Faria Abdullah, who made her acting debut with ‘Jathi Ratnalu’, is a multi-hyphenate, pursuing dance, theatre, painting and poetry
Faria Abdullah is still coming to terms with the euphoric response to her Telugu film Jathi Ratnalu: “It’s sinking in, one step at a time,” she says, speaking for this interview in between visiting cinema halls in Hyderabad for post-release promotions.
Jathi Ratnalu directed by K V Anudeep and starring Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi and Rahul Ramakrishna as three friends who migrate to Hyderabad in search of better prospects, but are sucked into a whirlwind of unexpected events, has taken the box office by storm.
All through lockdown, producers Vyjayanthi Films waited patiently for theatres to re-open, not wanting to take the OTT route. Faria looks back at the seemingly never-ending wait and says, “Nagi (producer Nag Ashwin) took a vote by asking us whether the film should have an OTT release or wait for theatres to re-open. I had completed filming 95% of my scenes and 90% of dubbing in 2019, and it was a long wait for me. Impatient to see myself on any screen, I voted for OTT. But he held on. Soon after the film’s preview and theatrical release, I messaged Nagi, thanking him for not listening to me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a newcomer like me.”
Rooted humour
She, just like the others involved with the film, was confident that it would be received well. But the euphoric response took them by pleasant surprise: “It’s becoming a sort of cult film?” Faria says cheerfully, adding, “We knew that the audience would relate to the authentic, rooted humour. Anudeep hails from Sangareddy district and his writing reflects the milieu. But the response is much more than what we imagined.”
Faria grew up in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, and was inclined to fine arts in school. She used to paint, learnt dance in summer camps and all this, she says, added to her personality. After Class X, she didn’t want to take the MPC (maths, physics, chemistry), BiPC (biology, physics, chemistry) or commerce streams. Her mother arranged for home-schooling: “That gave me the freedom to learn what I wanted, from different teachers. I would travel to Kachiguda for painting classes and Lingampally for literature…”
Around the same time, Faria got introduced to theatre and has been a part of well known theatre groups in Hyderabad — Nishumbita, Torn Curtains, Samahaara, Dramanon, Rangeen Sapne and Kissago, to name a few. “I missed working with the Sutradhar group so far,” she says. For a brief while, she also wrote and directed plays.
While pursuing Mass Communication at Loyola College, Hyderabad, she met Nag Ashwin who visited the campus as chief guest for an event: “He asked if I would be interested in acting in one of his productions, and I auditioned for the role.”
Faria Abdullah
On stage
Her experience in theatre prepared her for Jathi Ratnalu: “The stage prepares you for everything — acting, networking and social skills. On stage, you have to be present in the moment and think on your feet. Once, my sari nearly came undone. I quickly went backstage, took the strings off someone’s hoodie, tied my sari, and got back on stage.”
While many actors state that cinema, unlike theatre, has scope for retakes, Faria differs, “You have the opportunity to improvise when you perform the same play again. In cinema, you can’t do that.”
She remembers her parents and grandparents being inclined to the arts, especially acting and dancing, but not having the opportunities to showcase their talents: “I would hear that my mom used to dance when she was carrying me; maybe that’s how my interest in dance began. She was born in Kuwait, though her parents are from Mumbai and Hyderabad.”
The family spoke Hindi and Urdu. Faria learnt Telugu in the last couple of years and dubbed for the film.
Movement practitioner
Away from the cameras, her interests include abstract painting, poetry and dance. She’s also a movement practitioner: “I love freestyle dancing and I let music dictate my moves.” She learnt Kathak briefly, hip hop, house, waacking, belly dancing and dance hall styles.
Talking about her journey ahead, she says she hasn’t signed any new films yet: “I am open to acting in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and even English. Who knows?” She doesn’t want to limit herself to acting: “I’ve always been multi-hyphenate, expanding my skill sets and integrating them to my personality. I don’t want to be unidimensional.”
Before we wind up, we talk about Jathi Ratnalu and if, beneath its hilarious veneer, it’s a black comedy of migration and survival in the big city. Faria mulls over it and says, “It can be watched just as a fun film and later, one can ponder what it was about. I think there’s an element of black comedy. We talk about success and development and don’t realise that real development is when you can succeed in staying true to your roots. That’s what I believe in and I’m glad I could begin my career from Hyderabad.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Movies / by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo / Hyderabad – March 16th, 2021
The Urdu writer was chosen for his work Fakr-E-Watan
Shikaripur-based Urdu writer Hafiz Karnataki has been chosen for Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar of 2020. He received the award for his book Fakr-E-Watan, a work on freedom fighters of India.
Mr. Karnataki, 57, began his literary career as a poet in the 1980s and later turned towards writing for children. So far, he has brought out 94 books. He has translated many vacahanas of Basavanna and Akkamahadevi and writings of Kuvempu into Urdu.
