GRIZZLY BEAR
LAUNCH ISSUE
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GRIZZLY BEAR O
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Zohran Miranda of Airport
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WHERE IS MY MIND
Pg.8
Pg.36
CHANEL MÉTIERS D’ART Paris to Bombay Pg.32
Lomography
Henri- Georges Clouzot’s “L’enfer”
Pg. 45
Pg.10
Mumbai + New York
Hollow Cinema
Pg.46, Pg.47
Pg.12
RAJPUTANA CUSTOMS Pg.35
FADE IN FADE OUT Pg.16
GRIZZLY TUNES Pg.48
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Editor’s Letter
Grizzly Bear is an independent and unique bi-monthly publication for
the men and women of the contemporary global generation. We aim at bringing to you all that is good and inspiring from across the globe. We shed spotlight on culture; from cinema, art, music, photography to fashion and offer diverse content contributed by remarkable people from across the world. Some of the features we bring to you in GRIZZLY #1, are heartfelt photography of the everchanging, beautiful sky in “Where is my mind” by Rahul Nair; Fashion in ‘Fade in, Fade out’ Inspired by Romy Schneider in Henri-Georges Clouzot’s ‘L’enfer’;Art from Mumbai and New York are amongst the few. While putting this issue together, we kept in mind, all of the things that inspired us and we trust you will like what you see. So sit back and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed making it.
Editor-In-Chief/Creative Director SURBHI SHUKLA
BEARS Joasia
Gaworska worked on “Fade In, Fade Out” co-ordinating accesories. The Surrey bred owner of lifestyle brand, The Darlings, Joasia’s talents lie in photography and styling. “There’s small amount of beauty in the world” Says Joasia, a known romantic, she adds an inimitable dreamy touch to everything she works on. On being asked what inspires her, “Your mum.” Charmer.
Ying Xian Mooi worked on “fade in, Fade out” with Surbhi Shukla. The Malaysian born, used a vast archive of vintage clothing which she has been collecting for years, travelling across the world, mixing it with contemporary clothing. “The inspiration for the shoot came from Romy Schneider in Henri-Georges Clozot’s film, ‘L’enfer’ and Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’, both such contrasting concepts.” A force of talent, Ying started out as a video artist and has worked on several documentaries before dabbling in the fashion industry.
Rozena Falconer, a former model
with a degree in law is a self taught make-up artist, who worked on “Fade in Fade out”. The Bahamian has worked several fashion weeks as well as having walked the ramp for Bahamian Fashion Week. “Everyone in my family has a practice in law, fashion was my way to rebel”.
Rahul Nair photographed “Where Is My Mind”, for our
launch issue, a spread of utopian images travelling through the sky. His work in outdoor photography is widely acclaimed, “The object and light never work according to your convenience.” The Indian photographer picked up photography as a hobbie in his teenage years, “I think I came to photography realising that it was my only artistic outlet. I couldn’t sing or paint.” Rahul has had his work exhibited at the State Gallery of Art in Hyderabad.
Image courtesy: Sidharth Ganesh
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No two songs are the same No two listens are the same Zohran Miranda of Airport
Grizzly Bear: What’s your music about? Zohran Miranda: It’s kind of a wondering of where we fit into the grand design.We want our music to appeal to the smallest person.The sound is very experimental. Some of the songs have an old world Hindi jazz feel. Its honest music and our intentions come through in it. What is music to you? Its largely just escapism. It’s such an experience, it fills you up. No two songs are the same. No two listens are the same. As a musician, it’s like a top secret science experiment I can do in my bedroom. How long have you been playing the guitar? Since I was 9.. 10? I didn’t really resonate with the guitar back then, it was a few years after, which I realised how much I loved playing and then I always felt like I wasn’t practicing enough. Did you know that you wanted to be a musician? No, I wanted to study for the rest of my life! I’d done it for 18 years, I’m an expert at it. You can’t get too comfortable No. Music wasn’t a priority, I had to get
a degree, it’s when I started working at a medical company, that I realised I was kidding myself if I didn’t pursue music.You know that need to run away from what you love? And once you do you, you’re miserable. If there’s something I’ve learnt, it’s that soon as you commit to something you love, everything falls into place. I couldn’t do anything else, my parents always tell me I’ve wasted their money on my education, I just turn a blind eye to it! Indian parents are a delight, what was it like growing up in the gulf? It was nice in the gulf; I had a very comfortable childhood. I used to skate, I’m still hunting for level ground in Bombay! as we passed out of school all of my friends went away to study in India, so it got a little lonely. How different is Muscat’s music scene from Bombay’s? The music in Oman is very reminiscent of what the country has gone through. There is no space for original music. I used to play at my church in Oman and everything was Waltz! Bombay was mainly occupied with Bollywood, but that’s been changing for the better since the last 4-5 years. I’m waiting for the older generation to wilt away. The money and the market is in Bombay, The city has
enough to sustain everyone. You spent a couple years at a pharmaceuticals company in Oman and now you’re a guitarist for the band ‘Airport’ in Bombay The medical company was my bank; I used my pay to buy equipment. One year into the job I told my boss that I’d be quitting in anpther year. I used to have a box labelled “My stuff ” on my desk and used to put things inside it every time he came by reminding him that I’ll be leaving. You’re a musician, do you attract a lot of girls along the way I got into girls a lot later. I was very rude. Once after a show, a girl came up to me and handed me a rose and I threw it in the bin! What! I beat myself up about it every day. Give myself lashes. And you should I did have my share of heartbreak though! Someone I knew once told me that if I wanted to make good music, I should never fall in love.
