Brew - July 2013

EDITOR’S NOTE FOLLOW US>// http://www.facebook.com/ thebrewmagazine

Dear Readers!

This is a very special issue for me personally because we are carrying a special of my childhood superhero “Superman”.

Celebrating the 75th birth anniversary of the kryptonian, we take you through this journey of how Christopher Nolan and his team re-imagined Superman and created the masterpiece called Man of Steel, which is turning out to be the biggest Superman movie ever and one of the most successful Superhero films of all time. There couldn’t have been a better actor to play Superman other than Henry Cavill and though critics and other fans may not agree with what I say but this is probably the only way this legendary character could have been rebooted on the large screen.

In this double cover issue we also have a very dear friend of ours on cover: The very smashing Priya Anand who in a short span of time has done some exciting projects regionally as well as in Bollywood. Brew wishes her a lot more success in the years to come.

Until next time. Keep Brewing.

Sameer Bharat Ram Editor

TO ADVERTISE: Prashantth S Sutrave Call: +91 72999 49412 e-mail: admin@brewmag.in

The Brew takes no responsibility for unsolicited photographs or material.

All PHOTOGRAPHS, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED ARE USED FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSE ONLY.

CINEMA, MUSIC & ART WITH THE

Creative Director 01 Mihir Ranganathan

01

02

03

Designers 02 Abhilasha Kushwaha 03 Adithya Sowmy Sales and Marketing 04 Prashantth S Sutrave

04

07

05

06

Operations 05 Niteesh Menon 06 Shreeram Sreenivasan Circulation 07 Seeman.E 08 Raja Ganapathy .G

08

BRAND PARTNERS

www.brewmag.in Edited and Published by Sameer Bharat Ram, and owned by SM BrandMuni Consulting Pvt. Ltd, Published from No.609, Lakshmi Bhavan, Anna salai, Mount Road, Chennai - 600 002. Tel.: +91 44 4208 9392.

Printed by K. Srinivasan at Srikals Graphics pvt. Ltd, No.5, Balaji Nagar, 1st street, Ekkattuthangal, Chennai - 600 032.

Editor: Sameer Bharat Ram

CONTRIBUTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD Sethumadhavan N. Sethumadhavan.N holds an MBA from XLRIJamshedpur and has a background in the FMCG & Retail sectors. It was while leading the editorial team at PassionForCinema.com (a popular movie portal that’s now defunct) that Sethu realized that his true passion was Cinema and everything connected to it, including the business side of it. Currently based in Mumbai,Sethu works in the education sector and also runs www. madaboutmoviez.com, a portal dedicated to Indie/Small films,Regional Cinema and World Cinema. Sethu has also been associated with filmmaking workshops and film festivals.

Venket Ram Venket Ram is a leading Indian celebrity & fashion photographer, who has shot principal photography stills for several notable films as well as portfolios. He quit his engineering studies to work with cinematographers for a while, then joined a course in Visual Communication at Loyola College. After that, he worked with photographer Sharad Haksar and in 1993, started his own studio.

He recently released the first two editions of his annual calendars in 2011 and 2012 with an overwhelming response.

Kavita Baliga The young American Soprano, Kavita Baliga has sung in concerts around the U.S., Switzerland, Italy and India with repertoire ranging from Opera and Oratorio, Musical Theatre to Indian film. In 2008, Ms. Baliga joined A.R Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory as a faculty member and founded the KMMC Chamber Choir. She is presently developing performance programmes in India.

Mallika Sarabhai Educated as an economist and a business manager, Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s best known Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers. She has taken her work and her company Darpana to not only over 90 countries around the world, but also to the farthest parts of India.

Ashok Verghese Is one of the youngest education entrepreneurs who is making a great difference in this field in the country. He is the Director of the Hindustan group of Institutions, again one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He supports the cause of promoting young talent in art and music.

Neeru Nanda A graduate from Delhi University. Passionate about writing, she freelanced as a feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF” (Rupa & Co), Neeru is now working on two novels and a series of books for children.

Veejay Sai An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art, and loves traveling, researching literary and cultural history. He is an editorial consultant with over 40 brands and designers in and outside India and is on the jury for several prestigious awards in the arts across the country.

Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini Internationally acclaimed, award winning Violin Maestros Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini have been widely applauded as the ‘Queens Of Violin’ and have enthralled audiences across the globe. They have been selected as Cultural Ambassadors and dignitaries to the US and UK respectively. They have published books and written numerous articles relating to Music and religion..

