Author Archives: sajit

Love and Longing in 1225 Pages

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Vikram Chandra, the acclaimed author of Love and Longing in Bombay, Red Earth and Pouring Rain, and co-author with Suketu Mehta of the Bollywood film Mission Kashmir, has apparently been at the center of a vicious bidding war for publishing rights over his next novel, which according to his website is due to be released in the fall of 2006.

An untitled, 1,225-page epic set in India and billed as a combination of “The Godfather” and a Victorian Gothic novel will be released next year by HarperCollins after a bidding war involving six publishers. “It’s an extraordinarily compelling page turner that also happens to be a major work of literature,” HarperCollins publisher Jonathan Burnham told The Associated Press on Monday. A source close to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deal was worth $1 million.

(It could be closer to 1.3 million.)

This novel, according to the AP story has been in the works for the past seven years. The officialy yet-to-be-titled novel centers on organized crime in modern Bombay and takes on “religion, politics, money, corruption, idealism, family, loyalty, and betrayal. All things near and dear to Mumbai.

I know, I know, another book on the Mumbai underworld. But I must admit, I am secretly very excited for this to come out for two reasons: I think there is still a lot to be written about the underworld, and it has been too long since I have read some good South Asian fiction. Continue reading →

Dancing in the Streets

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The DC Arts Commission presents the Dance Festival DC 2005, which opens tomorrow with A Bhangra Dance Party: A childrenÂ’s dance workshop celebrating South India at the Sitar Center on 1700 Kalorama Ave, NW. The free festival will feature performances and interactive workshops showcasing a wide array of folk and traditional dance forms throughout the city.

And yes, I noticed. While I am of course excited about the inclusion of South Asian dance forms in this yearÂ’s festival, I wish the description of the events would match the titles. Bhangra is indigenous to North India and Pakistan, so the correct title, if the folk dance in question was Bhangra, would be a dance workshop celebrating North India/Pakistan or Dancing in Punjab even. Yeah, it might not be as catchy or succinct, but accuracy should perhaps be more important. I know Bhangra is better known than say Kuchipudi, but Kuchipudi is actually represented in the second workshop, Global Fusion: A Kaleidoscope of dance, music, and song from around the world. Maybe they meant a childrenÂ’s dance workshop celebrating South Asia? Alas, this is a minor quibble.

South Asia will also be represented by the Natyabhoomi School of Dance at a 2 pm performance on Saturday October 1, at the National Zoo.

View the entire schedule here, and watch a 30 second preview clip of the dance festival here. Continue reading →

British Asian Music Comes Again

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In continuing the mutiny’s hommage to the UK today, an in trying to steer clear of the all MIA all the time, I salute the Sheffield-based South Asian producers, the Kray Twinz, who were scheduled to make an appearance at the recent Music of Black Origin (MOBO) awards show to promote their latest single, What We Do.  Yes the two British sardars who (silently) co-produced Panjabi MC’s Mundian To Bach Ke and Backstabbers are at it again. This time however the silencers are off, and Sepia Friendly MC Twista along with grime specialist MC Lethal Bizzle and ragga rapper Gappy Ranks are dropping the lyrics on top of a tabla and kanye west influenced sped-up-vocal-hip hop beat.  The tune, What We Do, which is getting some heavy airplay in the UK, and is also being dropped in American clubs could mean the resurgence of desi production in mainstream hip-hop.  Or it could just mean the Kray Twinz are finally getting some recogntion for their production.  Regardless, What We Do is only the first single off of the Kray Twinz forthcoming debut album, Indian Summer and if the Twinz photogallery is any indication of who they will collaborate with on Summer, lookout for appearances from the Pharcyde, Truth Hurts, and DMX.

Check out the music website pitchforkmedia’s mention of What We Do here, and check out the video for the track, here.

Continue reading →

Big Desi TV Week

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This American television season-premiere week for some reason has been filled with an unprecedented number of desis. Not including the various desis already appearing as regulars on television series, the week began with Indira Varma on Rome, Toral on the apprentice, and relative newcomer Maulik Pancholy on the new Showtime series Weeds, which airs Monday’s at 10 pm.   Pancholy, who was previously seen in Hitch, and appeared as various generic brown characters in a handful of sitcoms (including Jack and Jill and the hilarious Tracey Takes On), scored a recurring guest role on Weeds, which stars Mary-Louise Parker and Kevin Nealon. A bit early to say, but could Pancholy be the next Kal Penn?


Incidentally, Pancholy is starring in the off-Broadway play, India-Awaiting, which opens for previews on October 15, 2005 at the Samuel Beckett Theater.

See Manish’s previous post on Pancholy here.

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Indira Varma Lands in Rome

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Even though many recent roles in Hollywood that are accessible to Desi actors are generally geared more towards terror or medicine, there are some actors of South Asian origin landing non-traditional and non-South Asian characters.  British Asian actress Indira Varma, of Kama Sutra and Bride and Prejudice fame is one of these actors as highlighted by the very prominent character she portrays in the new HBO series, Rome.  Varma, who played Naveen Andrew’s sister Kiran in Bride and Prejudice, takes on the role of Niobe,

“the wife that Vorenus has not seen for nearly eight years. A peasant princess from a large and influential Roman clan. Proud, beautiful, selfishly devoted to the interests of herself and her family.” If you don’t get HBO, click on the video button here to see a preview of Rome (again, featuring Varma)   If you do get HBO, the show airs Sunday evenings, from 9-10 in the evening.  More on Varma available over at IMDB.

Continue reading →

Sabbatical in South Asia

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If you hadn’t noticed, I have been on sabbatical from our North Dakota headquarters the past couple of months, and spending some time in the continent that some of the inspiration for our mutiny comes from. While I have been based in Sri Lanka since the end of May, this past week I had the opportunity to visit a far-off corner of the territory considered part of South Asia, the beautiful and oft-forgotten Maldives. I thought that in honor of the Maldivian Independence day (July 26), I would drop a little knowledge on one of the most beautiful places in South Asia.

First, it is unclear to me whether it is the Maldives or Maldives, although I believe since the country is a series of atolls (groups of islands), the “the” could potentially be appropriate. Since I was there for all of four days, I am not really an expert on the place and this is more of an observation post than anything.

The main thing that struck me, outside of the natural beauty, was that an Island-country, separated by lots of water from the rest of the sub-Continent, while keeping its own distinct culture, shared so much with the rest of the region. I guess it isn’t that far away–the flight to Male is only 85 minutes from Colombo.

pier-at-sunset.jpg One thing that was blatantly different was the English-speaking accent. We all know what I am talking about, that Indian “Hobson-Jobson,” Apu English, spoken in variation by those from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, NepalÂ…etc. It was nowhere to be heard by in the Maldives. Instead, most had an almost Australian intonation to their English, which I assume is from its proximity to that part of the world. Also, Maldivians don’t have that same interest in cricket–they seem to follow soccer more. Continue reading →

Johnny Kalsi @ Live8

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Even though I am in Sri Lanka away from all of the juicy news stories, I have been keenly made aware of the lack of multicultural representation in the originally planned musical lineup for the groundbreaking Live8 concert in support of debt relief for the various struggling economies of Africa. As of June 11, according to this protest letter/press release, only one confirmed act for any of the six international events was from a developing country. kalsi.jpg

Is it that uncalled for to ask that a couple of Asian or African bands be included in the line-up, it can’t be, can it?

Perhaps Live8 heard the complaints, because before I could get too worked up, I received a press release highlighting the involvement of pioneering Asian drummer, Johnny Kalsi, of the Dhol Foundation in the LIVE 8 Africa Calling concert with the legendary Peter Gabriel at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. The Africa Calling show, ran for more than ten hours and featured over 200 African artists as part of the worldwide LIVE 8 celebrations and afforded Kalsi the opportunity to pose with Angelina Jolie.

And if you don’t know about Kalsi, you should, because he has been on the scene for a long time. Kalsi is a former member of the legendary Asian Dub Foundation, and has, and continues to play an active part as member of the Afro Celt Sound System. His group, The Dhol foundation has released two full length albums Big Drum, Small World, and the newly released “DrumBelievable,” and Kalsi’s music has appeared on the official soundtracks for The Hulk and Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Continue reading →

New Entry into the Annals of Bad Writing on South Asia

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I think we have another entry into the annals of really bad writing on South Asia. This entry comes from perennial favorite, our friends over at Condé Nast Traveler.

Those of you who have been to the region understand my initial surprise when I received my June 2005 issue to see on the cover a piece entitled Driving India. I mean, there is a reason that Hertz and Avis car rental companies aren’t on every corner (I believe there are 16 Hertz locations for the entire country of over a billion people). Ever wonder why no ingenious Indian business person hadn’t created the rupee car rental company? Perhaps because it isn’t safe for those unfamiliar with the country/roads to drive there. Like any good mutineer, I immediately flip to the story entitled “Accelerating Mayhem,” and began reading to see how crazy the writer, Stephan Wilkinson must be to take on the Indian roads. Instead I was left wondering how his article got published.

