Desi Sex in the City

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sx291200513110.jpgAn interesting premise that seems to have gone nowhere –

SaharaOne’s much hyped show, Kuch Love Kuch Masti, a spin off on the global hit Sex and the City may not live long enough to see its end. The show about three urban girls who have no qualms discussing love and sex started off with alot of razzmatazz. The media and audiences were curious to see if the show lives up to the comparisons made with its foreign counterpart.

When faced with accusations of copyright violations, the show’s producer responds in tres Desi fashion – indignant denial –

When asked about the show drawing inspiration from the global hit Sex and the City, he is quick to claim, “I don’t know why these comparisons are made, but the show is definitely not a take off on Sex and the City.”

Having seen Indian Superman, call me a skeptic. 😉 Continue reading →

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“Street Cred” as a ladies man

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“With great power comes great responsibility.” So Spiderman’s uncle tells him. Raj Bhakta knows just what Uncle Ben was talking about. From the Vail Daily:

Since starring on “The Apprentice,” local Raj Bhakta has earned some major street credit as a ladies man.

Raj was a special guest doing commentary at the ceremony where Yahoo announced its earnings. Raj was chosen because he had the most hits on Yahoo out of all the characters on “The Apprentice.” He even pinned a bow tie on the CEO.

“A group of three guys, Indian guys – who are not the smoothest guys with women, generally – come up to me afterward and they were asking me, seriously, about what to do to get girls,” said Raj. “Like I know what the hell I’m doing. I’m saying things like ‘pony up’ on national television.”

Ahh yes. I too share in Raj’s pain. What? I have street cred. Fine, whatever.

“I don’t do anything differently than what all other guys are thinking of doing. I just do it. A guy sees Anna Kournikova. Anna Kournikova is a beautiful sex symbol in America. You want to try to take Anna Kournikova out. So what the hell, try.”

In addition to disseminating advice to the young playas out there, Raj would like to continue with his political venture,

His long-term ambition is to serve the people in a political realm, inspired by his successful immigrant parents who have given him a unique perspective into the greatness of America.

“America has one sacred duty to all of its citizens and that is to give them a fighting chance. There needs to be a middle of the road, representing young people – rational people – who believe in small government and freedom. Things that we all hear about that are slowly being stripped away,” said Raj.

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Girish Soni: Foreign agent or just “crafty”?

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The New York Times recently reported that Democratic Congressman Anthony D. Weiner’s (who is running for Mayor of New York City) office has come under scrutiny for a series of suspicious mayoral campaign donations, all brokered by one Girish Soni.

Mr. Weiner collected more money orders in the last six months than any other Democratic mayoral candidate, all of them turned in by a New Jersey pharmacist, Girish Soni, who has raised thousands of dollars for Mr. Weiner’s Congressional campaigns since 1998, according to federal and city campaign finance records.

Mr. Soni gave the Weiner for New York Committee 29 money orders for $250 apiece on Nov. 24, along with two checks totaling $2,000. Each contribution was in a different name, but 25 of them included no information about the person’s profession or place of employment, as required by campaign finance laws, and several of the donors could not be located at the addresses provided.

Two people whose names appear on money orders said yesterday that they did not recall making the contributions.

Smita Parekh of Queens said she knew nothing about it and referred questions to her husband, Dilip Parekh, who expressed bewilderment at learning that he and his wife were listed as contributors to Mr. Weiner.

“I didn’t send in any money order, no sir,” Mr. Parekh said in a telephone interview from a grocery store he operates in Manhattan. “My wife works for Mr. Soni’s friend. Maybe that has something to do with it.”

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Bashir ordered to testify in Jacko circus

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The judge in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial ordered journalist Martin Bashir to testify as a government witness against the pop singer, despite his attempts to avoid participation.

From the Sunday Mail:

The TV reporter — whose documentary “Living With Michael Jackson” triggered the investigation against the star — has been called as a “necessary witness” in the trial, which starts (Monday).

