WEEKLY MAGAZINE, MAY 4, 2014 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times
From left: Imran, Ishtiaque and Ehsan Qureshi, all established chefs, with their father Imtiaz, the first in the family to work in a commercial kitchen
The curious tale of how 30 members of one Lucknowi family came to dominate north Indian cuisine across the country’s top restaurants
4
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
twitter.com/HTBrunch
To read Brunch stories (and more) online, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. To discuss the stories (or give feedback), follow @HTBrunch on Twitter. For everything cool on the Internet, like Hindustan Times Brunch on Facebook. And for videos, check out our channel (youtube.com/HindustanTimesBrunch).
Rules Of The Game
by Amrah Ashraf
SUCH A POSER!
You know that girl who pops up on Facebook dressed like she’s straight out of the Zara store, posting a selfie from a local fish market? Or that girl who tumbles off the curb in nothing less than Michael Kors, fancy accessories fall-
THE CROSSLEGGER She doesn’t usually stand like that. In fact no one does. Why in pictures, then? Because it makes them look cute, na?
ing off her? Surely you’ve seen style bloggers reaching for Instagram filters. God knows we’re bored of these ‘main bhi fashionistas’. That’s why we’ve decided to make fun of some classic high-street selfie poses in the hope that they will die a quick death
THE GOOD OL’ TEAPOT She’s so cool that she won’t bother showing you her face. Her back is good enough for you. But we know what she’s actually trying to do is hide the big lunch she had. And well, teapotting is the easiest way to look thin.
THE SLOUCH POTATO She’s so cool, she doesn’t even need to stand straight. Makes us wonder what on earth is going on with that spine. And who made this pose popular in the first place?
THE LOOKER LOOKING AWAY She may start off by looking away from the camera, then looking into the distance, maybe looking back at you timidly and then looking at her feet. She’s on her way somewhere, yet still posing. Fascinating stuff, isn’t it? THE BUSY TONE She’s got the perfect ‘I don’t care about you, but OMG how awesome am I’ look. Her style: so right now. Her pose: dude, not right now!
Illustrations: SIDDHANT JUMDE
Apples And Oranges
by Shoumeli Das and Sucharita Kanjilal
A LOVER’S QUARREL
by Saudamini Jain
Are you the overbearing couple or the can’t-care-less single? Fight your fight here Smug Couple: House of Cards Marathon this Saturday with my baby! Single Dude: Lolz. That was my Wednesday all-nighter
Smug Couple: Just bought our running gear for next month’s marathon Single Dude: Snoozed the gym alarm today, but no one will ever know
Smug Couple: Guess who just got upgraded to the honeymoon suite? Single Dude: Couchsurfing scenes this summer #yolo #eurotrip
Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK
Smug Couple: Instagrammed Single Dude: Got trashed ussies shot with the boring with the bridesmaids/bachfamily wedding elors at the cocktail party Smug Couple: Scoreedd an epic couple deal for a five-star buffet on date night
Single Dude: Spent Fridayy night eating pepperoni pizza in bed in my undies Smug Couple: Unlimited sangria at Sunday brunch with Smug Couple 2
On The Brunch Radar
Single Dude: Pub crawl with the bros. Jagerbombs FTW!
FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT National — Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.com North — Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.com West — Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.com South — Francisco Lobo: francisco.lobo@hindustantimes.com
MAY 4, 2014
LOVE IT
n That George Clooney is engaged
out of Hollywood
n John Oliver on Indian elections.
THE BRUNCH BOOK CHALLENGE HOW TO The Brunch Book Challenge is an @HTBrunch Th READ 24 initiative to get readers to read at least 24 books in initiativ 2014. Read anything you like, just keep us posted. BOOKS (OR 201 Tweet your progress to @HTBrunch with the Tw MORE) IN hashtag ha #BrunchBookChallenge ONE YEAR
n Rajinikanth’s wife, Latha, on his
future: “I’m sure he will be very spiritually evolved by then.” When God watches Kochadaiiyaan, He’ll say, “Oh My Rajinikanth”. n Kawehi’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Closer. Also, SHE’S HOT! n National Geographic’s photo series of what Americans will look like in 2050.
Stuff You Said Last Sunday I really enjoyed the article ‘What if these films ended differently’. Good attempt. Looking forward to more exciting Brunch editions :) – @Jaspreet Mann
n When news organisations
speculate on what Sunny Leone does at a private party n Kevin Spacey and John Travolta at the IIFA n The cruelty that recently married women are subjected to if they put on some weight. “Are you expecting?” Case in point: Vidya Balan n When people take selfies seriously (researchers are planning to measure the “moods” of some American cities by analysing a million pictures) n Shit Extended Families Say
SHOVE IT Cover Photo: LABONY KAUSHAL Cover Design: SWATI CHAKRABARTI
I love reading Brunch!! It’s like my Sunday dose. Today’s edition was really good. I got to know about sports champions of the past. It was a really inspiring edition – Ishita Jha
Psst, send us an email, find us on Facebook or tweet to @HTBrunch
EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Satarupa Paul
DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti, Payal Dighe Karkhanis, Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Aggarwal
I read the cover story by Aasheesh Sharma – ‘Fir st Action Heroes’ in you r esteemed weekly Bru nch. The article refreshed my memories about the achievements of the hockey wizard, Major Dhyan Chand. I wish the director of Bhaag Mil kha Bhaag makes a movie on this great legend so tha t the new generation can also remember this leg end. – Narendra Varshney
Drop us a line at: brunchletters@hindustantimes. com or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001
6
WELLNESS
MIND BODY SOUL SHIKHA SHARMA
DANCE OF HEALTH
Lack concentration? Feel stressed all day? Get bored easily? Just dance and see it all disappear
Y
OGA HAS innumerable health benefits. An illness mostly occurs when there is an imbalance in our conscious mind, which leads to stress and its impact on the body. Lack of exercise and outdoor activity harm the body as well. But what also makes us ill is emotional imbalance. Interestingly, most people don’t know that many dance forms can heal some ailments. Natya Shastra is the fifth Veda, especially created as a synthesis of the other four. Here’s how Bharatanatyam keeps you healthy: n The dance requires an intricate connection between handwork, footwork and a sense of balance. That obviously helps develop concentration. n The dance is often performed to devotional music and chants, which directly affects some healing chakras in the body. We all know the impact of the nada or synchronous music on the body cells and nerves. n The dance form uses many postures which make the body flexible and increase blood circulaA STEP tion. AHEAD This Dance often strengthens to stay fit the spinal cord, muscles and improves body balance. Most bending postures ensure a healthy lymphatic drainage. n The repeated floortapping footwork works like natural acupressure for the soles and also unblocks energy pools in the body.
