13 minute read
HC4A Annual Gala Entertainment.........26,27
By Ash Rao
Hindu Charities for America, dba as Education and Careers for America (EC4A), a well-known reputed nonprofit organization headquartered in Austin Texas hosted an elite annual gala recently to raise funds and provide vocational scholarship and to cater to schooling needs of students who are homeless and live below the poverty line in Texas.
Driven by the motto “Serve Where You Live” – HC4A led by the founder Harish Kotecha has been tirelessly working over the past twelve years to help the underprivileged youth get access to education and equip them with tools and resources setting them up for long term success.
Recognizing his immense contribution to the society, Harish Kotecha was awarded the 2020 Sandra Neese Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY).
He also received the USA President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Our annual gala has a singular purpose - to raise funds and to provide scholarships for our deserving youth in our communities.
The pressures of the pandemic compounded by inflationary surge have made education even more unaffordable to those who need it most.
HC4A is constantly striving to change this by spreading awareness and bringing the community together to help others!
The gala held in October this year brought together Austin’s elite celebrities along with a large number of volunteers and donors who all came together with a shared spirit of giving and uplifting the underprivileged youth!
Icing on the cake was our chief guest and Bollywood star Padmini Kolhapure who came all the way from India to support this noble cause! Special thanks to Bharat Goradia Ji, one of the top artist promoters in the US who helped make this happen!
Celebrity speakers Dr Mamta Motwani and Paul O’Brien also strongly connected with the cause and applauded HC4A for their efforts to ‘Bridge Income Disparities through Education’! who is the founder of PS Productions, Mrs Asia Pacific International, was the show host who seamlessly coordinated this mega event by bringing together a mix of entertainment along with conveying a strong message of doing good and helping others!
From working with sponsors, decorators, fundraisers to managing the various programs during the event, Pragya led the evening with elegance keeping the audience engaged and driven towards the noble cause!
She was accompanied by co-emcee Lesley
Verghese who diligently anchored the program.
The event was a cultural extravaganza with abundance of local talent who took the stage to not only entertain the audience but also donate and support the mission of HC4A “Serve Where You Live”
Some of the highlights of 2022 Gala included –
Dancing with the Stars
This was the signature entertainment segment of the Gala where Austin local stars were paired with professional dance school choreographers for a performance on stage!
This year Gala included stars who were entrepreneurs, founders, directors and other eminent personalities in the tech world and they were ably supported and guided by professional choreographers from reputed dance schools – Soham Donwalkar from Agni Bollywood Dance, Prithi Subramanya from Monsoon Dance Bollywood/Yoga Studio and Sreelatha Madduri from Sai Natya Niketan School of Performing Arts .
The stars of this segment were Binny and Sujal Nanavati, Anita Shekhar and Ganesh Padmanabhan, Sreelatha Madduri.
Champions Ramp Walk
Conceptualized by Pragya Sen, this ramp walk and fashion show featured 10 champions who came from various fields of career to contribute towards raising funds and also entertained the audience by rocking the stage
with their designer sarees draped by fashion designer Yamini Shetty and jewelry sponsored by Mini Collections.
The champions chosen for the ramp walk were – Ash Rao, Malin Pathak, Shwetha Vasudeva, Arpita Gedam, Komal Khatri , Sripriya Santhanam, Charu Gupta, Meghana Malur, Pavana Subbarao and Shweta Padmanabha.
Event also included a live and silent auction which resulted in active bidding by the gala attendees who loved the exciting deals and also generously contributed to raising funds for scholarships!
Grand Indian buffet with mouth watering dishes and cocktails made the atmosphere festive as the attendees enjoyed the evening and stayed connected to the cause!
The evening concluded with the birthday celebrations of the chief guest Padmini Kolhapure as the core team of HC4A came on stage to thank her for gracing the occasion and also wholeheartedly acknowledged the efforts and contributions of all the sponsors, donors, volunteers, guests as well as attendees.
Overall, the gala was an evening to remember with the right blend of fun, entertainment and an unwavering goal of raising funds to provide scholarships to the underprivileged youth!
The core team behind this mega successful event who worked tirelessly to make this happen include Harish Kotecha (Founder), Pankil Matalia (President), Vaishali Tendolkar (VP), Pragya Sen (Gala Chair), Abhay Samant, Lakshmi B Kondubhatla, Vijay Mohan Jagannath Vedula, Shobhna Kotecha.