Kyle Hill Kyle Hill is a science writer who specializes in finding the secret science in your favorite fandom. He writes for theScientific American Blog Network at his blog, Overthinking It. Hill also contributes to Slate, Wired, Nautilus, Popular Science, and io9. He manages Nature Education’s Student Voices blog, is a research fellow with the James Randi Educational Foundation, and you can follow him on Twitter under @Sci_Phile.

Chaitanya Rao Chaitanya Rao brings a dash of the whimsical, a hint of the daring, the poise of the ephemeral to his couture and pret collection.

Working out of his studio on Khader Nawaz Khan in Chennai’s understated fashion district, he wows a nation’s fashion fraternity at Fashion Week. He dresses up the stars of southern cinema and is now in his 10th year in the Indian fashion industry

brandmuni.com

CONTENTS

36

24

VOL 03 ISSUE 09

08

COVER STORY

INTERVIEWS

08

24 The Armie

MAN OF STEEL Re-imagined

36 IN CONVERSATION WITH PRIYA ANAND

Ranger Q&A with armie hammer

32 Vikram adithya Motwane on lootera

FEATURE

30 International music convention

42 Arunagiri Artist in focus

CINEMA COVER STORY

Since Action Comics #1 introduced Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s creation to the world in 1938, Superman has been the iconic Super Hero by which all others are judged, and the character’s famed origins have become an indelible part of pop culture all over the world. Sent hurling through space as an infant from the dying planet Krypton, he is found in a Kansas cornfield by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raise him as their son on their idyllic farm in the fictional town of Smallville.

M A N

O F

S T E E L

The Kent Farm we found on a visit to the set of Man of Steel—a new reimagining of the Superman myth from director Zack Snyder—is Americana straight out of a postcard ... if it weren’t for a pod-shaped object stashed away in the basement of the garage. Amid a workshop papered over with newspaper clippings about alien visitation and sightings, the craft was etched with organic-looking lines and markings in an extraterrestrial language—including Superman’s famous S-glyph.

Though details of the new film’s plot were in short supply at this early stage of production—barely one-fifth through a 121-day shoot— Snyder’s film tells the story of Clark Kent’s journey to learn where he came from and what he was sent to do here on Earth. Here on set, it appeared that rather than finding his origins elsewhere, Superman’s past has come home to him.

“What’s happening is some Kryptonians have come to Smallville, and what they’re doing is not good,” explained Zack Snyder. We moved right into the heart of Smallville—actually, downtown Plano, Illinois— to talk to the director from his ad-hoc base inside a bowling alley, where he watched the action playing out on the town’s Main Street on a bank of monitors. “They’re not friendly. They care very little for Smallville’s iconographic status, or Clark’s childhood home.”

From inside the bowling alley, you could feel the bass-notes of military helicopters whap-whap-whapping overhead. Snyder and company called the sequence being shot on this day the “Battle of Smallville”—in which Superman, played by Henry Cavill, fights to protect his home town from two powerful villains from Krypton— General Zod, played by Michael Shannon, and his second-incommand Faora, played by Antje Traue. Caught in the crossfire are U.S. military forces attempting to understand and eliminate this alien threat. The sequence dominated the main drag of Plano for nine full days.

“We wanted this Smallville battle to be dangerous and kind of hard on the town because we’re hard on all the icons, as you should be,” Snyder said, always keeping one eye on the monitors, where three Apache helicopters flew in tandem through the cloudless Illinois sky.

“I’ve never been nice to icons anyway,” he added with a laugh. “But I think that in this case, when you have a battle with Superman, it’s got to be intense, yet still plausible.”

On Man of Steel, the director of the visually innovative Spartan epic 300 is teaming up with Christopher Nolan, the filmmaker who reinvented the Batman mythology in the acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy. “After Watchmen, it’s hard to make a Super Hero movie,” Snyder commented, referring to his 2010 deconstruction of comic book Super Heroes in Watchmen.

To now reinvision Superman—the apotheosis of Super Heroes, known for nearly a century as much for his essential goodness as for his super strength—was initially daunting. “I’ve always been a fan of the character, but I wasn’t sure about directing the movie,” he explained. “But I met with Chris and he was talking about the kind of movie that he felt we could make. He described a scene that had a lot of heart, which was between Clark and his father. It was really about how hard it is to grow up different and able to do impossible things. At the end of it, I thought, ‘Okay, that’s an interesting point of view.’”

