballads has been quietly quenched and its time to get a little noisier . Bryan Adams certainly doesn’t disappoint ! The happy go lucky ‘This Time’ follows with a trademark guitar and organ riff played in unison. Its sad to know that
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this song hasn’t got the publicity it so truly deserves. ‘This Time’ is followed by the groovy mid tempo rocker ‘Somebody’, again Keith Scott (Lead Guitar) serves up the simple trade mark intro and solo.‘Run to you’ is up next and its big chorus guitars along with Adams signature hooks have made this another staple at the gigs. Next on the play list is a track that has probably defined Bryan Adams, for better or for worse , none other than the monster : ‘Summer of 69’. A track that Bryan himself would have never imagined becoming so popular . When asked about the success of the track , he simply stated that there is always something nostalgic about having a high school sweetheart and those are always the best days of anyone’s life . . . The meaning is more sinister . A song that would never dare to omitted from a Bryan Adams Show . Cover bands would always have it
in their repertoire. ‘Summer of 69’ is certainly one of the most popular songs in popular history . Two songs of very different intensities end side A of the cassette, the heavy guitar driven ‘Its only love’ (a duet with Tina Tuner) and the melodious ‘Straight from the heart’ . Side B contains some of Bryan Adams better but lesser knows work. Songs like ‘Thought I died and gone to heaven’,‘ One night love affair’ , the anthemic ‘Kids Wanna Rock’ , ‘All I want is you’ receive far lesser airplay than they deserve . The stand out track on side B for me is ‘Victim of Love’, Bryan ventures into an early form of doom metal and pulls it off surprisingly well. Other side B tracks that deserve a mention are ‘Don’t Leave me lonely’ and the tribute to playboy playmate Dorothy Stratton ‘Best was yet to come’. At the end of all this listening and being transport through a vast array of moods it’s hard to believe all this could come from one man. On careful thought it
becomes increasingly clear that the wide variety of genres covered is glued together by only two things , namely Bryan Adams voice and Keith Scots Guitar playing. This is a combination that has lasted to this today and is one of the most formidable in Rock N Roll history . India has been lucky to be graced by his presence not once but 4 times- his most recent tour being in February 2011 . Even at the concerts the chemistry between these two men on stage is undeniable . The concert started with ‘There will never be another tonight’ and their certainly wasn’t as the 50,000 strong crowd was soon to realize . The concert provided die hard fans and casual listeners a chance to share some of the most memorable moments of his Rock N’ Roll History all packed into a two and a half hour concert . I have to mention that during the concert Bryan Adams never took a single break as he rasped his way though a nearly 25 song set list. That’s professionalism for you
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. The concert for me was a chance to get up close and personal for to man that has shaped the course of popular music history and realize that a legend as he is seldom disappoints live . The man has aged considerably since the summer of 69 but his voice surprisingly hasn’t . He is at the top of his game and puts on better shows than many of today’s auto-tuned pop stars. A few pages aren’t enough to write about all the achievements of Bryan Adams . He is an accomplished rhythm and bass guitar player . In fact the last time he toured he was on the bass guitar ! ……Talk about talent !! At the concert, he promoted his new album , which is mostly stripped down versions of old hits titled Bare Bones. Bare Bones has already been certified gold in India. If there’s one thing fans and critics agree upon about Bryan Adams, it’s the fact that this man is a ‘hit machine’ After following the career of Bryan Adams one thing is certain . His songwriting, high raspy vocal range and showmanship have an indelible mark in the music industry and will continue to set the standard for years to come. You will always have the Best of Him !!
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Katrina Kaif “
CINEMA The first thing I have in the morning: Is lots and lots of water. Invariably, my breakfast consists of eggs and cereal. If I am traveling outside India, then I might indulge in pancakes and the like; but I am most happy with eggs and cereal. My lunch: I am not too fussy about what I eat. I do try and eat light for lunch. But I don’t carry lunch to the sets of my films. More often than not, I am quite okay with eating ‘set ka khaana’; and if it seems very oily / spicy, then I call for something health-friendly from outside. My evening snack: When I am shooting, I always carry water, fruits and cereal. I binge on a pizza, ever so rarely.
