Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Acting is not age specific: Shafaq Naaz

Arts, Culture & Entertainment,

Actress Shafaq Naaz  currently playing Kunti in serial Mahabharata  is just 20 years old, we asked the actress was it an easy task to play the character that commands utmost maturity on screen?

“Believe me I just went and read the script. While shooting for the serial, never has this thought came to me that I am playing a character of mother of five son! I think that sense of maturity has always been there in me. Also feel acting is not age specific,it is how well you can justify the character.”

Talking about her foray in acting, the actress says it was not planned, “I used to take dance classes in Saroj Khan’s dancing institute when she saw me first. She really liked my expressions and told my parents ki isko Mumbai lekar aao yeh bahut aage jayegi. After finishing my twelfth exams I went to Mumbai and within 5 months I got the serial Bidaai . Otherwise I was aiming for doctor after giving twelfth exams” she says.

The actress says she wants to do a film after serial Mahabharata. “If I get a chance I would like to do a film after Mahabharata.” On being asked any actor that she dreams to work with? She says, “I would love to work with Ranbir. I had a serious crush on him after movie Saanwariyan that continued for 3-4 months. Par ab kuch aisa nahi hai” she clears.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India, TV / Home> Hindi Entertainment> Hindi> TV / by Rinu Singh, TNN / October 22nd, 2013

After father and father-in-law, Sahitya Akademi award for Javed Akhtar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Javed Akhtar.
Javed Akhtar.

After a serious health scare, poet-writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar’s life has been brightened with some joyful tidings. He has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi award, the country’s highest literary honour, for his poems in the anthology entitled “Lava”.

Happy to be on his feet again, physically and creatively, Akhtar said: “Mazey ki baat yeh hai ki eek parivaar mein teen sadasyon ko Sahitya Akademi award se samnanna gaya hai (Interestingly, three people from the same family have been honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award).”

“My father (poet-lyricist Jan Nisar Akhtar) got the Sahitya Akademi in 1976 for his collection of poems ‘Khaak-e-dil’. My father-in-law Kaifi Azmi got the Sahitya Akademi award in 1973 for his collection of poems ‘Awara Sajde’. Now it’s me,” added the prolific writer, who is married to actress Shabana Azmi.

Akhtar can’t stop marvelling at the beauty of the coincidence.

“It may be possible for an awardee’s father or his father-in-law to win the same award. But for all three to win the same honour seems a bit difficult. I feel honoured that I am the recipient of an award that two such distinguished members of my family have received.”

His lower back ailment, which led to his hospitalisation in Delhi, is healing fast.

“I still feel some stiffness in my lower back. But the pain is now gone. God has been kind to me. He has given me so much. I can’t be complaining about a few days of pain and immobility,” he said.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Entertainment> Place: Mumbai, Agency:IANS / Friday – December 20th, 2013

Actor Aamir Khan to pay tribute to Maulana Azad at Kolkata fest

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders

Kolkata: 

Actor Aamir Khan, great grand nephew of Muslim scholar and nationalist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, will pay homage to the leader during the inaugural session of the fifth chapter of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) 2014, its organisers said Tuesday.

AKLF, running from Jan 8 to 13 next year, will celebrate the secular views of Azad to coincide with his 125th birth anniversary.

The festival will begin with Khan’s lecture titled “Maulana Azad: His belief in Secularism and his Foresight” at the Victoria Memorial Hall here.

Syeda Hameed, member, Planning Commission, will launch her book “Maulana Azad, Islam and the Indian National Movement”, at the fest.

“As part of the tribute, we have sessions on Urdu and Hindi poetry and sessions on exploring the south Asian literary identity,” Anjum Katyal, one of the directors of AKLF, said.

The fest, organised by Apeejay Surrendra Group and Oxford Bookstores, will witness the participation of around 60 delegates including authors and panelists from Europe, Britain, Egypt, China, Ghana and neighbours Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

The speakers and panelists will include the likes of former BBC journalist and author Mark Tully, British author and playwright Farrukh Dhondy, Pakistani artist and writer Salima Hashmi, novelist Nabaneeta Dev Sen and Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will also release his book at the event.

Woven around themes of ‘women’s writings’, the Raj, European authors and Granta authors (best young British novelists), the fest will also incorporate subjects that interest youngsters.

