Sunday, July 31, 2011

Poetry without words..

By Ananya Mukherjee
Singapore



It starts with a soft feathery stroke that sends the innermost chords of your soul vibrating in a poignant resonance. The next few minutes transport you to another land...you hear the rippling gurgling streams meandering through deep dark gorges, you float in the fluidity of that motion, prancing in circles, tiptoeing over the slippery rocky water bed. Then you hear the soft musings of a distant flute slowly weaving into that trance, further elevating you to a higher platform where each of your pulse is touched by a subtle yet powerful energy that brings you to submission. With each passing moment, the vision of the valley becomes more lucid in your mind. This is what happens when master instrumentalist Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and music maestro Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia perform a Jugalbandi.

It was indeed poetry without words as the celebrated duo Shiv-Hari performed for a packed audience at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore, last week.  The magical pair was accompanied by Shri Vijay Ghate on Tabla and Pandit Bhawani Shankar on the Pakhawaj. 


The evening opened appropriately with Raga Yaman, a solo composition played by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the undisputed king of Santoor. The raga popularly known as Kalyani in Carnatic is one of the most important and engaging ragas of Hindustani classical music and the composition by Pandit Sharma gave it a distinct character that revealed a sense of tranquillity. The accompaniment on the Pakhawaj added to that dimension. If I were left to translate my imagination in words, I saw myself sitting alone at the ghats of the holy Ganges, somewhere up north, near Haridwar or Rishikesh, watching a flood of floating diyas disappearing in the river after the evening aarti. If you have ever done that, you will know what I mean.  

This evening raga was followed by a solo based on Raga Kirwani from the world renowned exponent of Baansuri (bamboo flute),Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. Needless to say, the spotless and haunting rendition kept the audience enthralled. Though a strictly Carnatic raga, traces of Pilu could be found in the composition, the treatment was both romantic and passionate. Very easily the music could transcend the territorial limitations of space and take you by the Yamuna river to catch a glimpse of a divine poetry in motion. Vijay Ghate on the Tabla thundered like clouds rumbling in that backdrop and further accentuated the tempo and the mood.

The second session was the more energetic part of the evening as the two maestros left the audience mesmerised by a soulful Jugalbandi based essentially on the elegant late evening Raga Khamaj, skilfully improvised with popular light classical and folk music like Aayo kahan se ghana shyam and Okey aaj chole jete bolona Lolita. As the rendition unfolded phrases for each artiste to follow, the music intensified and the percussion accelerated the rhythm, the cadence conversing matchlessly with the Santoor and the Baansuri.
So spiritually enriching and soul stirring was the musical journey that I had to sit back and think, did I really need words to express myself, to convey my desires or passions, to elaborate on my dreams and fantasies, or to fight the innermost fears of my soul? Most of all, when there is music such as this, don’t I need to rephrase my prayers?

