Category Archives: Arts and Entertainment

Indian guys with cameras (updated)

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Our tipline has been buzzing (thanks “mg” and others) with news that Rakesh Sharma, director of the award winning “Final Solution” about the Gujarat riots, is suing the City of New York, and that the NYCLU’s got his back. Here is why:

Rakesh Sharma was filming cars emerge from under Manhattan’s Metlife building in 2005 when he was stopped, questioned, allegedly shoved, and then detained by the NYPD for shooting footage of the building. The cops were suspicious of Sharma’s motives but, after four hours, the director was released and told that he would need a permit if he wanted to do any further shooting.

When Sharma applied for a permit, however, his application was denied because he lacked the proper insurance. Now, represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the director (who has won multiple awards for his documentaries) has filed suit against the city’s “police restrictions on taking pictures in public.” Among those named in the suit are the city itself and the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting. [Link]

Why was Sharma filming cars? Well it will make sense when you know what kind of cars he was filming:

Rakesh Sharma was shooting footage for a film on New York taxi drivers in May 2005 when officers stopped him…

“It’s a sad day when the police think they can detain and mistreat someone simply for making a film on a public street in New York City,” Mr Sharma said on Tuesday.

“I co-operated with them and answered all their questions, but they treated me like a criminal. It was wrong, and I was scared and humiliated,” he said. [Link]

A blogger at Mediabistro quips:

Honestly, if the cops in New York start arresting Indian guys with cameras, they’re going to have to shut down all of Sixth Avenue. We’re officially scared.

I’m hoping that DNSI’s Valarie Kaur might leave a comment and shed some light on this for us. She has recently been filming in New York City as well. I wonder if she was similarly hassled.

Update: Both Rakesh Sharma and Valarie Kaur were kind enough to respond to this post.

You can sign the petition to protest his arrest here. Continue reading →

MTV’s Aftershock (updated)

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MTV has been showcasing the efforts of young Pakistani-Americans involved in Earthquake relief on many of its cable channels. As an example, you can head over to MTV Overdrive. Click on “Play Now” and then go to the “News” menu. One of the links in the menu is titled “Young People Pitch in for Pakistan.” This leads to a series of short news clips with enough music and fast camera work to hold the attention of young desis long enough to inspire them. It’s worth it just to hear aging hipster John Norris say the word “desis.” I’m digging the girl’s “I Love Nerds” shirt. The group featured in the news clips is Developments in Literacy (DIL):

The Developments in Literacy organization (DIL) was launched in February 1997 in Southern California. Its main purpose is to work for the eradication of illiteracy, in the remote and neglected areas of Pakistan, by establishing primary and secondary level non-formal schools for underprivileged children.

DIL, a nonprofit, voluntary organization has succeeded, in a period of five years, at establishing 200 schools in collaboration with various NGO’s…

In addition, a press release from MTV announces that their dreamy young newsman Gideon Yago, will be reporting from Pakistan all this week, culminating in a video diary titled, “Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan.” Presumably the clips will be uploaded onto MTV’s website throughout the week. I will try an update this post if/as I discover those links.

Starting today [Monday], MTV News will turn over a week of its programming – on all platforms – to report on the aftermath of the October earthquake that rocked northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir, leaving 87,000 dead and 3.5million homeless. MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago will report on what’s being done to aid and rebuild after the disaster – from Pakistani-American marines assigned to humanitarian relief to a local movie theater turned rehab center for women. Yago’s reports will air on MTV, MTV2, mtvU and MTV Overdrive and will culminate in the documentary “Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan,” premiering Friday at 7:30p.m. [Link]

I’m actually looking forward to seeing it. I think the interaction between young Pakistani-American Marines and the local population could make for some powerful television.

Update: The Vice President of MTV news, Ocean MacAdams, has provided us with direct links

The Diary Of Gideon In Pakistan (FULL SHOW plus exclusives)

Gideon In Pakistan: Exclusive Clips

Aftershock: South Asian Earthquake (Comp of news briefs)

Young People Pitch In For Pakistan (Desi packages)

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“…because they are needed”

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On Monday, India’s President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam presided over the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards:

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards have been instituted to recognize and reward the meritorious contributions made by NRIs [Non-Resident Indians] and PIOs [Persons of Indian Origin] to further India’s interests and causes. [Link]

Among the 15 recipients was Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria. What interested me however was Kalam’s speech at the awards, and the types of things that he hoped NRIs and PIOs could accomplish for India, or to bring pride to Indians. Here are some choice words, but the whole speech was quite good:

Today, the 9th day of January, marks the return of Gandhiji from South Africa to India 91 years ago. His work in South Africa and reasons of his return are well known. The point I would like to make is that when Gandhiji returned, he travelled from one colony to another of an Empire on whose territory; the sun would never set at that time. It would not be an exaggeration, if I say that today the sun truly cannot set on the empire of the Indian Mind. Some children of Mother India are always working wherever the sun is shining on this planet be it Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Americas and, indeed, on the icy reaches of Antarctica. Twenty million children of India live in various parts of the planet and every year it is increasing, because they are needed…

