The Merchants of Bollywood

‘In an Indian version of Titanic, the iceberg would have melted…’

The plot of a true mainstream Indian film, alas commonly known as Bollywood, should be like an authentic Indian meal. It is all about a dazzling array of spices: conflict, love and a happy end.

Welcome to the glitter and kitsch of Bollywood - The Show, straight from the heart of Mumbai (Bombay). Saw it in Amsterdam last night and it was simply brilliant. A full house, well organised and an awesome two-hour long opulent feast for sore eyes and ears. Compelling infectious music, dance an colourful costumes. Special lighting effects (by Lize Berry, the London light designer who was also responsible for the Robbie Williams shows). If you don't believe me, then by all means click on the Bollywood promo. Have fun and don't forget to first switch off the musical playlist (top right).

And then these exceptional choreographies done by none other than Vaibhavi Merchant, the youngest daughter of the famous Merchant family. And boy, does she know her stuff. Her resume includes choreographies for film gems like Umrao Jaan, Lagaan and Devdas. The music was composed and arranged by Salim and Sulaiman Merchant.

True, lots of Merchants, but then again the plot of Bollywood - The Show is based on the true family story of one of the largest Indian film dynasties: the Merchant family. Through the eyes of the Merchant family the audience is taken for a ride along eighty year of popular Indian cinema. In between we get a tongue in cheek peak inside the world's largest film industry. And when I say ‘largest’, I really mean business, as popular Indian cinema producess some 800 films a year with about 15 million tickets sold a day!!! Gulp, that is like the entire Dutch nation going to see some film every night.

Bollywood - The Show has been shown in Australia, Asia, Spain, Switzerland and Germany (no less than 43 cities) and these last three days it was in Amsterdam.

Pity you missed it. Oh well, perhaps something to look forward to in 2008? No sarcasm intended. Happy New Year to you all.

As for this New Year, chances are that I might be interviewing India's finest actrice: Mrs Shabana Azmi. I only need confirmation in writing, as she has already said 'yes' on the phone. So keep your fingers crossed that she does not change her mind. Her often controversial films make Ayaan Hirsi Ali's fourteen-minute Submission seem like a walk in the park. And the good part about it is that Azmi's films actually make a difference.

BENAZIR BHUTTO DEAD AND BURIED

And then there were only two ...

Try and access Mrs Bhutto's own website and you'll discover within seconds that you can't access it, the reason being pretty obvious, since she was murdered last Thursday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Only 54 years old and mother of three. One of the few ladies in this part of the world, the other one being Indira Gandhi, who got hold of the most powerful positions in what really is a man's world.

Bhutto came from a wealthy, influential family. Having studied at both Harvard and Oxford, she definitely did not qualify as a rich idiot, far from it. A very shrewd politician is probably more like it. Yet unfortunately Pakistan's only (former) female prime minister was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Or so they say, because one should not forget that we are talking about a highly conservative society where you have forces at work, both in the military and in certain Islamic circles, that are not exactly thrilled at the idea of being represented by a woman. And that, my dears, Mrs Bhuto was.

So where does the brutal assassination of Mrs Bhutto leave Pakistan? Well, there is of course Mr Dictator himself, a.k.a. general Mush. Or perhaps one should consider Nawaz Sharif as the answer to Pakistan's prayers. Yes, the man who narrowly escaped a death sentence in 2000 after having been found guilty on charges of hijacking and terrorism. Yesterday Sharif proved a bit too quick to cash in on Benazir's death. You tell me, who would be the lesser of two evils?

'Merchants of fear' win!

My oh my, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), a Hindu nationalist movement, has convincingly won the Gurajat elections. They won 117 out of 182 seats, with Congress winning 59 and six seats going to the smaller parties. The victory will boost the BJP as it challenges Congress in the run-up to a general election due in the next 18 months.

It marks a big victory for BJP chief Narendra Modi, who is credited with pursuing successful economic policies. At the same time, Modi and his party have often been criticised for the treatment of religious minorities, particularly the 2002 religious riots that broke out after nearly sixty Hindus wree killed when a train was set on fire in Godhra town, allegedly by a Muslim mob. According to investigative journalists working for Tehelka, one of the best sources of news in India, this proved inaccurate.

According to official figures, more than 1,000 people were killed, mostly Muslims. The state administration was accused of not doing enough to stop the riots. It earned Modi the reputation of being an Indian version of the Roman emperor Nero (who watched Rome burn).
Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi reportedly described the opposition-ruled government in the state as 'merchants of fear and death'.

The present victory must be an absolute blow in the face of the survivors of the 2002 massacre, amongst them the parents of Azhar, a twelve-year-old boy who went missing during the riots, which inspired Indian film director Rahul Dholakia to make Parzania with a class performance of Naseeruddin Shah who plays the Parsee father of the boy Parzan.

I saw the film only two months ago when Naseeruddin was in the Netherlands and I had the honor to interview this first-rate Indian actor for my newspaper. We talked about many things, amongst them Parzania and the infamous role the BJP played in this tragedy.

On the internet, some call the Gurajat killings 'a minor mistake', but what if this party wins the national elections? What would be the impact on international politics? Another minor mistake perhaps waiting in the dark ... ?


P.S. This is Azhar who until this very day is still missing.

Partytime at Dagblad De Pers

'De redactie van De Journalist heeft hoofdredacteur Ben Rogmans van dagblad De Pers uitgeroepen tot Journalist van het Jaar. Hij verrijkte Nederland op 23 januari met een gratis kwaliteitsdagblad, waarin optimisme, onaangepastheid en enthousiasme de toon aangeven.'

As my friends and relatives know, it is now almost a year ago that I started working at Dagblad De Pers, the only quality newspaper that can be picked up for free. 'Gratis, maar niet goedkoop.'

Today, my boss and editor in chief, Ben Rogmans, was awarded the prize 'Journalist of the Year'. Hats off for the man who gave me a chance to be part of this once in a lifetime adventure. De Journalist dedicated a whole article on Ben. A must-read. BTW, the reference to the article about Africa, was the one I wrote. The idea, however, was Ben's. Below, you will find an excerpt from the article as it was published in De Journalist.

'In het verlengde van de optimistische grondtoon (‘in Afrika hebben twee miljoen mensen honger, maar 778 miljoen niet’) ligt een onconventionele manier van werken. Geen hypes (de seksaffaire rond wethouder Depla werd in een éénkolommertje afgedaan), geen wirwar van korte berichten, als het nodig is een voorpagina met alleen maar commentaar (‘Niet weg uit Uruzgan!’), en actiejournalistiek.'

Where do you come from?

photo credits: Daily Mail

Before dashing off to Surinam for the funeral of Faisja, I did this interview with Londoner John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, an English street newspaper on behalf of and sold by homeless people. At the end of the interview, published on 14th November, he asked me: 'I don't get it. Where do you come from? You sound British, you are working for a Dutch newspaper and you look Indian.' I told him that I am indeed originally from India, but ended up in the Netherlands through this colonial bypass called Surinam.

Bird then asked me a question Dutch people would never do, simply because it would never occur to them. He asked: 'Where in India does your family come from?' I nearly stuttered when I replied, as nobody had ever bothered to ask me in such detail before: 'My own ancestral roots lie in the provinces of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Kashmir.' Bird: 'So we British bastards displaced you.' ;-)

'We' started coming to Surinam from 1873 onwards. Immigration records indicate that the majority of Indian (Pakistan was no where near in sight yet) Muslims who migrated to Surinam came from the urban centres of Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Allahbad, Faizabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Lucknow (film Umrao Jaan), Muradabad, Bareilly, Rampur, and Sultanpur.

Small batches also came from Karachi in Sind, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi in the Punjab, Hyderabad, in the Deccan, Srinagar in Kashmir, and Peshawar and Mardan in the Northwest Frontier (Afghan areas).

Then they brought us to Calcutta where we shipped off to Latin America, to the country of the holy Ram. Sri Ram. Surinam (see green small country bordering the north of Brazil and squeezed in between Guyana on the left and French Guyana.).



P.S. Surprise, surprise, John Bird actually knew Surinam: 'from the beautiful stamps.'

A rope-walk with masterly precision

What's happening? Sharida all into Indian music? It would seem so, but wouldn't you be if you heard such a superb remix of the lovely golden oldie Aap ki nazron ne samjha? The artists are Bally Sagoo and Gunjan. The song was originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the Indian film Anpadh (1962). I was minus three then, but I know the song from my mum's tapes. Below, some of the most beautiful lines of this sung .

Aap ki nazron ne samjha (your eyes have understood me)

Keh rahi hai har nazar banda parvar shukriya

My every glance is saying, oh lord, thank you

Hanske apni zindagi mein kar liya shaamil mujhe

You have blended me into your life with a smile

Dil ki ae dhadkan thaher jaa, mil gayi manzil mujhe

Stop, oh my heartbeat, I have found my destination

Koi toofaanon se keh de, mil gaya saahil mujhe

Someone tell the storms that I have found my shore

Har taraf bajne lagi saenkdon shehnaaiyaan

In every direction, millions of shehnaais (Indian instrument) are sounding

Do jahaan ki aaj khushiyaan ho gayi haasil mujhe

I have obtained all the joys of both worlds today.

Mother India came to visit

It so happens that brothers and/or sisters from the Motherland a.k.a. India have been passing by my blog lately. Wah, wah. Nobody would mistake me for a Lebanese, German or Nigerian - ok, Kuwaiti at best because every bleeding time I am at Beirut airport, the customs officer asks me if I am from Kuwait. - As if I look loaded.

Anyway, in a way yes of course I am most definitely Indian. I have all the genetic features. Yet I have never been to India. Perhaps 2008 is the year in which it is all happening. Can you imagine me finally going to a country which I only know from books, documentaries and Indian cinema? Me joining 1.2 BILLION countrymen. Me who comes from a single-parent family. Me who has no brothers and sisters. Me joining a sea of people who look like ... me. I think I am in for a daunting experience.

