With increased freedom in Afghanistan (at least for men, at least around Kabul) comes the natural consequence of freedom: stand-up comedy.

At a recent impromptu performance, Mubariz wraps on a long black turban – a favorite Taliban accessory – and twists his face into a scowl. He grabs a Kalashnikov to complete the look. Then he screams at the men to go to the mosque, physically prodding them with his rifle. He grabs one long-haired man and berates him for letting his locks grow – a Taliban pet peeve. His imitation is so precise that the audience can’t stop laughing.

Other topics of humor include “the radio call-in show where people dedicated songs by mullahs (minus the music, of course)” and that old favorite of comedians everywhere – armpit shaving. Except in this case, the subject is the Taliban’s spot checks to make sure that men were shaving their armpits. [In accordance with the Taliban’s interpretation of islamic law, hair had to be short, beards long, mustaches short, and armpits and pubes recently shaved or plucked]

And of course, everybody likes slapstick:

one of the most popular shows on Tolo TV, a private cable station in Kabul, is “Lahza Ha,” (Moments). It’s the Afghan equivalent of Candid Camera, where pranksters stop Kabulis on the street and con them with gags. The show is so well liked that some Afghans pray early so they don’t miss it, and jokes are rehashed the next day.

Although comedy has a long tradition in Afghanistan (“comedy in Afghanistan thrived from the 1800s until the 1960s”) one comedian tells the reporter that he takes his inspiration from more contemporary figures, namely “Mr. Bean, Jackie Chan, and Charlie Chaplin.”

Source: In Afghanistan, comedians joke their way to civic renewal Continue reading →

News Flash! Salman Rushdie has found religion, and vows to fight to protect Lakshmi’s honor! The Lakshmi in question, of course, is his wife, Padma Lakshmi, the model/actress/food show hostess/etc extraordinaire.

The whole thing started when Guy Trebay called Padma a “semicelebrated hustler” in his description of Padma’s appearance at NYC’s fashion week:

This former model, cooking show host and celebrity spouse has seemed to appear at all places and all times during Fashion Week, like an avatar of the Hindu goddess whose name she bears. In the superpopulated Hindu pantheon, Lakshmi is the domestic deity representing wealth and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. One of the cool things about the goddess Lakshmi is her unabashed relationship to prosperity. In the current fashion pantheon Ms. Lakshmi similarly stands for a love of money and commodity

Salman did not take kindly to this portrayal of his wife, even though the article actually takes pains to paint her in a positive light compared with some of the lower rungs of the fashion food chain. According to the New York Metro, Salman threatened to personally enforce the penalty for blasphemy:

“Witnesses say Rushdie walked up to Trebay at a National Arts Club event three days later and said, “If you ever write mean things about my wife again, I’ll come after you with a baseball bat.”

The metro goes on to twit Rushdie for being a hypocrite:

Of course, many found it ironic that Rushdie was threatening a writer with bodily harm for something he’d published. He didn’t return messages, and Trebay refused to comment. But a fellow attendee would: “She’s an ambitious person with a lot of hustle. I would think by celebrity standards she’s fair game. Have you seen her Website?”

Rushdie also refuses to comment on reports that he is taking lessons from Sean Penn on how to handle paparazzi. Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →