Waheeda Rehman’s passion for photogrphy matches her passion for acting. (PTI photo)
Bhopal :
Lights, camera, action and Waheeda Rehman would send the nation’s heart throbbing with her dignified allure. But there’s a best-kept secret about the starry-eyed actor, who ruled the silver screen in the Fifties and Sixties — Waheeda Rehman, the photographer. And this was revealed during an exclusive exhibition of her photography at Bhopal on Wednesday.
Photography has been a passion for the Bollywood star and she pursued this with similar verve while she would act before rolling cameras. The power, mystique and beauty of nature shot in the wilds of Kenyan safari of Masai Mara, South Africa and closer home in Bandhavgarh give a rare insight into her talent.
These 40 photographs — never-before-seen pictures — were clicked by her during her recent excursions.
“I have visited nearly every national park in India, including Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh,” said yesteryears screen goddess. “I am still learning photography,” she said.
By her own account, Guru Dutt was her mentor. However, for the elegant lady who took her own camera to the film set, said, “Noted Indian cinematographer Fali Mistry and his younger brother Jal Mistry and VK Murty (Guru Dutt’s regular cameraman) taught me the finer points of photography.”
Waheeda pursued her passion with an old standard ‘Rolleiflex’ (twin lens reflex camera). “Don’t go crazy clicking, we were told. Those were the days of film rolls and we waited for developed shots to arrive. It is something youngsters today cannot relate to with everything digital,” she said.
The veteran actress is admittedly not tech savvy or ‘active’ on social networking. However, she has kept pace with developments in photography. In short kurta and slacks, she boarded a jeep on a Kenyan safari, where one of her team members was a young 15 year-old-girl.
“Youngsters need to experience wildlife. It should be mandatory in school,” she said, when asked if she considered herself an wildlife activist.
Photographs shot by Waheeda Rehman were displayed at Samanvay Bhawan. “We did not tell Waheedaji that her collection of photographs would be displayed,” said Tigerland India film festival (TIFF) organiser.
“She was unable to email it herself. When we received wildlife photographs clicked by Waheedaji I was surprised. We decided to hold an exhibition and inform just ahead of the event,” a TIFF organiser said.
TIFF is an initiative to promote wildlife conservation and awareness through visual media.
Nagaland principal chief conservator of forests M Lokeswara Rao received the first Tigerland India Bio-diversity Conservation Award here on Wednesday. Top forest official of Nagaland received the award in presence of Waheeda Rehman. TIFF recognised Nagaland forest department’s contribution to conservation of migratory Amur falcons, which arrive at Nagaland’s Wokha district during winter.
Enabling Amur falcons’ migration pattern, the department used satellite, an intervention for which won them an international award. Few Amur falcons were tracked with 5gm transmitters.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Entertainment> Hindi> Bollywood / by Jamal Ayub, TNN / August 28th, 2015
Institute of Objective Studies, (IOS), will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year by organising national and international seminars and workshops on the new education policy.
These seminars and workshops will be organised in Delhi and other places of the country. Similarly, about six seminars on “Minority Rights and Identities and Constitutional Safeguards: The Role of State, Judiciary and Civil Society” will be organised.
Chairman Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam (centre) presiding over the two-day 29th Annual meeting of General Assembly of the Institute of Objective Studies, (IOS), in New Delhi.
The above decisions were taken at the two-day 29th Annual meeting of General Assembly of the IOS which concluded here the other day. Besides this a number of other decisions were also taken on the occasion. The meeting was presided over by IOS Chairman Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam.
It was also decided to award scholarships to students with Madrasa background pursuing courses in social sciences and the law in universities besides students studying journalism. Five priority areas viz. law, history, education, Islamic Studies and the comparative study of other religions, have been selected for research. In addition, a committee will be constituted to study the nature of the schemes being implemented by the Central government and create awareness among Muslims.
The book entitled “Qalmi Khake” by late Prof. Zafar Nizami being released at the IOS meeting.