Bashir, 42, had tried to get out of giving evidence by citing a law that protects reporters from having to testify about things they see while working on a story.

Bashir became the first desi network correspondent for one of the big three broadcast outlets when he joined ABC’s “20/20” in December. His debut story for the news magazine was an interview with BALCO head Victor Conte, who admitted to supplying illegal supplements to some of the sports world’s most successful athletes.

This year’s trial of the century kicked off today in southern California, and the mainstream press is in the process of wetting itself, because there really isn’t anything else of importance going on in the world.

Sunday Mail: Jacko on trial: Bashir in the box
The Smoking Gun: Bashir a government witness in Jacko trial?

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Who gets the microphone?

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The NYT reviews the latest book by Wendy Doniger, a University of Chicago professor who studies Hinduism:

Though sexual imagery is found throughout Hinduism’s baroque mythology, many groups would like to minimize its importance. They have different concerns: some with purity, some with Hindu power, some with minimizing the influence of “Eurocentric” commentators…

… threatening e-mail messages were sent to Ms. Doniger and her colleagues. And in November 2003, an egg was lobbed at her at the University of London… Scholarship about Hinduism has also come under scrutiny. Books that explore lurid or embarrassing details about deities or saints have been banned. One Western scholar’s Indian researcher was smeared with tar, and the institute in Pune where the scholar had done his research was destroyed. Ms. Doniger said one of her American pupils who was studying Christianity in India had her work disrupted and was being relentlessly followed. [NYT]

What struck me about this story is the degree to which the reviewer absolutely, unquestioningly takes Doniger’s side without acknowledging there might be another point of view. She’s pushed the envelope, to say the least, on sexual, Freudian interpretations of Hindu mythology and reportedly called the Gita ‘a dishonest book’:

Sri Ramakrishna, the 19th century Hindu saint, has been declared by these scholars as being a sexually-abused homosexual, and it has become “academically established” by Wendy Doniger‘s students that Ramakrishna was a child molester, and had also forced homosexual activities upon Vivekananda… Other conclusions by these well-placed scholars include: Ganesha’s trunk symbolizes a “limp phallus”; his broken tusk is a symbol for the castration-complex of the Hindu male; his large belly is a proof of the Hindu male’s enormous appetite for oral sex. Shiva, is interpreted as a womanizer, who encourages ritual rape, prostitution and murder, and his worship is linked to violence and destruction. [Sulekha]

This is a hairy issue, so let me tease out various threads here. I’m not in favor of right-wing Hinduism; I’m certainly against any form of academic intimidation. And there are, in fact, rich veins of sexuality in Hindu mythology. It’s one of the ways Hinduism feels more organic, less Puritan to me than the fire-and-brimstone self-abnegation of the Bible.

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Use the shakti, Luke

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This post is from the files of Mr. ‘Everything Comes From India’ and the chest-thumpingly nationalist father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

An author who’s a Hare Krishna is penning a tome on how Star Wars was inspired by Hindu myths. In his formulation, The Jedi and the Lotus, the Force comes from Brahma, Yoda and Luke are guru and disciple, Jedi training is yoga and the Jedi rules are the warrior code of the kshatriya.

[J]ust as Star Wars takes place in deep space, most of the battles in the Ramayana take place in sophisticated aircrafts, and Arjuna, too, in the Mahabharata, is said to engage in many battles while in outer space… Ancient Indian myths are perhaps the earliest examples of these world myths, while Star Wars is merely among the most contemporary… I look at George Lucas’ major influences, from Flash Gordon to Joseph Campbell, and how Indian tales form the central core around which his series is modelled.

So much sci-fi rips from warrior mythology (samurai, cowboys), I find it hard to believe a claim of exclusive inspiration, although there’s an interesting argument for the ferengi and Klingons in Star Trek being desi in origin.

Film pioneer Kaul visits L.A.’s REDCAT

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The Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) screens the work of filmmaker Mani Kaul on Monday night, and will have the New Indian Cinema trailblazer in attendance for questions.