Musically yours,
Ananya

The Vision

By Bilwanath Chatterjee
Kolkata, India



Tales from the Maximum City

By Abdullah Khan
New Delhi, India



In his Booker-winning debut novel The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga exposed  the ugly underbelly of the shining India. The antagonist of his debut book, Balram Halwai, was  a country bumpkin, who learned the ways of city folks quickly to climb the ladder of the social hierarchy. He didn’t  give a damn  about  the unethical and criminal aspects of his acts, and even philosophically justified his misdeeds, including his employer’s murder. Balram Halwai, in fact, was just an instrument for the author to paint a broader  picture of the greed-infested and rabidly capitalist post- 1991 India- the country which once took pride in its Gandhian legacy but now being run by the carpetbaggers, pimps and middlemen. Adiga continues with the same leitmotif in his second novel (and third book) Last Man in Tower. 
The protagonist this time around is  Yogesh Murthy- a  retired schoolteacher known as Masterji among his neighbours. An atheist and a highly principled man  he lives in an old crumbling housing society known as the Vishram Housing Society. Built during the 1950s the society is the only ‘absolutely, unimpeachably pucca’ structure in the entire Vakola area of Mumbai, which mostly comprises of  slums. The society in itself is a miniature of India; with all its religious and cultural diversity. The residents vary from a retired accountant, a small time real estate broker, an internet café owner, to a social worker, etc. There are Hindus  Muslims and Christians. They are Punjabis, Gujaratis, Sindhis, Bengalis, etc.  But despite their different culture and faith the residents live like one happy extended family.
One day, a well known Mumbai-based builder Dharmen Shah’s prying eyes fall on this society and he decides to buy it to build his dream project-  a luxurious residential complex.  He sends his emissary with tempting  offers to all the society residents to sell their apartments to him. As the last date of the offer deadline  nears, all the flat owners give in   except ‘Masterji’. For Masterji the house harbours the priceless memories of his long gone daughter and  recently deceased wife. His neighbours do not understand all this  and start considering him a  big  hurdle in the way of their prosperity. At first,  they try to convince him but when he refuses to budge, they  start conspiring against him. Even his close friend Albert Pinto abandons  him.
Thematically speaking, the novel is a discourse on the changing yardsticks of morality of the  Indian middle class where values and ethics mean nothing, and where material possession stands for everything. Masterji here symbolises the last remnant of the ideals on which the idea of India was conceived. Dharmen Shah, on the other hand, represents today’s India. Like Balram Halwai he rises from the dirt and becomes a shining star. He does not shy away from performing morally or ethically wrong deeds if they guarantee him success. Just like Balram Halwai. 
During the last two decades India has witnessed  rapid economic growth that has created a big middle class and even bigger lower class. The former  has great material aspirations and is  simply brutal in its approach to achieving its goals. This upward mobility among the middle class has also created a huge demand for real estate. In the absence of any real  government control, real estate  has become a haven for unscrupulous and unethical businessmen. Under the political patronage, these builders function like the mafia- conducting their business with the stamp of legality. Adiga, undoubtedly, has created the character of Dharmen Shah from those real people. 
Aravind Adiga has worked equally hard on all the characters. From the strange  and secretive Secretary of the society to the guard Ram Khare, he has fleshed out each character equally well.. But, the central character Masterji doesn’t get the space he deserves. Even Dharmen Shah should have made his appearance more frequently. Further, the way Masterji’s neighbours behave after committing a ghastly crime doesn’t appear to be plausible. At places, the dialogue seems to be in the need of the tightening.
An apt commentary on the contemporary India but when it comes to literary merit , his last book Between the Assignations was better.

Captain America : The First Avenger



Captain America: The First Avenger is upcoming Hollywood movie which will be released on 22 July 2011. This million dollar budget (estimated budget of Captain America: the first avenger is $140,000,000) is directed by Joe Johnston. Chris Evans is playing role of superhero Steve Rogers/Captain America in this science-fiction/action/adventure movie.


Complete star cast and crew movie includes Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Hugo Weaving, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Richard Armitage, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Natalie Dormer, Neal Mcdonough, Toby Jones, JJ Field, Anatole Taubman and Kenneth Choi.


The Joe Johnston’s movie, starring in the leading role Chris Evans, gathered from the American audience 65,8 million dollars, setting a record among the other superheroes productions of the summer. “Thor” had receipts of 65,7 million dollars, “Green Lantern” had 53,2 million dollars receipts and “X-Men: First Class” had 55,1 million dollars receipts.


Story or plot of Captain America: the first avenger revolves around super hero Chris Evans who becomes superhero after he volunteers himself for top secret research project of America. He is not only the superhero but also most expensive project of America and now his mission is to save the American ideals and fight with powerful enemies. Writer of this movie is Christopher Markus who used all his writing skills in this mega budget Hollywood movie.This Marvel Entertainment movie is based on Comic Book and it will be mega Hollywood movie of year 2011.

Captain America's shield, which serves as both a defensive tool and a lethal weapon, consisted of four types: metal, fiberglass, rubber, and CG. Visual effects supervisor Christopher Townsend said, "Chris Evans would practice swinging the practical shield so he knew the arc and the speed at which he should move. We would take the shield from him and shoot the scene with him miming it. Then we would add in a CG shield".[89] Hugo Weaving, who portrayed the Red Skull, wore a latex mask conceived by prosthetic makeup designer David White. However, the visual effects team had to manipulate his face considerably due to the bulkiness of the mask and make it look like tight skin wrapped around a very boney structure. The team thinned out Weaving's cheeks and lower lip, hollowed out his eyes, and removed his eyelashes and nose to make him appear more like the Red Skull character.