Another committee will be set up to review school and higher education as also research under the new education policy. Decision was also taken to undertake work on books on “Seerah” in regional languages.
On this occasion, two books, “Qalmi Khake” by late Prof. Zafar Nizami, and “Musalmano ka Siyasi Empowerment” by Prof. ZM Khan in Urdu and Hindi published by the IOS were released.
Those who attended the function included Vice-Chairman of the IOS, Refaqat Ali Khan, Secretary General of the IOS Prof. ZM Khan, Prof. Ishtiyaque Danish, Prof. Manzoor Ahmed, Maulana Atique Ahmad Bastavi, Dr. Major Zahid Husain, Prof. Shamim Ahmad Ansari, Prof. Mohsin Usmani Nadvi, Prof. Arshi Khan, Adv. Mushtaq Ahmad, Prof. Sanghasen Singh, Prof. M. Muqeem, Maulana Amin Usmani, Dr. Fakhruddin Mohammad, Dr. Priyasen Singh, Dr. Shakeel Ahmad Tamanna, S. Pervez Bari, senior journalist, Suhail Anjum, scientist, Mohammad Khalil, Prof. Obaidur Rahman Hashmi and Dr. Imtiyaz Husain.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home / by TCN News / September 14th, 2015
Scholar Audrey Truschke says we should not make the error of attributing Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s lack of interest in Sanskrit to his alleged bigotry
In an email interview, Audrey Truschke, Mellon postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, shares with Anuradha Raman the experiences of writing her book, Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court, to be published in February 2016, and argues forcefully in favour of acknowledging diversity in India.
The present Bharatiya Janata Party government believes Mughals are not part of India’s history. Your book is about how Sanskrit, sought to be made mainstream by the government, flourished under the Mughals. How do we reconcile the two?
We don’t reconcile the two perspectives. Rather, we ask two key questions. One, who is on firmer historical ground in their claims? Two, what are the political reasons for the BJP wanting to erase the Mughals (or at least most of the Mughals) from India’s past? The bulk of my work concerns the honest excavation of history. The Mughals are a significant part of Indian history, and Sanskrit is a significant part of the story of the Mughal empire. Those facts may be inconvenient for the BJP and others, but as a historian I do not temper my investigation of the past in deference to present-day concerns. However, I realise that history matters in the present, perhaps especially in modern South Asia. One present-day implication of my work is to point up the flimsy basis of the BJP’s version of India’s past.
In an ironical way, as the present government fights to push Sanskrit into mainstream discourse, your work concentrates on the Mughals, whom the BJP dislikes, and their engagement with Sanskrit.
The BJP only wants a certain version of Sanskrit in the mainstream. They no doubt love Kalidasa, but I cannot imagine the BJP endorsing students to read the Sanskrit accounts of the Mughals written by Jains in the 16th and 17th centuries. India has a great treasure in its Sanskrit tradition, but that treasure is not only classical poetry and the Indian epics, but also the immense diversity of Sanskrit literature.
Who were the Mughal rulers under whom there was active exchange of Sanskrit and Persian ideas, in your account?
Sanskrit flourished in the royal Mughal court primarily under three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan.
Aurangzeb. Photo: CC 3.0 SA
However, we should not make the error of attributing Aurangzeb’s lack of interest in Sanskrit to his alleged bigotry. Aurangzeb is a severely misunderstood historical figure who has suffered perhaps more than any of the other Mughal rulers from present-day biases. There are two main reasons why Sanskrit ceased to be a major part of Mughal imperial life during Aurangzeb’s rule. One, during the 17th century, Sanskrit was slowly giving way to Hindi. This was a wider literary shift in the subcontinent, and even under Shah Jahan we begin to see imperial attention directed towards Hindi-language intellectuals at the expense of Sanskrit. Aurangzeb’s reign simply happen to coincide with the waning of Sanskrit and the rise of literary Hindi.