To lure the youth, discussions on writings on romance, food and love in Bollywood and fashion will be kept in focus. Speakers include upcoming authors like Nepali-Indian author Prajwal Parajuly and fashion designer Kallol Dutta among others.

The fifth edition, spanning six locations including various heritage buildings in the city, will also highlight the connection between literature, art and cinema through deliberations on music, dance and scriptwriting.

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> National / by IANS /  Kolkata, Tuesday – December 17th, 2013

Kashmir writer Mohi-ud-Din Reshi selected for Sahitya Academy award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Mohi-ud-din ReshiMPos19Dec2013

Jammu :

Sahitya Academy has selected ‘Aen’a Aatash’, a short story book in Kashmiri authored by former Information Officer and noted poet and writer Mohi-ud-Din Reshi, for its Annual Award-2013.

An official spokesman said the award would be presented to Reshi in March 2014 at New Delhi.

“The book has been highly acclaimed by various circles in and outside the State and several of its short stories have received commendation from writers like Prof Rehman Rahi, MY Taing, Prof Muhammad Aslam and others.”

Many of the short stories have also been translated and published in different classical and international languages. Besides, “English Studies in India”, a prestigious literary journal of Kashmir University’s English Department, has published several stories of Reshi.

source: http://www.greaterkashmir.com / Greater Kashmir, Srinagar / Home> Jammu / by GK News Network / Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

Javed Akthar, Mridula Garg chosen for Sahitya Akademi Awards

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

New Delhi :

Bollywood lyricist-scriptwriter Javed Akhtar, Hindi novelist Mridula Garg  and renowned Bengali poet Subodh Sarkar are among those selected for this year’s Sahitya Akademi Award.

The Akademi said eight books of poetry, four essays, three novels, two short stories, two travelogues, an autobiography, a memoir and one play have been chosen for the coveted award.

“We couldn’t announce the award in Assamese and Gujarati language due to some unavoidable reasons. We will announce those awards very soon,” K Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi told reporters today.

Akhtar has been chosen for “Lava”, his compilation of 55 Urdu poems.

The awards are recommended by distinguished jury members, representing 22 Indian languages and approved by the executive board of the Akademi, which met on Thursday under the chair of Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

The award, a literary honour conferred to writers for their outstanding works in the field of literature, is scheduled to be conferred here on March 11 during the annual Akademi’s Festival of Letters.

“We are happy to say that this year we’ve been able to confer awards in each category … from poetries, novels, essay collections to autobiography, play and travelogues,” Sreenivasarao said.

Short story category award was bagged by Temsula Ao (English- Laburnum for my head), Mohi-ud-Din Reshi (Kashmiri- Aina Aatash).

CN Ramachandran (Kannada-Akyana-Vyakyana), Tukaram Rama Shet (Konkani- Manmotayam), Satish Kalasekar (Marathi-Vachanaryachi Rojanishee) and Katyani Vidmahe (Telugu-Sahityaakashmlo Sagam) bagged the award for their respective book of essays.

Makhonmani Mongsaba (Manipuri-Chinglon Amadagi Amada) and Man Bhadhur Pradhan (Nepali-Manka Lahar Ra Raharharu) have been chosen for their travelogues.

The bulk of the awards went to poets. Subodh Sarkar (Bengali-Dwaipayan Hrader Dhare), Anil Boro (Bodo-Delphini Onthai Mwdai Arw Gubun Gubun Khonthai) Sitaram Sapolia (Dogri-Doha Satsai), Ambika Dutt (Rajasthani-Aanthyoi Nahi Din Hal) Radhakant Thakur (Sanskri- Chaladuravani), Arjun Charan Hembram (Santhali- Chanda Bonga) and Namdev Tarachandani (Sindhi-Mansh-Nagari).

Mridula Garg (Hindi- Miljul Man), RN Joe D’ Cruz (Tamil-Korkai) and Manmohan (Punjabi- Nirvaan) won it for novels.