Charles Roven, the veteran producer who has worked with Christopher Nolan since Batman Begins and is producing Man of Steel with Nolan, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder, observed that Snyder has all the qualities that make him the ideal director to bring the kind of scope and depth of feeling they were looking for. “Zack is incredibly prepared and focused, and knows what he’s trying to get,” Roven pointed out. “And, as you know from his work, he knows how to handle an epic. He knows how to be operatic and make movies on a grand scale. He’s got an amazing visual eye, an amazing conceptual eye, and wants to make sure that the visual style that he’s adopted for this movie works with the concept of what we’re trying to accomplish with Man of Steel.”

Roven described Snyder’s vision as a realistic, grounded interpretation of a property that is inherently fantastical. “It’s in the spirit of making Superman a very contemporary character and approaching the film from the standpoint of what it would really be

like today if there was an individual who looked like us, but had the ability to do things we could never do.”

“I think the process for us in making the film, the visual style of the movie, is just trying to make it as real as we can make it, emotionally and visually,” Snyder said. “I mean, this is a guy who flies, right?”

The arresting sight of extraordinary forces penetrating the ordinary world was in full effect on the streets of Plano. Producer Deborah Snyder, the director’s partner in life and work, who has produced all his films, took us out of the shelter of the bowling alley and into a smashed bank building, where the thick steel vault door bore a human-sized dent from Superman’s encounter with the formidable Faora, played by Antje Traue.

“I am kicking Superman’s ass,” Traue joked. The actress, who

trained for years as a gymnast in her native Germany, was a striking sight in her tight, all-black costume. She described Faora as “a warrior—that’s her nature.” But, as with Superman, her character has increased powers on Earth. “I’m discovering my own strength, it’s great. He is surprised too.”

“She’s unbelievable,” Deborah Snyder raved. “I love that there’s a strong female in this film. We reached out all over the world. Antje taped herself and sent it in to us, and she was just so mesmerizing.

And because of her gymnastics background, her movements are very exact.”

We saw more of the Kryptonians’ carnage in the torn-up main drag of downtown Plano. Shops stood shattered in their footprints, and huge, car-sized potholes cratered the street, which was peppered with burning and smoking remnants of military aircraft.

“The way Zack has set this up and how he shot it, it almost feels like a kind of western face-off where Superman’s on one end and the Kryptonians are on the other,” Deborah Snyder observed. “It’s pure mayhem, and then it just gets elevated and elevated.”

The military fighters at work alongside Superman, she told us, “don’t really know what to make of Superman, and don’t understand they are fighting on the same side. They’re just aware that they and the town are being threatened. But, listen, when you have two Kryptonians battle, a fist fight becomes a destructive fight through their sheer power, and you see what happens to the whole town.”

Deborah Snyder credited Plano with being especially generous in letting the film company rain destruction on their quiet, peaceful town.

A recent train derailment had taken out one whole side of the main street, so production designer Alex McDowell and his crew were able to, in essence, rebuild it as Smallville. “To build a whole city street was a huge undertaking, but we built it so that we could then destroy

it,” she explained. “That was enormously helpful. We also needed the city to be our partner because, with helicopters and everything else, it was dangerous stuff and we needed a contained area. I think all those things combined made this the perfect Smallville. And they were so happy to have us.”

Plano, which officially changed its name to Smallville for the duration of the shooting there, is also just a short distance from the great city of Chicago. Zack Snyder had nothing but praise. “It’s really the ‘why’ of rural living as far as the kindness of people and just the picturesque setting,” he noted. “It was everything that you would hope for from idyllic Americana. And just a jump away, you have access to a worldclass city, one of the great cities in the world. It’s been nothing but a joy to be here, honestly.”

Moving across the train tracks, into a bank of cavernous warehousesturned-soundstages, we observed a small green screen enclosure

where Henry Cavill was being scanned in various stances to represent flying. Deborah Snyder explained that the visual effects team was scanning in elements of his body for digital overlays when Cavill would be performing flying stunts in a harness, or full digital doubles for distant shots.

On the set of Man of Steel, you know you would eventually cross paths with the man in question, but nothing could prepare you for the sight of Cavill in full Superman gear. The famous suit has been reimagined by the filmmakers and costume designers Michael Wilkinson and Jim Atchinson into a textured deep ocean blue set off by almost bloodred boots and stylized S-glyph stretched across Cavill’s chest.

