Touching a new high, India’s tennis ace Sania Mirza on Monday became World No.6 in doubles, her career-best ranking, as the new chart was released following the conclusion of the French Open. Courtesy a quarterfinals appearance at the Roland Garros, Sania earned 430 ranking points along with partner Cara Black to jump eight places in the ranking charts.
Sania and Cara had lost to eventual champions Shuai Peng and Su-Wei Hsieh. “When I started the season this year in January, one of my goals was to better my career-best world ranking. I am happy to have achieved this today,” Sania said from Birmingham, where she is gearing up for the grass court season, leading to the Wimbledon championships.
Sania’s father and coach Imran Mirza said, “Sania has played very consistently this season and has been rewarded. I believe she has the potential to go further.” India’s No.1 singles player Ankita Raina also achieved her career-best rank, 262, with a jump of 28 places. Ankita had ended runner-up at a $25,000 event in Indonesia to earn 30 points. In the ATP rankings, Somdev Devvarman dropped out of top-100 as he lot 23 places to be 119 in the singles chart. He had made a first round exit at the French Open.
In the doubles Leander Paes continued to be the highest ranked player at number 13.
Sakina Khatum talks about her weightlifting career and her route to success at the Commonwealth Games
Such a long journey Sakina Khatum courted success after many trials including being struck by polio / The Hindu
Sakina Khatum hit the headlines with a bronze-winning effort at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, last month. But the 25-year-old promises to do even better at the Incheon Asian Games, come October.
An irony, or call it fate, as polio struck Sakina, one of the four siblings when she was just a year and half old, and since then, it has been a story of determination and fighting all odds.
Four operations below the knee on the right leg helped her to walk, rather than crawl on fours. A doctor advised Sakina to take up swimming to strengthen the leg, and thus began her tryst with sports.
“I was national champion a year after taking up swimming, and for the next four years, ruled the pool in my category. I did not get any recognition or an international call up,” says the girl, who comes from a poor family. “My father is ailing. My brother does not stay with my family.”
She adds, “I came to Bangalore for the selection camp, ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
After three months away from home, I was not picked despite impressing coach Dabas, who referred me to ace para power-lifter Farman Basha. And the rest is history.” Farman, himself restricted to a wheelchair says, “She was lifting only 25 to 26 kgs. To turn her into an international star was a challenge, but with coach Dabas insisting, I agreed. I had no money to spare but asked her to train under me. I found her a small accommodation near K.R. Puram.. Four years down and she has won two international medals (both bronze) for her country,” says Farman.
The journey has not been easy.
“One Mr. Majumdar, from Kolkata used to send Rs. 5000 initially and then increased it to Rs. 10,000 per month for her basic expenses (though that has now stopped after her Commonwealth Games success). He supported her financially, till last month. He even procured her tickets to the Hungary Open, early this year where she won her first international medal. We don’t spend our money (on international tours) and save up to buy supplements – a must for every lifter. When I am short of money, we fall back on local produce,” adds Farman.
“I asked Sakina to move into my place to save up on rent and travel time for training. We train for about four-five days a week,” says the gritty lifter.
For more successes, it is important that the state government and the numerous corporates that endorses sports step forward and make it easy for them to travel and perform at the highest level. Is anyone listening?
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Avinash Nair / September 29th, 2014
Bruce.Lipsky@jacksonville.com // Noor Inayat Khan is pictured during the film. She was recruited as an operative to help the Allies.
The quiet, unwavering heroism of a young Indian Muslim woman who sacrificed her life to fight against Nazi domination during World War II offers lessons of faith, courage and inspiration as relevant now as it was back then, say those who heard her story Sunday.
Bruce.Lipsky@jacksonville.com / Noor Inayat Khan is pictured during the film. The University of North Florida Distinguished Voices Lecture Series presented “Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story” Sunday, September 28, 2014, in Jacksonville, Florida, on campus in the Robinson Theater. (Florida Times-Union/Bruce Lipsky)
“It really makes you think. What would I do in a situation like that? … I hope I would have had her courage,” said K.C. Emerson of Jacksonville, who decided at the last minute Sunday afternoon to attend the screening of “Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story” followed by a panel discussion at the University of North Florida’s Andrew A. Robinson Jr. Theater.
The film is the true story of Khan, who sacrificed her life to fight against Nazi domination during World War II. The daughter of an American mother and Indian Muslim father, Khan grew up in a home that nurtured interfaith dialogue and cooperation at a Sufi center of learning in Paris.
In early 1943, she was recruited as a covert operative into Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive. By then Khan had trained as a wireless operator in Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. As a covert agent, Khan was instrumental to the French Underground’s direct attack on Nazi units in preparation for the Allies’ D-Day invasions.
In August 1943, Khan was the last surviving clandestine radio operator in Paris and signaled London for additional weapons and explosives for the French underground. Khan ultimately was captured and executed at Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp in Germany.
On Sunday, Emerson was among Northeast Florida residents as well as UNF students nearly filling the theater for the screening and panel discussion, part of the 2014 Distinguished Voices Lecture Series. The program co-hosted by UNF and Better Together at UNF, a student organization composed of religiously diverse students with a mission of mobilizing their peers to voice their values, engage with others, and act together to make the world a better place.
“It’s an exploration into meaning and purpose of life, and what values might be worth risking it,” Tarah Trueblood, director of UNF Interfaith Center, said of the program.
Such dialogue, she said, is especially crucial now, given the conflict in the Middle East and fear generated by ISIS and other terrorist groups.
“Peace happens one relationship at a time. And getting to know your neighbor can be that one big step you take today,” said Trueblood, adding sometimes that can take a lot of courage to reach out to our neighbors if they are different from us.
“We want our politicians to make peace or somebody else to make peace. But making peace takes us going over to our neighbors and getting to know them,” Trueblood said.
Bruce.Lipsky@jacksonville.com / Alex Kronemer, executive producer of the film about Noor Inayat Khan, speaks before the screening of his film.
The panelists included Alex Kronemer, one of the film’s producers, UNF Interfaith students, Cheryl Tupper of the OneJax Institute at UNF and vice president of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation and Rabbi Jonathan Lubliner of the Jacksonville Jewish Center. UNF President John Delaney facilitated the discussion.
Kronemer is co-founder and executive producer for Unity Productions Foundation. A Muslim, he has delivered talks on religious diversity and Islam for the U.S. departments of Justice and State, FBI and other organizations.
Refusing an order to return to England, Khan stayed in Paris and continued radioing information to the Allies after all her comrades were captured by the Nazis.
“In her case, she just had the determination. She had come with these people, bonded with these people and they had all been captured, but she didn’t want their sacrifice to be meaningless. In retrospect, it was a giant decision to make because it led to her ultimately being killed. But at the time, it was a small decision of heroism,” Kronemer said. “That’s really where I think heroes are made. … Today, what are the small decisions of heroism that we’re making?”
Parvez Ahmed, a faculty mentor and UNF professor, encouraged the audience to continue the conversation sparked Sunday through the program.
“I want us to draw upon the inspiration that Noor gave us through our life and our sacrifices. It would be nice if we could all go beyond the lip service that we often give such inspiration and do something that is actually long-lasting and sustainable,” Ahmed said.
To that end, Ahmed said the UNF Interfaith Center is instituting a service award to be presented annually to one or more deserving students. In the form of a scholarship, it will be the Noor Inayat Khan Interfaith Service Award, he said.
Khan was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian medal for bravery and sacrifice in Great Britain. The French awarded her the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star. A plaque bearing her name hangs at Dachau, and a memorial statue of her was erected in London’s Gordon Square in 2012.
source: http://www.members.jacksonville.com / The Florida Times-Union / Home> News / by Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-4075 / Sunday – September 28th, 2014
Once confined to South India, coffee has emerged into pan Indian beverage, not just at cafes but also in homes. However, the coffee industry is facing several challenges due to shortage of labour in its estates and plantations. Hassan M Kamal investigates
There’s a story that claims how nearly 400 years ago, a Sufi poet named Baba Budan smuggled coffee beans from Mocha (Yemen), to the hills of Chikmagalur in Karnataka. While there is no recorded evidence to prove this story, it has remained a popular folklore among India’s coffee lovers.
The presence of a controversial shrine of the Sufi saint on top of Dattagiri (or Baba Budan) range of the Western Ghats, watching over the coffee estates of Chikmagalur, further lends credence to the belief. After its arrival, over the next four centuries, coffee grew to become an integral part of South Indian culture.