HAND SIGNALS
According to the shastras, the fingers carry the energy of the body n It also strengthens the muscles of the legs and the joints, keeping muscle injuries at bay. n It is rare for a learner to get bored or lose interest in the dance, and hence compliance or regularity is very simple to accomplish. n Most Indian dance forms exercise the facial and eye muscles. As a result, the dancer does not suffer from neck pain, joint pains or sagging facial skin. That is why it is not uncommon to see women aged 60 or more, dance for two hours without any problem. n It improves balance, grace and posture. n The hand gestures or the hasta mudras also correlate to the yogic mudras. The hasta mudras are an energy balancing act. According to the shastras, the fingers carry the energy of the body, which has the four core elements: fire, water, air and earth and one element of space (shunya or neutralising power). The mudras or the hand gestures have a dual role. They balance the energies of the dancer and communicate the bhava. Overall the classical dance form is a wonderful amalgamation of exercise, dynamic meditation, and chakra healing. ask@drshikha.com Photos: IMAGESBAZAAR, THINKSTOCK
MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch MAY 4, 2014
8
REEL WORLD
twitter.com/HTBrunch
Bollywood: Split Wide Open
The current elections have sharply divided the Hindi film industry. A quick look at who’s backing which party/leader THE LETTER: Scriptwriter Anjum Rajabali (he has written films like Satyagraha, Aarakshan, Chakravyuh, among others) drafted a letter in mid-April, in which he strongly advocated India’s ‘unnegotiable’ secular character. He told NDTV, “Our sense of India comes from the fact that we are a secular country and if that notion is challenged...if that itself is vulnerable at this moment, that is what has compelled people to speak up. It is the right wing fundamentalist forces within the BJP that are making young people feel very insecure.” VOTE SECULAR!
THE NARENDRA MODI SUPPORTERS Film director Madhur Bhandarkar said on Twitter “Shocking to see some colleagues, under garb of stopping so-called divisive forces, are themselves dividing a secular place like Bollywood.” “Let’s hope better sense prevails and our film industry elects @narendramodi with a thumping majority. It’s time India got a visionary leader.”
The open letter was signed by eminent film personalities like Vishal Bhardwaj, Imtiaz Ali, Zoya Akhtar, Govind Nihalani, Aditi Rao Hydari, Mahesh Bhatt, Shubha Mudgal, Kabir Khan, Saeed Mirza, Anand Patwardan, Hansal Mehta, Nandita Das and many others.
PTI reported that actor Vivek Oberoi, who has been campaigning for the BJP, said that everyone has the right to voice their opinion “It is not only about voting for someone who is secular but other issues like corruption, quality education and health care, good roads etc. need to be addressed too”
“My respected seniors colleagues film industry,.Why did you not speak up when kashmiri pandits were being massacred driven out of kashmir? (sic)” She retweeted the following post “India can b saved if #Modi is Elected as PM” And actor Anupam Kher said “Since few of my colleagues are telling people who to vote for, it is also important to tell people to vote for Narendra Modi for betterment of India. :)” Film director and producer Anubhav Sinha had this to say about Arvind Kejriwal “For the first time I have seen a man who says ‘vote for yourself, not me’.
AND MEANWHILE, THE AAP SUPPORTERS Music composer Vishal Dadlani: “Fair, equitable capitalism is leftist!? No one’s against business! All #AAP wants is CLEAN business! OK!?” Actress and TV anchor Archana Puran Singh tweeted I have voted for AAP; I have voted 4 d future of my country and my children!Please go out & reclaim your motherland!
“To cover up corruption and bad governance, the ‘secular’ card is being stretched a bit too far! No party can claim the secular prize!”
And actress Raveena Tandon tweeted
Actor Nandita Das told NDTV “In many ways it is a call to vote against Mr Modi...not only him but all other parties that have in the past and continue to profess and divide people on communal lines.”
Tusshar Kapoor, supporting Bhandarkar, tweeted
Actors Ranvir Shorey, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Ayub Khan, Vidya Malvade, Raghu Ram and music director Vishal Dadlani were seen with placards endorsing the Aam Admi Party at important traffic junctions in Mumbai. Compiled by Abhilasha Gupta
MAY 4, 2014
10
COVER STORY CO
twitter.com/HTBrunch
Meet the Qureshis: India’s first family of Indian cuisine, whose recipe for success borrows as much from tradition as it does from good old-fashioned ingenuity
TOP CHEF
Imtiaz Qureshi lords it over Awadhi cuisine at ITC
Jamavar. Aijaz’s younger brother Javed works with his uncle Shaukat at Sofitel Mumbai’s Jyran.
