Author Archives: Phillygrrl

Khan Takes on Manhattan

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Dear Mutineers,

There are exciting happenings going on in the bunker nowadays for those interested in all news Bollywood and Hollywood. Taz just came back from Sundance (where she met Aamir Khan and Sendhil Ramamurthy) and today Cicatrix and I will be around in NYC, covering the My Name is Khan press conference featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Karan Johar. If you’ll remember, we talked about Khan’s new movie back in August, where we found out he was going to meet President Obama (played by Christopher Duncan). And of course there was that whole Newark airport incident (which some of you suspected was a publicity stunt done to promote the movie, much like his joining Twitter). Continue reading →

Zardari Tells Crowd to Shaddup

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There’s an amusing YouTube video going ’round the Interwebz that I thought you mutineers might enjoy. It shows the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari addressing a crowd of supporters. In the middle of a speech about democracy he interrupts himself to shout “Shaddup” to the noisy crowd. As the blog CHUP put it, “maybe the President should consider being a little nicer to people, especially those who show up at his rallies.” Hmm, somebody’s momma didn’t teach him manners. My little cousins (who aren’t allowed to say the word) would be appalled. Or perhaps Zardari is just plain sick in the head? Either way, the clip makes for a good remix, don’t you think?

(h/t Anil) Continue reading →

Tea with Chachaji

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Himanshu from the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) passed on information about an event I thought mutineers around NYC and Stanford would find interesting. Tea with Chachaji is an off-Broadway family musical based on the the book “Chachaji’s Cup” by Uma Krishnaswami and directed and choreographed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. It tells the story of a boy, his great-uncle and a teacup. Produced through a partnership between IAAC and Making Books Sing, the musical stars Raja Burrows as Neel, a young boy whose great-uncle, played by Tony Mirrcandani, teaches him valuable lessons about life through stories about a teacup brought over from India. Continue reading →

Could Scott Brown be any Browner?

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Did anyone catch the speech of Massachusetts’ new Senator-elect, Republican Scott Brown last night? I just saw the video of his speech and I think I was as shocked as anyone when he veered off-script to pimp out, I mean talk about his two daughters. But it did sound awfully familiar. Hmm, could Brown be ‘browner’ than we all thought? Who among us hasn’t heard a desi parent laud the virtues of their single child on the marriage market?

Brown, during his jubilant acceptance speech on Tuesday night, did the right thing and paused to acknowledge his family.

“As always, I rely on Gail’s love and support, and that of our two lovely daughters. So I want to thank Ayla and Arianna for their help as well,” Brown said, turning to his wife, TV reporter Gail Huff, and their daughters, Ayla, 21 – a one-time “American Idol” finalist – and Arianna, 19.

But then Brown went horribly wrong, at least in the Dad department – adding that his daughters were both “available.”

“Just in case anyone who’s watching throughout the country, yes they’re both available,” Brown shouted. [Link.]

Continue reading →

Peter Jackson and Patrick Christopher Sing ‘Indian Girl’

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Warning: Video = NSFW unless your boss is the kind of person who is okay with explicit lyrics…

Ennis tipped me off to ‘Indian Girl,’ a song by 24-year old Canadian rapper Peter Jackson (no, not the LOTR guy) featuring Patrick Christopher. From what I recall of my childhood trips to Canada, desis had all but taken over certain parts of the communities I visited. When we strolled down the streets of Toronto, I felt like I was more in Pakistan than Canada. So it’s hardly a surprise that a song like this would emerge from Canada. Continue reading →

Daisy Rockwell at Twelve Gates Art Gallery

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Twelve gates2.jpg This past summer, in the hopes of finding something of interest to you mutineers, I Googled a random bunch of terms and stumbled upon Twelve Gates Art Gallery, Philadelphia’s first South Asian art gallery. The gallery, which opened in May, features the work of a variety of contemporary South Asian artists. In addition to exhibiting collections, Twelve Gates also hosts film screenings, poetry readings and musical events. (So heads up, Philly mutineers. You are now in ‘the know.’ Thank me later.)