Most coffee plants in India are grown under the shade of trees. Pic courtesy/ Dr Ashwini Kumar BJ
Different communities and cities came to master the art of growing coffee, roasting and brewing a fine concoction from the coffee beans, in their own way.
Aromatic trail
“Even today, there are several households in South India who roast their own batch of coffee beans in the kitchen, grind it and prepare a decoction that suits their needs,” shares Dr Ashwini Kumar BJ, who holds the Coffee Board Research Chair at the Indian Institute of Plantation Management in Bangalore.
A tasting session in progress at the Coffee Board head office in Bangalore. Pic courtesy/ Dr Ashwini Kumar BJ
Their methods have created specialty coffees, which are in huge demand in the Western markets as well as location-centric versions of Indian filter coffee like the Degree coffee of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu (most popular among Tamilians), Coorg coffee and Chikmagalur coffee, each known for its unique taste, informs Dr Kumar (check box for details).
Mumbai-based brewing expert Jignesh Shah with the three coffee-making equipments (from left to right) the Indian Filter Coffee Maker (in brass and steel), Aero Press and the Moka Pot. Pics/ Shadab Khan
The equipment to make the popular Indian filter coffee is proof of how engrained the beverage is in the daily life of a South Indian. While the origins of the filter coffee maker aren’t documented comprehensively, according to photographer K Suresh, a die-hard coffee lover, the earlier method required keeping ground coffee wrapped around a cloth dipped in a pot of water overnight.
“My grandma would make fresh coffee every morning; jaggery was used to sweeten it. Sugar was reserved for tea,” he recalls. He still sources coffee beans from Mangalore, but also vouches for beans sold at Philips Tea and Coffee in King’s Circle, a locality famous for its authentic coffee. “The process continues with the Indian filter coffee makers, even today.
The ground coffee is kept inside a chamber and filled with hot water. Overnight, the coffee filters down into a chamber right under it, giving the final decoction a strong flavour,” says Jignesh Shah, a Mumbai-based coffee entrepreneur. He adds that in most South Indian families, there’s a tradition of offering the first drink from the brew to the head of the family in the morning.
Arrival of new coffee fans
Shah comes from the new breed of coffee lovers, who are not South Indian, but have acquired a taste for this beverage, and see coffee as an item that needs to be appreciated. “Most Indians have been cheated with, when it comes to coffee, as we have never got anything beyond instant coffee. Coffee is more than that,” says Shah.
He adds that the beverage is gaining popularity among other communities, including the tea-crazy North Indians. “And, I’m not referring to a Barista, Cafe Coffee Day or Starbucks outlet (though they played a role in popularising coffee) or drinking instant coffee from vending machines, but coffee fans who want to prepare it from scratch in their own homes.”
Shah recently launched his brand of coffee, Jewel Aromantic, and has also been conducting workshops and taking classes, teaching Mumbaikars how to brew coffee at home. One of his focus areas has been making inexpensive fuss-free coffee makers like the Italian Moka Pot (comes for just Rs 500), Indian Filter Coffee maker (Rs 500) and the most-recent Aero Press (Rs 2,500), now available in India.
“Most of us are only aware of instant coffee or the expensive espresso machines. But there are several other equipments like the Moka Pot, the Aero Press or the Indian Filter Coffee Maker, which are inexpensive and easy to operate. Now, people are exploring these options, and loving them,” he adds, adding, “Some devices like the Aero Press and Indian Filter Coffee Maker doesn’t require any heat source.”
Home of specialties
India grows two types of commercial coffees Indian Robusta and the Indian Arabica. Earlier, most of the produce used to be the Indian Arabica, which is still in huge demand internationally. But since Arabicas are prone to pests, most coffee estates have moved to the Indian Robusta. “It has a much more stronger taste than the Arabica, and though it was initially not considered good, and still fetches lower prices internationally, it’s gaining popularity in the market,” says Shah.
Dr Kumar says that what gives Indian coffee a special place internationally is its unique coffees, which are referred to as Specialty Coffees. “The three specialty coffees produced in India are Monsooned Malabar, Mysore Nuggets and Robusta Kaapi Royale. All these coffees vary in their cup characteristics, and are popular internationally,” he adds.