Born into a family of teachers, he developed an interest in literature at a young age. He became a teacher at a government primary school in 1987 and worked at different places before resigning from the job in 2006.
Now he looks after his educational institution, which provides education to 3,000 girls at Shikaripura. He also worked as chairman of Karnataka Urdu Academy. A couple of students have done PhDs on his literature. Considering his contribution to the field of literature, Gulbarga University honoured him with an honorary doctorate in 2013.
After the Sahitya Akademi announced the award on Friday, he received calls from different parts of the country congratulating him. “I am getting congratulatory messages from many people. First among those called me were the scholars who did study my literature for PhD,” he told The Hindu on the phone.
Mr. Karnataki wants to hit a century by bringing out six more books soon, as he has already published 94 works. “Children of the present generation are more intelligent than me. I wish to write for them on values they have to inculcate at a young age,” he said. The award carries a cash prize of ₹50,000, besides a memento.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Hassan – March 14th, 2021
Opportunist, vote-splitter, kingmaker or gamechanger? Profile of Abbas Bhaijaan Siddiqui, the entity making ripples in the battle for Bengal.
Abbas Siddiqui / Prasun Chaudhuri
I head out for Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, 44 kilometres northwest of Calcutta, one early March morning. Hooghly is the potato bowl of Bengal. As the car speeds down the Durgapur Expressway, I notice freshly harvested potatoes in pink sacks dotting bare fields. I don’t have to ask for directions to the village centred around a 14th century mosque; it is all too well known.
Furfura Sharif, according to one of several theories, derives its name from the Farsi word farre farrah, meaning glory and happiness.
As my car veers off the expressway, I spot huge flex banners welcoming pilgrims to the upcoming Esaal-e-Sawab, an occasion where people congregate to pray for the deceased. The three-day-long gathering held every spring attracts over a million Muslim men from eastern India and Bangladesh. At the centre of the celebrations is a light green structure with golden domes — the mazar or tomb of Pir Hazrat Abu Baqr Siddique.
The pir, known locally as DadaHuzur, was a 19th century Sufi saint, educationist and social reformer. He had founded charitable organisations, orphanages, madrasas and health centres. To date, large sections of Muslims from Howrah, Hooghly, South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas and Dinajpur districts of Bengal visit Furfura Sharif to pay obeisance to him.
The area covers at least 90 Assembly constituencies in a state in which Muslims constitute about 27 per cent of the population. In the past, come election time, politicians would come here to offer prayers and meet the pirzadas, or direct descendants of Pir Hazrat, and seek their blessings and support.
This year, Furfura Sharif is in the news for a different reason. For the first time, a pirzada will be contesting elections.
Abbas Siddiqui, the 35-year-old who has floated the Indian Secular Front (ISF), a formation suddenly embraced by the Left Front — and to an uncertain degree, the Congress — ahead of the Bengal polls, is the great-grandson of the pir.
The place is milling with representatives of political parties, reporters and television crews. At the centre of it all is a freshly painted pink mansion, about 300 metres from the mazar. It is the office-cum-residence of Abbas and his family.
” Furfura Sharif was home to Pir Hazrat Abu Baqr Siddique, a 19th century Sufi saint.Abbas is his great-grandson and the first pirzada to join politics “
As I step into the courtyard, I find Abbas surrounded by TV crews of five different national channels. Before I can introduce myself, he signals as if to say I should get in the queue with the rest of the journalists. As I wait, I watch the man in white kurta-pyjama, waistcoat and skullcap. He is almost six feet tall, clearly in love with the TV camera. His voice is hoarse, possibly from all those recent campaigns.
Some men are at work erecting pandals for Esaal-e-Sawab. Young madrasa students in long robes and skull caps are scurrying around running errands. A couple of passers-by are gawking at the TV crews. A TV reporter, who is also waiting, is live-streaming all of this.
Abbas shot to fame overnight, after Left Front leaders introduced him at the rally at Calcutta’s Brigade Parade Ground on February 28. His freshly minted party was introduced as the third component of the United Front of the Left and the Congress. The unsaid expectation — ISF would help them eat into the Muslim vote bank of their arch enemy, the Trinamul Congress (TMC). Before joining the coalition, Abbas had been in talks with the Hyderabad-based AIMIM, headed by Asaduddin Owaisi.
” In a 2020 speech, Abbas lashes out at Nusrat Jahan, ëJara deho bikkiri kore tara desh bikkiri korbe na ki maane aachhe. He also said he would ensure she is tied to a tree and beaten up–“
At the Brigade Parade Ground, Abbas delivered a high-decibel speech calling for “the uprooting of Mamata, leader of the BJP’s B-team”. The Left Front-Congress combine has been repeatedly saying the ISF includes people from backward Hindu classes and Adivasis. The president of the ISF, Simal Soren, is also a member of the tribal community. But when I browse videos of Abbas’s past speeches at Islamic jalsas organised across Bengal, there is little doubt that he is conservative and fundamentalist to the core.