I eat Indian food. I listen to Indian music. I have certain Indian values. Yet at the same time I couldn't be more different, due mostly to the fact that I was born and bred in the Netherlands with an Indian family that is rooted in Surinam, a former Dutch colony in South America.

Please bear with me and read the following lines from V.S. Naipaul in his book India: a wounded civilization, because what he says very much holds true for me as well:

"India is for me a difficult country. It isn't my home and cannot be my home; and yet I cannot reject it or be indifferent to it; I cannot travel only for the sights. I am at once too close and too far. My ancestors migrated from the Gangetic plain a hundred years ago; and the Indian community they and others established in Trinidad, on the other side of the world, the community in which I grew up, was more homogeneous than the Indian community Gandhi met in South Africa in 1893, and more isolated from India."

Sharida for President

For those of you in the know, there is this job opening in Baabda where the Lebanese presidential palace is located. It might be right up your alley if you wish to have go at the Lebanese presidency, because at this very moment Lebanon is presidentless.

Contract
Duration:6 years (extended if necessary)

Responsibilities
Ruling a small crazy country, following orders from abroad

Qualifications
Good listener, very obedient, good smile in front of the TV, no leadership skills required

Benefits
Whatever you can get out of it

Age
5+ to 105+ years

Please send 2 copies of your CV to: Bashar@damascus.syria and Condy_rice@Everywhere.usa.

Candidates will be contacted soon. Oh and, no need to be Maronite or Lebanese for that matter.

Life goes on ...

As November changes into December, so does life. My tribute to Faisja on this blog heralded a wave of awesome poems sent to me by people who in their own way wanted to pay their respects. Thank you! Some poems are simply too beautiful to remain locked up in my own heart and mind. After all, the whole purpose of this blog was to share. So here goes.

From The Prophet by the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran:
'And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth
until the hour of separation.'

Dutch translation:
'En altijd is het zo geweest dat de liefde haar eigen diepte niet kent
dan op het uur der scheiding'.

My mum:
'Sorrow never goes away. It is you who has to move on.'

Gebed voor een gestorvene van Hans Stolp

Jij die leeft in het licht, ik weet, je dood was een geboorte
Jouw leven was voltooid. Je had geleerd wat je hier leren moest.
En daarom ging je heen. Terug naar dat stralende licht
Vanwaar je eens gekomen was.

Jouw dood een geboorte in het licht.
Ik zend jou al mijn liefde,
En ik denk aan jou: hoe mooi en lief je wel kon zijn.
Voel mijn dankbaarheid, voor alles wat je mij gegeven hebt.
Ik weet je bent gelukkig daar. Je wordt een lichtend licht.
Moge God jou zegenen op jouw weg.

En straks zie ik jou terug, als jij mij opwacht bij de grens.
Want liefde sterker dan de dood, blijft ons verbinden.
Dat God jou in zijn liefde bergt ...

Of deze van A.A. Sjoeljgina, uit Matka Rieka:

Ik zal de kaars aan een licht plankje vastbinden.
Ik laat het plankje meevoeren door de rivier.
Moeder rivier! Blus de kaars niet uit.
Moeder rivier, tem de golf!

Zolang de kaars in de nacht te branden heeft
Zal mijn ziel nog naar de wereld kunnen kijken,
Naar de wereld kijken, om de mensen treuren.
Moeder rivier, blus de kaars niet uit!

How do Muslims name their baby if he smiles....?

Just got back from a flash visit to Surinam (former Dutch colony in South America). There are a thousand and one things I could say about my cousin Faisja, but it all comes down to one and the same thing, namely the fact that she personified Love itself.

The always radiant smile. That incredibly friendly voice. She loved a good laugh. One of her jokes: How do Muslims name their baby if he smiles? Answer: Ismail. Or her last text message dated 25 June: 'Hai lieverd! N sms-je uit Suriname. Heel veel warmte van je gekke nichtje Faisja.'

I am immensely proud that her blood runs through my veins. In this respect, I would like to cite a few lines from the exquisite thirteenth century Afghan poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest where no one sees you.
But sometimes I do,
And that sight becomes this art.

Sometimes the sound of goodbye is louder than any drum beat. Dearest Faisja, at 31 you were much too young to die. It is incredibly surreal. You shall be missed sorely by yours truly. I loved you so very much in this life and will continue to love you in the next. Khuda Hafiz.

Niraj Chag

OK, want to know more about the song called"Khwaab" (Dream) from the album Along the Dusty Road. And it is Swati Natekar's vocals soaring over hypnotic rhythms and piano. A Hindi poem about the highs and lows of life’s journey, "Khwaab" stands out as the album's most beautiful track. If you wish to see a translation of the song, please visit Chag's website.

It took Niraj Chag three years to complete, it is therefore no surprise that his debut album is a contemplative and accomplished journey of sound, according to a BBC review.