India is also gaining popularity for its unique animal coffee, the Monkey Parchment coffee, a rare type of coffee made from beans chewed by Rhesus monkeys. The coffee is produced in Chikmagalur, Karnataka.
“The monkeys select the best coffee cherries, pick them, chew them leisurely for a few minutes and spit the remainder of the fruit onto the ground.
These discarded fruits are collected, rinsed, washed and processed using water to remove the pulp (parchment), and then dried. The enzymes in the saliva of the Rhesus monkey initiates a chemical process, giving the beans a different taste and colour,” says Shah.
Challenges galore
But all is not good with the coffee estates, located mostly in the Western Ghats. In the last few years, there had been several reports of labour constraints in Indian coffee estates. “Most of India’s coffee is grown in undulating slopes of the Western Ghats.
The coffee plantations are experiencing a severe shortage of labour for undertaking key farm operations, such as manuring, application of fertiliser, harvesting and farm-level processing. While larger plantations have initiated efforts for mechanisation, medium and small plantations continue to incur higher costs on labour, thereby reducing their surplus for capital investments,” says Dr Kumar.
According to a report by The Seattle Times, some plantations in India have begun offering good-quality housing, medical care and other benefits to attract labour. But it’s been of no help. Another major problem is the low level of value addition at the farm level, informs Dr Kumar.
“The value addition of coffee takes place at the level of roasters and retailers. But since most of our coffee is exported as green beans (unprocessed), most Indian coffee producers become very susceptible to the fluctuations in international prices. Higher value addition and domestic consumption could reduce the susceptibility of producers to the drastic price fluctuations that are currently seen in primary markets of Indian coffee,” he adds.
Another concern emerges from lower production due to unseasonable and fluctuating rainfall. “While the consumption of Indian coffee has increased, the productivity of Indian coffee plantations has been stagnant,” reveals Dr Kumar adding that India should produce more coffee to meet the domestic demand and exploit opportunities that emerge from a growing international demand for Indian coffee.
Grading of coffee primarily refers to the segregation / classification of coffee beans based on their size. The primary grades of Arabica Coffee are Peaberry, AB, A, B, C, Blacks/Browns, Bits and Bulk. The primary grades of Robusta Coffee are Peaberry, AB, C, Blacks/Browns, Bits and Bulk.
Bits and Bulk are the most inferior in the lot and used to make instant coffee. In India, coffee is also categorised based on taste like Monsooned Malabar, Mysore Nuggets and Robusta Kaapi Royale. Based on the region of production in India, 13 regional coffees have also been defined.
They are Anamalais, Araku Valley, Bababudangiris, Biligiris, Brahmaputra, Chikmagalur, Coorg, Manjarabad, Nilgiris, Pulneys, Shevaroys, Travancore and Wayanaad.
Improve your coffee quotient
What’s roasting?
Roasting is a process that helps bring out the aroma and flavour of coffee.
The major techniques for roasting coffee beans are Rotating cylinder or drum roasting where the coffee beans are fed into a cylinder through which hot air is passed and the drum rotates; and fluidized bed roaster where gases entering into the fixed chamber of the roaster lead to the beans’ rapid turbulent circulation (levitation).
Following roasting, the beans are cooled and run through a destoner that uses air to remove stones and other extraneous materials. The roasted beans are then ground by using grinders.
source: http://www.mid-day.com / MidDay / Home> Life and Style News> Food News / by Hassan M Kamal / September 27th, 2014
City chess player K.V.K. Karthik receiving FIDE Master title from IPCA president Pilimon Zbigniew at Serbia. Also seen is Karthik’s coach Shaik Khasim. Photo: By Arrangement / The Hindu
The Andhra Pradesh Chess Association will felicitate Karthik during the State Open tournament which will be held at Chennupati Ramakotaiah Stadium on September 27
A gold medal at Commonwealth chess championship at Glasgow (Scotland) and a bronze at the World championship at Apatin – Banja Junakovic, Serbia. Twenty-seven-year-old K. Venkata Krishna Karthik is on cloud nine as 2014 is proving to be lucky to him.
The youngster, who is down with a peculiar orthopaedic disorder and poor vision, these two titles in the international tournaments in the physically challenged category has made him realise that his dream of becoming a Grandmaster is not far away.