In a picture released Collider sites featuring actor Chris Hemsworth look dashing with a bandage Thor costume, complete with trusty hammer, Mjolnir.Thor tells of a god of thunder, Thor is very powerful but arrogant. Thor careless actions memyulut back an ancient war that should have been extinguished. As hukamannya, Thor banished to Earth and forced to live among humans. On Earth, Thor learned a lot about how to become a true hero and the same time the evil forces of Asgard was headed toward Earth.


An old saying is that the last ones will be the first, for sure. The launching of “Captain America: The First Avenger” is the demonstration of that because the movie was a huge box office success. The launching of the last superheroes of the summer demonstrates the audience’s desire for heroes and adventures, according to the BoxOfficeMojo’s ranking.


In June 2011, Buena Vista Records announced the details for the soundtrack release of Captain America: The First Avenger. The album includes the original score by Alan Silvestri, as well as the original song "Star Spangled Man" with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by David Zippel. The soundtrack was recorded at Air Studios in London and was released on July 19, 2011.All music composed by Alan Silvestri, except where indicated.

The Only Chart You Need To See

From Doug Ross with a safety warning included...


Looks like some pretty good years under Clinton that Republican Congress...
When Pelosi took over in 2007? Not so much.

Seth Rogen


Seth Rogen (pronounced /ˈroʊgɪn/; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian comedian, screenwriter, voice artist, film producer and actor. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teens, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and Geeks. Shortly after Rogen moved to Los Angeles for his role, Freaks and Geeks was canceled after one season due to poor ratings. He then got a part on the equally short-lived Undeclared, which also hired him as a staff writer.


Rogen got his start in show business at age 12, after signing up for a comedy workshop class taught by Mark Pooley. His early comedy routines involved jokes about his bar mitzvah, his grandparents and his camp counselors. Once it occurred to him that being funny could be an actual job, that was the career path he wanted. During his teenage years he would perform stand-up comedy routines at places like bar mitzvahs and small parties before upgrading to bars. He was even paid to write jokes by a mohel. At the age of 13, he co-wrote a rough draft of Superbad with childhood friend Evan Goldberg, who he had met at bar mitzvah classes. Based on their teenage experiences,Rogen and Goldberg spent the rest of their time in high school polishing the script. They initially worried that the 1999 film American Pie had beaten them to the idea for the movie, but felt that it lacked "all honest interaction between characters, which is what [they]'re going for."


His mother was supportive of his comic endeavors and would often drive him to stand up gigs at the comedy club Yuk Yuks. With his deadpan humor, he won the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest at 16 years-old. Also at age 16, Rogen's father lost his job and his mother quit hers, forcing them to put their house up for sale and relocate to a significantly smaller apartment. Around this time, he landed a role on Judd Apatow's television show Freaks and Geeks after attending a local casting call. After dropping out of high school, he began working for Apatow and relocated with his family to Los Angeles. Rogen paid the bills and had become the main wage earner at just 16.


Rogen's acting debut was in Apatow's 1980s-set cult hit series Freaks and Geeks as Ken Miller, a cynical, acerbic "freak". Revolving around a group of teenagers' lives, Freaks and Geeks first aired in 1999. Although well-reviewed, the show was NBC's lowest-viewed program and was canceled after one season due to poor rating.Very impressed with Rogen's improvisational skills,Apatow then chose him as the lead in another of his shows, Undeclared. Rogen was originally set to play a fairly popular but nerdy college freshman, but the network did not think he was leading male material. Apatow opted not to go along with the show but, after facing the chance of getting sued, he hired him for a small role. Rogen also served as a staff writer to the short-lived production.