CHOICE CUTS
The story of the Qureshis’ rise to fame begins with Imtiaz Qureshi. by Antoine Lewis Born on 2 Feb 1929, a few weeks after Martin Luther King and the first publication of Tintin and Popeye, the fifth son of Murad Ali and Sakina Qureshi grew up in a family of nine boys and two girls. His ancestors were butchers and NE OF THE STORIES cooks to Awadhi nobility for over mous chefs in India. But the fame that Imtiaz Qureshi loves to tell is 200 years; his maternal grandfais restricted to an individual. The about how he tricked Jawaharlal ther had worked for the Raja of Qureshis, on the other hand, are Nehru. Mehmoodabad and his paternal not all famous individually, but The chief minister of grandfather and father with the their surname has become a passUttar Pradesh, CB Gupta, had Raja of Jahangirabad. It’s not port to success in the hospitality invited Prime Minister Nehru, clear what position they held, but industry. More than 30 members Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur it is most likely that they were from the same Qureshi family Shastri and Zakir Husain for a butchers who also cooked for work at five-star hotels, restauprivate dinner in the early ’60s. feasts and festivals. rants, catering companies or run Nehru accepted reluctantly, Imtiaz, like his brothers, restaurants in India and abroad. and only on the condition began young, helping out at the Mohin, Imtiaz’s nephew, is a that the food be pure butchery when he was only 10-15 chef at Punjab Grill. His cousin Ilvegetarian. Gupta called years old. Their day began at 4am, yas works for restaurateur Marut for Imtiaz, then a young cook when freshly slaughtered carcassSikka’s Indus Culinary Team. with Lucknow’s famous caterer es would come to their father. The Ilyas’s younger brother Ghulam Krishna Hotel, to take care of the boys would help him break down is the master chef of Chingari meal. Imtiaz protested. He knew the animal into different cuts of at the Le Meridien, Pune, while nothing about vegetables. But meat. By 7.30am, when customhis other brother Meraj Ul Haque Gupta convinced him to take on ers arrived, they’d get ready for looks after The Great Kabab the order and the worried chef school. Much was learned outside Factory at Radisson Blu Plaza. spent the next month furiously the classroom, working odd jobs Aijaz, the elder son of Imtiaz’s figuring out how to make it work. with caterers – how mango and brother Ahmed Ali, worked at On the appointed day, dinner tamarind firewood left a lingering ITC Maratha and is at The Leela’s was served and soon after aroma in the food, how to an angry Gupta called for cook for 100 to 10,000 people, Imtiaz. A very annoyed what the elite liked. Nehru was peering over his By the time they were glasses at the food. “I asked in their thirties, they could for a vegetarian meal,” cook kilos of biryani, the PM said. “But here I kebabs, sheermal, nihari can see murgh mussalam, and kormas in their sleep. shammi kebabs and fish.” The brothers were wellImtiaz replied: “Sir, known in Lucknow, some the fish is actually bottle ran meat shops and catering gourd, the chicken is raw outfits. But it was not until jackfruit and the legs, long the ’70s when the ITC (then ‘A consistent ‘Give us only the Welcomgroup Sheraton) brinjals. Even the shammi kebab has been made with product is the water to cook in Agra hired young Imtiaz lotus stem. Everything is help develop their Indian only way the with and we’ll to vegetarian, only discuisine, that they turned guised.” The thrilled guests cuisine can go even make that more than local heroes. had a good laugh. Zakir Hu- international’ Imitaz signed on, taking flavourful’ sain complimented Imtiaz on the formal surname Ishtiaque Qureshi, Ahmed Ali Qureshi, saying he had never eaten Qureshi (the community Kakori House ITC Maratha anything as tasty. of Qussabs, who practise There’s no dearth of fahalal slaughter had recently
Photos: L LABONY KAUSHAL
MAY 4, 2014
11
WHO’S WHO IN THE QURESHI FAMILY Murad Ali and Sakina Qureshi
Fida Husein
Hafeez Khaliq
Imtiaz
Hafeez Basheer
Kaleem Sandi
Nazeer
Niaz
Saleem
Irshad
Grand master chef, ITC Hotels
Mumtaz Ali
Retired master chef, Dum Pukht
Ahmed Ali
Banquet chef, ITC Maratha, Mumbai
Shaukat Ali
Master chef, Jyran, Sofitel, Mumbai
Naimun
Ghulam Mohammed
Alimun
Shahid
Rashid
Mohammed Shareef
(Brother in law of Rais) Master chef, Dum Pukht, ITC Maratha, Mumbai
Laddan
Rais
Master chef ITC Maurya, Delhi
Mohin
Indian chef, Punjab Grill, Delhi
adopted the name, which derives from the Qurraish tribe of the Prophet Muhammad), and forging the first of many Naem Qureshi links to Indian dining. Other brothers soon followed. Shaukat worked at ITC in Agra and Chennai, Mumbai’s Searock Sheraton, the Holiday Inn and other places before briefly consulting for Punjab Grill. Mumtaz worked with Kwality group in Lucknow, ran the local Gymkhana Club and introduced many of the now-famous kebabs at Kebab Korner (at what is now InterContinental, Marine Drive) before he joined the ITC. The brothers became established names after they helped launch ITC’s iconic restaurant Dum Pukht in 1988. Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of that galouti. The Qureshi sons and nephews (some of whom had worked under the brothers) were swiftly picked up by other brands. India’s appetite was truly whetted.
Several Indian regions have produced chefs who are masters of their respective cuisines. So what accounts for the Qureshis’ connection to Indian restaurants? The family attributes it to their intimate knowledge of the cuts of goat. “Anyone can cut mutton,” says Mumtaz. “But only a Qureshi knows which cut has to go into which preparation.” Of course, it’s also about knowing what spices to use when and how that sets them apart. As Ahmed Ali says with a benign smile, “Give us only water to cook with and we’ll even make that flavourful.”
Ishtiaque
Owns Kakori House, (manages Kebab Hut)
Kaleem
Rafid Ahmed
KEY INGREDIENTS
Ilyas
Zubair
Master chef, Dum Pukht, ITC Sonar Bangla, Kolkata
Aijaz
Kitchen executive, Jamavar, The Leela, Mumbai
Who invented
Ghulam
Master chef, Chingari, Le Meridien, Pune
Co-owner, Grande Cuisines
Javed
Irfan
Co-owner, Grande Cuisines
Meraj Ul Haque
Radisson Blu Plaza, Delhi
DUM PUKHT?