“We need to thank all those people who stood by Karthik by offering their support both financially and emotionally. Associations like Andhra Cricket Association, Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutes, ARKS Group based at United Kingdom and parents of several players pitched in to give a new dimension to Karthik’s life,” said coach Sk. Khasim of Global Chess Academy.
Karthik not only won FIDE Master title but also earned his first International Master (IM) norm. The chess fraternity went into raptures as Karthik set a fine example to the able-bodied players that what was required to success was hard work and dedication.
“Had Karthik won the eighth round he would have won the title,” felt D. Srihari, secretary of Krishna District Chess Association. Dronacharya Koneru Ashok, Grandmaster Lalith Babu, senior coach and administrator V. R. Bobba and others congratulated the tenacity of Karthik despite his failing health.
Karthik won the hearts of many in the 14 International Physically Challenged World Chess Championship for he played against six talented and higher-rated Russians. A total of 36 players, including International Masters and FIDE Masters from 15 countries, participated in this tournament in which Karthik is seeded the 19th player.
The Andhra Pradesh Chess Association will felicitate Karthik during the State Open tournament which will be held at Chennupati Ramakotaiah Stadium on September 27.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by J.R.Sridharan / Vijayawada – September 25th, 2014
The 71st Annual General body Meeting (AGM) of The Crescent Consumer’s Co-operative Stores Ltd., Udayagiri, will be held on Sept. 23 at 10.30 am at the Store premises under the Chairmanship of the Store President Mahmood Hasan Sait.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Brief / September 22nd, 2014
After Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Lucknow lost his empire, his mother Janab-i’Aliyyah went all the way to England to meet the Queen and seek justice, but she failed in her mission as she got no audience.
History lovers in Lucknow will now have access to new insights into the life and times of the last Nawab of Oudh along with rare pictures and never-heard before information. Regarded by the East India Company as a debauched ruler who spent his time with ‘fiddlers, eunuchs and women’ instead of looking after the kingdom, Wajid Ali Shah has become the centrepiece of yet another historical book.
Written by British historian Rosie Llewellyn Jones, ‘The Last King in India’ talks, besides his mother’s failed overseas mission, about Begum Hazrat Mahal’s revolt in 1857.
Though most artifacts of historical importance were lost forever after the downfall, with painstaking efforts, they have re-surfaced to narrate the story of an era in which the Nawab created exquisite poetry, theatrical pieces, music and dance. In the well researched book, he comes across as a compassionate person towards his subjects. The magnificent Qaiserbagh built by him came to be known as one of the most elaborate palace complexes ever created.
Given how little was known about the last Nawab of Awadh, the historian and author researched about Wajid Ali Shah from the original documents in Indian and British archives and through meetings with his descendants.
Several paintings and photographs have also been found. In one of the photographs Wajid Ali Shah is seen sitting with one of his 350 wives and a child on a couch. Although, almost every palace and structure along the banks of Hooghly river was either destroyed or auctioned by the British after his death in 1887, in order to eliminate any chances of a rebellion, his pictures still hang on the wall in Matiya Burj.
It is said that he had actually created a miniature Lucknow in Matiya Burj and transported its multi-faceted culture there.
At the release of her latest book, Jones said “I have always been a fan of Wajid Ali Shah. He was misunderstood by the British as he never wanted bloodshed in his kingdom and continued not to bow against them, much to their dismay. His love for poetry, art and dance is admirable and he was one of the greatest patrons of the cultural landscape.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Shefali Mehrotra, TNN / September 28th, 2014
Mohammed Asab beat Nathan Xuereb of Malta to give India their ninth medal in shooting.
India’s Asab Mohd displays his Men’s Double Trap bronze medal. / PTI
Glasgow:
Indian shooter Mohammed Asab won the bronze medal in the men’s double trap beating 17-year-old Nathan Xuereb of Malta in the bronze medal match of the 2014 Commonwealth Games at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre here on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Asab shot 26 while Xuereb managed 24. Another Indian in the fray, Ankur Mittal missed out on a medal finishing fifth in the semi-final.
Shreyasi Singh grabbed the first medal of the day by winning the silver medal in the women’s double trap event. The Delhi girl shot 92 in the final round to win the silver, the fifth for the Indians from the shooting competition at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre.
India’s medal count from shooting now stood at nine — three gold, five silver and a bronze.