Among his most controversial and incendiary speeches is the one in which he lashes out at the TMC MP Nusrat Jahan. In the 2020 speech at a jalsa in Sasan in the South 24-Parganas, he thunders “Jara deho bikkiri kore tara desh bikkiri korbe na ki maane aachhe… those who sell their own body can some day sell their own country”; Abbas also said he would ensure Nusrat is tied to a tree and beaten up. On other occasions, he called Calcutta’s mayor Firhad Hakim “a kafir”, “beimaan” and “namak haram” for organising Durga Puja. He even attacked Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for wearing the hijab and reciting Islamic verses, “to fool Muslims”.
Ever since he expressed his intention to form a party to “expose the TMC’s appeasement politics”, Abbas has not tired of accusing the TMC and the state police of hounding his supporters. Apparently, these Muslim youths between 18 and 35 have been framed for possession of fire arms and narcotics, threatened and beaten up on their way to his jalsas, while he himself has been accused of spreading “terrorist ideology”.
Biswanath Chakraborty, a political commentator and professor at Calcutta’s Rabindra Bharati University, has been following the rise of Abbas. He says, “Abbas wouldn’t have risen had his followers not been harassed and heckled by the TMC.” Chakraborty and his students conducted a survey among Muslim youth — educated and unemployed — which revealed their animosity towards successive governments. Says Chakraborty, “They feel the so-called secular parties have been playing with them. They think it is time to create their own political space.”
Chakraborty says that, though late, the Left Front in Bengal has realised the ground reality of identity politics. He has no doubts about Abbas’s huge support base among the Muslim youth, but is not sure if he will be able to get the votes of Dalit Hindus and Adivasis.
Justifying the Left Front’s move, Shamik Lahiri, a senior leader of the CPI(M), says, “Those belonging to scheduled castes, tribes and minority religions, and Adivasis are sick and tired of the TMC’s treachery and the BJP’s increasing atrocities. These people are now uniting as different organisations. The ISF is one such outfit.”
And what does the Left have to say to the charge of aligning with a communal force? The CPI(M)’s politburo member Mohammed Salim says vehemently, “Defaming the ISF is part of a well-planned conspiracy being played out by the RSS and its associates…”
The RSS-BJP may have been shrill in its criticism of the new front for bringing “Muslim fundamentalist politics” into mainstream politics, but BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta, also a columnist with The Telegraph, offers a more balanced analysis. Says Dasgupta, “A significant chunk of the Muslim vote plus the transferable vote of the CPI(M) would make the third formation more winnable and catapult the ISF to a position where it could claim to be the foremost representative of Muslims in the state… Abbas would become the Bengal counterpart of Assam’s Badruddin Ajmal.”
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP benefitted as the Left and the Congress votes fell into its kitty. The ISF can hope to harvest some of these votes for the United Front. Alternatively, if Hindu voters of the two old parties perceive the ISF as an aggressive communal force, they may turn to the BJP.
The TMC’s top leaders, however, have decided to ignore Abbas. Saugata Ray, senior leader of the TMC, says, “Not only will I not say anything (about Abbas or the ISF), I won’t even utter the name.”
Even within Furfura Sharif, Abbas doesn’t seem to have the support of all sections. Buzurgs, or elders, such as his uncle Pirzada Tawha Siddiqui stand firmly with the TMC.
I spoke to Narul Islam, who works with a charitable outfit there. He says, “Dada Huzur had laid down a guideline for his descendants. Following that no pirzada directly joined politics in these 82 years after his demise. Abbas is an exceptional character and a controversial one too.”
According to Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of the CPI-ML (Liberation), Abbas’s rise is proof that a political vacuum has been created in Bengal due to increasing Hindu supremacist aggression. He says, “Abbas is trying to get into this. But the question is — has he got that leadership quality?” Bhattacharya is apprehensive that by yielding such a wide berth to the ISF, the Left Front-Congress alliance might help the BJP sharpen communal polarisation.
Bhattacharya adds, “Hoping the anti-BJP voters are mature enough to avoid the BJP trap.”
‘The TMC has stamped us communal’
Abbas Siddiqui / Prasun Chaudhuri
Why did you defy family diktat and join politics?
The situation was never so bad. Never before have Muslims, Dalits or minorities faced such atrocities like the NRC or the CAA. Never before were Indian citizens driven into detention camps or threatened with deportation. The situation forced me. Even Babasaheb Ambedkar has said, “We will no longer beg for our rights but grab them.”
Then why not fight the polls alone?
Electorally we are not that strong yet. But we do have supporters in several districts. So, we decided to build an alliance… If we get the rights in this jot we will continue. I’d like to quote Kanshi Ramji, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party, who said: “Hamein majboot sarkar nahi, majboor sarkar chahiye.” If a party gets over 200 seats, it will browbeat others. However, such dadagiri is not possible in an alliance.