Sureshwar Jha (Maithili- Sangharsh Aa Sehanta) won the award for memoir, M N Paloor (Malayalam- Kathayillathavante Katha) for autobiography and Bijoy Mishra (Odiya-Banaprastha) for a play.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by PTI / December 19th, 2013

‘Petrol Uncle’ is Santa for motorists

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues

Mohammad Arif Sait helps motorists who run out of fuel at night

Kindness in a bottle:Mohammad Arif Sait sits outside the petrol outlet on Coles Road, offering desperate motorists a spot of fuel and water.— Photo: K. Murali Kumar / The Hindu
Kindness in a bottle:Mohammad Arif Sait sits outside the petrol outlet on Coles Road, offering desperate motorists a spot of fuel and water.— Photo: K. Murali Kumar / The Hindu

A fuel tank that reads empty at an inopportune time, especially at night with no petrol station in sight, is every motorist’s nightmare. Making sure that such desperate motorists who cross his path aren’t stranded is ‘Petrol Uncle’ Mohammad Arif Sait.

Mr. Sait sits outside a petrol outlet on Coles Road (near Fraser Town) from 11 p.m. to 12.30 a.m. every day with 10 bottles of petrol, worth at least Rs. 50 each, to help motorists who arrive after the outlet is closed at 11 p.m. He has done this for the last five years.

“There hasn’t been a single night when people haven’t come pushing their vehicle to the petrol station. I give them water to drink, and petrol to reach the nearest open pump,” he says proudly.

What goes around

It started when his scooter ran out of petrol one night. “I went in an auto and fetched petrol in a bottle from the nearest petrol outlet. I refilled the bottle and kept it with me. The same night, I saw a person pushing his vehicle on the road. He had run out of petrol. I gave him the bottle. He thanked me profusely. This prompted me to do this regularly,” Mr. Sait said.

He takes his spot every night after shutting his footwear store on Commercial Street.

He refuses to accept the money offered for the petrol by those he helps. All he asks is that the motorist fill the bottle at the nearest open fuel station and return it, so he can give it to others.

“Initially I used to spend around Rs. 1,000 a month,” he says. “The cost was nothing compared to the satisfaction I got from helping those in need. Now, I do not have to spend any money. Motorists refill the bottle return it to me.”

Mr. Sait’s family has not been able to convince him to stop this “service” even after two heart surgeries and a fractured leg. “I have made it clear I will continue this service till my last day. In fact, I feel healthier because of all the blessings.”

Recently, he was approached by a company to act in its ad films. A Kannada film director too has offered him a special appearance.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Bangalore – December 17th, 2013

Artist ‘constructs life’, bags global honour

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion,

Bangalore :

Constructing Life, a digital artwork by Shibu Arakkal, son of noted artist Yusuf Arakkal, has won first prize at the prestigious Florence Biennale.

Based in Bangalore, Shibu said the event saw the participation of 475 artists under the categories of painting, sculpture, art on paper, video art, digital art, photography and installations. “Although, I applied under the photography category, the international panel of jurists awarded me under digital art due to the technique execution of my work”, he said. Shibu received the Lorenzo il Magnifico gold prize in digital art for 2013.

“Since none of us was told about the nominations, the winners were in for a pleasant surprise at the ceremony on December 8. My work measures 8 feet x 6 feet, comprising 12 panels. It’s a digital photo giclee print on canvas,” Shibu explained. The awards were presented by brothers Pasquale Celona  and Piero Celona, president and vice-president of the Biennale.

Describing the artwork, he said: “Our daily lives and quality of life are not only signified by the physical buildings we inhabit but also speak about our tastes, culture and sophistication. One of our most serious endeavours in life is to create one such dwelling to exist and flourish in. Sophisticated and design-minded buildings are visually very different from the hard and weather-beaten appearances of the people who construct these structures. And yet there is such character in their form and faces! It is these ideas that have taken root in my mind to create portraits of the construction worker in a series that will question our ideas of what ‘interesting’ is.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / by G S Kumar, TNN / December 17th, 2013

Naseeruddin finds fascination with Oscars ‘laughable’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Actor Naseeruddin Shah, a veteran in the Hindi film world, says Indian filmmakers’ fascination for the Academy Awards is “laughable”. He believes “we are never going to win any”.

NaseeruddinMPos16dec2013

The 63-year-old, who has featured in films like “Masoom”, “Sarfarosh”, “Iqbal” and “The Dirty Picture”, was asked what he makes of the current scenario of Indian filmmakers fighting with each other to make it to the Oscars.

