Category Archives: Arts and Entertainment

Jucier Matters

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I have grown tired of blogging about right wing Hindu fanatics and responding to ignorant comments so I am going to come back to some Jucier issues. Like Daisy Dukes for example. Sonia Kaur tips us off to the fact that the director of the upcoming Dukes of Hazard movie starring Jessica Simpson, will be one Jay Chandrasekhar who is also credited with the script.

In other movie news, tipster Deepa Menon sends us a San Francisco Chronicle article about Ash filming in San Francisco. I am breaking my self-imposed ban on writing anything about Ash because my only alternative is to write about Modi.

Crews transformed a historic section of downtown Oakland into a tableau of bright lights and cameras this weekend as Indian super star Aishwarya Rai, the queen of Bollywood, filmed her latest American movie, “The Mistress of Spices,” about an Oakland shop owner trained in the art of healing with spices.

On Sunday, Old Oakland became a veritable outdoor set — complete with adoring fans clamoring for autographs — as the Legogo bargain store at 8th and Washington streets was dressed up as the lead character’s spice shop and an adjacent postal store did its duty as a taqueria. A parked taco truck played itself.

Some passers-by were enamored of the 31-year-old Rai, who was crowned Miss World in 1994 and whom actress Julia Roberts — with whom Rai is compared in India — proclaimed “the most beautiful woman in the world.”

All you Gurinder Chadha fans can rest assured that a very handsome white gentleman will be playing opposite Rai. Oh come on. Actor Dylan McDermott is such a hottie. But the real question is, “will they kiss on screen?” I so care. NOT. Now I will reinstate my ban on blogging about Rai. The only thing that will get me to break my pledge is if a story comes out that says her passport has an “E” on it. Continue reading →

Kollektiv Comes to DC

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For those of us often feeling a little jealous b/c our cities, specifically every city except New York and LA, don’t get cool desi talent to come and perform can find salvation now that some of my favorite dj’s spinning desi influenced drum-and-bass, breaks, and electronica, are bringing their New York night to DC’s Bossa Lounge (Adams Morgan) this Friday. Kollektiv DC, headlined by Karsh Kale (Six Degrees), Zakhm (Mutiny), dk/bollygirl (avaaz), dimmsummer (ethnotechno.com), and DC’s own Vishal Kanwar on the paint and canvas, is one night not to be missed. This also happens to be taking place on one of the best Desi weekends in DC, Bhangra Blowout weekend, so you have no excuse not to be there, I will be. The party starts at 10. Continue reading →

Aish to haters, “SUCK IT!”

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yeah i said suck it.jpgOkay, so she never said that. But as her self-appointed advocate, I’m going to brazenly make that statement on her behalf. Oh, whatever. Just read it.

She’s very happy and flattered by the attention she’s getting in the US for Bride, especially after the bashing the film and Ash got back home. “But we all know that was premeditated. Now, after seeing the response in the US, I feel like I’m back to where I was when I was starting out as Miss World ten years ago — the same attention and the unbiased critical overview. It feels wonderful and comforting.
“…The US has been wonderful. When I landed there for the promotion of Bride, everything happened so quickly! I was on David Letterman’s show, and then in Chicago recording for Oprah Winfrey.
“They wrote about my clothes and appearance, but not about my giggling which a part of the Indian press seems to be obsessed with. Honestly, this is how I’ve been all along!In fact, (photographer) Gautam Rajdhyaksha wrote about my giggling habit in his book several years ago. So it isn’t an overnight affectation which I’ve acquired as part of my image. Please! Grant me more substance than that!”
Substance is what Ash is looking for in her roles as actress and brand ambassador. Does it feel good to be carrying Bollywood to the West? “It sure does! But wasn’t I doing that all along, even when I was a model and Miss World?”

Of course you were, Aishu. Do your thang, girrrl, do your thang. Continue reading →

“Day to Day” profiles missing in action M.I.A.

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NPR’s excellent news magazine “Day to Day,” leads today’s broadcast with a comprehensive audio profile of M.I.A.:

…music critic Christian Bordal relates the inspirational story of M.I.A — a young hip-hop artist who grew up in Sri Lanka and South London. Her music bridges the gap between her war-torn past and her urban present…M.I.A says she had an idyllic childhood until the civil war intervened — her father joined the Tamil fighters, and she and the rest of her family relocated to Britain, settling in a housing project in the south end of London. She blossomed in art school as a teen, and developed her own unique style of music — a "do-it-yourself" aesthetic inspired by the British club scene, with stripped-down bass and drum rhythms driving catchy melodies. [NPR]

Meanwhile, BoingBoing reports that her father’s ties to the ’Tigers may have caused her to miss a scheduled appearance in Seattle:

…reader Pablos says: "M.I.A. was scheduled to perform at Chop Suey in Seattle tonight. Apparently she is having some kind of Visa trouble and her show has been cancelled." Some speculate the incident may relate to her father’s affiliation with a Sri Lankan rebel group designated as a terrorist organization by the US. No news on her site or newsfeeds yet, but she’s also scheduled to play at SXSW this week. [BoingBoing]

Previous posts: M.I.A. signs with Interscope, M.I.A.: step up to blow up, Steel balls and pots, M.I.A. looked directly into my eyes!, and Military chic

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Diamond shackle for the nose

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AFP photographer Indranil Mukherjee brings us this gem from a fashion preview in Bombay:

How does one manage to consume food with that thing in the way? Does it come with an assistant who will hold it up while you stuff your eathole? It probably doesn’t matter — buying such a pricey item will leave its slow-witted buyer with little money left to spend on food. This means that they will starve to death, which is ultimately good for the species, because it prevents their moronified genes from passing on.

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Casting couch caught on tape

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Like a pair of star-crossed lovers, the words “Bollywood” and “sex scandal” just can’t keep their hands from going down each other’s pants (or something like that). The latest hullabaloo erupted after the broadcast of famous villain actor Shakti Kapoor purportedly soliciting sex from a reporter posing as an aspiring actress:

A video clip, which the station said was taken earlier this year, purportedly shows Kapoor in a Bombay hotel room telling the undercover reporter, “I want to make love to you … and if you want to come in this line (of business), you have to do what I am telling (you) to do.” Kapoor is heard on the 40-minute recording telling the woman that he will put her through acting and dance classes before introducing her to top directors. He also names three Indian actresses who allegedly had sex with top producers and directors in exchange for roles. [AP/Yahoo!]

Kapoor denies any wrongdoing, claims it’s a frame-up, and accuses the broadcaster of altering the clip. See, when he said “I want to make love to you,” the unedited version actually had him saying, “I want to make love to you, mom.” So really, there’s nothing tawdry about what he said. Oh, wait…

AP/Yahoo!: Sex scandal embroils Bollywood

Update: Saurav points us to a download site that has a copy of the video (5.1 MB).

Update 2: DesiDancer directs us to a pair of Sify articles (1, 2) that name names. Kapoor’s spin is almost as hackneyed as his pick-up lines:

Kapoor found himself deeper in trouble because he named leading film personalities to have used the casting couch to enter the film industry. “With folded hands I have apologised to the entire film industry, including Subhash Ghai, Preity Zinta, Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukerji, who are close to me,” he said. “I had no intention to hurt them. The whole thing was doctored and tampered and, in case they still feel hurt, I am ready to apologise again.”…“I have been framed so badly that I could suffer a heart attack,” he said. “They could have pushed me to the brink of committing suicide.”…“I suspect I have been framed by a political party. I had supported the Congress and my opposing rivals would have found this the right opportunity to settle scores for having backed the party. The said channel (India TV) which has pulled through this ’expose’ is known to have the backing of the rival party. Hence, I strongly suspect that the whole thing had been framed,” he said. [Sify]

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And you can’t beat that with a bat

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Babu, a new restaurant in Greenwich Village which serves food from Calcutta, apparently made up its menu according to Black Sheep’s hip-hop classic, ‘The Choice Is Yours.’ The formerly price-list-free restaurant sits below Kati Roll Co. and is by the same owner (thanks, Turbanhead):

… the menu came without prices. Instead, guests were invited to eat, enjoy, and then, at the end of the meal, pay what they thought it was worth. “I’d rather work out the kinks in the kitchen first,” Payal Saha, the restaurant’s owner, explained the other day, sitting at a corner table of Babu, which was about a quarter full of couples quietly eating and mentally calculating the value of their experience…

Payments range from generous (foodies) to parsimonious (Midwesterners):

 “We had one couple who paid two hundred bucks for an eighty-dollar meal,” Saha said… “We talked to some people before sending them their check, asking if they would pay fifty dollars for this meal,” Jung said. “The people mostly said yes, except for one couple from Minneapolis. They were shocked at that price.”

In classic desi fashion, our fine young cannibals took advantage of the price-free policy:

A rowdy group of ten young Indians walked in one Friday evening and occupied the restaurant’s large central table. Their response to no prices was to leave no money; they didn’t even tip the wait staff.

But all good things must come to an end on the credit card slip, top copy:

A few weeks ago, prices were finally written into the menu: a three-course meal with wine comes to about fifty dollars a head.

The New Yorker also covered M.I.A. recently — is Eustace Tilly crushing on cumin?