Why did you choose the Left and the Congress and not the AIMIM?
Our talks with the AIMIM didn’t progress. We chose the Left Front and the Congress as they have a proven track record. The Left had done a remarkable job of distributing land to poor Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis. There was little corruption and the unemployment situation was not so bad during their regime. The Congress gave the country so many institutions, dams, power plants, railway networks.
Was there an effort to tie up with the TMC?
No. They’ve stamped us as “communal”.
Some believe you will split the minority votes and help the BJP.
What will happen if Muslim votes get split? Do you think this will help the BJP polarise all Hindu votes? Do you seriously believe all Hindus in Bengal want the BJP to come to power?
Your past comments about Nusrat and Firhad Hakim had raised a storm.
Those comments were put out of context. My point is you have to state your religion clearly and follow its basic tenets. If you are a true Muslim, you can’t worship an idol. Similarly, if you are a Hindu you cannot don a hijab and recite Islamic prayers. You can’t join an iftar if you haven’t done proper ritual fasting during Ramzan. You don’t have the right to insult either Hinduism or Islam.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> West Bengal / by Prasun Chaudhuri / March 14th, 2021
… says writer-filmmaker Asghar Wajahat, who was in Bengaluru for the staging of his play, Jissney Lahore Nai Dekhya
Asghar Wajahat
Bengaluru :
That she could become a playwright’s muse was the last thing on her mind when mai (mother) – a lone elderly Punjabi Hindu woman in Lahore – was trying to figure out her survival in Pakistan, when she refused to come to India after Partition. Four decades later, and across the border, a scant piece of information on her led Asghar Wajahat – a well-known Hindi playwright, novelist and documentary maker from Uttar Pradesh (UP) – to pen Jissney Lahore Nai Dekhya (Those who have not seen Lahore) in 1989. The play is not about the pain of Partition.
“It is a paean to insaniyat (humanity),” said Wajahat in an exclusive talk with CE on the sidelines of the show in Bengaluru. The play, directed by Zafer Mohiuddin, was staged at the Alliance Francaise on Sunday. “It highlights the mindset, which divides people on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, religion, caste, race and language, among many other things, and what humanity can do to bring people together,” added Wajahat.
“The characters in the play, from a cleric who, when confronted with the question whether a Hindu could live in Pakistan, says that the earth belongs to God and anyone could live anywhere, to the character of real life poet Naser Kazmi, who says that an artiste’s world has no boundaries, believe in togetherness,” he said. Besides raising the existential questions on life, its driving and dividing forces, the play has portrayed strong women characters. In fact, their roles have highlighted how patriarchy has sidelined their voices.
“A daughter of a family that provides shelter to mai asks her mother that if a Hindu could live at ease with a Muslim family where was the need for Partition? In reply, her mother says, “Tum apney abba sey poochho (ask your father).”“It says a lot about male dominance and the absence of women’s voices in decision making,” said Wajahat.
Contrary to its spirit and the message it aims to send across, performing Jissney Lahore Nai Dekhya has not been an easy task. “When the play was taken to Karachi, the director of the play Khaled Ahmed was refused permission by the Pakistani authorities. They objected on the grounds that a Hindu was the protagonist of the play; that the playwright was Indian and that the killing of a religious cleric in the play sends a wrong message in an Islamic country. Ahmed did stage the play at Goethe Institute in Karachi. In Meerut, in UP, permission to stage the play was denied because its title is Lahore and the authorities felt that it was about Pakistan,” he smirked.
“It is ironical that Jissney Lahore nai Dekhya has raised issues surrounding the myth of ‘us versus them.’ It is about ironing out the creases and celebrating human relationships, above all,” said the veteran playwright.Wajahat is also an avid traveller, who looks forward to visiting people-oriented places. “I love meeting people wherever I go,” he said. From being invited to weddings by newly-made friends to being caught on the wrong side of law are some of the many anecdotes in Wajahat’s travelogue.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Bala Chauhan / Express News Service / March 02nd, 2021
Sabbir Khan has directed Tiger shroff’s Heropanti, Baaghi and Munna Michael. (Photo: Sabbir Khan/Instagram)
From finely chiselled six-pack abs to smooth synchronised action choreography, Tiger Shroff is the new-age action hero of Bollywood.
From the time he debuted with Heropanti to his more recent appearance in War, Tiger Shroff has proved his versatility with every outing. Contrary to what cynics might think, the actor’s ever-increasing fanbase is proof of his enduring popularity. On Tiger Shroff’s 31st birthday, Sabbir Khan who directed him in films like Heropanti, Baaghi and Munna Michael tells indianexpress.com what makes the actor one of the best on-screen action heroes today, and how he discovered his action potential.