“The fascination with the Oscar…I find it laughable, because we are never going to win any. I mean those who are hoping about it just forget about it, because it’s never going to happen. It’s like chasing the rainbow,” he said.

This year, Gujarati film “The Good Road” is India’s official submission for the foreign language film category at the 86th Academy Awards.

Naseeruddin says the fascination for an Oscar is futile.

“It’s just a yearning for worldwide recognition and we feel that Oscars guarantees us that, so that’s why there is this hankering for an Oscar. It’s ridiculous. I think everybody should just keep making the kind of films they want to make,” he added. Meanwhile, the actor is currently busy promoting his film “Dedh Ishqiya”. He shares the frame with Bollywood’s dancing diva Madhuri Dixit and sets the record straight about his reported “steamy scenes” with her in the movie.

“There are no such scenes in the film. I think people just enjoy talking about this kind of stuff, so I am assuring those who want to see ‘Dedh Ishqiya’ that there are no steamy scenes between Madhuri and myself. It’s all poetry but its good poetry,” he said.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, “Dedh Ishqiya” also features Arshad Warsi and Huma Qureshi.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Entertainment / IANS / Mumbai –  December 16th, 2013

Taking Indian cinema global: Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, AR Rahman tell how

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion

ShahRukhKhanMPos14Dec2013

With divides like mainstream and parallel cinema, single screens and multiplexes, Indian cinema lives under a divide which is a deterrent to its own good, superstar Shah Rukh Khan said here Saturday, even as Amitabh Bachchan felt the need of the hour is to “blend in” to go global.

“Until we don’t inculcate a habit of collaborations, we won’t be able to inch towards global cinema,” Shah Rukh said at the Solutions Summit, a conclave organised by NDTV to celebrate 25 years of its existence.

The actor said it is important to be able to give to the world what it understands, in order to be accepted.

“If you want to be a part of global cinema, you have to tell what you want to tell, show the emotions which you want to show, but you have to put it in the way the world wants to see it,” he added.

Shah Rukh was joined on the panel with veterans like Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman and Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman.

Rahman, who has created tunes for international projects like “Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours”, says he finds himself in a situation when different things are expected from him in India and in foreign shores.

“I have been a victim of this. What is considered to be good here, is not good there…I have to switch between the two. However, there are some things which are common as well,” he said.

Amitabh, 71, who made his Hollywood debut with “The Great Gatsby” earlier this year, agreed with the fact that Indian cinema is unique, but added that we need to try and “blend in”.

“It is obvious that our cinema is unique. We need to blend with the west in order to be global,” he said.

Amitabh attributes this to the work of the current generation of actors and filmmakers, who are putting in efforts to make Indian cinema visible to the world.

“Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar are responsible in bringing commercial cinema to where it is now. The way they have marketed it has helped us a lot. I think that was a point when Indian cinema became global,” he added.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Entertainment> Report / Place: New Delhi,  Agency:IANS / Saturday – December 14th, 2013

Rahman Khan urges Muslims to revisit Golden Age of Islamic science

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Science & Technology

Rahman+KhanMPos14dec2013

December :

(Pervez Bari): “The time has come for the entire Muslim world to introspect and get awakened to revisit five centuries, from 750 to 1258 AD – which is often described as the Golden Age of Islamic science — the teaching and practice of medicine in Europe was heavily influenced by the works of Al-Razi (d. 925), Al-Zahrawi (d. 1013) and Ibn Sina (d. 1037) to reinvent Islam’s image of peace, human values and service to humanity through Quranic injunction and Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) sayings (Hadees).

The difference between non-Muslims and Muslims is only that of service to humanity by the latter on the directives of Quran”.

The above observation was made by Mr. K. Rahman Khan Union Minister of Minority Affairs, who was the chief guest, while delivering the inaugural address of the three-day International Conference on “Revisiting Abul Qasim Al-Zahrawi’s Legacy in Medicine and Surgery” here on Friday evening at the India Islamic Cultural Centre.

Rahman Khan lamented that whole of Islamic world today is in turmoil despite it is blessed with wealth at its hand but no research is being conducted to benefit mankind. He called upon Muslims, especially youth, to emulate Al-Zahrawi, who has been called father of modern medicine and surgery, not only in medical but all other fields to serve the mankind.

