April 15th, 2008 by SWARAAJ CHAUHAN, International Columnist
With its perpetually (and historically) rocky relationship, the Arab and European worlds have seldom met in a peaceful manner (or without suspicion) during the past half a millenium ever since the downfall of the Moorish civilization in Spain. In this context the on-going London Book Fair, with the “Arab World” as guest of honour and Arab writers present in force, provides yet another opportunity to build a bridge between the two worlds.
The Independent writes: “Imperial bureaucrats, soldiers and scholars on one side; radical nationalists, pious militants and oil-rich oligarchs on the other – all have had their various axes to grind, and to wield. Now, perhaps, the writers of the Arab world can begin to find a voice in the West again. It’s always easier to love distant stars when they can shine, plainly and legibly, on the page in front of us.
“The (London) fair will be the culmination of a long-term plan, steered by the British Council, to forge firmer cultural bonds. And, although he comes from far beyond the Arab world (and writes in English), the Afghan author Khaled Hosseini’s double coup in topping the UK charts both with The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns has helped to put a spring in the step of everyone who wants to widen the readership for literature from the Middle East and North Africa.
(The Kite Runner novel was the third best-seller for 2005 in the United States, according to Nielsen BookScan. It’s been published in 38 countries, translated into 42 languages, turned into an Oscar-nominated movie – and sold more than 10 million copies — one of the publishing industry’s greatest success stories. Now the search is on for the next big thing to come from the East. The Kite Runner is a 2007 Academy Award-nominated film directed by Marc Forster based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini (click here for more…)
“In the Gulf, lavishly funded new competitions such as the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the ‘Arab Booker’) and the Sheikh Zayed Awards have signalled the intention of the emirate of Abu Dhabi to build up its name as a global centre of culture. Not to be outdone, and fretting perhaps at its current reputation as the world capital of bling, neighbouring Dubai begins a new literary festival next year. Also in Abu Dhabi, the Kalima translation project has launched an ambitious, state-financed programme to bring, at the rate of 100 per year, classic and contemporary books from around the world into Arabic for the first time and to distribute them across the region. ” More here…
I lived in London during the mid-1970s. I extensively covered there a major “World of Islam Festival” for The Statesman newspaper in India. The festival was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. “As far as anyone can remember, such an attempt had never been made before—and probably could not have been. It is only recently that one civilization has been capable of looking at another civilization objectively, rather than as a potential rival or convert. Read the rest of this entry »
February 25th, 2008 by SWARAAJ CHAUHAN, International Columnist
The Oscar results are out. Marion Cotillard, who won the Oscar for best actress for her role in the Edith Piaf biopic “La Vie en Rose”, is the first French woman to take home the best actress Oscar since Simone Signoret’s win in 1960.
Cotillard is a Greenpeace spokeswoman and was among the artists involved in “Dessins pour le climat,” an album project that was released in 2005 and raised money for the environmental activist group.
The LA News film critic describes the glittering ceremony “as the most boring in memory”. But even then the 80-year-old Oscar event is eagerly awaited far and wide. “No Country for Old Men” won best picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, with brothers Joel and Ethan Coen winning best director and best adapted screenplay for the film and Javier Bardem taking home best supporting actor for his portrayal of a sociopathic killer.
November 24th, 2007 by SWARAAJ CHAUHAN, International Columnist
A history of sorts was made Friday when ‘Goal’ became the first Indian Bollywood movie to get simultaneous release in the cinema halls of India and Pakistan. ‘Goal’, a contemporary story of the Asian community in the UK, told through the dynamic prism of professional football, has already created a tremendous buzz in India.
Pakistan and India share a common passion for cricket and Bollywood movies. The Pakistan cricket team is at present in India and the matches are well attended, and also watched on the TV. The majority of Pakistan’s population watch Bollywood films due to the similarities between Hindi and Urdu languages as well as similar culture. Bollywood films are also watched avidly in South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh and Nepal. Even Afghanistan, African and Arab countries have a huge market for Bollywood films.
” ‘Goal’, released in seven cities of Pakistan, including Lahore and Karachi, along with the rest of the World on Friday, has thus become the First Indian film to have a day and date release in Pakistan. The film, directed by Vivek Agnihotri and starring Bollywood hunk John Abraham (Christian), the glamorous Bipasha Basu (Hindu), Arshad Warsi (Muslim) and Boman Irani (Parsi), was released worldwide on Friday,” reports DNA.
“The Pakistani release for the film came after the producers received a clearance from the Pakistan Censor Board to release the film in the neighbouring country. In Pakistan the film releases with 12 prints across Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala.
“The release of ‘Goal’ in Pakistani theatres makes it the fifth Indian film and the second mainstream film, after the Emraan Hashmi-starrer ‘Awarapan’, to secure a theatrical release in Pakistan. Other films that have in the last couple of years managed to secure a release in Pakistani theatres are K Asif’s 1950s classic ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, Akbar Khan’s ‘Taj Mahal - an Eternal Love Story’ and 1980s hit ‘Sohni Mahiwal’.”
Bollywood produces more than 1,000 films a year and has an estimated audience of 3.6 billion people, more than half the population of the world. Bollywood name is a portmanteau of Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry.
“Raja Harishchandra (1913) was the first silent feature film made in India. It was made by Dadasaheb Phalke. By the 1930s, the industry was producing over 200 films per annum. The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara (1931), was a super hit. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming.”
November 21st, 2007 by SWARAAJ CHAUHAN, International Columnist
Do you wish to know more about Mao Tse-tung’s ‘Mao suit’, or Richard Gere’s the ‘American Gigolo’ suit, or Charlie Chaplin’s the ‘tramp’ suit, or The Beatles the ‘Hard Day’s Night’ suit, or Cary Grant’s the ‘North by Northwest’ suit, or Malcom X’s the ‘zoot suit’, please click here…
I have exciting but also sad news: Mick LaSalle published the last chapter of The Event. Exciting? Because I couldn’t wait to see how it would all end. Why, then, sad? Because The Event quickly became part of my weekly reading material. I am going to miss it, that’s for sure.
So: be sure to read the last chapter: it’s a great ending, I won’t say too much, because I don’t want to spoil it for you. Let me just take the time to thank Mick for e-mailing me whenever he published a chapter and, of course, for writing The Event in the first place. I know that Mick wants it to be published: I hope that he will succeed in that. It is much deserving to be published: The Event captured me immediately. Mick has a great, engaging writing style. The storyline is great, the way Mick went on to tell the story was remarkable.
Thanks Mick: I truly hope it will be published soon - it is much deserving.