Anita Raheja-Heena Agarwal, Bollywood News Service
I love sushi! I can have sushi morning, noon and night!
My diet: I am a non-vegetarian.
My favourite fruits: I like all kinds of fruits though not many people know that some fruits have a high sugar content to them. I think I resemble a watermelon – tough on the outside, softie inside. My dinner: Again, there is no pre-set menu. I am not someone who overeats at any given point, but I do try and eat light before going to bed. I am okay with eating whatever is available on the table though. I am particular about: Not eating undercooked food. My Sunday lunch is: By and large the same as any other day. My favourite cook from my family: My older brother Michael. His Eggs Benedict is unparalleled by the best chefs in the world’s best hotels. My comfort food: Actually, I am not sure if you could call it comfort food but I am an all-day breakfast person. An omelette is amongst the safest things you can have in any city in any part of the world. If I am really sick though, a soup does the trick for me. I feel guilty about having: The excessive amounts of black coffee I consume to keep the energy levels going when I am working. The problem though is that when I am done with the day, I am still high on energy and take some time to calm down and sleep. My favourite restaurants abroad: There are many quaint restaurants abroad that one visits but doesn’t remember the names of. For instance, this little Italian restaurant in Innsbruck, Austria. We ate there regularly when we were shooting for Subhash Ghai’s Yuvvraaj; I don’t remember the name of the place but the pastas were freshly made and heavenly. My favourite cuisines: I am a multi-cuisine person. I do enjoy typical Indian food once in a while. And I love sushi! I can have sushi morning, noon and night! My idea of a romantic meal: Is a candlelight dinner in a nice quiet place.
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The secret of Katrina Kaif’s hour glass figure is healthfriendly food and no overrating. The only no-no in her otherwise worthemulating diet is the fact that she drinks many cups of black coffee throughout the day.
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ART
With
Lord
JeffREy Archer
O
n Sunday, Mary and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary with a summer party at the Old Vicarage, Grantchester, and were wonderfully entertained by ‘Over The Bridge’, a talented group of Cambridge undergraduates, who sang acappella. Betty Boothroyd later accused me of being a witch, because when the 300 guests arived at 12.30, they spent an hour on the lawn in the sunshine, meeting up with new and old friends; at 1.30 they were ushered into the marquee for lunch, and while a tasty gazpacho was being enjoyed, we had a thunderstorm and the rain lasted for some time; as coffee on the lawn was offered, the rain stopped and the sun came out again. Betty’s final comment as she left was that if she’d been speaker 400 years ago, she would have had me burnt at the stake. Nevertheless, whoever fixed the weather, thank you. In the evening, we used the tent that we’d hired for the day for a Latin American themed charity event to support ACT (Addenbrooke’s charitable trust). The evening raised a considerable sum for the cause, and everyone seemed to have a good time, even if Mary I were exhausted by the time the last guest had gone. Mary retires as Chairman of Cambridge University Hospitals next year, so that may turn out to have been our grand finale.
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CINEMA Many factors influence the success of movies. In turn, success itself is measured in many ways. There are box office and DVD sales, critical acclaim, awards, ability to create rising stars, festival accolades, word of mouth, and so forth, any or all of which suggests a film of legendary proportion. But let’s start at the beginning of what makes a movie successful by any of these benchmarks, and fathom how they eventually succeed. Firstly, there must be a story to tell. This story is sincere and genuine where the writer and film maker understand the inner conflict their complex characters face in an engrossing story of external conflict. For these characters to remain conflicted, they must live within an imperfect world with many deficits. There is either not enough happiness, money, land, water, love, cars, or drugs. Subsequently all flawed characters must want what they cannot have by confronting each other in ways the ordinary person only dreams of doing. The genre of such stories could be anything from drama to comedy to science fiction, but the principles of conflict do not change. For example, the sleeper comedy hit The Hangover is a prime example of characters at odds with each other hell bent on a seemingly impossible mission, in a city they cannot fathom. As an audience, you like the characters, you even want to be some of them (or know similar ones). Finally,
Evolutionary Basics of
Indian Cinema Content to Distribution
D
-BY SAMEER PURI
eep inside the mind of every actor, director and writer is a discerning quest for the ultimate performance, canvas and story, respectively. The producer must ultimately form the missing link. Using his or her network and financial arsenal to distribute the movie through multiple mediums across diverse territories, from thousands of screens to millions of DVDs, he or she finds a way to fund and sell a 2-hour saga of fantasy and mind-altering drama. This, of course, represents the ideal situation. In the real world of Indian cinema, there are many milestones to bridge before Indian movies translate to global acceptance and success. Note, I said Indian movies, not Bollywood. In consideration of the depth of Bengali cinema, aesthetics and efficiencies of the Tamil and Telegu film industries, and mind-boggling diversity of brilliant stories emerging from Kerala, it is of little surprise that Bollywood’s two lone USPs, chiefly star power and marketing muscle, fail to drive a film’s success from concept to distribution. Big isn’t always good if it has no brains.