People of Indian Origin worldwide represent four waves of migration in the past. The first, and probably the longest wave, was of Indians going forth in search of knowledge and opportunity as travellers, as teachers and as traders. Indians went to China and around Indo-China. The second wave was one of enforced migration of indentured labour, a legacy of colonialism. Indians were taken to Africa, West Indies and England. The third wave was a product of partition. The fourth and the most recent wave has been that of Indians empowered with skill and knowledge seeking various type of opportunities and challenges. The destination is the United States, Canada and English speaking European countries and West Asia. Will there be a fifth wave? In the fifth wave, towards the end of 21st century, Indians may participate in the planetary civilization that may result [in] many resourceful Indians [inhabiting] Mars and entering the space industrial establishment on Moon…

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The art of the book review

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Superstar desi lawyer Neal Katyal, who will later this year be representing Osama Bin Laden’s former driver in a Supreme Court case, had a book review in yesterday’s Washington Post. The book he was reviewing was a new one by John Yoo titled, The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs After 9/11. Katyal cleverly uses his book review to slam Yoo and his conservative policies, while also adding to the very relevant debate about what limits should be imposed on the powers of the Executive.

In particular, the book argues that the Constitution gives the president a much larger role in foreign affairs and military operations than the other two branches of the federal government, that the president does not need a congressional declaration of war before placing troops on the ground and that treaties ratified by the Senate have no legal impact unless Congress explicitly passes laws saying that they do.

In advancing these claims, the book is burdened by its strange attempt to mix constitutional claims grounded in the Founders’ intent in 1787 with the practicalities of living in an age of terrorism. Either one can take the position of such conservative icons as Robert Bork and Justice Antonin Scalia — that the original intentions of the Constitution’s authors bind us today and changes can only come through amendment — or hold the view of more liberal figures such as Justice Stephen Breyer that practical, functional considerations create a living Constitution that adapts as times change. Both are perfectly plausible. What isn’t credible is a theory that cherry-picks from the two to advance a particular thesis. And that’s exactly what Yoo does at times.

…In the end, the most glaring failure of the book is its one-sided attack on the courts and Congress, with no real attention paid to the failures of the executive branch. The underlying message is that the executive doesn’t need checks on its activities, but that the other branches consistently do. Yet presidents of both parties have made tremendous mistakes, and recent events have shown that claims of unchecked power can lead to massive abuse. Yoo even unwittingly refers to at least one recent miscalculation, in words that already date the book, by stating that Iraq was “potentially armed with weapons of mass destruction.”

It seems very likely that this book review also gives us a small preview of what some of Katyal’s arguments in front of the Supreme Court may be in Hamdan v Rumsfeld. I am just counting the weeks until Nina Totenberg wakes me with details of Katyal’s fight in front of the Roberts court.

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Tripped up by tingo

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At some point after hearing the fifth K3G remix at the Net cafe in Fez and watching a Moroccan boy who knew and sang all the words to ‘Shava Shava’ doing chair-bhangra (it’s just like car-bhangra, only the entire cafe doesn’t tilt), I became obsessed with the idea of watching Bollywood in Morocco.

I had already selected my target, the Empire Ciné, plastered with posters for Oceans Twelve, Crazy Kung-Fu (which you may know as Kung-Fu Hustle) and several Bollyflicks all starring Priyanka Chopra. Waqt looked like the highest Priyanka I.N.Q. (item number quotient), and so with high standards of scientific precision it was duly chosen.

I had stared so long at the Bollyposters, the only ones not translated in French, and taken so many photos that the local lafange (layabouts) out front craned their heads and stared anew at the posters they ignored every day.

My atrocious and limited French interposed itself between me and my Priyanka fixation like an ill-tempered gendarme with little bits of toilet paper stanching a bad shave. ‘Waqt.’ I said, pointing at the movie poster and tapping my wrist. ‘Quoi heure?’ The man behind the grill patiently wrote ‘8.30’ for me and repeated it in French. ‘Waqt, oui?’ Same answer.

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Ikdum fit!

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In each of these locations, there was a weird juxtaposition of things sited. In the first and second locations, a gym was right along side some form of educational institute, in the third the municipal gym was between a gurudwara on the left and a mandir on the right. Incidentally, the first and third places were closed (I tried to join while I was here … start the new year right and work off all the gulab jamun I’ve been eating). The third place, the municipal gym, saw all of its equipment break from overuse so the city just closed it down. It was a shame, but this is the risk inherent in overly subsidizing a service.

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Looking for permission to film in the Muslim world

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Why Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World filmed in India:

Some of the Arab press, Mr. Brooks said, questioned his decision to set the film in India and Pakistan rather than an Arab country. “I said, ‘Well, if you can get me permission to shoot in Saudi Arabia, let me know,’ ” he said. “Because it was not happening when I was making calls. That was shut down within five minutes, with ‘What, are you insane?’ They’re not going to let a Jewish man, much less a filmmaker, in there. That’s just not going to happen. But I wanted the conflict between the two countries. I knew in writing this that I wanted to take two existing powers that are always suspicious of each other, and that was the one place you could do that. The idea was always that I go to do a peace mission, and I almost start World War III.”