Second, as most Indians know, Aurangzeb beat out Dara Shikoh for the Mughal throne. Dara Shikoh had been engaged in a series of cross-cultural exchanges involving Sanskrit during the 1640s and 1650s. Thus, from Aurangzeb’s perspective, breaking Mughal ties with the Sanskrit cultural world was a way to distinguish his idioms of rule from those of the previous heir apparent. In short, Aurangzeb decided to move away from what little remained of the Mughal interest in Sanskrit as a political decision, rather than as a cultural or religious judgment.
“Dara Shikoh had been engaged in a series of cross-cultural exchanges involving Sanskrit during the 1640s and 1650s.” Painting shows the marriage procession of Shikoh. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Source: National Museum, Delhi
As a side note, let me clarify that while Akbar inaugurated Mughal engagements with Sanskrit, he did so for slightly different reasons than many people think. Akbar’s reputation is that he was open-minded and tolerant, almost a protosecular figure. This can be a misleading characterisation. Akbar was interested in Sanskrit for its political valence in his empire, not as some personal religious quest. Akbar also had no qualms about harshly judging perspectives that he viewed as beyond the pale. A good example is that he questioned Jain thinkers about whether they were monotheists because to be otherwise would mean being evicted from the Mughal court (Jains assured him that they believed in God).
What was the interaction between the Mughal elites and Brahmin Hindus and Jain religious groups like?
Brahmans, for example, assisted with Mughal translations of Sanskrit texts into Persian. The method was that Brahmans would read the Sanskrit text, verbally translate it into Hindi (their shared language with the Mughals), and then the Mughals would write down the translation in Persian. Jains and Brahmans alike assisted the Mughals with astrology. Brahmans cast Sanskrit-based horoscopes for the Mughal royal family. On at least one occasion, Jains performed a ceremony to counteract an astrological curse on Jahangir’s newborn daughter. My forthcoming book, Culture of Encounters, devotes an entire chapter to reconstructing the social history of links between Mughal elites and Brahmans/Jains.
You argue that the ideology underpinning violence — such as what took place in the 2002 pogrom, in which more than 1,000 Muslims died, or the current intolerance towards them — erases Mughal history and writes religious conflicts into Indian history where there was none, thereby justifying modern religious intolerance. Is it correct to then deduce that there was no religious conflict in the court of the Mughals?
No. First, there was plenty of violence in Mughal India. Violence and conflict are enduring features of the human experience and I would never suggest otherwise. Even under Akbar, violence was commonplace. A far trickier question, however, is, how much Mughal-led violence was religious-based or motivated by religious conflicts? Generally, the Mughals acted violently towards political foes (whether they were Rajput, Muslim, Hindu, or otherwise was irrelevant). It is very difficult for many modern people to accept that violence in pre-modern India was rarely religiously motivated. In this sense, pre-colonial India looked very different than pre-modern Europe, for example. But we lack historical evidence that the Mughals attacked religious foes. On the contrary, some scholars have even suggested that modern “Western” ideas about religious toleration were, in part, inspired by what early European travellers witnessed in the Mughal Empire.
That said, there were limited instances when the Mughals persecuted specific individuals over religious differences. A good example is that Akbar sent a few of the Muslim ulama on hajj to Mecca, which meant that they were effectively exiled from the court. Some of these ulama were murdered on their way out of India.
Is there a problem with a Marxist interpretation of history as is being argued now by the BJP government?
Marxist history is limiting, in my opinion. This strain of thought tends to emphasise social class and economic factors in determining historical trajectories. Modern historians have a much wider range of approaches at their disposal that better situate us to understand other aspects of the past.
Mughal history is such a contentious part of history in the Hindu nationalist imagination. How do you propose to shed light, and create space for a scholarly engagement with the period? It also comes at a time when there is a wave of revisionism in India.