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you want what they want: solution or absolution. The tight script leaves no room for your mind to wander to the cinema hall next door and the story does justice to the purpose of its creation: to satisfy. Secondly, there is the actual film making aspect. A stellar point many Bollywood directors fail to appreciate is connecting script with production. Often the film being shot bears little resemblance to the script it once represented. Frightening – but true. After a good shooting script is penned (usually this can be anywhere between four to six drafts that’s been worked and re-worked to perfection) pre-production must commence. Visually this entails a scene by scene storyboarding with detailed information on camera work and visual effects sequences. Logistically, the entire production schedule is planned, locations reconciled, costumes and props readied, cast and crew finalised etc. Planning leads to huge cost efficiencies, ensuring the film is produced on time and hopefully, may even cost less than the proposed budget, as director Clint Eastwood often achieves. This trademark astuteness of producers’ money and his team’s efforts has won the Oscar-winning actor immense respect as a film maker. With excellent pre-production, the shoot is a smoother, less bumpy ride as each page of the screenplay is translated from word to visuals in the shortest time possible. Not 2-3 years as some Bollywood films spend in the limbo of principle photography, but perhaps even less than 2-3 months as Tamil cinema or most international productions realise. Thirdly, performance. Yes, stars can sell films sometimes. But films with no story and a plethora of stars survive no
longer than a pedigree pup caught in Mumbai traffic. An actor who cannot perform or a character that is shallower than a glass of water takes your audience into the realm of theatrical suicide. Given a good plot, some seasoned actors, and a film maker who knows how to tell a story through his actors, a formula for success can be created. If the actor realises the script itself is a star, he or she may actually begin believing in its power and some of it may rub off on them. This is true star dust; the stuff between the lines of a good script, an intelligent actor, and a visionary director. The Farhan Akhtar starrer Luck By Chance is one such marvel to have emerged from the Hindi film industry. What could have turned out to be a silly, stereotyped, overhyped and mediocre film was unexpectedly a work of brilliant proportion. The contemporary insights into the workings of the film industry, coming together of jaded dreams and desperate propositions, and the subtle hint that outsiders aren’t permitted into the film ‘fraternity’ was handled with maturity and deliberation by Zoya Akhtar, and enacted as naturally as you or I would have lived the characters. The performance is brilliant because the script is exceptional. Another example is Aamir Khan’s Three Idiots which contains not a single wasted scene that does not renew the underlying theme of the film in some way. Aamir’s performance as a youngster is convincing from body language to dialogue, making it hard to believe this is the same actor who starred as a vengeful animal in Ghajini and an illiterate black marketer in Rangeela. Which brings us to the next point of style and storytelling.