Abhinav Bindra, Rahi Sarnobat and Apurvi Chandila have won the gold medals. The silver medal winners, besides Shreyasi, are Malaika Goel, Prakash Nanjappa, Ayonika Paul and Anisa Sayyed.
source: http://www.sports.ndtv.com / NDTV Sports / NDTV Sports> News / by Indo-Asian News Service / Sunday – July 27th, 2014
Shah Rukh Khan and Bollywood’s Global Fortunes Advance
The Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, left, and Deepika Padukone in “Chennai Express,” from 2013. Credit Red Chillies Entertainments/UTV Motion Pictures
Mumbai :
Shah Rukh Khan has many titles. The 48-year-old Bollywood superstar is known as King Khan, King of Bollywood and Bollywood Badshah (or emperor). This summer Mr. Khan became a knight. In a glittering ceremony in Mumbai, the French foreign affairs minister, Laurent Fabius, conferred France’s highest civilian honor — the Knight of the Legion of Honor — on Mr. Khan. In the official news release, Mr. Fabius said, “The French people hail Shah Rukh Khan’s talent and generosity,” which transcend “cultural and historical differences.”
Mr. Khan’s archrival Aamir Khan (no relation) was also transcending cultural differences. On July 25, his latest film, “Dhoom 3,” an action thriller and India’s highest-grossing film ever, was released on 2,000 screens in China, a first for an Indian film and a distribution strategy more often used for Hollywood blockbusters.
“There are numerous Aamir Khan fans in China,” the film’s Chinese distributor, Ying Li of HGC Entertainment, said in an email. “His image is very positive.”
The French and Chinese are among the many converts to Bollywood’s rapidly growing following. Hindi films have long had devoted fans among the 21 million Indians living overseas, and in the 1950s and ’60s, the actor-director Raj Kapoor became a household name in Soviet Russia, while Hindi films traveled to the Middle East and Africa. But in the last decade, Bollywood’s unique cocktail of emotion, song, dance and melodrama has found takers in several new markets. According to the box office tracking company Rentrak, revenues for Indian films across 36 territories rose from $66.2 million for 69 titles in 2009 to $289 million for 170 titles in 2013.
The new fans are in countries as diverse as Turkey, Peru, Panama and Iraq. Hindi films first reached Japanese theaters in 1952, but regular releases began only last year. Aki Sugihara of the Nikkatsu Corporation, the leading distributor of Hindi films there, said the Japanese like “the fact that there is not too much dependency on CGI, like in Hollywood movies.”
The Japanese pop musician and soundtrack composer Matsumura Masahide (known as Titi Matsumura) is a fan and said the appeal lies in the films’ ardent approach. “We like Indian films full of emotional feeling with the richness of heart, which Japanese people tend to miss now,” he said by email. “Even when films describe a negative problem, the way to describe it is full of big Indian love.”
The Germans are besotted with Shah Rukh Khan. Their ardor can be traced to 2004, when a German television station programmed a prime slot for “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham” (“Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness”), featuring Mr. Khan as the estranged, adopted son of a rich industrialist. The three-hankie melodrama — the film’s tagline was “It’s all about loving your parents” — single-handedly opened up a new market. Viewers “cried, felt great pleasure, joy and release,” the film’s distributor, Stephan Holla, said by email. “We do not get this from German movies or Hollywood.”
Among those viewers was Julia Wessel, a 25-year-old student of cultural anthropology. “I was intrigued by it, but I was even more intrigued by the effect it had on my mother,” she said by email. “I cannot remember ever seeing my mother cry, not even at funerals. But there she was watching this film, and she had tears running down her face.”
Bollywood became such an obsession that Ms. Wessel dropped her studies and in 2006, started a German-language Bollywood magazine called Ishq (Urdu for love), which now has a circulation of 30,000 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Despite evangelists like Ms. Wessel, Brand Bollywood hasn’t been an easy sell overseas. Hollywood and regional productions provide stiff competition. Even big-name studios like Disney India, which produces Disney-branded films, find it tough going in other countries. Amrita Pandey, who heads marketing and distribution for the studio, cited a host of factors in an email interview: “Language barriers, high investments required to develop new markets, the definite grammar of Hindi films and cultural gaps are also barriers.”
