Desi-related snippets in American TV ads:
A 60 Minutes segment tonight on the search for Osama bin Laden needled Musharraf and the head of Pakistan’s ISI on their strategy to play the U.S. for arms and aid.
The reporter asked if they would hold bin Laden’s capture back for maximum publicity or move him to Afghanistan so Dubya could take credit. Musharraf laughed uncomfortably and stuttered a reply. He then wisecracked, ‘But we would like to take the money part.’
The interviewer asked, ‘The $25 million [reward]?’
Musharraf: ‘Not bad. Good money.’
Check out the subtitle during the bin Laden discussion. Is that a show promo, or political commentary? 
Watch the clip (19 MB DivX; you need a BitTorrent downloader: Windows, Mac). Here’s the press release.
Update: Here’s who CBS misidentifies as Musharraf on their Web site. Apparently they’ve been taking lessons from both the Times of India and George W.:
Interviewer: “Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan?” …
Bush: “General. I can’t name the general. General.”
Interviewer: “And the prime minister of India?”
Bush: “The new prime minister of India is – (pause) No… Can you name the foreign minister of Mexico?”Interviewer: “No sir, but I would say to that, I’m not running for President…” [Link]
Raghubir Goyal the Foil, the One-Track Uncle called on by White House press secretaries to evade tough questioning, shows up in a Daily Show segment. ‘Go ahead, Goyal,’ says the spokesman.
‘My question is in connection with the Prime Minister of India’s visit on Monday…’ he begins, sidetracking the preceding questions about domestic politics. Old faithful.
Watch the clip, he’s at 4:29.
Keep watching to see the other reliable escape hatch. Lester Kinsolving is the resident crank from WCBM Radio. A female reporter sits behind him, smirking and exchanging looks with other reporters while he asks a long, bizarre question about whether Dubya agrees with emperor Constantine’s fourth-century Christian theology.
Dude, have a little respect. I think we can safely assume POTUS knows about Constantine.
It had Rachel Weisz and Keanu Reeves and, like, totally rawked.
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.
Don’t forget to set those TiVos because tonight marks the debut of Season IV of The Apprentice. As previously reported, Toral Mehta will make her debut. Guess who just decided to steal the spotlight? That’s right. The Raj is back (thanks for the tip “Bella”):
Raj Bhakta, former contestant on Donald Trump’s reality show, said he is contemplating challenging Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz in next year’s election for the 13th District.“I think Allyson Schwartz is a formidable opponent, clearly. At the same time, I think she’s beatable,” Bhakta said, adding that he wants to run “because I think it’s very important to have a fresh, progressive, conservative voice representing the parts of the country that are not necessarily blue and not necessarily red.”
Bhakta, a 29-year-old businessman from the Fort Washington area, is a Republican. He said he has talked to Montgomery County GOP chairman Ken Davis and Philadelphia GOP leader Vito Canuso and plans to go to Washington, D.C., next week to talk to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Davis – who said he never watched “The Apprentice” – said he had no trouble taking Bhakta seriously.
“Any candidate who decides to do this and is as organized and as thoughtful as I think he is, you have to take them seriously,” Davis said Tuesday. “He has a lot of ideas, and he’s a very bright young man. I think he is a serious candidate.”
What would Raj stand for? If you remember I previously blogged about his political venture the Coalition for the Advancement of the Republic. Doesn’t seem like he has added much to the website though.
Before he can hammer his opinions into a campaign platform, however, Bhakta said he knows he has a monumental task: figuring out where the cash will come from.“Everywhere I’ve gone, even before they ask me what I believe, they ask how much money I can raise,” Bhakta said. “For one district in Congress, to know that $10 million could be spent on the election, aggregately. Well, something’s wrong there.”
Yes, Raj now knows that in the world of politics the only thing that matters is how much cash you can raise. He should also know to stay on Karl Rove’s good side if he wants Roves operatives to help him out. Recently Raj, and other semi-celebrities, were asked to suggest a reading list for President Bush while he vacationed at Crawford. Here was Raj’s advice:
” ‘Empire,’ by Neil Ferguson. He should read it with an eye towards realizing that as we stumble further into ’empire,’ we should avoid the inevitable fate of them all.” – Raj Bhakta, former contestant, “The Apprentice”; chairman, Coalition for the Advancement of the Republic
Rove has an all seeing eye. That kind of teasing could get you in the GOP’s dog house.
See previous Raj posts.
The title of this post needs no explanation if you have even an ounce of cool in you (like me). Has a more famous word ever been uttered in a 20th century movie? I think not. Here is quick background on the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan for you virgins:
Khan, a genetically engineered “superman” prone to megalomaniacal delusions, was exiled years ago to the barren planet Ceti Alpha 5. He blames Admiral Kirk for his hard fate, as well as for his son’s death, and vows revenge. When Commander Chekov mistakenly beams down to Khan’s lair, the villain finally has a means of escape. Using a parasitic creature that allows him to control the minds of his victims, Khan seizes command of the Starship Reliant. From there he hopes to lure Kirk to his death, using equipment stolen from an experimental research project. These devices allow him to trigger something known as the “Genesis Effect” — a means of generating new life from existing matter. Khan plans to use the creation machines as weapons, because the same fire of life that creates new worlds must destroy what existed before. Kirk and crew need all the courage and cunning they can muster in order to save their friend and silence Khan forever. [Link]
For those wanting a more detailed background (and you really should) please read here and here. One important detail I had not known (or more likely forgotten until Punjabi Boy reminded us this morning) is that the most brilliant villain in science fiction history was a Punjabi Sikh. You have to delve deep into Star Trek fiction literature to find the background on Khan. Luckily there happens to be an entire website (I shit you not) about Sikhs in Science Fiction.