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How a director chooses to tell his or her story depends upon content. However, an individual signature style is what separates local pedestrian artists from the prophets of art. The Stanley Kubricks and Alfred Hitchcocks of cinema not only understood their material deeply, they knew exactly what storytelling devices to employ for maximum impact. Consider the abstract shots and reverse tracking to inflict fear in The Shining, or the claustrophobic build up of tension with no editing cuts in Rope. In The Green Mile, the entire story of human goodness and evil unfolds in a prison block, and in flashbacks, an old age home. The symbolism is brilliant; even when we are free, we are imprisoned emotionally. Our actions determine our futures. This powerful theme resonates strongly in the script, is performed convincingly by Tom Hanks et al, and narrated with an underlying belief in the goodness of humanity by Frank Darabont. When it comes to music, Indian producers must realise our tastes vary significantly from the rest of the world. Musicals such as Moulin Rouge are once-in-a-while entertainers in Hollywood. In Indian cinema, every film is a musical. This works great in India, where an original motion picture soundtrack is an essential marketing push. However, at film festivals and international cinemas, a song and dance sequence every ten minutes is as alien as Barrack Obama eating bhel puri at Bandstand. The trick is two-fold. Either cut out songs completely for foreign versions of Indian movies (much to the happiness of every foreign distributor I have ever met). Alternatively, why not work on a soundtrack
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that translates easily into other cultures? Think Titanic. It did not matter who you were or where you were, once Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On broke the sound barrier, your heart realised it was alive with the melody of love. The final point is marketing and distribution, which includes print and advertising as well as everything else entailing boosting a film’s profile and sale using trailers, televisions spots, hoardings, virals, word of mouth, festival screenings to releasing a film in theatres, DVD, cable, video on demand, etc. A film’s positioning is so critical to its success that an inadequate marketing budget can shatter even a good film. Take the Abhay Deol starrer Manorama Six Feet Under. Good film, good performances (openly credited as a remake of Roman Polanski’s China Town), but a dismal marketing budget of under a crore resulted in one of the best films of 2007 tanking at the box office. By contrast, Dev-D had a four crore marketing budget. Do the math: Good marketing puts distribution of a good film on cruise control to success. Aamir Khan is one of the best minds in the business when it comes to aligning a film’s aesthetic values to commercial success. From Taare Zameen Par, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Ghajini to Three Idiots, the Khan’s astuteness in knowing how to get a big film seen by depraved cinema going eyes will one day become legendary. The conclusion? Eventually everything you ever need to know about the movie business converges to one teeny tiny statement: Make a good a film, then get people to see it
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CINEMA
Great
Directors Jean-Luc Godard
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Breathless was feted by critics and lapped up by the cinegoers and expectedly spawned off several imitations about lovers on the run. Interestingly, Godard was offered to direct Bonnie & Clyde (finally directed by Robert Altman) but could not do so for some reason.
Jean-Luc Godard (1930- ) For Godard’s A bout de soufflé (Breathless, 1960) critic Roger Ebert declared, “Modern movies begin here. No debut film since Citizen Kane in 1941 has been as influential.” So what was so special about Jean-Luc Godard? A firebrand of the Nouvelle vague cinema, Godard started his career as a film critic. He wrote in the magazine Cahiers du Cinema (kind of a Bible for French film critics), “The whole New Wave can be defined, in part, by its new relationship to fiction and reality.” The plot in Breathless centres on Michel Poicard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a petty Parisian crook, who has just murdered a policeman. Anxious to flee the country, he persuades his girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg) to accompany him. The film, which literally bursts with energy, was dedicated to Monogram, a Hollywood production house, known for making ‘B’ pictures. All through the film, we cannot help but notice how unabashed is Godard in expressing his admiration for the US popular culture. In one of the sequences, Michel stands admiringly before a poster of Humphrey Bogart. The implication is clear: Michel has leant well from the gangster/film noir Hollywood flicks—a Bogart forte. To be cool is the ultimate high for the Breathless characters—they smoke endlessly, sport chic clothes, and mouth lines from Faulkner, “Between grief and nothing, I take grief.” At the outset, Michel looks at the camera and announces, “I’m a son of a bitch” and later asks his girlfriend, “Why don’t you wear a bra?” A new hero was born right there! As a key film of the French New Wave, Breathless rejected the well-made traditional French cinema and adopted an edgier, more experimental style. The film was shot on a shoestring budget and Godard used natural lighting, wheelchair dollies and shots of Paris extensively. Of course, Breathless is also a testimony to the fantastic sense of camaraderie that bonded the practitioners of cinema. On retrospect, it is interesting to note the number of exponents of French New Wave who collaborated on Breathless. The original story was by Truffaut, production design by Chabrol, and cameos for the writer Daniel Boulanger, director Jean–Pierre Melville (who had earlier directed Bob the Gambler) as well as for Truffaut and Godard.