Ashfaque
Imran
Works with Ishtiaque at Kebab Hut
Dum Pukht, ITC Sonar Bangla, Kolkata
Javed
Demi chef de Partie Jyran, Sofitel Mumbai
The ITC’s iconic restaurant Dum Pukht takes its name from a technique of Awadhi cuisine. When it was launched in 1988, chefs Imtiaz Qureshi and Maj SS Habib Rehman cleverly conjured up a backstory out of many local legends to add mystique. Here’s what the restaurant’s web page says: ‘When Nawab Asaf-ud-daulah found his
Ghulam
(married to daughter Aisha), Master chef, Dum Pukht, ITC Maurya, Delhi
Ehsan
Works with Grande Cuisines
‘Any chef can make 10kgs of biryani. But no one made 200gms for a single person till I did it at Dum Pukht’ Imtiaz Qureshi
Then again, it’s not that the Qureshis are the only masters of Awadhi cuisine. Rahim ki Nihari in Lucknow’s Chowk serves some of the best nihari and paya; Alam-
gir in Aminabad does delicate galoutis and kulchas that rival a puff pastry in flakiness. Perhaps the family’s fame rests on two simpler reasons. The first is that uniquely Indian character that has been debated extensively in the run up to the elections: family. When Imtiaz joined the ITC, he did not come alone, he brought his brothers and nephew Rais, sowing the seeds of dynastic succession in a commercial kitchen. Three of his five sons were employed by the hotel before they decided to forge their destinies elsewhere. Imtiaz’s son-in-law Ghulam is master chef of Dum Pukht at Delhi’s ITC Maurya, other relatives are in charge of other Dum Pukht outposts or manage the Indian section of hotel banquet kitchens. Even the younger generation, many of whom who grew up outside Lucknow and didn’t start off at the butchery, still gained an edge by working under the senior Qureshi brothers. Blood ties, however, can take you only so far and no company
MAY 4, 2014 4
CONSTRUCTION OF MYTH
Awadh’s Bada Imambara is the source of several legends kingdom in the grip of famine, he initiated a food-for-work programme, employing thousands in the construction of the exquisite Bada Imambara. Large cauldrons were filled with rice, meat, vegetables and spices and sealed to make a simple, one-dish meal available to workers day and night. Then, one day, the Nawab caught a whiff of the aromas emanating from the cauldron and the royal kitchen was ordered to serve the dish.’ Yale professor Holly Schaffer in her essay Dum Pukht: A Pseudo-Historical Cuisine argues that this is more fable than fact. But none of it detracts from the beauty of the food or the success of the restaurant. If the price for keeping a cuisine alive is an over romanticised tale, it’s a price worth paying.
16
COUCH POTATO
The Last Laugh
Tanishaa Mukerji is back on television as a comedy show judge. Will she make an impression on viewers this time round? by Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi
F
OR THE longest time, Tanishaa Mukerji was best known as the daughter of a famous mother and the younger sibling of a superstar. And when she tried to carve a niche of her own, debuting in Yash Raj Productions’ Neil ‘N’ Nikki, neither the film fraternity nor the audiences warmed up to her. A few years later, she became one of the celeb inmates in the Bigg Boss house. Tanishaa faced all the machinations inside and the critics outside who believed she’d shamed her family. “I grew up in a hostel. So even if I look otherwise, I am actually a toughie. I can survive,” she says. “I don’t let things affect me too much and I laugh at most stuff.” Now, as a judge on the Zee TV show Gangs of Hasseypur, Tanishaa is bracing up to laugh out loud on the idiot box.
So you are back on TV, this time as a judge. Tell us a little about the show.
Gangs of Hasseypur is a comedy reality show. It deals with current topics such as politics with a variety of comedy acts, and it blends a lot of styles such as stand-up comedy and satire. I find comedy an extremely challenging genre. So I thought, ‘why not?’
Comedy is a tough genre. Do you think you’ll be able to do justice to it as a judge?
Comedy is definitely a challenging genre. I studied film comedy as a genre at college in Australia and have been following comedy for a long time. The one thing about comedy is that you either find it funny or you don’t. As far as doing justice to it, the audience will do that.
Having done Bigg Boss, are you more comfortable with television now?
In Bigg Boss, all the cameras were hidden and in TV, the cameras are in front of you. I enjoy being in front of cameras, be it TV or film.
Do you feel there was a backlash against you after Bigg Boss?
I don’t feel any backlash. In fact,
there’s been so much positivity. It’s just that people think you are part of their family so they can order you around, but that’s the fun side of it. So I am just appreciative!
You said in an interview that Bigg Boss was a life-changer. Elaborate.
Once you go into the house you will know why. You are isolated from the world and so you can’t expect that there won’t be any change. I came out stronger. That’s how I have changed.
What next? Are you open to doing more reality TV or acting?
I don’t know about what is next but I do know that I am open to anything that challenges me and anything that people don’t expect me to do. Expect the unexpected! tavishi.rastogi @hindustantimes.com
FINE PRINT
19
75 Years Of Batman
He first appeared in 1939, got his own comic book title in 1940. His ultimate power is his (very much human) brain. Meet the world’s greatest detective by Shantanu Argal Batman is the superhero alter-ego of Bruce Wayne. When Bruce was seven, his parents were killed by a petty criminal named Joe Chill in a mugging gone wrong. The incident scarred Bruce so much, he trained for years and became a crime-fighting masked vigilante. The Waynes were one of the wealthiest families in Gotham City (their hometown) and the wealth Bruce inherited allowed him to develop non-lethal weapons, armour and vehicles to combat crime. Batman’s closest aide is Alfred Pennyworth, his trusted butler who also has medical training. The position of his sidekick, Robin has been occupied by different people at different points of time. One of them (Jason Todd) even went on to become a bad guy! He has also teamed up with Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman to form the Justice League of America (JLA) – he is not the loner everybody makes him out to be!
Joker: Anti-thesis of Batman, dresses like a clown but his actions are far from funny. The most important villain in the Batman universe Ra’s al Ghul: He’s sort of immortal (restores his youth by bathing in Lazarus Pits). He figured out Batman is Bruce Wayne, but hasn’t gone public because he respects him as an opponent
Bane: Arguably Batman’s most dangerous opoponent, he once put Batman out of commission. They’ve also had a common lover! Penguin: Real name Oswald Cobblepot. He used to be a prominent supervillain but has become more of minor criminal / stool pigeon in later series Riddler: Edward Nygma / Nigma likes puzzles and likes to puzzle old Bats
Poison Ivy: Tantalising temptress who thinks plants are better than people
Two Face: Former district attorney Harvey Dent who lost half his face and all of his sanity
Killer Croc: Born with a birth defect that made him look more and more reptilian. He is physically superior to most humans but cannot match the wits of The Dark Knight Scarecrow: Former psychologist Dr Jonathan Crane is an expert on fear and uses it to his advantage while pulling off heists Man-Bat: Dr Kirk Langstrom was performing ground-breaking research when he self-tested a formula that turned him into a strange beast – the Man-Bat!
