Category Archives: Arts and Entertainment

Pushing the Crossover

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Rediff.com reports that Mira Nair has cast Bollywood star Tabu to play the role of Ashima in her filming of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. The film which is currently in pre-production, and scheduled to be completed in 2006, also stars SM favorite Kal Penn as the main protagonist Gogol Ganguli, described by Nair as the “fastest rising Indian American star this side of the ocean.” Nair is reportedly in talks with Kate Hudson to play Gogol’s (Kal Penn’s) American interest. Hudson incidentally will be playing the lead in Gurinder Chadha’s next blockbuster I Dream of Jeannie.

Nair said her version of the Namesake would stay

“fairly close to the book. I have made only two changes. One change is that Ashima [the protagonist] is a singer in my film because I want to use music. I love to create soundtracks for my films. Another change – to keep the budget in check – is that I have changed the Cambridge Massachusetts location in the book to New York.”

After The Namesake, Nair is scheduled to start on Gangsta M.D., the Hollywood version of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Bollywood hit, Munnabhai MBBS. Chris Tucker has apparently been tagged by Nair to play Sanjay Dutt’s role, although he has not yet committed to the film. I wonder if Nair will add some Bollywood Flair to this one. I can see it now, Tucker and some Bollywood hottie breaking out into an impromptu Hip-Hop meets Bollywood/Bhangra song-and-dance number.

More here and here on Nair’s projects.

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Oprah “floored” by spelling nerd

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Yesterday’s episode of Oprah Winfrey’s syndicated television show covered miracles and other oddities caught on video. During the second half of the show, she ran footage of Akshay Buddiga’s performance at the 2004 Scripps Spelling Bee.

Buddiga became late night talk show fodder after he fainted on-stage when asked to spell “alopecoid.” He subsequently got up, spelled it correctly, and went on to capture second place in the competition.

This is an old story, and by now, you’ve probably seen it. In case you haven’t, or long for Oprah’s commentary on the matter, here’s a Quicktime video of the segment (1.5 MB, 1:30 mins.).

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Smashing icons

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Spiderman isn’t the only heeero taking a Bombay local to browntown. Two veteran comic book artists have launched a new comic called Vimanarama about a British Muslim from the tinderbox formerly known as Bradford (via Desi Flavor).

The fashionably-tousled Ali is slouching toward his inevitable arranged marriage, but his retro-hip persona perks up considerably when he finds that bride-to-be Sofia is a babe. Meanwhile, toddler Imran accidentally unleashes the Forces of Darkness, and not just in his diaper; it’s up to jolly Ali to save the world. It’s all very soapy, if not so very Lollywood.

Never letting cultural accuracy get in the way of the almighty pound, the artists are watering down the Muslim angle:

Although his research into the religion was extensive, the author says this won’t be evident in the comic, as all concepts have been translated to be accessible by all audiences. So ‘Allah’ is referred to in the text as God and ‘Hajj’ as pilgrimage… “Islam frowns on representational art and I’d imagine that for some sects comics are possibly the most blasphemous art form imaginable”, the Glaswegian told Newsarama.

Translation: I’ll take one hit comic, hold the hitman — make my just desserts fatwa-free. The comic fuses religions with a title from Hindu mythology and a lotus-and-multiple-arms motif on the first issue’s cover. The arms evoke Doc Oc, The Matrix and Japanese tentacle porn (or so I’m told), and the beetle-browed protagonist has a Gorillaz scowl. It’s a masala comic — they’ve outdone Lahore.

Previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; and let’s not forget the comic book-inspired, unintentionally hilarious Lollywood effort International Gorillay.

Portuguesa flips the ‘Bird’

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Desi iPod parody: hot

Nelly Furtado bhangra remix: hot

iPod parody with remix: priceless!

Watch this kick-ass video (via Badmash).