In 2014, Tiger along with along with Kriti Sanon entered Bollywood with Sabbir’s Heropanti. This was followed with two more actions flicks, Baaghi (2016) and Munna Micheal (2017). Sabbir reminisces on the journey, “Munna Michael was basically a dance film, we didn’t want to make one more action film because we had already done two action films together. However, whatever small action sequences were scattered in the film, got more positive reviews than the film itself.”
5 years of Heropanti – I dedicate this to every aspiring film maker and writer. Big budget or no budget … Super star or rank newcomer … Smooth sailing or trying circumstances … Whether people appreciate you or try to steal your credit. It doesn’t matter, what matters is the belief in yourself and showing up each day in the direction of trying to tell your story without excuses. If a middle class boy like me can do it so can you. A big heartfelt thank you to everyone on the film that made this journey beautiful and the fans for loving and making these two into the much loved stars that they are today @tigerjackieshroff@kritisanon
He continued commending the actor on his skills. “He is definitely the best action hero we have, considering how much younger he is compared to his contemporaries who are doing action. And what makes him really the best is that action is inherent to him, he doesn’t do it for the screen. What you see on the screen, is him! The skills he showcases on screen are actually his personal skills– he is a fantastic gymnast, he has a great body and he is always willing to go the extra mile. It comes from inside, he is a natural when it comes to doing action sequences.”
__________________
On directing Tiger in his debut film Heropanti, that was bankrolled by Sajid Nadiadwala, Sabbir says, “What happened is, because he did his first film with me, I spent a lot of time doing workshops with him, and took the time to understand him as a person. The more I figured how he is as a person, the more I ingrained his traits in the screenplay and shot around it. For example Heropanti is a romantic film, but that also got lauded for its action, even when it has only 6-7 minutes of action.”
Sabbir took time to understand what Tiger had to offer, but once he figured what he had discovered, he did not hold back from polishing Tiger’s action skills. “I didn’t know his full potential in action when we did Heropanti. But, one day on set, when we were shooting the action patches, I realised how good he was. I promised him that I will do a full-fledged action film with him, and that’s how Baaghi happened. Today when I see the franchise being so successful, I feel proud of Tiger.”
“Tiger is an action director’s delight! when the director thinks of something fantastic, here is an actor who wants to give his all and try and achieve that. He is not someone who’d say ‘this is tough, I can’t do it, let’s find a body-double, or find around it,” Sabbir shares.
Tiger has been around for some time now, eight years to be specific. Has the actor changed in anyway? Sabbir feels he has and only for the better,”A lot of confidence and understanding of cinema.”
He continued, “When we were doing the first film, he wouldn’t understand the synergy between what we could do and what cinema is, what captures a certain skill of his. By continuously doing what he is good at, he has gained a lot of confidence and he understands his craft. He now understands how much is required and how to give just that much. Earlier, if there was a shot where he just needed to give a kick, he would do it 100 per cent and maybe only 20 per cent was needed. He didn’t have to do that much, but now I see that change. He is well-versed with his craft. He is not the raw star-kid who wanted to be part of film. He now owns the space and well, deserves it.”
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood / by Komal Raj Panchal, Mumbai / March 02nd, 2021
Bengaluru’s zero-waste advocate Sahar Mansoor has brought out a guide book that provides personal insights and interactive activities to help the reader transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.
Sahar Mansoor
Bengaluru :
Health and environmental issues have come to the fore in the last one year. With increasing number of people becoming conscious about their choices, the recently-released book, Bare Necessities: How to Live a Zero-Waste Life, by Sahar Mansoor and Tim de Ridder aims to provide personal insights, interactive activities and solutions that can help you transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.
”The book has taken a staged approach where the reader journeys through topics that are intimate such as personal care routines and fashion choices, to more communal areas of life such as the kitchen, home care and festival occasions. It also looks at broad aspects of life, including the community and global impacts of waste. One of the fantastic things that we have achieved is to provide a toolkit of zero-waste information and insights throughout, such as my personal stories about how to make zero-waste products such as toothpaste and food such as holige,” says Mansoor.
Published by Penguin, the guide (Rs 299) includes activity sheets to share ideas with friends and families throughout the text. “We have provided recipes, tips and tricks and other ideas to help people learn, and enjoy the zero-waste journey,” says Mansoor, who has been working in the sustainability sector since 2015, participating in areas like waste reduction and climate change.
Ridder and she began putting pen to paper in September 2019. “Unfortunately he had to work abroad from October to January last year. We had to face challenges such as scheduling meetings across time zones.
When the borders were closed in March 2020, he stayed permanently in Australia,” she says. The situation also provided them a new perspective, and prompted them to add valuable sections in the final version. “We would love the book to be used in schools, where kids can learn about the wealth of resources available in India. There are opportunities to learn how to compost, create a community garden and make sustainable gifts,” says Mansoor.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / March 09th, 2021
Liani goes back in time to find out how Alam Ara, the first Indian film with sound that was released on March 14, 1931, was made.