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L’enfer French film maker, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s largely unnoticed masterpice, ‘L’enfer’, or ‘Inferno’ is an unfinished documentary that began in the 1960s with Romy Schneider. Set in a lakeside resort town in Cantal, France, L’enfer was inspired by the optical art of the 60s and shot partly in black and white and partly in colour. The film depicts a jealous husband, Marcel (Serge Reggiani) who becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea that his young wife Odette (Romy Schneider), is unfaithful to him. On an unlimited budget from Columbia pictures, Clouzot captured images of nightmarish sensuality that surpassed his contemporaries. The documentary
was abandoned in 1977 after the death of Clouzot and released as a finished documentary in 2009 by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, both specialists in cinematic history and film restoration after Clouzot’s wife unraveled 185 cans of footage to them. The surviving images are kaleidoscopic, gory and hypnotic. They potray a captivating Schneider covered in olive oil and glitter, exhaling a cloud of smoke under pulsating lights; every passing scene, Marcel’s growing jealousy becomes the prominent factor in the film. The image a spectator comes away with is powerfully evocative.
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HOLLOW CINEMA Walking out of the cinema having watched ‘Ra.one’, I have
no explanation for the avoidable punctuation in the middle of the movie’s title. Amongst other questions: What have I just watched? Why have I watched it? How the movie collected over $ three million on its very first day in the theatres of India? We can only dream of knowing. It is worrying how often that bitter feeling takes over now, after watching a new bollywood film. To put it bluntly, the nature of modern Indian cinema has become overwhelmingly aimless and predictable in nature. The Indian Cinema, internationally known as ‘Bollywood’ is the richest and the most influential industry in India. The first Indian silent feature film was ‘Raja Harishchandra’, made in the year 1913, whilst still under the British rule and less than a decade after; the industry was producing around two hundred films per year. Social and political issues were addressed by many film makers as it was, after all, a delicate moment in the history of the country. The economy was suffering because of the First World War, there were several mass movements for
Independence such as Satyagraha, Lead by Mahatma Gandhi, the civil disobedience movement and the unforgettable violent frenzy of the partition with Pakistan which served to be the inspiration for innumerable patriotic songs, films then and in the decades that followed; Best ones being “Shaheed Bhagat Singh”, “Gandhi” and “Junoon”. It wasn’t only the national emotion that was reflected in the films; a lot of film makers addressed international movements in culture too; Dev Anand along with actress Zeenat Aman canvassed the hippie subculture In “Hare Rama, hare Krishna” (1971). The escapist nature of these movies was at the core and admittedly they were incurably romantic. Bollywood’s music is the mainstream music industry. Song and dance is bollywood’s most prominent feature and at one point in time, it used to be music you could relate to; it had universal appeal. Songs by the legendary musician and lyricists like Kishore Kumar’s “Mere Naina”, Mukesh’s “Jeena yahaan, marna yahaan” are all hauntingly reminiscent of their times. Listening to these songs, even today is elating.
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teenagers, we all have our favourite moments, be it the heart-warming scene when Shahrukh tells Kajol he loved her through a game of charades in ‘Kuch kuch hota hai’ or the defining and thought provoking, ‘Rang de Basanti’ which draws parallels and swiftly shifts between the country’s colonial past and the present political environment of a fraudulent government.