In the album-titled opening track, electronica, tabla and deep bass fuse with the spoken lyrics 'she drank from the sun…she understands the whispering of the trees'. Haunting and evocative, it sets the scene for the 45 minute dream-sequence that follows.

Niraj was born in '76 and raised in Southampton, southern England, where he studied music for many years before landing a job at 'Mark Hills' studio (The Artful Dodger/Craig David). He progressed from tea-maker to studio assistant and ended up working with Mark on various RnB and garage projects.

In 1996 he moved to London to start a Music Technology Degree. It was here that he began to experiment with a mix of eastern and western sounds, such as the track 'The Firefly' demonstrates (Untouchable Outcaste Beats Vol 1). The track highlights Niraj's wonderful ability to build very deep, melodic tracks at almost any pace. It was subsequently picked up by Nitin Sawhney and Niraj became an Outcaste artist.

He has worked on a varitey of projects including the Ranga Rang project (part of the Queens Golden Jubilee celebrations), compositions for Diesel fashion launches, music for the opening ceremony to the Common Wealth Games and a classical indian dance piece entitled 'Rush' for the BBC2 Mega Mela show.

Shah, Azmi and Me

Just got back from Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (What makes Albert Pinto angry). This was the first time EVER I heard my surname in an Indian film 'Mohamedjoesoef from Uttar Pradesh'. I was stunned and so tempted to look around and tell everyone that that was me, me, me. My bloody name. Kept my cool though.


Albert Pinto (1981) is a young Roman Catholic car mechanic played by Naseeruddin Shah, who enjoys an insulated life of semi-privilege in India where his wealthy customers will sometimes let him use their luxury cars, and his charming girlfriend Stella (Shabana Azmi) stays in her desired place.

All this changes as Pinto is suddenly face-to-face with the injustices of an imbalanced social system. His father (Arvind Deshpande) is badly beaten as he joins a strike at work, and his brother (Dilip Dhawan) ends up in jail for trying to steal food because he has been out of work so long he has no resources left. Rudely awakened by the suffering of his father and brother, Pinto begins to seriously look around him. His change from passive ignorance to active resistance evolves through to the end of the film.

Please note that none of the selected photographs are from the film, as unfortunately I could not find anything, picturewise that is, related to Albert Pinto.

Umrao Jaan the Remake

Aishwarya Rai and guess whose also part of this lavish costume drama: Shabana Azmi. Azmi's husband Javed Akhtar is the lyricist for all songs in Umrao Jaan.

If you are going to watch the you tube clip below, watch the eyebrow after the 37the second! And don't forget to switch off the play list on the top right.

So sorry for the delay, but Subh Diwali anyway

Indian girl power: Shabana gaana

Two days ago I stumbled on this very informative blog devoted to the Indian actress Shabana Azmi, one of the best actrices, if not the best, of Indian cinema. Azmi has been successful in both mainstrain Indian cinema and parallel cinema, with films that quite often touch on topics that are seen as controversial and sensitive in conservative Indian society.

Azmi is also a prominent social activist addressing issues such as AIDS, the slumdwellers and the position of women in general. In reality that often comes down to locking horns with religious fundamentalists, both Hindu and Muslim. Does she back down? Of course not, this is Azmi we are talking about.

Anyway, blogger Carla Miriam Levy has this great section called Shabana gaana. Do check it out. As a matter of fact, check out the whole blog, because it is really good and funny and not just for the Azmaniacs amongst us (yours truly included!). The picture above is taken from the blog itself. The title 'Sounds like Power' is based on a quote by Azmi herself: Say "Shabana' and it is nectar. Say 'Shabana Azmi' and it sounds like power."

Ismat Chughtai (1915 - 1991)

Never heard of her huh. Well, neither did I, but we are talking about a Muslim woman whose work has heralded the birth of a revolutionary feminist politics and aesthetics in twentieth century Urdu literature. She explored feminine sexuality, middle-class gentility, and other evolving conflicts in the modern Muslim world. She wrote novels, short stories such as The Quilt, Chui Muee, Gharwali, Mughal Baccha, and film scripts (e.g. Junoon, 1978)

Ismat was born in Uttar Pradesh, as the ninth of ten children. Since her older sisters got married while Ismat was very young, the better part of her childhood was spent in the company of her brothers, a factor which she admits contributed greatly to the frankness in her nature and writing.

After her B.A., Ismat worked for a B.T. (a Bachelor’s in Education), thus becoming the first Indian Muslim woman to have earned both degrees. In this period she started writing in secret. While she was still in college, her first short story Fasaadi (The Troublemaker) was published in Saqi, a prestigious literary magazine.

In 1941 she wrote her short story "The Quilt" ("Lihaaf" in Urdu) which dealt with gay relations, sex abuse and the needs of a woman in cloistered household, established her as a fierce writer and a feminist. The story can be read on the website Women living under Muslim laws (Femmes sous lois musulmanes) that has permission of the late Ismat Chugtai’s family.