With my travelling severely curtailed, I tried the time machine. I turned a few knobs and wham! I was in March 1931 at a studio in Grand Road, Bombay, that overlooked the railway tracks.
“What’s happening?” I asked a mouse that suddenly appeared by my side. He tittered, “This is a film shooting. These rooms are not soundproofed; so these guys have to wait till the trains stop running.”
I looked at him quizzically. “It’s 1930s, my friend. There were only silent movies. See how they are placing those large microphones inside the actors’ costumes, behind the props and every other place possible.”
“Must be uncomfortable right?”
“You bet. Oh! Look at that. They have musicians hiding behind the trees!”
This was fascinating. I hopped across until I found a man gazing out of the window. I introduced myself and asked him to give me the lowdown.
Getting briefed
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Ardeshir Irani, the producer of this film. I was inspired after watching Show Boat, last year. I knew it was the next greatest thing in films. I decided it would be in Hindustani, which is a mixture of Urdu and Hindi. For my story, I had Alam Ara, about warring queens, palace intrigues and, of course, romance too.”
For his heroine, he had found a young actor named Zubeida, and the male lead was Master Vithal, a Marathi stunt star. The villain was Prithiviraj Kapoor. “If the villain is not good, the movie can fail, you know,” he said. “We are almost done here. This is the fourth month of shooting. It takes just a month to shoot a silent movie.”
My time machine was beeping and my time had run out. Intrigued by what I had seen, I read up about Alam Ara. The film was a sensation. The Majestic Cinema in Bombay was mobbed and the police had to be called in. Tickets were sold on the black market for four to five rupees. But here is the sad part: No copy of this film exists. There are just a few stills to remember this pioneering film.
Fun five
Alam Ara was India’s first talkie.
The shooting was done mostly between 1.00 a.m. and 4.00 a.m.
Released on March 14, 1931, at Majestic Cinema in Bombay, its tagline read: All living. Breathing. 100 per cent talking.
The song ‘De De Khuda Ke Naam Par’ was sung by Wazir Muhammad Khan, a neighbourhood watchman. Irani hired him because of his coarse voice. The film had six other songs.
It introduced the concept of music and playback singing.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Children / by Liani / March 09th, 2021
Nadia Aslam, a young cake artist, has set up an inspiring example of entrepreneurship by starting her own business from home and becoming a known cake artist in Goa capital city, Panjim, within the span of a few years.
Nadia graduated in home science. One of her hobbies was stitching. Despite being a mother of three kids, she preferred to follow her passion and prepare bakery stuff on the special occasions of her close ones. She then realised that she can turn her passion into a business, with her mother’s support. She began to accept customized orders from people and is now one of the best cake artists in the city.
Nadia also takes cake making classes regularly under the banner of “Nadia’s Sweetooth”. she has trained dozens of girls to become “Atmnirbhar’ [self-sufficient].
Speaking to Muslim Mirror Nadia said, “Muslim women in Hijab can take up a business and support the family, as an entrepreneur. I realised that all we need are opportunities, and support from our family to exhibit our ideas and creativity in business.
”We can support our families financially while practising Islam and following its guidelines,” she added.
The reason why Nadia’s mother was her biggest supporter was that her mother was also a beautician long back and as it is said “An artist can only understand the definition of art”. Maybe Nadia has also inherited the art of creativity and beautification from her mother as can be clearly seen in her work. The startup wasn’t a child’s play.
Coping up with the timings of household chores, care of three kids and baking ruined her sleep several times. She hardly has time to rest as one whole cake took 17 hours of preparation to get completely ready. Also, it became tougher when she began to receive orders from the corporate sectors and grand parties. Keeping taste, decoration and creativity on a track called “perfect” is her art, and she handles it in a perfect way. And people give a lot of love to it.
In five-year span, Nadia has made approximately 2000 cakes and other bakery products including cupcakes. She says that customers command more concentration on the decoration and overall presentation of the cake, which requires a lot of time and efforts.
Orders from wedding parties, corporate sectors, birthday parties, festival celebrations and many more huge functions requires a perfect decoration with eloquent creativity. To provide a perfect taste while handling the measures of sugar syrup and fondant is also a task.
Nadia has bagged the Achievers award 2018, Proud award 2019. Gowomania Goa has also felicitated her with “star of the month 2017” and 2018 consecutively.
Speaking with Muslim Mirror, Nadia’s husband Rehan Shaikh expressed happiness over her success. He further said that there is nothing if a woman pursues her career while following Islamic guidelines. Men should support their wives to prove their abilities.
Dr Afreen Karol, who is one of Nadia’s ”satisfied” customers, said, ”Nadia is the one who makes my dream cakes into a reality, whatever the occasion, and however weird my request for the cake might be, she nails it every time and it tastes heavenly, good looking cakes can also be tasty, only if Nadia bakes them.”