Like most directors of his group, Godard had strong sociopolitical commitments. His next, Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier, 1960), was banned by the French government for three years because it commented on the Algerian War. The film was shot on the rain swept streets of Geneva and Zurich. It had explicit torture sequences (fans of Quentin Tarantino may recall the famous ear-splicing scene from Reservoir Dogs; a direct quote from Le Petit Soldat). In fact, the film was considered so provocative that no US distributor would touch it. It was premiered at New York Film Festival, two years after its release. Godard and ‘jump cut’ The jump cut involves an uncanny jolt in a film’s progress, drawing the viewers’ attention to disturbing elision of time and space. A film might cut abruptly from one location to the next without any attempt to employ those devices or matches of eyeline that are essential for continuity. It was the French pioneer Georges Melies who first recognized that a jump cut could generate magical or comic effects if the appearance of a subject filmed from a single vantage point was altered between shots. Although Godard was not the first to use or think about the possibilities of a jump cut, modern use of the technique has more or less come to be associated with him. Breathless, as a finished film was long by thirty minutes and instead of cutting out whole scenes or sequences, Godard chose to trim within scenes, thus creating the jagged cutting style, which gels well with the on-the-edge quality of the film. Over the years, this editing technique has come to be associated with Godard. Godard’s life Godard was married to the beautiful Anna Karina. Together they made films, such as My Life to Live, The Little Soldier, Band of Outsiders and Pierrot the Fool. Hs Alphaville is a science fiction parable about a world ruled by a giant computer that deprives citizens of free will and turns them into ideological zombies. From the 70s, Godard temporarily stopped making commercial films to form the Dziga Vertov Collective (named after the Soviet political filmmaker of the 1920s), creating a series of 16 mm protest films. From 198998, he worked on an ambitious project, History of cinema, a chronicle of the medium. Now leading a quite, retired life, Godard will be remembered for his adventurous and rebellious brand of cinema, an artist who galvanized an entire generation of filmmakers. His famous aphorisms encapsulate the man and his works: “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun”, “Tracking shots are a question of morality”, and “You need a beginning, a middle and an end—but not necessarily in that order.”
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ART
THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER
BY KIM EDWARDS REVIEW BY QUEENIE SUKHADIA
A
poignant mix of the human psyche, human relationships and the everyday vagaries of human life, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards is nothing short of astounding. This is the sort of book one can pick up for book club discussions, or literary analysis. This book has so many layers of meaning to it, that it has always been successful in enchanting its readers. The plotline of this book revolves around a man, Dr. David Henry who gives away his newborn baby Phoebe because she has Down’s syndrome. Norah Henry, David’s wife has twins and he gives away their daughter, without her consultation and moreover, without ever informing her about this action of his, making her believe that she died at birth. Although he asked his nurse to enroll Phoebe in an institution for children affected by
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Down’s Syndrome, the nurse Caroline Gill sees the poor state of affairs in this institution and decides to raise Phoebe as her own daughter. On a fairly simplistic, extrinsic level, this book deals with the implications of this one thoughtless action and how it shapes the lives of so many around him. This book endeavors to show its readers that nobody in this world is in reality an isolated island, but in fact any action taken by a single person eventually leads to a domino effect, affecting the lives of so many others, apart from the perpetrator of a certain course of action himself. The book weaves back and forth between two families, Caroline Gill’s and Phoebe’s on one side and David Henry, Norah Henry and Paul’s on the other. It shuttles from one family to the other and back, showing the reader how one secret, guarded so carefully can affect so many lives and how. This book shows us how people grow distant and apart, as though separated by an omnipresent ‘wall’ in Henry’s family while a Down’s syndrome girl and Caroline Gill find solace and companionship in each other. This book follows a spiraling structure- each tale, each incident, each narrative bringing us an inch closer to the denouement, making us more and more acquainted with each character until we reach their cores. This entire book revolves around cause and effect, repercussions and reflections. Kim Edwards proves herself to be a woman who has great insight into the human psyche and its workings. Characters are sketched out to be three-dimensional with a touch of universality. These characters are fleshed out so well that they are almost tangible. These characters seem to be people one can meet at the park, while waiting for a bus, on the street or for all one knows, it can simply be you or me. Edwards delves deep into the realm of psychology, giving her characters’ actions solid psychological ground. Every small sentiment they feel, from regret to anger to pain to joy are all described and dealt with in intricate detail.