Lihaaf led Ismat to being charged with obscenity by then government. Though she was later acquitted when her lawyer successfully argued that the story could not be a corrupting influence because the subject would only be understood by someone who has had a lesbian experience.

Famous Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah is presently Amsterdam with his Motley Theatre Company to perform Ismat apa ke naam, an hommage to Ismat Chugtai. The performance consists of three monologues:

1. - Chui Muee starring Shah's wife
2. - Mughal Baccha starring Shah's daughter
3. - Gharwali starring Shah himself.

The monologues are all in Urdu, but a translation is provided. As for the great Naseeruddin Shah himself, my interview with him can be read in Dagblad De Pers. Click on Friday 9 November and then scroll down to page 19 (Culture pages).

Several of Mr Shah's film can be seen at the Tropentheater until this coming Wednesday.

Might as well wish you all a happy new year because it took me ages to come up with a new post. Anyway, will soon publish extracts from an interview with the Indian Dustin Hofman, none other than Naseeruddin Shah, whom I shall be talking to next week when he's in Holland.

Dearest all, Happy Eid 2007

Our Father in Syriac Aramaic

Switch off the imeem music first before viewing this very short YouTube video:

Fasten your seatbelts. This is Lebanon we are talking about

Yes, back to my hobby horse Lebanon. Probably due to the fact that I just returned from what is probably one of the most fabulous countries in the world. What a pity the country is again being torn apart by some warlords from the past. In the old days the divide supposedly set on religious lines, Christians versus Muslims. Now, it is Pro-Syrian versus Anti Syrian. Or Sunni versus Shia. Perhaps a more appropriate label would be the haves and the have-nots. The hour of truth is approaching fast as the presidential elections are now postponed until 23 October. So sit tight and fasten them seatbelts.

Big Sister Gabriel is watching you

What do the following persons have in common:

1. Salma Hayek
2. Shakira
3. Mika
4. Tony Shalhoub
5. Brigitte Gabriel

There all have Lebanese blood, although there seems to be some doubt about the last name who said things like:

'The difference, my friends, between Israel and the Arab world is the difference between civilization and barbarism. It's the difference between good and evil [applause].... this is what we're witnessing in the Arabic world, They have no SOUL !, they are dead set on killing and destruction. And in the name of something they call 'Allah' which is very different from the God we believe....[applause] because our God is the God of love.'

Meet Brigitte Gabriel! No relation to Condoleeza Rice unless the latter decends from the Phoenicians, which is what Gabriel, being a good Maronite, claims about herself. Gabriel made the above statement at a conference of Christians United For Israel this year.

So who is she? She was born in 1965 in Lebanon in a Maronite Christian family. In interviews I read she conveniently omits the fact that her traumatised childhood in Lebanon must be seen within the context of civil war in which all sides committed unspeakable atrocities, from Muslims (Damour) to Maronites (Sabra and Shatila). But hey, that wy resort to such trivial details.

From Wikipedia:

Gabriel has said that during the Lebanese Civil WarMuslim militants launched an assault on a Lebanese military base near Gabriel's house and bombed her home, collapsing it. Just ten years old at the time, Brigitte was severely injured and spent 2 1/2 months in a hospital recovering.

Gabriel says that she and her parents were forced to live in a 8x10 bomb shelter underground for several years with no heat, running water and little food. To get water she had to crawl underground to a spring in a ditch. Before they left they said prayers, because they did not know if they would come back alive.

Later, in 1978, a man warned Brigitte’s family of an impending attack on Christians by Islamic militias. She claims her life was saved that night when Israelis invaded Lebanon in Operation Litani. Later, her mother became ill and was taken to an Israeli hospital where Brigitte noted the humanity of the Israelis in contrast to the propaganda she had viewed as a child.

Brigitte Gabriel was a news anchor for "World News," an evening news program on the South Lebanon Army-affliated Middle East Television.

For those of you not in the know, the South Lebanon Army was the army consisting of Lebanese doing Israel's bidding during the time Israel occupied the South of Lebanon. After the Israelis had left, there was no room for these Lebanese who were seen as traitors because they had collaborated with the enemy (Israel).

Gabriel immigrated to the United States in 1985. Gabriel founded the ACT, "American Congress For Truth," in late 2001. She has appeared on news and information TV shows, talk radio and made numerous public speaking engagements. She speaks four languages: Arabic, French, English and Hebrew.

At SourceWatch Mrs Gabriel is described as a ´crass propagandist: her specialty is denigrating and smearing Muslims and Islam. In this capacity her talks are sponsored by zionist groups in the United States. She is a featured speaker of the Hasbara Fellowship Speakers Bureau, which happens to be a hardline zionist propaganda organization.´

Be that as it may, it is remarks like the ones below that are quite worrisome at best. The following is a transcript of a statement she made at the CUFI conference:

'Another thing you can do is monitor universities. Monitor what the professor is saying about the Middle East policy and our foreign policy. The students cannot challenge their professors because they get bad grades. But you can. It's your job and your civic duty to do so. Another thing you can do — another thing you can do-- if you know there is a suspicious mosque in your community or suspicious Islamic organization, find out who owns the deed to that mosque. Is it some Saudi sheiks or Islamic sheiks outside of America? Write their names down. Come home. Call your local FBI office. Turn the names to them. This is how they can start monitoring them. Israel's enemies are our enemies.'