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Featured / by Imran Inamdar and Sobiya Inamdar / March 08th, 2021
Social activist Rehana Adeeb, who is fighting for the rights of women in areas such as Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh, is a symbol of courage. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, TwoCircles.net tells her story.
Saharanpur:
“I will not be able to live keeping my mouth shut, just tell everyone.” In the area dominated by Khap panchayats, a dozen women sing this folk song. The resonating voice reverberates in the area. Even the noise of the hookah is not able to suppress it.
The creator of this voice Rehana Adeeb is a name for female upliftment. Men of the area call her a ‘rebel woman’, but for her daughters, she is a messiah.
Social activist Rehana Adeeb, who is fighting for the rights of women in areas such as Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh, is a symbol of courage.
When 52-year-old Rehana of Chilkana of Saharanpur was two years old, her mother left the world. And when she turned 14, her feet were shackled by marriage.
In a family of five siblings, Rihanna blew up the bugle against the male-dominated society. She started going from village to village to awaken the women. She began to talk about women’s rights and raised her voice against the prevalent silence.
Gradually, Rihanna’s bold voice and her work became the talk of the town and she became sore in the eyes of the male-dominated society. “But I was not afraid, I persevered,” she said.
In a conversation with TwoCircles.net, Rihanna tells the story of her struggle. She says that when she lost her mother at the age of 2, her father re-married. “The new mother could never replace the old mother. I was then married at the age of 14. My husband Mukhtar Ahmed used to work in a factory. I was the only educated one in my in-laws’ house. The confrontation increased there. I could not understand them. They could not understand me. As a result, we split up. My husband came to Chilkana with me,” she says.
This period of life had left a deep impact on Rihanna’s mind and she says she would experience frequent anger. “I used to feel bad about why I was married so early in life. It would not have happened if my mother was alive,” she says.
Rihanna says that she was sent to her in-laws directly from the school. “It was too much. Such excesses were happening against most of the girls. I cannot stitch my mouth. The flame inside me started to blaze and I went door-to-door to motivate women to raise their voice against the atrocities happening with them,” she says.
The effect of her activism started showing. The women in her started becoming aware of their rights and they expressed opposition to their daughter’s early marriage. “They started demanding to send their daughters to school. Things changed. The women refused to keep their tongues tied,” she says.
Rihanna started her activism in the villages of Sandholi block in her town Chilkana, which were backward.
“Opposition to my work also became strong. Men banned me from coming to my own house and their women were banned from talking to me. I was abused,” she says.
At this point, Rihanna says that she felt people had bad feelings towards her and she felt the need for support. “For this, I met the officers and expressed the intention to spread awareness about the rights of women. They understood my feelings and made me a partner in a government scheme, Mahila Samakhya, in which I had to do the same work in ten villages. Now that this work was official, the male society could not stop me from meeting women. I advised women to get organized and gathered them and started meeting. Now a group of men started raising questions about my character. Hearing this gossip about me, my brother would ask me to leave this work,” she said.
Rihanna says that a turning point in her life was her joining a social organization called Disha. “I got a big platform by joining this organization internationally. I was called to Beijing to discuss women’s rights. Gradually, our work started spreading. Now some men came in support of me,” she says.
“2005 was an important year of my life. During this time, I established my social organization ‘Astitva’ and the first battle was fought for Imrana. The Imrana scandal was discussed widely. Her father-in-law misbehaved with her, whereas a fatwa was issued against Imrana. But later Imrana’s father-in-law was sentenced to 10 years for his crime. In the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013, we kept fighting in favour of women and till now we are fighting,” she says.
Rihanna expresses disappointment when a section of society calls them rebels. “This is a much bigger problem, especially among Muslims. Take the history of Islam and see that this religion has given women the most entitlements and rights. But it is not known who gives ‘fatwas’ against women, but would not issue ‘fatwa’ against the evildoings of men like betting, gambling and other evils,” she says.
Rihanna has four daughters and all have completed B.Ed. “I want my daughters to inspire women to break the silence,” she says.
Thirty-five-year-old Aamna, a resident of Budha Khera village, has only praise for Rihanna.
“Rihanna Baji has opened many avenues here. Even if she has become a sore in the eyes of some people, she has our respect. Recently, her ‘Yuvati Mela’ got a lot of praise. During this mela, the girls unite and do awareness-based programs,” she says.
Rihanna is today known by her nickname ‘Netani’ in Chilkana. “Rihanna Ji has brought a great change in our life. Now there is no such girl here who is not going to school,” Sabia, a 16-year-old girl from the area says.
source: http://www.twocirlces.net / TwoCirlcles.net / Home> India News> India Politics> Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Women / by Aas Mohammad Kaif, TwoCircles.net / March 08th, 2021
Granddaughter of India’s greatest Urdu poet pens a poignant tribute to her late grandfather
“And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.”— Matthews 17:2-9
My family keeps trying to talk me into mourning the loss of my grandfather, who I lovingly call ‘Bhai’, as did everybody else who knew him. I can’t exactly put this into words and I can’t make people understand that mourning his death is an insult to the madness, the magic, the man, the movement, the miracle, the marvel, the Master. Why don’t you understand that this loss isn’t the kind for me to cry about? This is the kind of loss for me to die about.
