Author: Lavina Melwani

Diwali tradition mandates you indulge in the richest of mithais and halwas during the festivities – laddoos, chumchums and burfi – amongst a myriad of classic sweets. To that list you can now add Diwali truffles – with a traditional Indian twist!

A decade ago it would have been unimaginable that the beat of bhangra drums would be heard reverberating from the hundred-year-old New York Public Library, the city’s Beaux Arts landmark building, until the late hours of the night.
Well, this too came to pass with the grand gala concluding the two-day International Sikh Film Festival where power people, artists and film-makers gathered to celebrate not only the cinema arts but the role of Sikhs in every sphere of life…

Imagine this: just one actor on stage. No set transformations, no costume changes, little or no action. Yet you sit for a full hour, totally engrossed, and are almost surprised to find that, though you’ve sat immobile in your seat, you’ve traveled into complex worlds, into the innermost reaches of mind and heart.

Few people could pull this off but the combination of actor Shabana Azmi, director Alyque Padamsee and playwright Girish Karnad makes ‘Broken Images’ a play to watch and relish.

In the world of cinema, there is usually a clear demarcation between the silver screen and the audience. If you are a fan you might count yourself lucky if you got a fleeting glimpse of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on the red carpet or if he waved out to you as part of a crowd.

Yet for one Indian-American fan, real life blended into reel life, resulting in ‘Walkaway’, a movie which is being released on 26 screens across 18 cities in the US and echoes the life of young South Asians in New York City. First time filmmaker Shailja Gupta, very much a New York based South Asian herself, managed to pull this film off with help from none other than – Shah Rukh Khan!

October was a good month to be Sikh in the Big Apple – there were enough films, seminars and socializing events to make you think you were back in Amritsar or Delhi! The 8th Annual Sikh International Film Festival took place at the Asia Society in Manhattan with a powerful array of films organized by the Film Chair Dr. Paul Johar.

It’s not often that you run into Bollywood biggie Karan Johar at a makeshift Chowpatty or chat with Mira Nair while eating kulfis at a fake Pasta Lane – and that too in the heart of New York, inside the Grand Hyatt Hotel!

The event was An Evening in Mumbai, and like the real Mumbai, this imitation Mumbai glittered. Every one of the guests was dressed in Bollywood glam, a mad medley of colors and jewels. For a day, every guest was a star and walked down the red carpet.

“My father was a CEO, so I grew up in a family that gave me a very real sense of the positive impact that business can have upon society – from providing goods and services to creating jobs to building entire communities,” says Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School.

“Women in South Asia are some of the most policed in the world. Their sexuality, their bodies, their desires are constantly monitored and judged through the morality of societies in South Asia,” says Myna Mukherjee, director of Engendered. “Fashion has an incredibly popular appeal yet is considered frivolous or superfluous – both its creative roots as well as its worth are constantly questioned.”

Zenobia Shroff received rave reviews in Sooni Taraporevala’s ‘Little Zizou’ in which she starred with Boman Irani. Now the actress is trying her hand at stand up comedy with her one-woman show in New York.

Cinema can be a powerful way of creating awareness of culture and issues. The Sikh community has been very successful in doing this by telling stories about the community and the faith.

“You know what it is with me – I’m all heart. I can’t do anything else. Everything I do, for every decision I make – of course I use my brain – but my heart kind of takes over, and I can’t fight it. So music was just something I couldn’t give up.” – Jay Sean

“Outsourced” is a loaded word, particularly in today’s economic climate, so NBC’s new serial is creating quite a buzz. A comedy about a Mid-Western novelty company that outsources its call center to India, it’s a showcase for Indian-American talents.

So is this the big one? “Absolutely,” says Rizwan Manji. “Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s the first time that there’s been a television show on a major network that has a primarily Indian cast. So I think it’s a huge deal – it’s scary but it’s a big opportunity!”

On 9/11, 2001 all hell broke loose from the sky in Lower Manhattan, and America and Americans have never been the same again. A human trust was broken, and now there’s always a chasm, a looking over the shoulder, a wound which never completely heals.
That brings us to the proposed Cordoba House community center/mosque near Ground Zero. Not a handful of soil has been turned nor a brick has been laid, yet this mosque-to-be has caused angst, debate and anger. Like a phantom, it has entered into conversations, both real and virtual.

Sometimes you buy a piece of contemporary Indian art and get a love story too in the bargain! Cinq Sens (Five Senses) by M. F. Husain is a powerful work originally gifted by the artist many, many years ago to film director Roberto Rossellini and his Bengali wife, Sonali Dasgupta.
It was a love match he helped bring about, for at that time Rossellini was married to the noted actress Ingrid Bergman and Sonali was the wife of a documentary film-maker in Calcutta. The painting is estimated at $500,-700,000 and is being auctioned by Sotheby’s, and here’s the story behind it.UPDATE – IT SOLD FOR $782,500

At I-View Film Festival 2010 , a powerful band of cinema warriors is coming to town – imagine directors like Vishal Bhardwaj, Aparna Sen, Onir, and Rituparno Ghosh in the flesh along with wonderful actors like Rahul Bose, Rituparna Sengupta, Konkona Sen, Raima Sen, and Juhi Chawla.

This year on 10/10/10 everyone is a Mumbaikar at heart and together we celebrate that great city by the sea which has shown a lot of courage and resilience under attack. Children’s Hope India presents An Evening in Mumbai Gala

Ten years down, who knows what we’ll find. Dosas being served in American schools and college campuses? Dosas in vending machines? Dosas-to-Go at fast food outlets?

For all those hankering for details about the Chelsea Clinton wedding – at least one cat is out of the bag! We can say with definite authority that the linens at the wedding of the year were designed by Asema Ahmed’s Magnolias Linens.

Indeed, Middle Eastern royals, Hollywood stars and blue blooded society princesses have all turned to Asema when they need some high drama in their lives, be it a glittering wedding or a black tie gala.

He’s designed togs for Jay Sean, Fugitive, Mumzy Stranger, Juggy D, Ameet Chana, Bikram Singh and several other musicians and actors. Now he’s designing for the new film ‘London Town’ and soon the staff of Bloombury Hotel in London will be wearing uniforms styled by him.

Meet Saran Kohli, 24, a fashion designer from London who translates musicality into a fashion statement with an urban collection of menswear launching in New York.

Will students be heading to American universities to get their degrees as Ayurvedic doctors? Will patients seek out practitioners of this 5000 year old system of medicine from India when next they have health problems? And will Ayurveda form the basis for new health and beauty products, even of restaurant menus, in the US?