“Is the contemporary Indian cinema just society’s strategy for denial? That’s a definite maybe.” The songs were melodic, the lyrics, romantic, a reflection of the personal or social conscience. That has now been replaced by sleazy dance numbers which lose their novelty as soon as they are released.So remembering them decades from now is a long shot. Singer, lyricist, musician; A.R. Rehman remains to be one of the handful musicians in the industry that continue to make good music, even though he is known internationally by the song “Jai ho” which featured in “Slumdog Millionaire”. While upbeat songs and pop have taken over the contemporary scene and are a current trend in music, musicians and bands that do not serve the same genre are turned away as their material would be irrelevant to bollywood. Good way to kill culture. Reminiscing about the movies we’ve all watched as kids, with our parents or as
A part of the reason for the nonsensical mood in the contemporary Indian cinema could be the harsh reality of today’s world and its haunting presence in people’s lives through the various media like the television, the internet, etc. Nobody likes to acknowledge the growing poverty or the increasing number of dying children. It’s a reality people are very reluctant to accept. So, is the contemporary Indian cinema just society’s strategy for denial? That’s a definite maybe. Resources were limited during the golden age, talent and imagination were abundant, but the capital wasn’t quite. Still, for a few hours, the films captured the audience and momentarily distracted them from their personal problems. The movies were made by inspired people and crafted to appeal to a certain breed of audience— a captive audience who took to them. Whether that audience was a majority or otherwise, it didn’t matter because they cherished the film for life. Watching these movies decades after they were made is still a joyful experience. Rendering advances in filming technology, graphics, etc. irrelevant, as it was the fabric of emotion, the film represented that the audience held close to the heart. Few actors and actresses today can match up to the talent and charisma of the yesteryear; Shamsher Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Mudhubala, Nargis Dutt, Sharmila Tagore; all, aside from having stunning personalities, were flawless while channeling the characters they played. They were known for the characters they brought to life as opposed to which producer/director’s clan they belonged to. As for the scandals? Their dress size? No-one used to give it a second thought. It is just a void the modern media fills to distract from the quality of the product; still, they manage to attract a huge audience. So much for a society that traditionally values intelligence and poise. A fast paced generation like ours makes for the majority of the audience and is accustomed to instant gratification. Contemporary film makers recognise this shift in the media culture and have a very patronizing attitude towards its audience. In a lot of ways the internet and other media have enriched our lives; ironically, it has also become one of the major causes for blatant commercialism. Product placements in films are appalling. For everyone, films are a couple hours
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of pure content and no advertisements trying to sell a product or service, but if somebody tries to cheekily sell you a product during that sacred time, it will leave a bitter taste with most people. It causes a kind of disturbance in cinema that smudges the very thin line that separates it from television. Fourteen million Indians go to the cinema every day. That many people can’t be wrong, right? Wrong. Over 60% of India’s population consists of the working class and today most films are made to serve people who are looking to pass time; like window to escape through, from their busy work schedule, will go to watch anything that will make them laugh for a while, even if it means that the person does not take away an emotion or thought from the movie. For all intents and purposes, we shall now call this genre of films, ‘fast films’. Like fast food, hardly nutritional, only fattening and this time, it’s for your mind. Against the current backdrop, is a young director, Rohit Shetty who addressed the current political disorder and corruptionin a humourous way in his film, ‘Singham’, whilst also mocking the ridiculous action scenes that more often than not, all bollywood movies have. Through this movie, he proved that a film with a message and aim can also be entertaining. There is nothing more to ‘fast films’ than meets the eye. They only serve as a money making instrument for uninspired film makers. Some may consider making films for audiences who are trying to kill time as an act of charity. On a personal level, if they are not striving to be great, regardless of whether they get there or not, what is the point? Actor turned director, Aamir Khan has also produced a few gems that come along only once in a while in bollywood; the previously mentioned ‘Rang de basanti’ is one of them. His recent ‘3 Idiots’, accents on the pressing issues of the Indian
education system along with the traditional Indian parent, that stress on academics and subsequently keep their children from being themselves and pursuing their interests in ‘unstable’ fields like music, art, fashion etc. This has been a major concern in the Indian society as the past decades have seen an increasing number of student suicides. The recent movie ‘Udaan’, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, also accents this character of the Indian society. It is the idea, the fantasy, that the audience takes home with them that makes a movie worth their while. Contemporary Indian cinema doesn’t provide any food for thought; moreover, their standards have dropped. The stories are lackluster, predictable unoriginal and often sleazy ; music and lyricism have completely lost their appeal to an intelligent audience. When the film makers begin to incorporate commercialism into it all, it disregards the audience as a whole; making the entire premise of the entertainment industry lose its ground.
Photography SURBHI SHUKLA Fashion Editor YING XIAN MOOI with JOASIA GAWORSKA Model: ELIZA TATE
Intimately Free People Dress
Beyond Retro Vintage Jumper Topshop Pencil Skirt Sabbah Sharma Shoes In God We Trust for TopshopClutch
RetroVintage Blouse Pins and Needles for Urban Outfitters Skirt
Urban Outfitters Renewal Coat
American Apparel T-Shirt Zara Blazer
Monki Hat Urban Outfitters Renewal Coat Topshop Muscle Top Bracelet, Stylist’s Own
American Apparel Shirt Attica Vintage Collar Tips
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Image courtesy: chanel-news.chanel.com
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Chanel MÊtiers D’art Show
Since 2002, every season Chanel pick a location as an inspiration to a collection, last year it was Byzance and it was a collection fit for blue bloods. The show was formed to protect and showcase the work of the couture ateliers like the legendary embroiderers Lesage and the hat-makers Michel. This time, its inspired by the Indian subcontinent. Karl Lagerfeld has rolled out his sartorial feast for the eyes in a tribute to all that is India. It is a collection that is made to the level of Haute Couture but is available the
same as ready to wear. The Chanel Paris - Bombay show held at The Grand Palais, Paris on December the 6th, showcased models wearing clothes that can only be best described as an extravagant marriage of Parisian and Indian couture. The collection took inspiration from traditional Indian garments such as the shervani jackets, churidar pyjama and the salwar kameez. From the Chanel tweed jacket, to the silk saris, chokers, even noserings; the collection was impeccable.