Well as soon as I flipped to page 92, I began to see the signs, not so much that he is crazy, but for bad and clichéd writing on the region. What are these warning signs you ask? Let’s have a looksee:

  1. Required discussion of arranged marriage, check. I have no idea what this has to do with a travelogue or driving India, but yes, people in India have arranged marriages. It has been written about, TMBWITW Aishwarya has explained it, and some (gasp) even prefer it.

  2. The requisite mention of the “Indian head shake,” check. To be fair, Wilkinson describes it as “a vague cock of the head.” I think we should formally rename it here as the South Asian head shake because I know they do it in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka as well.

  3. Use of the word “the” before mentioning the state of Punjab, check. I never understood how this trend started, to say “the Punjab.” Writing, “From Delhi through the Punjab” is the equivalent of saying from Washington D.C. through the PennsylvaniaÂ… Continue reading →

The Forsaken Land Wins at Cannes

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vimukthi.jpg Director Vimukthi Jayasundara this past May became the first Sri Lankan to ever win the prestigious Camera dÂ’Or award for Best First Film, or any award for that matter, at the world reknowned Cannes Film Festival for his Sinhalese language film Sulanga Enu Pinisa (The Forsaken Land). Jaysundara, who was trained trained at the Institute of the Cinema and Television of Pune, in India, shares the award at Cannes with an American, Miranda July for her work, Me And You And Everyone We Know.

When asked to talk about the film, Jayasundara said,

“If The Forsaken Land has something to do with my country’s history, it is especially through its conveyance of the suspended state of being simultaneously without war and without peace – in between the two. I wanted to capture this strange atmosphere… For me, filmmaking is an ideal vehicle for expressing the mental stress people experience as a result of the emptiness and indecisiveness they feel in their lives. With the film, I wanted to examine emotional isolation in a world where war, peace and God have become abstract notions.”

Thankfully, getting to see this film will be made easier by his win at Cannes as his film has found distribution in the U.S and in his native Sri Lanka.

More on Jayasundara and his win here, here, here, and here. Continue reading →

iRiver South Asia Playlist

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One of my favorite things about visiting South Asia, in recent years anyway, is the unique (despite overly repetitive) playlist of MTV India. Sure, some really awful Bollywood songs are included, but where else will you hear a track with such poignant lyrics like “just chill chill, just chill” repeated over and over again, right? So after being in Sri Lanka for over a week, I have added some of the following to my iRiver music playlist. And if you want to have this argument, I like the iRiver better than the Ipod, but lets not make this post an iRiver vs. iPod one.

Bombay Rockers— Rock The Party. This Danish duo, includes one desi and one gora exactly and approximately. The gora sings in English, and the desi of course sings in Hindi. How novel of an idea? The song is catchy, but the track’s music is not original, the lyrics are not really intricate, and it seems like the Rocker’s are trying a little too hard to be Europe’s answer to the Neptunes (trucker hat, bandana around the wrist and all).

Daddy Yankee—Mirame. To be fair, I actually put this on my playlist before I left the states (along with Raje Shwari and Beenie man’s Below the Waist and her track Country Style with Petey Pablo), but this spindi (Spanish + Hindi) reggaeton track is hot, so I had to give it a plug.

Abhijeet Sawant—Mohabbatein Lutaaunga. India’s answer to Kelly Clarkson, Reueben Studdard, and Clay Aiken, all rolled into one. Sawant was the winner of “Indian Idol” and can really belt out a tune. It is a little corny, and in the video of this song he does some weird forehead pointing thing, but some of his tracks are catchy, this one in particular.

The Rishi Rich Project—Dil Mera.—This track is on the Kya Kool Hai Hum Soundtrack. I haven’t seen the movie, but the trailer makes it look hip, and having the Project participate, makes the film even hipper. I was actually pleasantly surprised to hear a lot of Raghav and Jay Sean tracks all over the radio here in Sri Lanka. Sonu Nigam, Jayesh Gandhi and Amrita Kak— Just Chill. I had to put it on, just to laugh. This is apparently the opening track for David Dhawan’s new movie Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, starring Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen. Remember to “just chill chill, just chill.”

Blaaze-–Bunty Aur Babli. This is the lead track for the movie of the same name starring Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee. The song is a rap song and the video has Amitabh lip-synching, quite ridiculously, along to the lyrics. Its unfortunate because the movie looks good. Continue reading →