Mrs Peel, we're needed

Well, long time no new postings. Sorry about that. Just been very busy with my 'new'job at Dagblad De Pers. This time also nothing about Lebanon, but about another passion in my life: Britain. I guess the epiphany of everything quinessentially British must be the sixties cult show The Avengers, especially the episodes with Mrs Peel and her catsuits. Thought I was the only one interested in details like John Steed's umbrella, which is an anthentic whangee that can be purchased at London's equally authentic umbrella shopping paradise James Smith & Sons. Or about Steed's interior or whether Mrs Peel has parquet or simply wooden floors. Found out there is even a Ministry of Riggism and that The Avengers are still hot, although it is getting harder and harder to get one's hands on the full series.

Please click on Mrs Peel's theme! You won't be disappointed.

Dame Diana Rigg as she is officially called now, will turn 70 next year. Like mother, like daughter, Rachael Stirling also opted for an acting career. Biggest role so far: Nan Astley in Tipping the Velvet.



And then there is of course none other than John Steed, who is now 85, but gave men's fashion in the sixties a new impulse. Chelsea boots, single breasted, double buttoned blazers, his bowler hat and his whangee umbrella that at times also served as a weapon as Steed would never carry a gun of course.

Bollywood in Den Haag... 26 mei - 3 juni

Hoe slecht sommigen misschien ook zijn, ze laten nog steeds de harten van menig Indier sneller kloppen: De Bollywood films. Vanaf donderdag 26 mei tot en met zondag 3 juni komen velen van ons dan ook weer aan hun trekken tijdens de achtste editie van het hindostaanse filmfestival in Den Haag. Ook dit keer weer een interessante lijst aan films, waaronder de meest recente The Namesake die op 29 juni draait. Tijdstip: 18.30, Filmhuis Den Haag.

Opvallend is ook de film American Daylight, een thriller die zich afspeelt in de moderne globaliserende wereld waarin Amerikaanse bankzaken geoutsourced zijn naar India. Telefonische helpdesks en callcenteres zijn doorgeschakeld naar India. Sujja (Koel Puri) werkt bij zo'n callcenter. Ze heeft geleerd om met een Amerikaans accent te praten en haar telefoonnaam is Sue.

Maar een Indiase film is natuurlijk geen Indiase film zonder dat vleugje verplichte Bollywoodromantiek. En dus meldt zich op een dag ene Lawrence (Nick Moran), een eenzame Amerikaanse miljonair die wanhopig te verhinderen dat zijn vrouw hun gezamenlijke rekening plundert. Hij smeekt Sue hem te helpen. Tegen de regels in doet ze dat ook. Van het een komt het ander. Lawrence die zich gered voelt door Sue, wil haar ontmoeten. Tja, en dan is het hek van de dam. American Daylight draait op 26 mei om 18.30 in Filmhuis Den Haag.

Omkara is een ander juweeltje. Het verhaal is geïnspireerd door William Shakespeare’s Othello: The Moor of Venice. Maar terwijl Shakespeare verschil in ras gebruikte als obstakel in de liefde tussen Othello en Desdemona, gebruikt regisseur Vishal Bharadwadj het kastenstelsel tussen Omkara (Ajay Devgan) en Dolly (Kareena Kapoor).

De setting van de film is een dorp in in de deelstaat Uttar Pradesh. Elke scène uit het originele verhaal wordt met gelijkmatige, of zelfs meer, tot in de finesse tot uitvoering gebracht. Het is een simpele plattelandsfilm, die gaat over wraak en relaties. De dialogen van Bharadwaj zijn opmerkelijk. Zijn vertaling van de woorden van Shakespeare’s Othello is niet alleen accuraat, het roept ook soortgelijke emoties op in de kijker. Degenen die onbekend zijn met het originele verhaal komen daarom niets te kort. Omkara draait op 2 juni om 18.30 in het Filmhuis Den Haag.

Voor het volledige filmprogramma, klik op www.hindustaansfilmfestival.nl

Begin dit jaar was ze nog in Nederland, Yolande King, dochter van de vermaarde Martin Luther King. Maar gisteren overleed King vermoedelijk als gevolg van hartfalen.

Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., dies

The Associated PressPublished: May 16, 2007

ATLANTA: Yolanda King, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child who pursued her father's dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, collapsed and died. She was 51.

King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, California, at age 51, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. Klein said the family did not know the cause of death but think it might have been a heart problem.

"She was an actress, author, producer, advocate for peace and nonviolence, who was known and loved for her motivational and inspirational contributions to society," the King family said in a statement.