Update: By the way, Furtado dances bhangra and sings in Hindi:

Furtado, a second generation Portuguese-Canadian, grew up in Toronto and Victoria, British Columbia. She was inundated with different cultures. One weekend, she would join friends in Latin dance; the next at an Indian bhangra party; the next celebrating the Chinese New Year.

DJ John von Seggern also did a Nelly vs. Asha Bhosle remix of ‘I’m Like a Bird.’ Some odd remixes are described here, including Enrique Iglesias vs. Asha and Barry White done Bollystyle.

Best of the Best college dance competition (bhangra, raas and fusion), April 2, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Manhattan; details TBA

Verizon billboards say the darndest things

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Verizon: A small jar of chutney costs more than a 10-minute call to New Delhi.     Verizon: A ticket to a Bollywood movie costs more than a 20-minute call to New Delhi.

Spotted the billboards pictured above while driving around in Culver City, Calif. Their location is peculiar, because the area doesn’t have a lot of South Asians, as far as I know. The first one is located near an exit for the 10, which is a prime spot. You’ll find the second one when driving east on Venice Blvd., but it is easy to miss. There might be more out there, so if you spot one, please photograph it, and send it our way.

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‘Disappeared’ in ‘Fatal Love’

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‘Disappeared in America,’ a multimedia installation about American Muslims detained in the post-9/11 dragnet, is opening at the Queens Museum of Art this Sunday. A friend of mine has a short film playing at the installation, whose title sounds like a reference to Pinochet’s Chile. Suketu Mehta and Meena Alexander will read at the opening reception, which also features a discussion with artist Shahzia Sikander, refreshments and a DJ.

Since 9/11, approximately 3,000 American Muslim men have been detained in a security dragnet. To date, none have been prosecuted on terrorism charges. The majority of those detained were from the invisible underclass of cities like New York. They are the recent immigrants who drive our taxis, deliver our food, clean our restaurant tables, and sell fruit, coffee, and newspapers…

Already invisible in New York, after detention, they have become “ghost prisoners.”  In this, there are eerie parallels to… the 1919 detention of 10,000 immigrants after anarchists bombed the Attorney General’s home; the 1941 internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans… and the HUAC Black-listing under Senator Joseph McCarthy.

DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA is a walk-through installation that uses video, soundscapes, photos, objects, and the audience’s interactions to humanize the faces of the “disappeared.”

The installation is part of a major desi art double-header at the Queens Museum. One show is ‘Fatal Love: South Asian American Art Now,’ the other is ‘Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India,’ in conjunction with the Asia Society. Very worth checking out.

Fatal Love features contemporary photographic, print, video, web-based and installation works by 28 emerging and established American artists of South Asian descent… because of tumultuous political state of the subcontinent, diaspora artists are again considering the ways in which the legacy of South Asia’s Independence and partition is manifest both in the local (US) communities and “back home.”
Opening reception on Sunday 2/27: 3pm, artist discussion, readings, refreshments; 4:30, dance performances, ghazals, DJ; free shuttle leaves Asia Society (725 Park/70th) at 2:30pm; or take 7 train to Willets Point/Shea Stadium and follow the yellow signs; show runs until 6/5

Manchu and Mehta: Two for the tube

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Actress Lakshmi Manchu appeared on last Monday’s episode of “Las Vegas,” (via Hollywood Masala):

Her character (“Sarasvati Kumar”), who is a recurring guest, became the the love interest for none other than Sylvester Stallone!

“Las Vegas” airs on NBC on Mondays at 9 p.m.

Actor Ajay Mehta makes a guest turn on this week’s episode of “Without a Trace,” which on its own, is quite an enjoyable show. It’s the perfect way to top off a night of slothing it up with “The O.C.” and “The Apprentice.”

“Without a Trace” airs on CBS on Thursdays at 10 p.m.

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Gentlewomen, start your Jimmy Choos

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I’ve run across a few friends in the big city recently with dreams of writing a desi Sex and the City, something about our lives rather than visas, spices and weddings. As utterly compelling as immigrant stories are, they’ve been done, and done well; it’s odd to me that The Namesake and Brick Lane are about their authors’ parents. There’s a different story waiting to be written about impressionists who cross seas with ease, The Talented Mr. Ripley minus the creepy criminality.