When I was a kid, I used to love watching The Lion King. I like to believe that literature and media that you absorb during childhood, shapes your personality as an adult. I always made sure I skipped the scene of Mufasa’s death, with a bewildered and heart-broken Simba trying to wake his father up. It was because I always feared that this day would come, and I would see myself trying to awaken Bhai from eternal, unending sleep. And it did, it happened. And now I am here, and he is there — out there, up there. He is missing from me.
Are they still memories if they’re engraved in my heart, etched on my mind and tattooed on my skin? I like to believe they’re a part of me, my body, an extension to my entity, and as long as I shall live so shall they. So many people argue that he wasn’t my father. They’re right. Because to me, he is God. He is the giver, the provider, creator, the all-encompassing, the all-knowing, the omnipresent.
Provider, because he gave me everything I have and survive on, from my passion and love for animals to my affinity towards literature, music, art. We would stand inside his aviary, enough to accommodate two human beings, where he kept his birds. He would clean and wash their water bowls with his beautiful, wrinkly, holy hands and then he would pick up a bird in the palm of his hands — sometimes a cockatiel, sometimes a budgie, sometimes a quail — and show me, directing my gaze with his finger, the feather patterns, and beak shapes, explaining how a certain type of bird crushes the seed with which exact part of its beak. All-knowing, because he knew everything, quite literally. Anything and everything.
Driving home from a homeopathic clinic, we would have long conversations about The Battle of Karbala, and pretty much every historic event that ever occurred on the face of this planet. We talked about the possibilities of the existence of mermaids — how perhaps, in the course of evolution, a third of the primate population went towards the water and even into it, and developed webbed limbs and tails. We talked about the Fer-De-Lance, we sat and browsed through pictures of wildlife. We discussed dog breeds and how they evolved. He always told me (before the world went ‘vocal for local’) that nothing can beat the hounds of India — the Rajapalayam, The Chippiparai, The Rampur, and the Mudhol. He always had an eye out for the Saluki (a superior type of sighthound that originated in the Fertile Crescent), and would say to me, “Abey Saluki hai kya kahin pe? Saluki mile kahin toh batana, hum le lenge.”
On his birthday in 2019, I had gifted him a deep grey, white-speckled Cockatiel who he named Sooty. He stayed in Bhai’s room, and the two whistled to each other all day. Bhai would talk to him lovingly, and Sooty would chirp back in adoration. When Bhai got sick, Sooty mysteriously died. I had begun to believe that like Bhai’s previous dogs and other pets, Sooty too had died of loyalty in an attempt to take the impending death upon himself. Bhai always believed that wafadaar jaanwar aane wali museebat ko apne sar le lete hain. While it is unlike me — and everyone else in my family — to respond to the death of an animal, that too a beloved pet, with gladness and optimism, Sooty’s sudden passing had given us some hope. We were counting on life to make Bhai get better and to help us get through this untimely qayamat.
Grandfather — this word always gave me the same serotonin release you get from a warm blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, biting through the layers of a Ferrero Rocher, the morning of the day of Id, seeing my birthday cake for the first time.
And now it’s all gone, all taken away away from me. It is so ironic and at the same time baffling how our worst fears manifest right before our eyes. I didn’t allow myself to watch enough of The Lion King growing up because I was afraid if I looked at it then it would somehow happen. And now I see how everything unfolded just like it did in the movie. Covid attacked us like Uncle Scar. And while all of us got Covid, he somehow took it upon himself and while we lived, he left.
My animals in Delhi found me, picked me up, and saved my life, just like Timon and Pumba did with orphaned Simba in The Lion King. I think I have managed to figure out where this affinity comes from and why it has always been this way — the need to be around animals in order to survive. It was just another gift, another tool, another strength my Grandfather was equipping me with and conditioning me for, so that I may be able to carry on someday in his absence, and so that I have a purpose, a reason to live till the time he and I can finally reunite.
Only mourning him isn’t enough, isn’t fair, isn’t needed. His existence was a celebration of life, a creation of art, and his death was transfiguration. He didn’t just lay there still. He sublimated, became one with what he loved most, nature. He united with a power that was of the same immense magnitude that only he alone in this world was made of. If one should live, one should live like this. Not in the lap of luxury but in the embrace of nature. Not in bursts of passion, but in the steadiness of an unwavering purpose. Not for moments of moping, but for the unfazed ambition of the human spirit.
Lead my longing heart
To the high ground, to the clear view
And in awe I’ll be there
Beholding You…
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> Culture / by Tazmeen Amna Siddiqui / March 04th, 2021