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Image courtesy: rajputanacustoms.com
Rajputana Customs Motorcycles They are making motorcycles cool again. Motorcycles amidst the palaces and sandy valleys of Rajasthan are images right out of a dream that all of us have dreamt at one point or another. Making that dream come true is Vijay Singh of Rajputana Customs, a small motorcycle outfit based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Having been a motocross rider himself, he set up Rajputana Customs, purely out of his love for motorcycles and to give his custom motorcycle building fantasy a serious shot. RCM, having received an overwhelmingly positive response for their first bike, ‘Original gangster’ at the annual auto expo in New Delhi in 2010, started to take orders to customise bikes or build them from scratch. They produce highly stylised bikes that are exquisitely detailed, awe-inspiring machines, with flawless functionality. A class apart from the majority of cookie cutter motorcycles out there. www.rajputanacustoms.com
where is my mind Photography RAHUL NAIR
Across the forest and the sea
into the sun
Far, far away
Making things talk
In the shade of winter and the light of summer.
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Image of Camera: shop.lomography.com ; Background image: Surbhi Shukla
Leave The Digital Behind Lomographic photography has been around for a while now, all beginning with the LOMO LC-A in the early 90s whose popularity lead to the formation of the Lomographic Society International which is a movement of art in itself. An elating thing about lomography that differentiates it from digital photography, is that there are no rules. Oversaturated colours, extreme optical distortions, rainbow-coloured subjects, off-kilter exposure and blurring come together to make phenomenal photographs. The cameras are practical, user-friendly, inexpensive and they look good! The range at Lomography.in offers a variety of cameras with diverse, offbeat lenses, one of the most comprehensive offerings of film in the world. www.lomography.in
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art
Mumbai
Evoking the Pause BDL MUMBAI CITY MUSEUM ‘Evoking the pause’, is a photo and video based installation by Artist Sheba Chhachhi. She collaborates aincient iconography and contemporary art to evoke the present and challenge orthodoxies in urban Indian culture and its wasteful ways, using old maps, texts and copies of original art works (from the archives of the Mumbai City museum). The moving images on a lightbox give a very cinematic effect. Women seem to be key protagnists in the series as it subtly touches on society’s hierarchal attitude. Her photographic work appears to effortlessly float out of paintings and transcend into mist.
Image courtesy: bdlmuseum.org
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New York
art
Spiritualized ANTON KERN GALLERY
Image courtesy: TimeOut New York
Glaswegian artist, Jim Lambie’s fifth solo art exhibition draws inspiration from his musical roots and reproduces a sight full of colours. In this exhibition he references Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan on large vinyl posters. Graphic lines, reflective objects fill the space of the gallery with very audio-visual vibrations. Lambie’s style is inconsistent through out the gallery, but the different pieces fit together. There are a lot of belts scattered throughout the space, some tangled atop chairs and some dotting the walls. Lambie creates objects that are familiar in the first sight and yet ambiguous. Not only does he combine the media o fart and music, but also fine art and objects of everyday use.
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GRIZZLY TUNES Gauntlet Hair - I was thinking Coldplay - Paradise Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home The Pixies - Where is my mind Ray Charles - Hit the road Jack Foster The People - Houdini The Black Keys - Lonely boy Pretty Lights - Finally moving Vienna - Billy Joel Young the giant - Strings Freelance Whales - Generator second floor The Castells - Romance Boy - Drive darling RenĂŠ Aubry - Salento Radiohead - Lotus flower Arcade Fire - Rebellion The Strokes - Reptilia The Kills - URA Fever
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S T O C K I S T S American Apparel www.americanapparel.com Attica Vintage www.atticavintage.co.uk Beyond Retro Vintage www.beyondretro.com Chanel www.chanel.com Mumbai: +91 22 2382 3539 Free People Urban Outfitters www.freepeople.com Lomography www.lomography.in Monki www.monki.com Rajputana Customs Motorcycles Jaipur: +91 9928164795 Sabbah Sharma Mumbai: +91 22 65210364 Topshop www.topshop.com Urban Outifitters www.urbanoutfitters.com Zara www.zara.com Mumbai: +91 22 67657135
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