Before hitting up their latest exhibition, I caught up with Aisha Zia Khan, herself a sculptor who owns the gallery together with her partner and husband Atif Sheikh, to ask her about the gallery. Khan moved from Pakistan nine years ago and immediately immersed herself into the art scene. Continue reading →

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Everybody Loves @iamsrk

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Ladies and gentlemen, something truly significant happened on the second of January. (No, I’m not referring to your hangover, although doubtless that was epic as well.) On January 2, Shah Rukh Khan joined Twitter. Yes, that’s right. Time for all of you Twitter-haters to finally perk up and pay attention. Shah Rukh Khan, that’s King Khan to you, joins Mallika Sherawat, Priyanka Chopra, Dino Morea and other Bollywood stars who use the social media site to connect directly with fans throughout the world. As a Twitter addict and Bollywood fan, I admit I’m a little excited about this development. When I first heard (through Twitter of course) that SRK had joined Twitter, he had a mere 1200+ followers. Right now he has 24,947 followers, a number that will no doubt double in the next few days, perhaps even hours. Continue reading →

UPDATED: Q&A with Hassan Ali Malik

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UPDATE: An earlier post incorrectly implied that Hassan is still a member of POPO. The post has been revised to correct that.

Over the last few months, half a dozen people have told me that I had to check out POPO, a band based in Philadelphia and composed of the three Malik brothers: Zeb, Shoaib and Hassan (who has since left the band). These guys have been around the music scene for a while, their sound has been called “post-hip-hop,” a fusion of punk, hip-hop and world music. In 2007, they opened for Nine Inch Nails and this past year, they signed with Mad Decent records, the record label created by Diplo (who once collaborated with and dated M.I.A.) According to the story, Diplo saw POPO play at a club in Atlanta and was so excited by their music that he detonated a firecracker onstage and was thrown out by the management. I caught up with 24-year old Hassan Ali Malik, POPO’S former drummer and sometimes-vocalist to ask him a little about his time with the band.

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Is the band called “The PoPo” or “POPO”? The Internet has a lot of variations….

It went from “The popo’s” to “The PoPo” to “POPO.” Next will maybe be just “PO.” Or “poo poo.”

When did POPO begin?

The popos ( now “POPO”) was started by Jahan Zeb and Mike Collins in the late nineties. They played reggae.

How was the name POPO chosen?

POPO? I didn’t, but it stuck ’cause we liked the way it sounded phonetically. Doesn’t really have anything to do with the police or anything… Continue reading →

Bollywood Breakdown

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Merry Christmas readers! Err sorry, Ennis. Happy Holidays lovely readers! I hope you were able to enjoy this break with friends and family. As for myself, I’m still not done making lists. No, not Christmas presents. That headache is over and I have the paper cuts to prove it. I’m referring to the lists I made this past semester – lists of books, movies, and TV shows I intended to catch up on during December/January. One of those is a list of Bollywood movies I’ve been hoping to watch in the next few weeks. (See Boston mutineers, I promised you a Bollywood post. Here it is.) I came up with a rough compilation of movies I hope to see these next few weeks and I’m selfishly hoping you can help me hone it. Because if you’re going to spend three hours watching a movie, it had better be worth it!

  • 3 Idiots was released Christmas Day, and from what I can tell via reactions on Twitter, it’s already got fans. Based on the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat and directed by Raju Hiran, the movie stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi as three engineering students at one of Indian’s top colleges. Plot-wise, there are the usual college-boy hijinks and romances. (By the way, the film will be available three months from now on YouTube, ostensibly to discourage piracy.) There’s no particular reason I want to watch this film. I’m not a huge Bhagat fan, but I figure I can’t go wrong with any movie Aamir Khan chooses to act in…

    Continue reading →

City of Brotherly Love Meetup – December 27

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Oh Philadelphia, did you think we could forget you? This year mutineers have partied in Boston and LA, but now we’re bringing you a meetup in the City of Brother Love itself. Amardeep and I decided to mark the release from our respective academic bastions with a meetup with you, our lovely Philadelphia-area readers.

Guess what that means? It means you Jersey, Delaware, New York and Philly readers need to ditch the post- apocalypse that is your holiday celebration and come hang out with us. So after you’ve demolished your mom’s figgy pudding and russ malai and returned that ugly sweater your auntie gave you, head down to Philadelphia’s Chinatown section and join us at Penang, for some delicious Malyasian Indian cuisine.

Here’s what we can’t promise: Bill Cosby/cheesesteaks/an Eagles win.

Here’s what we can promise: scintillating conversation/beautiful people/good food.

Place: Penang, 117 N. 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA 1910

Time: 7:00 PM

Dress: Casual

Reservations: We need an accurate headcount to reserve a table. If you’re coming, please email Amardeep at amardeep [at] sepiamutiny.com.

Hope to see some of you there!

[Photo: GPTMC] Continue reading →