In Britain and the United States, these barriers have proved insurmountable. They are the largest overseas territories for Bollywood, but while Hindi films do penetrate mainstream theaters, the audiences are mostly of South Asian descent. Avtar Panesar, vice president of international operations for Yash Raj Films, one of Bollywood’s largest studios, pegs the non-Indian viewership at 0.5 percent. “We have done events in theaters, carried out media campaigns,” he said by email. “But it seems that these films are being made by Indians and watched by Indians.”
The crossover Hindi film has been the holy grail for Mumbai filmmakers since the success of Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000, the Oscar-winning American-Chinese-Taiwanese coproduction that drew mainstream audiences in the United States. But efforts at such cross-pollination have delivered uneven results. The Indian company Reliance Entertainment invested upward of $500 million in Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, but the hits have been limited. Initially, Hollywood studios in India stumbled with local productions. Eventually Disney found an Indian partner, UTV, and Disney India’s first film after the merger — a rom-com called“Khoobsurat” — was released in the United States on Sept. 17.
Relativity Media is hoping to alter the landscape. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, it announced a $100 million joint venture with B4U, a Bollywood entertainment company. “We don’t consider ourselves Hollywood,” Relativity’s chief executive, Ryan Kavanaugh, said by phone. “We consider ourselves a content technology company. Studios think, ‘How do we sell our stuff to them?’ We are looking at how to create content for this huge market.”
Instead of finding one film that satisfies both palates, the Relativity strategy is to tailor the same content for two markets. So with an as-yet-untitled action-comedy now in production with Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig, the plan is to film it again in Bollywood. A reboot of “The Crow” would follow a similar model, with two versions shot simultaneously — one in Hollywood and one in Bollywood with American actors in the Indian version and vice versa. “Our goal is to be at this long-term,” Mr. Kavanaugh said, “We go slowly and we take the consumer with us.”
Along with consumers, Hindi films have also evolved. They are no longer a monolithic entity defined by song and dance. Daring, more personal indie productions known as Hindie movies are also making inroads locally and globally. In the past year, “The Lunchbox,” a small-budget film starring Irrfan Khan as a widower forming a bond with a neglected Mumbai housewife, made about $10 million globally at the box office, with about 40 percent of that coming from America. Despite the absence of songs and mainstream Bollywood stars, “The Lunchbox” was among the highest-grossing Hindi films in the United States. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, which perhaps helped it find viewers beyond the Indian market.
Could films like “The Lunchbox” help the Hindi film industry infiltrate the final frontier of the American mainstream? As Shah Rukh Khan put it in an email: “Our content is improving. Our technology is improving. It’s time.”
source: http://www.nytimes.com / The New York Times / Home> Movies / by Anupama Chopra / September 26th, 2014
A version of this article appears in print on September 28, 2014, on page AR15 of the New York editionwith the headline: Bollywood Is Prancing Far Abroad. Order Reprints|Today’s Paper|Subscribe
File photo of Special Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith addressing the audience during the UN International Year of Youth Culmination Celebration Summit at the United Nations on Aug. 11, 2011 in New York City. (Getty Images)
Farah Pandith, appointed in June 2009 as the first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will be leaving her position to join the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.
Pandith always places people above politics, and she has performed groundbreaking work since her appointment, Secretary of State John Kerry said Jan. 23.
Her legacy “is an extraordinary record of thoughtfulness, balance, and sheer guts and determination. Anyone who’s worked with Farah will note her uncommon ability to bring people of different backgrounds together. I’ve seen that commitment firsthand in her pioneering work to reach out to countries with both Muslim majorities and minorities,” Kerry said in a statement.
Pandith will be joining the Institute of Politics as a Resident Fellow for the spring semester. As a Fellow, the Indian American will lead weekly study groups on a range of topics.
Kerry, in his statement, said of Pandith, “On so many issues, Farah Pandith has been a trailblazer and a visionary,” adding, “It’s in her DNA as a first-generation immigrant who achieved historic firsts for America, from changing the way our embassies engage with Muslim communities in Europe to getting a Quran placed in the White House Library.”
Pandith’s deputy, Adnan Kifayat, will serve as the acting special representative until a permanent replacement is named.
Pandith, originally from Srinagar, has a master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Boston, Mass., and an A.B. from Smith College.
source: http://www.indiawest.com / India West / Home> News / by A Staff Reporter / Wednesday – January 22nd, 2014