Year One (1987): Frank Miller’s rendition of the origin of Batman. How Bruce Wayne goes from billionaire rich-kid to crime-fighting vigilante. How Commissioner Gordon (a no-nonsense cop) and Batman (a law breaking vigilante) end up on the same side. Brilliant parallel narratives! The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001): Frank Miller writes about a post-retirement Bruce Wayne who is forced to make a comeback. The Killing Joke (1988): Alan Moore writing an origin story about the Joker. Possibly one of the most poetic storylines in the Batman universe. Knightfall (1993-94): Bane breaks Batman’s spine, paralysing him. Unfortunately titled, though! Son of the Demon (1987) and Batman and Son (2006): About Damian, Batman’s son. All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder (2005-08): Featuring hotties Vicki Vale (journalist who has a scene of sorts with Bruce Wayne) and the Black Canary (leather-clad bike riding super lady who also joins the JLA). Yum. Hush (2002-03): Batman versus every Batman villain ever. A surprise ending. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com
MAY 4, 2014
20
indulge Psst...Heard tHis One?
A few tech rumours doing the rounds and what they actually mean THE CURVE BALL
The iPhone 6 may have a curve at the edge of the phone bezel to give it a more rounded and sleeker feel
E
VER SINCE I came up with a column on Secret and Whispers, I’ve been bombarded with requests to come clean on some of the more juicy stuff on upcoming devices. Here is what my ‘sources’ have told me about some of the most anticipated gadgets of 2014. Do remember the disclaimer: all of these are to be taken as ‘news from an anonymous source’, but I have a feeling that most of them could fall very close to the truth. Thus I’ve rated each rumour on my Credibility Rating Meter (CRM).
iPhone 6 to have a bigger curved screen and holographic animation: It’s the most fantastic and over-the-top of all news. The iPhone 6 may have a curved 5.5-inch screen but the curve isn’t like the one on the LG Flex. This curve is at the edge of the phone bezel and is there to give it a more rounded and sleeker feel with no sharp edges anywhere. The bigger screen will also bump up the resolution to 2560x1440 and the price by about $100. Far ahead of
Rajiv Makhni
techilicious MORE ON THE WEB For previous Tech columns, log on to hindustantimes.com/ brunch. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter. com/RajivMakhni The views expressed by the columnist are personal
TRACK IT ALL The iWatch may have more sensors than any other device and a camera too
all of this is the rumour that a form of holographic animation will be used to signify incoming and FaceTime calls. I’ve been hearing about this one for two years, but it’s made a strong comeback in the last few days CRM out of 10: I’m going with an eight on the 5.5-inch iPhone and a zero on the hologram animation. They’ll first have to put true non-membrane screen holographics on a million-dollar projector before they put it in a $500 phone. Nike abandoned the FuelBand as Apple’s iWatch Tracker is about to come out: Apparently, Apple politely ‘ordered’ Nike to get rid of their FuelBand to make sure they didn’t trespass into upcoming Apple territory. In lieu, the sports company has been promised a lot of exclusivity in software, and utilities that will run Nike stuff on the watch. The iWatch thus isn’t too far away from release and should be out in 2014 and the device will have the best of both worlds, including all that a smart watch and a fitness tracker should do. Apparently the iWatch has more sensors than any device has ever attempted on a wrist, including a camera that constantly tracks your environment. CRM: The iWatch, out in 2014, gets a nine out of 10, Nike shutting shop for Apple gets a six and the feature set on the iWatch gets a nine again. All in all, this is solid news on the juice radar. Google Glass’s next version will be less geeky and will actually work: The 10 minutes I spent with Google Glass were the most exhilarating and the most disappointing 10 minutes of my life. I was over the moon for the first five and down in the dumps for the rest. If ever a product blew my mind, it’s been Google Glass. What potential, and yet what a disappointment in every sense. From the few things you can
MAY 4, 2014
do with it, its constant need to be attached to your phone to do anything, the most sucky battery life ever on a product, to the fact that I felt so obviously a geek wearing it. Yet the rumour mill around the next version is solid. Lightweight, looking more like a normal wireframe pair of glasses, new microLED screen that is brighter and clearer, new technologies including a screen KEEPING IT REAL that will triple battery life, major The new Google Glass may functionality even without being be lightweight and look tethered to a phone and much more like normal glasses easier interface and usage with voice and touch. CRM: I’m sure that the next version will have all this and much more, else it’s RIP Google Glass. My problem with this rumour is that, right now, we don’t even have the beta version properly out on sale and here we are talking about the next version. I’m giving it a nine on feature set and a zero on GG Next Gen out in 2014. Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note 4 will still run on Android; Tizen thrown out? The next two big flagship phones from Samsung won’t run on home-brewed Tizen OS, but will stick with Android. To many this is a shock as Tizen is Samsung’s bet to break from the shackles of Google and Android, and forge ahead on its own. And there is no better way to showcase the supremacy of the Samsung product line and power than to do it with its two top-selling phones for the company. But the rumour is strong that Samsung won’t break off from Android and may not even have Tizen flagship products out in 2014. Also, the Note 4 will have a three-sided display with the screen bending on the two sides to show icons and give you a swipe interface. Both S6 and Note 4 will have 64-bit processors. CRM: I’m giving this a 10. It’s pretty stupid to think that Samsung would try something this risky. Samsung has had a slight PLAYING IT SAFE dip in sales and image in the last Samsung may stick to few months and a Tizen foray now Android and not introwould have sealed the fact that tryduce Tizen in 2014 ing something so disruptive at a time like this would be suicidal. On the bent display on the Note 4, I’m going with an eight as it will have to change the look and feel and feature sets with a vengeance to make a comeback. And more: There were a lot more rumours that flooded in – HTC will make the next Nexus 8-inch tablet, a Google Nexus phone at a price of about `5,000 will come out in India within three months, LG’s G3 will have a bendable screen that actually bends up and down, Motorola 360 smart watch with an OLED screen will be out within months and Amazon’s new phones will have gesture and tilting controls and will get an India release within 30 days of its US announcement. It’s a wild, wild west out there in terms of new devices and the news around them. Remember my original disclaimer, that this is all news from anonymous sources. Let me add one more to that. Any of these come true and become international headlines, you heard it here first! Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3
indulge
Photo: THINKSTOCK
The Wine Company In Australia, the middle class now seems to drink wine every day in the manner of Europeans. And that’s where you can really taste those Australian wines that are rarely exported
M
OST INDIANS are not terribly knowledgeable about Australian wine. We’ve heard of the great wine regions of France, of course – Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley etc. – and we know that Italy makes some excellent wine. In fact, when the wine boom took off in India a decade ago, it was the Italian Super-Tuscans (i.e. expensive wines made in Tuscany using grapes that were not native to the region) that dominated the top end of the market. When it comes to New World wines, we’ve heard of Napa Valley and of the much-trumpeted virtues of California wines, especially when compared to their French counterparts. And we know that Chile makes reasonably priced table wine. But somehow, Australian does not loom large in our consciousness. Jacob’s Creek may well be the largestselling branded wine in India but we don’t think of it as an Australian brand. (Though the success of Jacob’s Creek
Vir Sanghvi
rude drink
NO CLUE!