The terrain of regret and mistakes is not unfamiliar to the landscape of literature, but even then The Memory Keeper’s Daughter carves a separate niche for itself.
English Literature such as Austen and Shakespeare, it definitely has a place of its own. All in all, this book is a lifeaffirming story, a reminder of the risks and limits of love.
Edward’s book reminds us of the smallest trials and tribulations of human life, it reminds us of the basic experience of what it is like to be human. Although it may be nothing when compared to the stalwarts of
This book is now a major feature film by Mick Jackson starring Dermot Mulroney, Emily Watson and Gretchen Mol.
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ART
Remembering A.P.Santhanaraj
“E
- Pallavi Nandagopal
very period must have its artists who express and represent it for the future�, said Bernard Buffet, the French expressionist painter.
A.P.Santhanaraj undisputedly represented the Madras School of Contemporary Indian Art that evolved in the 1960s and 70s. Indian art was passing through a transformational phase responding and reacting to constant changes of ideals, techniques and approaches in relation to space, form and texture. Born at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu in 1932, Santhanaraj’s journey to distinguish himself as one of the pillars of the Madras Movement of Art was remarkable. His childhood was spent in the midst of several siblings under the watchful eye of a powerful and dominating mother who played a formative role in channelizing his keen interest in visual imagery and art. In the late 1950s, Santhanaraj joined the Madras School of Arts & Crafts in Chennai. The years spent at the School opened up a world of opportunities amidst an environment charged with dynamic energy and enthusiasm exploring the visual language, its medium and technique. This atmosphere sustained by K.C.S.Paniker and his contemporary, S.Dhanapal, gave momentum to his creative expressions. Today along with Redappa Naidu, L. Munuswamy,
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P.V. Janakiram and Anthony Doss, Santhanaraj is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the generation that followed Paniker and Dhanapal. Santhanaraj is famous for his line drawings. He told his teacher Paniker , “A line is a line. It is universal.” His inspiration was derived from life around him that portrayed pastoral life, female forms – women adorning themselves, engrossed in domestic chores etc. Using various media of water colours, oils, acrylic, felt pens his work convey an aura of mystery yet depicting a sense of decorative design and patterning that is characteristic of the Madras Movement. Inspired by Paniker’s vision of an art with an Indian identity in the larger context of international contemporary art, Santhanaraj found in the folk and tribal arts a rich resource of imagery. He created his individual style exploring the complexities of pictorial space, reacting to the abstract shapes that he came up with from his vast reservoir of images. Line is most important and colour is rendered second as he burst out with figuration from this whole process of abstraction. After studying at Madras School of Art as a student, he worked in later years as a teacher at the School and became Principal of the School , retiring in 1990. It is only apt that today Santhanaraj is considered one of the pillars of the Madras Movement of Art along with his contemporaries such as Redappa Naidu, L. Munuswamy, P.V.
Janakiram and Anthony Doss, and also one who has significantly influenced a following generation of artists such as M. Senathipathy, K.M.Adimoolam, C.Dakshinamoorthy and M.X.Susairaj. One of his students recalls the conversation that Santhanaraj had with the art critic the late Josef James about great drawing. James enquired whether he was referring to the painter Redappa Naidu. To this Santhanaraj retorted angrily, “ I’m talking about kings and you bring in a rat!”. James burst out laughing. He was aware of the great love-hate relationship that existed between Santhanaraj and Redappa Naidu. They greatly admired each others’ work in private, but would give no quarter in public.
would engage himself with the process of painting and his occasional out burst of sheer energy vis-à-vis his work is legendary. His lines would flow, meander through pictorial space and the on-looker is left wondering at the sheer intensity and simplicity of the forms that emerge from this process of abstraction and figuration. Santhanaraj passed away in 2009 in Chennai. In his death, contemporary Indian art has lost a fine painter and a master draughtsman – indeed an irreplaceable loss.
“What comes to mind as one of Santhanaraj’s outstanding works is his work titled Prodigal Son”, says one of his students, an established artist of the Madras Movement. Santhanaraj’s students recall how passionately he
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