The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg CoxAlthough Khan Noonien Singh is the title character of this novel, he is not mentioned by name until more than half-way through the book. The last third focuses primarily on Khan, who is explicitly identified as a Sikh character herein. Prior to the Khan scenes, there are scenes in India with Sikh guards. But the Sikh-related material that is most prominent is in a chapter set in 1984, when Khan is just fourteen years old and living in Delhi. The Indian military has brutally attacked Amritsar, at the command of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who has subsequently been assassinated by her Sikh guards. Khan gets caught in the middle of the resulting anti-Sikh violence, as he must flee an angry mob intent on killing him.
Yes, yes. Those who are immersed in violence at an early age often regrettably turn to violence. How popular a villain was Khan? There are poems about him, and you can also take a quiz to see how much you know about him. Also, for any girls (or boys) who had a crush on Khan (played by actor Ricardo Montalban) in the 80s, here is a fun fact: his breasts are fake, a prop. He ain’t really that cut. They ARE real.
I’ve done far worse than kill you. I’ve hurt you. And, I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me–as you left her [Khan’s wife]–marooned, for all eternity, in the center of a dead planet: buried alive… -Khan [Link]
We may now have our own MTV Desi, but all of a sudden we also have a bunch of desis on MTV. Sonia points us to a new MTV reality show, ingeniously (from a minimalist perspective) titled The Reality Show, that debuts tonight at 10:30p.m.
Are you a reality TV junkie? Then it’s time to take your addiction to the next step. Help MTV choose the next big star on The Reality Show.
Basically 10 final contestants or duos will compete for 9 weeks. At the end of that period the person(s) with the most interesting “real life” will get their own reality show. Why not? In the running are two cousins from Virginia Beach named Karishma and Bansri. See, it seems our dynamic duo, that apparently come from well-off families, told their parents they were coming to L.A. to work at internships. In reality they came here just to party! And party some more. In fact, if they get their own show it will be a show about Indian girls partying in L.A. Will hilarity ensue when their parents find out that they are not in fact “good Indian girls?”
Will these two party monsters have their life come crashing down when their parents show up? Will they find the hot parties and keep their parents placated with the lies? Or are they headed for a train wreck? Follow the all the cross-cultural chaos in “Karma Chameleons.”
Holla at yo’ boy. I live in LA. I like to party hardy too. My parents used to think I was a hard working student but then they uncovered my double life as a blogger (among other things), and all the booze and women such a life involves. Maybe these girls will invite me out with them some time. I know people. Come to think of it, why isn’t there a reality T.V. show based on my life?
“We’re Karishma and Bansri and we like the boom…”
Peter Sellers outsold actual desis at the Emmy Awards last night. The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, an HBO biopic of the guy who made a career of mocking the desi accent, won three awards. Naveen Andrews was nominated but Lost.
“The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” an HBO movie, won three awards early in the ceremony, including one for Geoffrey Rush as best actor…
“Lost,” which helped vault ABC’s prime-time ratings by fusing elements of the film “Cast Away,” “Survivor,” “The Twilight Zone” and even a dash of “Gilligan’s Island,” had received 12 nominations, including two for supporting actors – Naveen Andrews and Terry O’Quinn. (They lost to [William Shatner, for Boston Legal].) [Link]
Geoffrey Rush is a fine, fine actor, but it’s an interesting contrast. By the way, check out the chunni Barbara Hershey’s sporting. Stand by your man indeed.
MTV Desi has posted a dilatory yet strangely hypnotic video clip of their launch. The fetching Niharika Desai speaks a single line in an Amrikan accent.
0:04: Hard Kaur raps ‘Glassy‘
1:07: Psychedelic Bollywood tabla clip (can you ID the movie?)
2:53: Talvin Singh beat-boxes a tabla tal
3:00: Skinny uncle type says, ‘the boogie-voogie blaster’
3:04: Niharika yells, ‘We’re live!’
3:05: Eerie, screaming glasses man
3:11: A clip from Indian Cowboy, I think
3:31: Running sadhu, naked and in ashes
4:01: Bhangra troupe dances under the Williamsburg Bridge to the MTV theme (reverse fusion, cheeky!)
4:31: Tim Kash says, ‘Our first video of the night’
4:35: Clip of Karmacy’s ‘Blood Brothers’
4:39: M.I.A. massacres the word ‘desi’ (says ‘dessy’ instead of ‘they-see’)
Interspersed are some random Green Day and Madonna filler clips.
As Abhi posted earlier, you can also watch Rabbi’s ‘Bulla Ki Jana’ video. It has a beautiful, washed-out humanist palette and wiggly English supertitles in black marker on clear plastic.
The images would be postcard-trite in a Red Cross ad. But with the handsome Sufi Sikh dressed all in white, the track comes across as spiritual, a folk bhajan with a bass track and synth. It feels less snarky than earnest, less ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ (Buggles) than ‘Fragile’ (Sting).
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.