While we have some idea of what, say, California wines will taste like, we don’t even have a taste profile of Australia wines in our heads
Photo: THINKSTOCK
22
skews the figures, giving the impression that Australian wines are among India’s favourite imports.) In contrast, the wines of New Zealand have a larger profile in India. Some of this has to do with the popularity of that country’s Sauvignon Blanc white wines, epitomised by Cloudy Bay which, because it is owned by Moët Hennessy, gets a huge marketing push everywhere in the world. Other New Zealand white wines, from such houses as Saint Clair and Villa Maria are thoughtfully priced and sell well at Indian restaurants. But Australia remains a mystery. Ask most Indian winedrinkers about the Mornington Peninsula, the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills or the Yarra Valley and all you will get are blank looks. While we have some idea of what, say, California wines will taste like, we don’t even have a taste profile of Australia wines in our heads. As far as we are concerned, it is just somewhere down under that makes some wine. I am as ignorant as most other Indian wine drinkers. The last time I went to Australia and ate at some of Sydney’s best restaurants, I enjoyed the local wines that all the sommeliers served (except at Marque, Sydney’s top restaurant, where the tasting menu came with a lot of European wines) but came back with no real understanding
MAY 4, 2014
of the country’s wine tradition. So this time around, when I went for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, I made it a point to attend as many wine events as I could and to view some of the country’s top wineries. The adventure did not begin auspiciously – at least from the point of Australian wine. One of the first events I attended was a Pinot Noir challenge, a face-off between two cult New Zealand producers and two highly regarded Australian wineries, at No. 8, the excellent restaurant run by British chef John Lawson in Melbourne. The two Australian wine producers were Bass Phillip, a significant winery in South Gippsland, Victoria, and the cult winery Bindi in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges. To my surprise, Bindi turned out to have an Indian connection. Michael Dhillon, an Elvis Presley lookalike who owns the vineyard, said that his father moved to Australia from Punjab and began to grow grapes. All of the Australian Pinot Noir was very good though I thought Bindi had the edge. (Ah, ethnic bias, perhaps!) But the two New Zealand Pinot producers were even better. The Ata Rangi Vineyard in Martinborough is small so even many of the Australians at our dinner had not heard of it. And the Felton Road wines (from Central Otago) were outstanding. The problem is that the production is so small at each of these vineyards that prices are high (around the equivalent of `8,000 a bottle in the shops in Melbourne) and the wines rarely get out of Australia. The Felton Road winemaker told me that many years ago he had sold a single consignment to Delhi’s Aman Hotel (it is now the Lodhi). But he had never heard back so he had no idea if the wines had moved. (Note to Lodhi: if you have his wines in your cellar, now is the time to push them.) But I discovered that I wasn’t alone in finding the great wines of the region unfamiliar. The following day, the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival organised a sort of master class where half a dozen of the pioneers of the region’s wine industry brought along some of their best wines over the years and discussed them with each other and with an invited audience of wine writers and collectors. Among
hindustantimes.com/brunch
23
LIKE NO ONE ELSE
While Domaine Chandon, the Australian outpost of the Moët et Chandon empire, uses champagne grapes, they make a wine that has a character of its own those who attended was the British wine writer Tim Atkin, who complained that as much as he loved the wines, he never came across them in the UK. Judging by the discussions at that master class, the wine culture in Australia is relatively young – younger even than wine-awareness in California. Some of the first vineyards were planted by Italian and German immigrants (there does not seem to have been a lot of French influence in the early days) who shifted from fruit farming to grapes, moved first into bulk wine that was frequently fortified and sold cheap before graduating on to the better stuff. This transformation occurred at around the same time that Australia was growing out of its food-and-beer phase and becoming a more culturally aware society where chefs created dishes on the basis of the country’s outstanding produce. Because the wine culture is still youthful, you get wines at all price levels and producers range from industrial giants like Jacob’s Creek to tiny wineries run by two or three people. I went off to the Mornington Peninsula, a glorious landscape, bordered by the sea and its beaches, an hour from Melbourne to visit Ocean Eight, a tiny boutique winery which employs only a handful of people. (They hire more workers when grapes have to be picked). The reception was littered with empty bottles of great Burgundy so it was not hard to see what the wine maker’s inspiration was. Both the wines I tried, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir, were so Burgundian in structure that my guess is that if Australia ever did a Paris-style blind tasting (where Californian wines trounced French big names), then something like Ocean Eight would be up there with the top artisanal Burgundy producers. But I don’t know if I’ll ever get to try Ocean Eight again: production is so tiny that few bottles make it abroad. Even the bigger wineries display a rare passion about their production. At the De Bortoli winery in the Yarra Valley (also near Melbourne), they worked hard to match artisanal cheese with their wines, and their sweet wine, Noble One, was so good that I bought a bottle. Other large wineries tried to give visitors a sense of their wines and what went
LITTLE AUSTRALIA
Mornington Peninsula, a tiny boutique winery, employs only a handful of people
into them. At the Barossa Valley (near Adelaide), Penfolds showed me how they blended their wines and then gave me three pressings of different grapes from recent vintages, inviting me to create my own blends. I did as they asked but the experience convinced me that winemaking is best left to professionals. At most Australian wineries there was a real urge to share information and to communicate their passion for wine. At Penfolds, I ran into an Indian sommelier who was training there and who insisted on opening a bottle of a 45-year-old port so that visitors could sample the estate’s heritage. Penfolds is an unusual winery in Australian terms. Despite its vast production at all price-points, it retains a reputation for quality and its legendary wine, Grange (based on French styles; it used to be called Grange Hermitage), is probably Australia’s most famous wine around the world. The loveliest winery I visited was Domaine Chandon, the Australian outpost of the Moët et Chandon empire. The winery and the main building overlooking the vineyards are about a million times better looking than the house’s headquarters in Epernay. Chandon makes champagnestyle sparkling wine (EU regulations prevent them from calling it champagne) and though they use champagne grapes (unlike the Indian Chandon which is more adventurous in its use of Chenin Blanc), they make a wine that has a character of its own. If you do go to Australia – and I imagine you will given what a hot destination it now is for Indians – then you’ll probably end up drinking a lot of wine. The Australian middle class now seems to drink wine every day in the manner of Europeans. You’ll be lucky because you will get to taste those Australian wines that are rarely exported. But you’ll also discover that there is a surprising consistency to Australian wines. In all the time I was there I did not have a single bad bottle of wine though perhaps one or two did not seem to me to justify their prices. No matter how little or how much you spend, my guess is that you will not be disappointed.
Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Jacob’s Creek may well be the largest-selling branded wine in India but we don’t think of it as an Australian brand
Vir Sanghvi was a guest of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
MAY 4, 2014
THE BIG NAME
Grange (based on French styles; it used to be called Grange Hermitage), from Penfolds is probably Australia’s most famous wine around the world
MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Vir Sanghvi, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch The views expressed by the columnist are personal
indulge
24
We Are GoinG on A Summer HolidAy… W You know what the best kind of planning for your vacation is? None!
HEN SUMMER comes along, can gratuitous advice on how to plan your vacation be far behind? But while I am as happy as the next person to get some tips on the best travel destinations and the cheapest way to get there, there is one annual pre-holiday ritual that makes me break out in hives. And that is the flurry of ‘summer special issues’ from the glossy magazine stable, all of them vying with the other to tell us how to ‘get the best bikini body’, where to buy our ‘holiday wardrobe’, and the ‘best way to pack’ our suitcases before we head out to the airport (‘in a comfortable tracksuit’, of course, silly!). If you must know, the packing tip du jour involves ‘rolling your clothes around tissue paper’ so that they emerge wrinkle-free at the end of their journey. And packing ‘lots of accessories’ so that you can go ‘from day to night’ effortlessly. But wait, before you tackle the suitcase, you need to go on a shopping spree to pick up the latest ‘resort wear’ in
Seema Goswami
spectator BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
Photos: THINKSTOCK
Enjoy the feel of the sand under your feet, the splash of the waves on your non-exfoliated body
the stores. And remember to buy ‘one size too small’ so that you are incentivised to go on a new diet-and-exercise regimen to fit into your new clothes by the time your vacation begins. That means no carbs, no-alcohol, no sugar to shift those stubborn pounds; endless crunches and squats to tone up that tummy and bum; and you do know that a little light exfoliation never hurt anyone. Well, I don’t know about you but this avalanche of advice makes me want to go and lie down in a darkened room and not emerge until the sun has set on summer. Let alone head out on holiday, I can’t even summon up the energy to leave my bed, so overwhelmed am I by the endless instructions of the stuff I ‘simply must do’ before I even think of booking a ticket or making a hotel reservation. And it is for people who feel like this that I have decided to draw up my very own anti-glossy magazine guide for ‘preparing for a summer holiday’. ■ Ditch that diet. And never mind the squats and crunches. Eat what you like. Exercise when you feel like it. It doesn’t matter if your stomach is flat or your ass curvy. Nobody cares if you have cellulite on your thighs or upperarm wobble. Everyone on the beach will be too busy holding their own tummies in to bother about your wobbly bits. Enjoy the feel of the sand under your feet, the splash of the waves on your non-exfoliated body, the warmth
MAY 4, 2014
WRINKLED IS IN
On a holiday, nobody is judging you by the crease on your linen trousers. Embrace the crumpled, lived-in look and make it your own of the sun on your back, and have another beer. Don’t bother with careful folding and inserting tissue paper (see above) between your clothes. Throw them all in that suitcase and let the laws of physics do their worst. Yes, your clothes will be wrinkled at the other end. But you are on holiday. Nobody is judging you by the crease on your linen trousers. (And those who are need their heads examined, anyway.) Embrace the crumpled, lived-in look and make it your own. Life is too short to carry a travel iron or steam your clothes surreptitiously in the shower. ■ Shopping for a ‘new holiday wardrobe’? You have to be kidding. The thing about being on holiday is that nobody knows what your ‘old holiday wardrobe’ looks like. They have never seen you before, let alone your tried-andtested one-piece swimsuit and floral chiffon dress. If there is any place where you can recycle your old clothes, it is on holiday. Added benefit: you won’t care if you spill red wine or tomato sauce on your clothes (as you inevitably will). ■ No, you don’t need ‘comfortable flats’ for the day, ‘sparkly shoes’ for the evening, ‘one pair of heels’ when you go to fancy restaurants, and ‘sneakers for the flight’. Or, for that matter, endless quantities of costume jewellery to ‘brighten up your outfit’, ‘scarves that can double as sarongs’, and a ‘day bag’ and a ‘night bag’. You are going on holiday, not participating in a fashion face-off. The only thing BE TRENDY? you absolutely must pack is a sense of There’s actually no need to go on adventure. The rest is strictly optional. ■ Did you say ‘detox’? As in giving up a shopping spree all food groups (not to mention the will and pick up the to live) and embracing the ‘goodness of latest ‘resort wear’ vegetable juice’ so that you are fighting fit for your holiday? Don’t be so silly. The only detox you need this season is from glossy magazines and their fatuous advice. For the rest, drink up, eat well and be merry. For tomorrow, you go on holiday! ■
MORE ON THE WEB For more SPECTATOR columns by Seema Goswami, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami. Write to her at seema_ ht@rediffmail.com The views expressed by the columnist are personal
FINE PRINT
twitter.com/HTBrunch
25
The Naked And The Living
DRAWING THE FIGURE
A work by Mihir Srivastava
A bold new book where everyday people shed inhibitions to turn into nude models by Aasheesh Sharma
J
OURNALIST MIHIR Srivastava likes sketching people without a stitch on. (He isn’t himself in the nude!) Over the last decade, more than 150 people – friends, acquaintances and perfect strangers – have agreed to pose for him in the buff. Now his private hobby is going public with the book Conversations in the Nude, published by HarperCollins. Among his subjects are an awkward wrestler, a politician who found being sketched therapeutic and a sadhu with a dark past. Excerpts from an interview:
How did you develop the hobby?