Rogen had brief parts in the Drew Barrymore-produced Donnie Darko (2001) and Apatow's Will Farrell-starring 2004 film Anchorman. A big career point for him was becoming a staff writer for Sacha Baron Cohen's last season of Da Ali G Show in 2004. Along with the show's other writers, Rogen received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He became familiar to audiences as one of the main character's witty co-workers in Apatow's well-reviewed buddy comedy directorial debut feature The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). Rogen also co-produced it and improvised all his dialogue. "[Rogen] hadn’t done any screen work that indicated he could carry as memorable and convincing a performance as he does with the character Cal," 


Cute Pose Seth Rogen


Seth Rogen The Green Hornet Player


After years of development, a feature film adaptation of The Green Hornet was handled by Rogen and Goldberg, with a theatrical release in January 2011. Rogen chose to do a re-imagining of the titular character. Besides executively producing the movie, he also cast himself as the main part. Rogen later admitted to having been overwhelmed by handling its $120 million budget.


Seth Rogen Action

The Green Hornet


The Green Hornet is a 2011 superhero action-comedy film, based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books, and other media. Directed by Michel Gondry, the film stars Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz.


SYNOPSIS: The father of party guy Britt Reid (Seth Rogan) dies leaving him with a vast media empire. He begins a friendship with one of his father’s employees, Kato (Jay Chou), and they decided to do something meaningful with their lives for the first time ever: fight crime. They hit the streets to become a vigilante crime fighting pair known as The Green Hornet and Kato. They soon come face to face with members of LA’s gritty underworld who have one goal: to rid themselves of The Green Hornet!


List of Players The Green Hornet:

  • Seth Rogen as Britt Reid / The Green Hornet:.
  • Jay Chou as Kato
  • Cameron Diaz as Lenore "Casey" Case
  • Tom Wilkinson as James Reid
  • Christoph Waltz as Benjamin Chudnofsky families
  • David Harbour as D.A. Frank Scanlon
  • Edward James Olmos as Mike Axford
  • Jamie Harris as Popeye
  • Chad Coleman as Chili
  • Edward Furlong as Tupper: A meth dealer.
  • Analeigh Tipton as Ana Lee
  • Jill Remez as Daily Sentinel reporter
  • Reuben Langdon as Crackhead
  • Jerry Trimble as Chudnofsky's Man
  • James Franco (uncredited) as Danny "Crystal" Clear,


Producer Neal H. Moritz considered filming The Green Hornet in Detroit, Michigan, New York City, and Louisiana, but ultimately chose Los Angeles, California, as the primary location shooting. "Ultimately, we made the decision, and thankfully the studio agreed with us, that the creative positives of shooting in Los Angeles outweighed the tax incentives offered to us elsewhere," Moritz said. Principal photography began at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California on September 2, 2009 for one week. Filming then moved to Chinatown, Los Angeles for scenes featuring Kato's apartment. Through November, other locations included Sun Valley, Holmby Hills (specifically Fleur de Lys, which played the part of the Reid mansion), Bel-Air, Hawthorne and various locations downtown, including City Hall and the Los Angeles Times Building.


Nicolas Cage had been in talks to play the role of Benjamin Chudnofsky,saying in 2009, "The Green Hornet was something I wanted to do. I think Michel Gondry is very talented and I had hoped it would work. But I think Seth Rogen and Michel had a different direction for the character totally than the way I wanted to go. ... I wasn't interested in just being straight-up bad guy who was killing people willy-nilly. I had to have some humanity and try to give it something where you could understand why the character was the way he was. But there wasn't enough time to develop it.


The production modified 29 Imperial Crown sedans from model years 1964 to 1966 to portray the Green Hornet's luxurious supercar, the Black Beauty. Twenty-six of those cars were wrecked during production and three survived in pristine condition.


"The Green Hornet" took in $11.1 million on its opening day, $33,526,876 over the three-day weekend, and just over $40 million for the four-day Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday weekend, topping the box office. In its second weekend, it dropped 47% to $17.7 million, finishing second to No Strings Attached. In its third weekend, it earned $11.2 million and finished in fourth place. As of June 19, 2011, the film has earned $98,780,042 domestically and $227,817,248 worldwide.

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