My approach is that of a historian. I seek primary sources from numerous languages and archives, read deeply in secondary scholarship, and attempt to reconstruct the most accurate vision of pre-colonial India possible. My work has plenty of present-day implications, but those come secondary and explicitly after the serious historical work. This approach is unappealing to many in modern India (and across the world). It is painstaking, requires specialist knowledge, can be slow, and often leads to nuanced conclusions. But there are also plenty of people, non-academics, who view what is going on in modern India with scepticism. For those who want it, my work offers a historically sound foundation for challenging modern political efforts to revise the past.
What are the dangers of rewriting history?
So far as the dangers of rewriting history and subscribing to narrow interpretations of specific texts, there are many risks. One is that we risk rising intolerance going forward, something already witnessed on both popular and elite levels in 21st century India. Another risk is that we cheapen the past. India has a glorious history and one of the richest literary inheritances of any place on earth — it would be unfortunate to constrict our minds to the point where we can no longer appreciate these treasures.
You argue that “a more divisive interpretation of the relationship between the Mughals and Hindus actually developed during the colonial period from 1757 to 1947”, a legacy that the present Modi government appears to have inherited. But while the British positioned themselves as neutral saviours, who will emerge as the neutral saviours now?
In the BJP vision, I believe that the new saviour is the BJP itself and affiliated Hindu nationalist groups that will restore India to its proper, true nature as a land for Hindus. This is an appealing ideology for many people, which is part of what makes it so dangerous. I maintain that India’s greatness is found in its astonishing diversity, not some invented, anachronistic, monolithic Hindu past. Part of the sad irony of the BJP’s emphasis on rewriting Indian history is precisely that India has a deep and compelling history, which so many seem intent to ignore.
ndanu@ thehindu.co.in
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Opinion> Interview / by Anuradha Raman / September 14th, 2015
American researcher Celia Bell delves into the works of Hyderabad’s Urdu poets Mah Laqa Bai Chanda and Luft-un-Nisa Imtiyaz
At a time when Urdu language is losing patronage among native speakers, it seems to strike a chord elsewhere. Its poetic form in particular has many followers both within and outside the country. Interestingly, in the land of Uncle Sam too Urdu is making waves, and not just out of curiosity.
Celia Bell, a student of Columbia University, is a case in point. Charmed by the musical quality of the language, she has come all the way from New York to Hyderabad to do research on two women Urdu poets of the 18th century, poets that Hyderabadis themselves have almost forgotten. She has chosen little known poets like Mah Laqa Bai Chanda and Luft-un-Nisa Imtiyaz for her research. Their works have not generated much critical appreciation and this is precisely the reason why Bell would like to explore them.
Maha Laqa Bai was the first women poet with a diwan (published works) of her own. A woman of great beauty, she was a courtesan during the reign of Nizam II and III. Luft-un-Nisa was also a sahibaan-e-diwan poetess with a rich collection of ghazals and masnavis. She wrote under the penname ‘Imtiyaz’.
During the last one month she is here, Bell’s mission has stirred quite a bit of interest and is drawing quiet admiration among Urdu circles. “It is interesting to take up studies on writers on whom not many have researched. I hope I will be able to throw fresh light on these poetesses,” she remarks.
Bell plans to explore the ‘gendered voices’ in the poetry of Mah Laqa Bai and Luft-un-Nisa. She will also delve into the technical elements of their works and their impact on Deccani literature. This project will be of immense help to Bell who wants to do Ph.D on contemporary literature and South Asian Studies. She is in India as part of the Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Programme.
But why in the world she has chosen Urdu literature for research? “I am much drawn to Urdu. It is a sweet language. The best part is its poetry which casts a spell,” says the 24-year-old who is quite familiar with the language by virtue of having studied Hindi at the undergraduate level.
“Main padh sakti hoon, bol sakti hoon aur likh sakti hoon (I can read, speak and write),” she says in Americanised accent. But she feels shy of speaking in Urdu for fear of committing mistakes. “That’s why I am conversing with you in English,” she laughs.
Bell is all appreciation for Dr Habeeb Nisar, her research guide at the University of Hyderabad. The University is her host institution during her nine-month long project work. A self driven resercher, Bell has been poring over books in libraries and has found little time to explore the nawabi city. She is looking forward to the trek to Maula Ali to look up the mausoleum of Mah Laqa Bai.