Former Mayor Andrew Young, a lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights movement, said Yolanda King had just spoken at an event for the American Heart Association. She was helping the association raise awareness, especially among blacks, about stroke.

Young said she was going to her brother Dexter's home when she collapsed in the doorway and "they were not able to revive her." King became a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association after her mother, Coretta Scott King, suffered a stroke in August 2005, and promoted a campaign to raise awareness about stroke, especially among blacks. A spokeswoman for the group said she last spoke on the organization's behalf on Saturday at a hospital in Pennsylvania.

Yolanda King's cousin and CEO of the King Center, Isaac Newton Farris, said her death has devastated the King family. "This is just the last thing and the last person that we expected this to happen to," Farris said. "At least with my aunt we had some warning. Yolanda as far as we knew was healthy and certainly happy."

Born on Nov. 17, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era. She was a young girl during his famous stay in the Birmingham, Alabama, jail. She was 12 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. died.

"She lived with a lot of the trauma of our struggle," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, an aide of Martin Luther King Jr. "The movement was in her DNA." As an actress, she appeared in numerous films, including "Ghosts of Mississippi," and even played civil rights heroine Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King."

One of her father's close aides in the civil rights movement, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, said Wednesday he was stunned and saddened by the news of King's death.

"Yolanda was lovely. She wore the mantle of princess, and she wore it with dignity and charm," Lowery said. "She was a warm and gentle person and was thoroughly committed to the movement and found her own means of expressing that commitment through drama."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a black political leader, said he expressed his condolences to her brother Martin Luther King III on Wednesday. Sharpton said Yolanda King was a "torch bearer for her parents and a committed activist in her own right."

"Yolanda never wavered from a commitment to nonviolent social change and justice for all," he said. "She was the first daughter of the civil rights movement and never shamed her parents or her co-activists."

Yolanda King was the founder and head of Higher Ground Productions, billed as a "gateway for inner peace, unity and global transformation." On her company's Web site, King described her mission as encouraging personal growth and positive social change.

King was also an author and advocate for peace and nonviolence, and held memberships in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference — which her father co-founded in 1957 — and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Her mother died last year.

Yolanda King is survived by her sister, the Rev. Bernice A. King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family.

Yolanda King was the most visible and outspoken among the Kings' four children during activities honoring this year's Martin Luther King Day in January, the first since Coretta Scott King's death.

At her father's former Atlanta church, Ebenezer Baptist, she performed a series of one-actor skits that told stories including a girl's first ride on a desegregated bus and a college student's recollection of the 1963 desegregation of Birmingham, Alabama.

She also urged the audience at Ebenezer to be a force for peace and love, and to use the King holiday each year in January to ask tough questions about their own beliefs on prejudice.

We must keep reaching across the table and, in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, feed each other," King said.

Funeral arrangements would be announced later, the family said in a statement. A flag at The King Center, which King's mother founded in 1968 and where she was a board member, was lowered to half-staff on Wednesday.

http://www.yolanda-king.com

The Namesake

Op 10 mei is het zover. Dan gaat in Nederland de film The Namesake in premiere, gebaseerd op het gelijknamige boek van Jhumpa Lahiri.

Ashoke (Irfan Khan) en Ashima Ganguli (Tabu) werden aan elkaar uitgehuwelijkt en vertrokken vanuit het bloedhete Calcutta naar het winterse New York, waar al snel hun zoon Gogol geboren werd. Zo'n twintig jaar later valt het Gogol (Kal Penn) nog steeds niet mee een eigen identiteit te vinden tussen het moderne bestaan in Amerika en het traditionele leven dat zijn ouders aanhangen. Gogol hekelt zijn voornaam, krijgt verkering met een rijk Amerikaans meisje en wil architectuur gaan studeren aan de universiteit van Yale. Maar hoe zeer hij ook probeert zijn eigen weg te gaan, de wereld van zijn ouders laat hem niet los. Het levert zowel komische situaties op als pijnlijke onthullingen.

Mira Nair, bekend van Monsoon Wedding en Salaam Bombay, tekende voor de regie. Do watch the trailer.

In Nederland is het boek verschenen onder de titel, De Naamgenoot (uitgeverij Meulenhoff). Het boek kan worden gezien als onderdeel van een lange traditie in de westerse en vooral Amerikaanse literatuur, de immigrantenroman. Van Ieren en Oost-Europeanen tot Indiërs die vanaf de jaren zestig in steeds grotere getale naar Amerika zijn gekomen. Probleem van veel immigranten: je voelt je nergens thuis.

Jhumpa Lahiri (1967) werd in Londen geboren uit Bengaalse ouders en groeide op in de Verenigde Staten. Met haar debuut The Interpreter of Maladies de Pulitzerprijs voor literatuur, de New Yorker Award voor het beste debuut van het jaar en de PEN/Hemingway Award ontving.