Some of Kaul’s more notable films include “Uski Roti,” “Siddheswari,” and “Naukar Ki Kameez.” The 60-year-old filmmaker’s work has screened at festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Rotterdam and Pesaro, as well as venues such as New York’s MOMA and Paris’ Centre Georges Pompidou.

The REDCAT is located in downtown Los Angeles at the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall. You can kill two birds (if you’re into that sort of thing) with one stone by finally visiting the architect’s recently completed and hotly-debated building.

General admission tickets for the Kaul event are $8, and are available for online purchase.

REDCAT: An evening with Mani Kaul
Indian Cinema Database: Mani Kaul

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The Anatomy of a Spider

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pparker.jpg
By now it is quite well known (see previous post)that Marvel Comics and Gotham Entertainment launched a version of Spiderman for the Indian market. Despite the fact that Peter Parker is now Pavitr Prabhakar the story is very similar. The Weekly Standard quotes Gotham CEO Sharad Devarajan:

It is one thing to translate existing U.S. comics, but this project is truly what we call a “transcreation,” where we actually reinvent the origin of a property like Spider-Man so that he is an Indian boy growing up in Mumbai [formerly Bombay] and dealing with local problems and challenges. I have always believed that the superhero relates to a “universal psyche” already firmly established in India through centuries of mythological stories depicting gods and heroes with supernatural abilities . . .

Though we will remain true to the underlining mythos of Spider-Man, which is epitomized in the phrase “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,” the character will be reinvented so his powers, problems and costume are more integrated with Indian culture. Unlike the U.S. origin, which is deeply rooted in science, the Indian version is more rooted in magic and mythology.

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A stamp of approval

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In a quest for validation-by-sticker dating back to those gold stars from third grade, desis are yet again pitching a Diwali stamp to the US Postal Service. The online petition comes with a ‘No fair! Rashid got a bigger piece’ twist, because an Eid stamp came out years ago. Since both the Diwali and Dalip Singh Saund stamps have been rejected before, the latest try shows we can take a lickin’ and keep on stickin’.

Some experts told that the stamp being issued was not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’, said Kumar. “Diwali‘s recognition by the US Postal Department… will also honour a civilisation that has the merit of being a continuous propagation for 6,000 years, and Diwali is celebrated not just by Hindus but also Sikhs and even Christians. It’s like Christmas,” he contended.

My assessment is a bit too flip. It’s true that in the email age, procuring a Diwali stamp is like flyering the Titanic. But it’s actually free marketing for the South Asian brand. You might not have to explain your damn holiday to your elderly neighbors any more. You might get a sponsorship from Illuminations.

You might even pull a Hannukah (eight days of presents? It’s a shanda) and leave work early every day in November. ‘Ours is a very respectful religion,’ you might say. ‘We respect the ancient tradition of shubh ghanta. Also called happy hour. We take converts.’

Sign the petition here.

Promo’s pizza leaves bad taste in actor’s mouth

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Actor Sanjay Madhav recently auditioned for a part in a comedy festival promo, and was so offended by the sketch, that he shared his experience on Hollywood Masala’s message boards.

The spot entailed Mohandas Gandhi (not the part that he auditioned for) playing a prank on his followers by ordering a meat-lovers pizza. From Madhav’s original post:

I do have a sense of humor about these scenarios, however this is offensive to many, including myself. When will the non-Indian population realize that Gandhi is to many Indians, what Martin Luther King is to the African-American people. Would they dare make such a mockery of Martin Luther King without public backlash? I think we know the answer to that question.

Wait, I have a different question: What brand of pizza did he order? Since I haven’t seen the promo, it would be inappropriate for me to weigh in on Madhav’s specific complaint. However, it would definitely piss me off if Gandhi was depicted ordering some cheap, craptastic, fast food pizza. I’d like to think that if Gandhi was going to buy pizza for his followers, he would spring for something good like California Pizza Kitchen or Round Table. He was the father of an entire subcontinent — give the man some respect and portray him ordering a slab of the top shelf pie.

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