Who are her favourite Urdu poets? Mirza Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz – she reels out the names. But she is more fond of Ghalib whom she considers the Shakespeare of Urdu. She backs her claim by reciting this famous couplet of Ghalib:
Baske hoon Ghalib aseeri main bhi aatishe zere pa
Mue aatish deedah, hai halqa meri zanjeer ka
(Whereas, even in bondage, there is fire under my feet Ghalib
The chain that binds me is merely curls of singed hair)
She further recites verses from the works of Faiz Ahmed Faiz –
Ye daagh daagh ujaala, ye shab-gazidar sahr
Ye wo sahr to nahin jiski aarzu lekar
Chale the yaar ke mil jaiegi kahin na khain
(The stain-tainted light, this night-bitten dawn
That we were waiting for, this is not that morning
This is not the morning, in whose yearning
We had set out full of hope that we will surly find)
Bell took to writing early in her life. A good number of her short stories in English have appeared in New York Times Magazine and literary journals like Five Points and Bomb Magazine. Will she write in Urdu too? She only flashes a big smile by way of answer.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by J.S. Ifthekhar / Hyderabad – September 13th, 2015
Najim Arshad, who rose to fame after winning the Idea Star Singer title in its second season, married Thesni Thaha in Punalur, Kerala on Sunday.
The wedding reception is scheduled at 6 pm in Thiruvananthapuram later in the day. Another reception will be organised for celebrities and other guests on 17 September in Kochi.
Najim’s wife Thesni aka Kiki completed her BDS course in Bangalore. The two met each other through a friend in January 2014 and the marriage was extended for nearly one-and-a-half-year to let Thesni complete her studies.
The duo had got engaged on 16 April in a private ceremony attended by some close friends and families of the couple.
Najim, 29, has made a mark in the industry by rendering his voice for many popular songs in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films.
source: http://www.ibtimes.com / International Business Times / Home> News> Entertainment> Celebrity / by Anu James / September 11th, 2015
Religion is irrelevant to the study of these structures and heritage, says Abdul Aziz Rajput Bijapuri, a researcher from Vijayapura.— Photo: Gopichand T.
Abdul Aziz Rajput Bijapuri has travelled extensively in the Deccan and visited every Jain historical place ‘at least twice in the last 10 years’
It is not often that one comes across a book on Jain iconography written by a scholar of Islamic art. Abdul Aziz Rajput Bijapuri, a researcher from Vijayapura, has just completed the book on Jain icons and sculptures of the Deccan, with special reference to Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Bidar.
He is planning another book on the monuments relating to the Jain period in Karnataka. In Bidar to study Sri Parshwanatha temple at Kamthana village, he spoke to The Hindu on how Jain iconography fascinated him.
“The Kamthana temple was built by the Rattarasa kings in the 10th century. It served as a gurukul or school for several hundred years. However, it fell into disuse till it was renovated in 1987,” Mr. Bijapuri explains.
He has travelled extensively in the Deccan and visited every Jain historical place “at least twice in the last 10 years”. He has compiled history, architecture and present condition of the monuments, along with the statues, art plates and stucco and other craft in the buildings.
He has also documented Hindu temples in the Deccan and written treatises about their art and architecture. He has written 12 books, on monuments and religious places of Hinduism, Islam and Jainism.
“Religion is irrelevant to the study of these structures and heritage,” he said. He recalled how scholar late M.M. Kalburgi praised him during a seminar in Dharwad for focusing on his area of research, without bothering about criticism from some quarters about his religious affiliation. “Kalburgi had told me we need more people who study the heritage of religions other than their own,” he recalled.