Thanks to the core team and extended team of volunteers, donors and sponsors, this year’s gala was a huge success resulting in contributions which helped provide more than 100 scholarships so far!
If you missed attending the gala, it is not too late to donate! Click the link below to support in any way you can!
http://www.ec4a.org/gala We appreciate your support!
Best Regards, HC4A Team
Austin South Asian Invites Contributions From Readers And Community
26 Austin South Asian | January 2023 Oscar 2023: Joyland Becomes First Pakistani Film To Be Shortlisted
Pakistani film Joyland may have faced trials and tribulations at home, but to the international community, it was a banger from the start, and now it has been shortlisted for the Oscars, the first ever movie to do so from the country.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday released its Oscar shortlists for the upcoming 95th edition in 10 categories.
Joyland is among 15 films that made the cut for the Best International Feature Film honour and will advance to the final stage of nominations. India’s Chhello Show (The Last Show) has also been shortlisted in the International Feature film category.
The critically-acclaimed film, Joyland, follows a patriarchal family craving for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for a trans woman. Sania Saeed along with Ali Junejo, Aleena Khan, Rasti Faruq, Salman Pirzada, and Sohail Samir, are part of the main cast. The movie is produced by Apoorva Guru Charan, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat and Lauren Mann. The films from 92 countries and regions were eligible for the Best International Feature Film category. India’s Chhello Show (Last Film Show) also made it to the list, according to the official website of the Academy. Also, the song Naatu Naatu from SS Rajamouli’s RRR has been shortlisted in the Best
10 Best South Indian Movies 2022 On OTT: RRR, KGF Chapter 2, Kantara, And More
It’s the year that the South Indian film industries left other film industries including Bollywood far behind.
While RRR and KGF 2 became the face of Indian cinema abroad and crossed over Rs 1,000 crore globally, Rishab Shetty’s Kantara and Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan-1 became domestic success stories.
The Kannada film industry witnessed a substantial boost with Kantara and KGF 2 and Tamil hits like Kamal Haasan’s Vikram became some of the highest-grossing blockbusters of the region.
These South Indian movies are now streaming on OTT platforms, such as Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus Hotstar, and more, in multiple languages, including Hindi.
Check out our list of the best South Indian movies in Hindi and other languages on OTT released in 2022:
RRR KGF Chapter 2 Kantara Ponniyin Selvan Vikram Sarkaru Vaari Paata Valimai Bheemla Nayak Karthikeya 2 Original Song Category. Two films in the Documentary Feature Film category have also been shortlisted from India - All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers.
Other titles in the Best International Feature Film category include Argentina’s Argentina, 1985, Austria’s Corsage, Belgium’s Close, Cambodia’s Return to Seoul, Denmark’s Holy Spider, France’s Saint Omer, Germany’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Ireland’s The Quiet Girl, Mexico’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Morocco’s The Blue Caftan, Poland’s EO, South Korea’s Decision to Leave and Sweden’s Cairo Conspiracy.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who came on board as an executive producer for Joyland, congratulated director Saim Sadiq for making it to the shortlist.
The official Instagram page of the movie shared a video of Malala Yousafzai expressing her happiness to Sadiq over a phone call.
“You guys have done a tremendous job. This is a great moment for all the artists and also for Pakistan. It’s an honour to be associated with this movie. This is amazing,” she said. Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, chair of the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee this year, shared the news on her Instagram Stories.
“Ten years after forming Pakistan’s Oscar committee, one of our own is on the shortlist! So much to celebrate,” she posted.
It is not the maiden international recognition for Joyland as it was also the first film from Pakistan to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival and win the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
Its release in Pakistan, however, was a tricky affair. After being cleared by the censor board, it was declared “uncertified” for containing “highly objectionable material” that goes against the country’s “social values and moral standards”.
After facing backlash from celebrities and the public, PM Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee to review the ban, which was later revoked. Punjab reinstated the ban in the province though the film was released everywhere else and elicited glowing reviews. (Courtesy: https://www.ndtv.com/)
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27 Austin South Asian | January 2023 ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Nears $900 Million Globally, Boosted By International Ticket Sales
Disney and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” snared an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in theaters, a 58% drop from its debut.
A decline in ticket sales is common for blockbuster titles, with most seeing a 50% to 70% slip. This metric, known as the second-week drop, is often used as an indicator of whether a film will have longevity at the box office or may fizzle quickly.
Films that fall less than 50% are expected to have solid, long runs, while those that top 70% are likely to see ticket sales continue to sharply decline as the movie fades from the public eye.
“The second-weekend drop for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ puts it right in the zone of where it needs to be as this performance will set the tone for the ongoing box office journey for the film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Box office analysts noted that cold winter weather and storms during the Christmas weekend likely led to slower ticket sales domestically.
Additionally, international ticket sales continue to thrive. The second-week drop for markets outside the U.S. and Canada was 43.9%. It was always expected that “The Way of Water” would generate at least 70% of its box office from international ticket sales and that is exactly where the split stands as of Sunday.
“The Way of Water” has generated $855 million in global ticket sales since its Dec. 16 release — $254 million domestically and $601 million from international markets. At present, it is the fifth-highestgrossing film released in 2022.
Paramount and Skydance’s “Top Gun: Maverick” is the current leader with $1.48 billion worldwide, followed by Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” ($1 billion), Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($952 million) and Universal and Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” ($939 million). “The Way of Water’s” haul stands at less than half of what Cameron said the film needs to generate in order to be considered profitable. Despite waning word of mouth, which has focused on stunning visuals felled by a lackluster plot, the “Avatar” sequel has room to run at the box office. The next major blockbuster — Disney and Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — doesn’t hit theaters until Feb. 17, leaving “The Way of Water” a long stretch at the box office without hefty competition.
“January is absent much direct competition against the film,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “That’s when the Avatar sequel could make up for any perceived lost ground toward reaching long-term expectations, if it’s going to.”
“We live in a world where the craving for instant gratification leads to early results being used as the final barometer of a film’s success,” he said. “Realistically, sometimes that makes sense, but sometimes it doesn’t. This is one of the latter situations.” (Courtesy: https:// www.cnbc.com/)
chemistry in previous song “Besharam Rang” and the teaser trailer for the film, it’s clear they’re both drawn to one another. Whether or not this is a ploy on either one of their parts is yet to be unveiled. Pathaan is teeing itself up as the beginning of a new chapter for Khan who has two further movies dropping next year. Also set to land next year is Jawan and a further project, which recently wrapped, titled Dunki. Given that Khan recently told of his commitment to dedicate the next ten years to “over-the-top action films,” it’s likely both of these subsequent projects will see him cement his claim over the action genre in the coming months. Pathaan hits theaters on January 25. (Courtesy: https://collider. com/)
Shah Rukh Khan Is a Masterful Maverick In Electric New ‘Pathaan’ Video
Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan has made his intentions to return to the silver screen with a bang very clear. His upcoming action epic Pathaan, which is the first true action film to join the actor’s portfolio of over 100 films, has sparked a reel of excitement among his fans around the world. The film is slated to see Khan, who is widely known for being the King of Romance, take on the role of an undercover spy with a legacy that leaves his enemies in disarray. Ahead of Pathaan’s release, Yash Raj Films unveiled a fresh music video alongside the song “Jhoome Jo Pathaan,” which translates to “When Pathaan Gets Into The Groove,” and is set to feature in the action extravaganza. The new track features the vocals of industry giants Arijit Singh, Sukriti Kakar and Vishal and Sheykhar and lyrically teases an insight into Khan’s titular character. From the moment promotional material for the film has surfaced it’s been clear that Khan’s Pathaan is far from a clean-cut agent. Instead, he has almost exclusively been represented as a rough-around-theedges, hyper-intelligent spy that drips charisma from his pores. Alluding to the influence Pathaan has over people, the translated lyrics tease how he “steals all hearts” and “even enemies turn to me for an embrace.” In other words, Pathaan is clearly very used to making people dance to the beat of his drum, which is likely what makes him so excellent at his job. Despite a clear understanding of people - and how to manipulate them - there is also Appearing heavily alongside him is his co-star and apparent on-screen flame Deepika Padukone. As the pair effortlessly groove to the melody there is a dangling question over whether Padukone’s character was also one of Pathaan’s enemies and now his potential lover. Little is known about the actress’ onscreen counterpart but having been given glimpses of the pair’s firey
a subtle nod to his fierce loyalty in the lyric, “the promises he makes, he’ll stand by forever.”
From a visual standpoint, the video boasts one of the film’s many exotic backdrops whilst also giving audiences a chance to see Khan’s rugged persona in full form with flowing locks, stubble, and jewelry to tie the bad-boy look together.