Via de volgende link, kan een interview met de schrijfster van het boek worden beluisterd: http://boeken.vpro.nl/boeken/15126316/

Arabisch filmfestival 18, 19, 20 mei - Amsterdam

Kriterion in Amsterdam organiseert het Arabisch filmfestival. Drie dagen lang zal in Kriterion de tweede editie van Caravan of the Euro-Arab Cinema plaatsvinden. Het programma bestaat uit 12 films van jonge Europese regisseurs van Arabische afkomst.

Deinitiatiefnemers willen door middel van film, debat en vermaak een culturele dialoog op gang brengen.`Het Arabisch Filmfestival zal op vrijdag 18 mei door een special guest geopend worden.

In dit kader wordt op zondag 20 mei om 13:00 uur de film The Yacoubian Building vertoond in samenwerking met Asafier en de Leerstoelgroep Arabisch van de UvA. Hierover volgt later nog een uitgebreide aankondiging. Voor meer informatie: www.kriterion.nl.

About The Yacoubian Building
Egyptian MPs are demanding cuts in a popular new film, claiming it defames their country with its gritty portrayal of corrupt politicians, police brutality, terrorism and homosexuality.

The Yacoubian Building - the most expensive film ever produced in Egypt - has been breaking box office records since its release a fortnight ago, although some viewers have walked out and others say they had to cover their eyes.

Following complaints from 112 MPs, the Egyptian parliament has set up a committee to review the film and decide what to cut. "This film is spreading obscenity and debauchery, which is totally against Egyptian moral values," independent MP Mustafa Bakri told the Associated Press. "As a citizen I felt hurt when I watched it."

Aan de vooravond van het festival zal in het Concertgebouw Souk II Arabic Music and Dance Experience plaatsvinden. Een hutspotje van Nederlandse en Arabische (klassieke) muziek, dans en andere kunsten. Dat is SOUK, de Dutch Arabic Music and Dance Experience.

Na het daverende succes in 2005 volgt het vervolg op 17 mei. Bezoek de grote voorstelling in het concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Leef je uit op de dansvloer op muziek van verschillende bands en DJ’s. En verdiep je in de Marokkaanse cultuur en ontwikkelingsprojecten uit dit land. Move Your World, Entrée en Holland Symfonia zijn druk in touw met de organisatie van SOUK II.

Bollywood wedding of the year

Excerpts taken from the BBC-website and Wikipedia

Established superstar Aishwarya Rai, a former Miss World, will tie the knot with fellow actor and rising star Abhishek Bachchan on Friday at the latter's residence in the western Mumbai (Bombay) suburb of Juhu.

Aishwarya Rai is one of the most popular and successful Bollywood actors, with several box office hits in recent years. She was awarded the Miss World title in 1994. Aish is regarded as one of the biggest stars in South Asia and is the highest paid actress in India.

Abhishek Bachchan has also starred in several successful Bollywood films and was voted the sexiest Asian man by a British newspaper recently. Abhishek also the son of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and popular 1970s actress Jaya. The preparations are in full swing at the Bachchan's bungalow, Pratiksha ('Wait' in Hindi), where the main function will be held.

A temporary wooden structure is being built around the house to ensure that no prying eyes or cameras ruin the private moment for the family.

In addition, up to 400 security guards will be on duty to keep strangers out, says Capt Swarn Salaria, the head of Trig Force Guard Limited.

"It is going to be a very high profile marriage, various dignitaries like very big personalities from the film as well as political world will be there, family friends will also be participating in the marriage, for which we have made all the arrangements to ensure that the flow of people coming in and going out is not disturbed," Capt Salaria told the BBC.

The Bachchans have also reportedly requested neighbours with views over their bungalow not to allow any cameras or press into their homes. Despite the secrecy, some details about the preparations are filtering out.

Aishwarya Rai's outfits, including the main wedding dress, are being designed by Indian fashion designer Neeta Lulla. The bride's jewellery has been bought especially from Calcutta and special silk saris from the northern town of Varanasi have also been ordered.

Four-page invitations, embossed with two As, the couple's initials, have been signed by them as well as the entire Bachchan family.

Invitees include close friends from the film industry, such as director Ramesh Sippy and son Rohan, director Yash Chopra and family, director Karan Johar, actors Ajay Devgan and wife Kajol, actor Sanjay Dutt and directors Goldie Behl and Apoorva Lakhia. From Aishwarya Rai's side, her parents and brother along with his wife are expected to be present.

According to a friend of the family, the Bachchans want the wedding to be low-profile because the groom's grandmother is very unwell. However, Hindu traditions are being observed and the festivities will begin on Wednesday with the sangeet (music evening) at the Bachchan residence.

Thursday will be the henna night - when henna is applied to the bride's hands. That will reportedly be held at Ms Rai's residence in Bandra, with the henna being brought in from Rajasthan.

Mrs Bachchan recently told an interviewer that she had always loved Aishwarya Rai. When asked if she though Ms Rai would make the perfect Mrs Abhishek Bachchan, she replied, "I think so".

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai got engaged in January. The two have appeared in a number of films together, but only one, Guru, has been a box office hit.