Mr. Bijapuri has translated books between Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi. He has also set up an NGO, Deccan Studies and Historical Research, that organises seminars, heritage walks and publishes books and brochures in Vijayapura.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Rishikesh Bahadur Desai / Bidar – September 13th, 2015
Historian and writer Rana Safvi’s blog, ‘Hazrat-e-Dilli’, is a little corner of the Internet dedicated entirely to the Capital — its new and old architecture, the dizzying variety of food, age-old traditions and much more. Her new book, “Where Stones Speak”, is another tribute to Delhi, and arguably its first city, Mehrauli. Safvi traces Mehrauli’s history through simple words and haunting couplets, takes us through its diverse monuments and weaves facts with storytelling in a way that paints a picture achingly beautiful in its richness and depth.
Excerpts from an interview:
What brought about the idea?
Delhi for us was just a transit point for changing trains to Lucknow or Nainital. Except for a visit to Red Fort and Qutub Minar with a university group I had never visited any of its beautiful monuments. It is only in the past few years when my daughter shifted here that I spent time in Delhi. I started going out for heritage walks with various groups. It was during these that I realised though there was a lot of material it was scattered and quite a lot of it was in Urdu so inaccessible to many. I wanted to write a book on the lines of Hearn’s “Seven Cities of Delhi” but when I reached Mehrauli the first city I realised that it had enough treasures to form a full book on its own. This book happened – I had set out to write something else. I feel it was blessed and willed by Mehrauli’s guardian saint Qutub Sahab.
It’s an ambitious book, one that would require you to go through reams of material. What kind of initial research did you do?
The first thing I did was to shift from Dubai to Delhi NCR as I accessed books for research. I did not want to rely on online resources only. I went through bibliographies of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and books written on Delhi. I went to the Urdu Bazaar. Then I bought the books. I feel I became Flipkart’s biggest customer, with books pouring in every week. I have built quite a library now and it’s ongoing. ASI itself has many books on Delhi especially on the Qutub Complex which I went through. Their library and photo section are treasure houses and I got a lot of help from them. There are many Urdu books available. A 1919 book by Bashiruddin Ahmed called ‘Waqi’at-Dar-ul-Hukumat Dehli’ is full of stories and anecdotes.
How difficult was it to find preserved records and materials for the book?
ASI publications are the best source for records and materials. Records of excavations and research done from the time of Sir Alexander Cunningham in Delhi in the latter part of 19th Century are all available with them. Carr Stephen’s 1876 book “Archaeology and Monumental Remains of Delhi” was also invaluable. Many British officers of ASI have written books on Delhi in late 19th and early 20th Century. Maulvi Zafar Hasan’s book, ‘Monuments of Delhi’, published in 1916 for the ASI details all the monuments of Delhi. Many of these are lost to us now. For contemporary history I relied on ‘The History of India, as told by Its Own Historians’ Henry Miers Elliot and John Dowson. Some of the books are now out of print or badly reprinted. I got these from the U.S. where there were second hand sellers.
Delhi’s history is a curious mix of facts and folklore. What kind of balance were you looking to provide in this book?
I have taught history in middle and senior school for many years. I know how bored people get if we just keep presenting fact after fact. I tried to use the same technique I used for my students: tell the story as accurately as I could and make it interesting. I have used anecdotes I found in my reference books as well as a few recounted to me. Wherever they are unsubstantiated by records I have mentioned that too. I have tried to enliven it by using Urdu verses which describe the stunning photographs taken by Syed Mohammad Qasim better than I ever could with my prose. It also embellishes the prose and breaks the monotony of facts. This is a style not used by any other English book on history (at least I haven’t come across it). It has been used in Urdu books though not to this extent.
What is the legacy of this past, and how you think it defines contemporary Delhi and its people?
In 1947, when India was partitioned, many of the old inhabitants of Mehrauli and Shahjahanabad left for Pakistan. The refugees who came here were shell-shocked by the trauma of being torn away from their native lands and having to start anew. For them it was survival that mattered the most. These old buildings held no meaning for them. There was a lot of encroachment those days. Those who didn’t migrate had different problems to cope with. Thankfully, the interest in heritage and our cultural legacy has once again been awakened. The younger generation is identifying with it and showing interest in preserving it. This can be seen in the wealth of books and programmes on our historical and cultural legacy.