person to agree was a writer in her 20s. At first, she was appalled with the suggestion and didn’t even finish her coffee and left my apartment. But a few days later she called to say she was ready to pose.
Indians are perceived as a conservative people...
This whole thing of Indians being conservative is a façade. If you guarantee them anonymity they can be radical. I convert my study into a studio, where there is a single source of light, a pedestal lamp with which I illuminate my subjects. My subjects are vulnerable in that space. In that state, when they realise they are not really vulnerable, it is empowering for them.
One out of three people he approached agreed to pose for the author
It started about 12 years ago when I was travelling in Chhattisgarh with two French researchers. They chanced upon my sketchbook and asked me whether I had ever done live models and volunteered to pose for me. When the couple returned to Delhi, I would visit them at their flat in Munirka and sketch them. As they became less conscious of their nakedness, the sketching became more nuanced. They went about their lives unmindful of my gaze.
How tough was it to convince people to pose for you?
The response changed from incredulity to outrage to curiosity. Some of them agreed but suggested I sketch just their top half. To which I said there wasn’t a degree to nudity. Either you are in the nude state or you are not. The first
MAY 4, 2014
You say nudity is just a starting point...
All of us use clothes to project an identity, whether it is our ethnicity or gender. But once you are naked, you cease to project. I travelled to Europe last year and I was fascinated with public nudity in Germany and Finland. I was in the nude with friends for hours together on a beach and in a public sauna. But when I asked them to pose one-onone, they refused. People in India were far more receptive.
Did your family like the book?
When I asked my mother how my late father would have reacted to the book, she said he liked art and would have been proud of me. aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com Follow @aasheesh74 on Twitter
28
PERSONAL AGENDA
twitter.com/HTBrunch
Actor
Randeep Hooda BIRTHDAY SUN SIGN PLACE OF HOMETOWN SCHOOL/COLLEGE BIRTH Mumbai MNSS Rai, Sonipat (which shaped me as a sportLeo
August 20
Rohtak
sperson) and Melbourne University
FIRST BREAK HIGH POINT OF YOUR LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFE Monsoon Wedding LIFE (2001)
The kind of adulation I have been getting for Highway
My nani’s demise and having no work for three years
my movies
If you weren’t an actor, you would have been... An equestrian sportsman (which I am) full time or a wildlife photographer. How many horses do you own? I have seven of them. Which classic Hindi film would you have loved to be your debut? I don’t look at other people’s films to want to be in them. I am happy with Monsoon Wedding. What do you get complimented more for, your voice or your body? More for my voice. A lot of people have great bodies. What has been your best road trip? Highway. Who do you share a good equation with in Bollywood? Naseeruddin Shah, who is my guru, friend and confidant. Don’t you think that playing the brooding actor over and over is monotonous? How about doing comedy? If you look at it with an untrained eye, it looks similar. But I actually go through a lot of different emotions and diverse pathos in all my movies. I would love to do comedy, provided I get a good role. Which of the top five actresses (Deepika, Katrina, Kareena, Priyanka and Anushka) would you like to kidnap and why? I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to kidnap anyone. They would probably chew my brain out. But I like Deepika the most. What makes you so hot?
CURRENTLY I AM... Shooting for Kick, have launched the Cool Wool collection by Woolmark
It’s my constant ability to be unaware of it. Rate yourself on the scale of 1 to 10. That would be very pompous of me. Let others do it. Would you ever do a condom ad? Sure. It is a very important thing. One character or role you are dying to play. The characters that I’m playing are the ones I want to play. What is your sense of style like? It’s very casual. Whose style do you admire? The film industry has lots of stylish people who take good care of themselves. One fashion faux pas you committed. I once wore a white suit to a black-tie party. Directors you want to work with. I have no wishlist. I’ll work with whoever gives me a good role and respects my work. Describe yourself in three words. I. Don’t. Care. A dessert that describes you. Hot chocolate fudge. Your fitness schedule It’s very minimal. Your dream destination It has to be home.
THE MOST PAISA VASOOL FILM.
Ghulami (1985)
THE FIRST MOVIE YOU SAW ON THE BIG SCREEN.
Chandrawal (1984), a Haryanvi film A MOVIE THAT WAS A PART OF YOUR CHILDHOOD.
Lots of Tom and Jerry shows and Ghulami again — Interviewed by Veenu Singh MAY 4, 2014
Photo: AJ RAINA