Dude, Johnny Lever is still very much around, on film and on stage:

Comedy in the Muslim world (Arab or otherwise) can indeed be hard to find. “Today, stand-up comedians just don’t really exist,” Mr. Usman said. “But they did once. I have albums from the 70’s. The big, towering guy from Pakistan is called Moin Akhtar, and another guy, who was his contemporary, was Umar Sharif. And there was a guy in India who was really famous, who used the name Johnny Lever. They basically did one-man shows, with a lot of improv and sketch comedy, but with a small portion of what we would call stand-up.”

I dunno, the previews seemed similarly lame to me:

Once Mr. Brooks chose India as his setting, he visited the minister of information. “He told me that Steven Spielberg had wanted to shoot ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ there, and they wouldn’t allow it, because they didn’t like the scene where they ate monkey brains,” Mr. Brooks said. “I said, ‘I don’t do that,’ and I think they were really appreciative that I didn’t have the whole scene where the cow stops traffic. They’ve seen that so much, and they hate it…” “I get nervous when I hear people are doing something about India, because usually it’s done with so little intelligence,” Ms. Sheth said.

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Don’t drink the water

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Yesterday Google announced the launch of yet another service: All hail the Google Video (Store). The Los Angeles Times Reports:

Search giant Google Inc. put its own twist on the budding online video market Friday, unveiling an Internet bazaar that allows movie studios, TV networks and any amateur with a camera to sell their wares.

The Google Video Store, launching with 5,000 titles, is the first major challenge to the early lead that Apple Computer Inc. has in the emerging market for online video. It also could help realize the dreams of futurists who have long envisioned the Internet as a creative commons that upends the business models of traditional media.

Independent filmmakers, for instance, can try to bypass Hollywood; dog trainers and yoga instructors can offer how-to videos; and someone who captures a plane crash or other major news event on video can skip the traditional media — all in favor of selling their work as a digital download.

“Now any guy with a camera who believes in what they’re doing can compete with the Sonys and Warner Bros. of the world,” said director Ben Rekhi, who said he turned down a $125,000 distribution deal to instead sell his film “Waterborne” through Google for $4.99 a download.

Rekhi tipped us off about this article in the LA Times, and the fact that his film “Waterborne” was the first independent film to premiere thru Google Video, because of two of the co-stars in his film: Shabana Azmi and Ajay Naidu.

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Sing-sing

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On the ferry from Spain to Morocco, I had my ear bent for several hours by a friendly Moroccan bloke, as they tend to be. It was either that, or coming out of stealth mode and joining the Americans listening to an Aussie English teacher yap nonstop for four hours. The job selects for strong lungs. Between broken English, a smattering of French and German, and long phrases in Mime, the fellow now residing in Germany kept the ferry crossing lively.

‘You… sing?’ he ventured cautiously.

‘Uh… not really,’ I replied.

‘I two Indian friend. They sing,’ he said.

‘Qawwali?’ I asked. The universal gesture of ‘WTF are you talking about?,’ palms upturned. ‘North Indian, they sing,’ he told me.

Why yes, I suppose we do.

‘Prime minister sing. First time!’ he said. Ahhh… got it. Singh. Turban, not pipes. His ululatory fixation now made a lot more sense.

He proceeded to tell me about his friends in Germany. ‘Sing crazy for whiskey!’ Yeah, yeah, Ustad Walker and his famous school of blended malt scotch. He told me with no small admiration that he’d seen a grown man down a full liter of whiskey and show up the next morning with no ill effect. He said that Germany is recruiting Indians because they are the computer caste.

We compared the etymologies of words from Arabic and Farsi which show up in Turkish and Hindu/Urdu, such as kitap (book), maidaan (plaza) and duniya (world). He said he wasn’t religious, ‘religion politics, only makes trouble,’ but was visiting his family for Eid-ul-Adha. He mimed ram horns, slitting the beast’s throat, and asked how you translate Lucifere from French.

The rest of the encounter got weird.

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Lady in Red

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I am in India right now, “helping” my baby sister with her preparations for her impending nuptuals. This is what a bridal show looks like, Indian style :

Does this lehnga make my hips look large?

[Excuse the photoblogging – it’s hard to get the peace and quiet necessary to string two words together around here and the DSL is unreliable to boot.]

UPDATE: The photo above was taken at Frontier (sic) Bazar in Karol Bagh, Delhi. My sister bought none of the lehngas above, they were being shown to somebody else (and most Sikh weddings are done in Salvaar Kameez suits, which is what she bought). She did, however, buy her suit material at Frontier, which she heartily endorses, after having done the tour of most of the South-Ex boutiques (selection is small, and unless you want what is in fashion at that moment you’re out of luck).

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