The New Delhi-based Institute of Objective Studies, (IOS), in collaboration with MESCO (Muslim Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation, Hyderabad), and Maulana Azad Education Foundation, Ministry of Minority Affairs, New Delhi is organizing the three-day international conference on to mark the 1000th death anniversary of the pioneer physician and surgeon and highlight his wide-ranging contributions to medicine and surgery. The co-sponsors of the event are India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi, and PARAS HEALTHCARE.

Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr. Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, KSA, in his presidential address said that Islamic medicine is not specific medical procedures or therapeutic agents used in a particular place or a particular time. Islamic medicine is universal, all-embracing, flexible, and allows for growth and development of various methods of investigation and treatment of diseases within the framework described above’. The conceptual clarification from this definition opened the door to Islamization of modern scientific medicine.

Prof. Kasule Islamic Health Care Industry provides a value-added to medical care, spirituality, ibadat-friendly hospital, and Islamic ambience. The Islamic approach provides holistic care. Unlike Islamic finance, it started with professional training at faculties of medicine. All have a stake in health only a few have a stake in banking, he added.

Meanwhile, Harish Chandra Singh Rawat, Union Minister of Water Resources, in his address said that he salutes the sense of dedication and sense of inequality in Islam which Al-Zahrawi followed to serve whole humanity and not Muslims alone.

Dr. Fakhruddin Mohammad, Organising Secretary & Hony. Secretary, MESCO, Hyderabad threw light on the introduction of the theme of the international conference aptly.

Dr. Ahmad Abdul Hai, MD & Chief Consultant, Hai Medicare & Research Institute, Patna, in his key-note address said: “Islam has made a very glorious contribution to the art of healing. The basic impetus and the inspiration for this Islamic medicine came from the Noble Quran and the teachings of the Holy Prophet which took medicine away from the realm of superstation & fantasy and gave it a rational footing. This was the basis of Islamic Medicine”.

Dr. Hai quoted Dr. Ahmad Al Kadi of USA who had said: “the treatment in question may be spiritual, physical, exercises, nutritional adjustment, pharmaceuticals preparation (natural or synthetic) surgical procedures, implants, use of modern diagnostic tools (MRI & PET Scan), radiation therapy or a combination of any of these modalities”.

This definition of Islamic medicine may come as a surprise for some of us who feel that Islamic medicine is something limited to the therapy practiced by the revered old Hakeem’s, or is rooted only in natural herbs or is limited to the direct health related teachings found in the Quran & Hadith, or some faith healing manoeuvres, he added.

He said that Islamic medicine includes all the modalities of modern medicine but yet differs from it because it is rooted in divine faith & ethics. It strives for excellence. It is comprehensive, paying attention to the body, the psyche and the soul. It takes into account not only the individual patient but also the society. It is universal, utilizing all useful resources and offering its services to all mankind.

Earlier, Dr. Fakhruddin said that Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi (940-1013), known as Albucasis in the West, devoted his entire life, in Madinat al-Zahra, near Cordoba, in Muslim Spain, to medical research and practice. He made an outstanding and original contribution to medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics, pharmacology and dentistry. He has been described as the father of modern surgery.

At the outset Maulana Abdullah Tarique recitated verses from the Holy Qur’an. Prof. M. Afzal Wani, Professor of Law, GGS IP University, Delhi, welcomed the dignitaries, guests and delegates. The inaugural session of the International Conference will be webcast live on the link http://vectraimage.com/webcast/ios/. Dr. Mohammed Iftekharuddin, Director, MESCO, Hyderabad conducted the inaugural function with aplomb.

Meanwhile, after the Maghrib prayers a plenary session was held on the theme of Islamic ethos in al-Zahrawi’s contribution to medicine and surgery which is still going at the time of going to the press. The plenary session is chaired by Maulana Dr. Saeed Al Azami Al Nadwi, Chancellor, Integral University and Chief Editor, Al Baas Al Islami, Lucknow. Prof. Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Founder President, Ibn Sina Academy of Medical Medicine and Sciences, Aligarh is the Co-Chairman of the session.  (pervezbari@eth.net)

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> India / by Pervez Bari pervezbari@eth.net / Friday – December 13th, 2013