Delhi is a juxtaposition of age old monuments and modern architecture. Do you think even by themselves these structures carry an impact?
For me every stone has a story to tell. It is up to us to tell those stories in such a way that these monuments speak to everyone. This can’t be done only through dry facts. It’s only when factual stories are associated with it that people will remember and talk of them fondly. For instance the feedback I get is that Sultan Razia’s story has made them look at Quwwatul ul Islam Mosque with new perspective. It is no longer a pile of stones but a place where a great historical event took place. Structures carry impact when we associate something which we found interesting with it. I don’t know how far I have succeeded but that has been my attempt.
source: http://www.m.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> MetroPlus / by Swati Daftuar / September 12th, 2015
The Kannada-Telugu film choreographer and director on living the cinematic life
Stuti Agarwal interviews Imran Sardhariya
Why choreography?
I landed in choreography by chance. In school, people thought I was cute and put me up on stage in front of dancing girls. Before I knew it I was dancing.
Was getting into films easy?
No, but I have been lucky. I was introduced to the industry by Ramesh Arvind, whose daughter I taught in my dance academy. My third song, Stylo Stylo, won me great acclaim.
You are solely choreographing the SIIMA Awards 2015.
Over three years of SIIMA, I was bothered by its mediocrity. This year they asked me to choreograph it all.
It seems to have become a trend—from choreography to direction….
For me, the leap came after a friend pushed me in that direction saying it was the obvious next step.
Your first directorial debut, Endhendhigu, wasn’t a hit.
It does not deter me, but only spurs me to do better. I’ve seen this happen to many.
Like your movie, your life is a romantic filmi tale.
I guess that is where I get my love for romance. We moved to Bangalore after my dad passed away and it was there that I met my future wife. She was training at the studio where I was assisting; facing parental opposition, we had to elope!
Choreography or direction?
My first love is choreography. But film-making is also a passion.
You say cinema has taught you diplomacy.
I am straightforward and that landed me in trouble often. Over the years I have learnt to listen to people before I give my opinion.
What’s next?
Producing.
Any plans of getting into Bollywood?
Who doesn’t want to get into Bollywood!
source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Arts & Entertainment / Inteview – 10 Questions / by Stuti Agarwal / Magazine – September 21st, 2015
Justice T. Raja, judge, Madras High Court, releases a book on former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Kalam’s scientific adviser K. Ponraj receives the first copy as Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian (right) looks on. Photo: G. Moorthy
Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s ancestors were wealthy merchants involved in trading of groceries between Rameswaram and Sri Lanka. They also owned several boats to ferry people from the mainland to the island and back. But their fortunes dwindled after the construction of Pamban Bridge in 1914, said Justice T. Raja, judge, Madras High Court, on Thursday.
Addressing a group of lawyers after releasing a book ‘A complete Indian’ penned by Additional Government Pleader T.S. Mohamed Mohideen on the ideals of former President, the judge said that Kalam’s rise from Rameswaram to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and then into the hearts of 1.28 billion citizens of the country was a great journey that could inspire millions of youngsters to tread his path.
Kalam’s former scientific advisor K. Ponraj, who received the first copy of the book, said that the former President was the only individual to have addressed 2.5 crore students and motivated them towards Vision 2020. “He considered the post of President ceremonial and concentrated more on disseminating his agenda of national development besides performing his ceremonial duties,” he added.
Mr. Ponraj also said that Kalam holds the distinction of making a Powerpoint presentation even to the then President of United States George W. Bush on how India would become an energy independent nation by 2030. “He had invited our Members of Parliament too for breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan and made a presentation on the role expected to be played by Parliamentarians in achieving Vision 2020,” he said. Justice S. Nagamuthu, Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Bar Association (MMBA) president M. Subash Babu and others took part in the event.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Special Correspondent / Madurai – August 21st, 2015