Meera Syal’s novel Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee is like that. It’s one of the two prosaic, non-literary novels I’ve most closely identified with. (The other is Love, Stars and All That by Kirin Narayan.) I’ve exchanged breathless words about this book with perfect strangers. Like hip-hop lit, it wasn’t the craftsmanship of the work I responded to, it was the familiarity; Syal was writing people I already knew.

As is usual in cultural matters, the UK is our Paris Hilton: those sods have not only done it, they’ve even filmed it, and soon they’ll post it on seedy sites all over the Internet. Syal has now filmed her novel as a miniseries which is airing on BBC1, the main Beeb channel, the first week of April (via Desi Flavor). It’s set in Ilford, an East London suburb which is the cultural equivalent of New Jersey.

… [Meera Syal] was “pleased” that a drama featuring three Asian women characters in lead roles was getting primetime positioning on Britain’s most popular channel. That she said was “a real breakthrough.”

Ayesha Dharker, the temptress in Bombay Dreams on Broadway, plays the simple, lovelorn protagonist, Chila. The ravishing Laila Rouass (Bombay Dreams London) plays her friend Tania, an idealized vixen who’s stepped outside the bounds and bonds of Asian-ness. Syal herself plays the author’s voice, the progressive lawyer Sunita who’s stuck in an unfulfilling marriage to her college sweetheart.

This is a female bonding story; the peripheral male characters are played by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Raza Jaffrey (Bombay Dreams London), Ahsen Bhatti and comedian Inder Manocha. Other members of the cast include Indira Joshi (The Kumars), Lalita Ahmed (Bhaji on the Beach) and Rani Singh.

Previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Geeksta rap takes aim at technically averse

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Throughout the years, there have been countless attempts by educators and parents to glamorize the academic pursuits of science and technology. Whether it was financial incentives, or catchy tunes on PBS children’s programs, for many, the battle usually ends in bitter defeat. What they should be doing is speaking to kids in a language that they understand — rap and hip-hop.

At least that’s Rajeev Bajaj’s theory, and the 39-year-old engineer from Fremont, Calif. is putting his ideas into motion. From the San Jose Mercury News:

Bajaj recently spent $15,000 of his own money forming an independent record label and hiring musicians to perform four rap and hip-hop songs he wrote in praise of the engineering profession. He hopes his debut album, “Geek Rhythms,” will convince America that engineers indeed are cool.

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Is your computer vegetarian?

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To y’all 220 million vegetarian desis: Is your favorite Asian restaurant’s idea of vegetarian food ‘yes, it has veggies too’? Do you marvel at how many ways some insidious bastards work meat into veggie dishes (pepperoni in pasta salad, rice cooked in chicken stock)? Are you sick of throwing away soup you bought without parsing the ingredients like a copy editor? Bored of restaurant menus that read meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, sprig of parsley?

Soon, you may also have to check whether your PC is made from animal products. Researchers are turning chicken feathers into computer motherboards:

To turn feathers into a usable product, they are first plucked from the birds at chicken-processing plants and then the hot, wet feathers are immediately hauled to Emery’s plant. There the “undesirable parts” like chicken heads, feet, windpipes and fecal matter are sorted out from the truckload of feathers. “They’re not a nice sight, to put it mildly…”

… Emery converts the feather fiber into keratin mats that resemble paper towels. They are then placed into a mold, layered on top of one another and infused with a soybean resin that hardens and forms the composite. The material is then put through the circuit-printing process to become a circuit board.

This gives new meaning to the expression ‘my new machine really screams.’ Ironically, the same people who think Gandhi, Jim Morrison and John Lennon drinking their own urine is disgusting, think eating cows fed chicken poop is perfectly ok.

But things are looking up for those who steer clear of digestive recycling: instead of ordering mu shu, you can now order Moo Shoes.