Charles Roven recalled that when photos were snapped on set, people initially thought he was wearing a muscle suit, noting that the English actor trained for months and added a reported 25 pounds of muscle to fill it. “His process of turning himself into Kal-El / Clark / Superman has been pretty extraordinary,” Roven said. “Because even though he was in really terrific shape when he tested for us, he embarked on a program that literally converted his body from a good physique to a super physique.”

Actually embodying the icon, Cavill told us, “is an incredible feeling. There is nothing quite like it because it stops being a training camp and a dream. You see yourself standing there in the suit, with the cape, with the S-glyph on your chest, and you see people looking at you going, ‘Okay, this is Superman.’ There is nothing like it; it’s a feeling I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.”

Of playing a character he grew up reading in comics and seeing in movies, he admitted, “You really want to do the character justice. And, while there’s pressure, there’s also a huge amount of source material to draw from, which is why the character is so popular and why the pressure is there in the first place. So it balances itself out.”

Cavill, who starred in the TV series The Tudors as well as The Immortals feature film, was drawn to the character as interpreted by Nolan and Goyer not only as an actor but as a man. “Superman to me is the iconic Super Hero—the ideal of what every man strives to be. Plus, he can fly,” he said with a smile.

“But, ultimately, he’s the protector, and has an incredibly strong moral base. Also, the world we’ll see in the movie is the world we see in everyday life. It’s a human story. It’s about this being growing up so alone, having no idea who he is and why he is. And it’s about the human compassion, which is given to him by his parents.”

Superman’s connection to Earth becomes not only his parents but a bond he forms with investigative reporter Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams. “We wanted a Lois that’s challenging,” Zack Snyder observed. “She’s not a wallflower. And Amy brings a power to Lois that makes her compelling.”

Lois’ strengths, Adams said in a later interview, come from instinct and intelligence. “And I do think she evolves in the course of the film to understand something about vulnerability, because at heart

Lois is very vulnerable, and all of that strength is something that she puts on in order to exist in the world and in the profession that she’s chosen.”

For Adams’ part, Snyder’s enthusiasm and Cavill’s presence made this legendary “roving reporter” real for her. “Henry was so humble and so generous, even our first reading,” she recalled. “I remember thinking that it is a rare package to find somebody with that physical presence.

But, also, there’s something gentle about him. I think that’s so important for Clark and for Superman. You’re able to believe that he’s just as likely to save a kitten as to save the entire world.”

Those qualities, in addition to his physical resemblance to the character, are also what told Zack Snyder that Cavill was the one.

“I think one of the coolest things about Henry is that he honestly is humble. He has a lot of the same qualities you would want Superman to have. He’s kind, smart, and obviously not ugly,” Snyder smiled.

“When you meet him, he’s Superman,” added David S. Goyer, who wrote the Man of Steel screenplay from a story by Goyer and Christopher Nolan. “It’s hard to explain. Even when he’s just sitting there, he’s Superman—not just in the way he looks, but in his humility.

I just think we hit the jackpot with Henry.”

Goyer met us in a darkened bar on the main drag while outside an occasional explosion or the rattle of gunfire erupted during a shot.

Here we learned a little more about the genesis of his and Nolan’s fresh take on the 75 year-old American mythology. “We tried our best

with Man of Steel to treat it as if this were really happening on Earth, on this planet,” he said. “If Superman existed and introduced himself to the world, it would be the biggest thing that happened in human history. I think no one’s ever really told that story because just the sheer fact that he exists would change the course of human history forever.”

The screenwriter, who collaborated with Nolan on all the Dark Knight films, explained that the two approached Superman with the same ethos as they did Batman—starting from whole cloth, as if no one had ever seen a Superman film or read the comic. “Which is not to say it’s purely an origin story,” he allowed. “I’m a longtime comic book fan.

I’m fairly well read in comic books. Chris and Zack are as well, so we’re very respectful of the property. A lot of thought is given to when we might possibly change or alter something that’s considered canon.

So, I think in spirit it’s close, although you have to understand that characters like Batman and Superman, even within the comics, are continually changing and evolving and being refined.”

The key to the story of Kal-El, who becomes Clark Kent and then becomes known as Superman, is “realizing what that really means,” Goyer noted. “He’s not human. For better or worse, people are either going to look up to or revile him, so the movie in a lot of ways thematically is really about him having to wrestle with whether or not he’s even up to the job. The things he does can literally mean the difference of whether or not all life on Earth ends. So, we approach a lot of big subjects in this movie. The stakes are extremely high.”

Months later, filming had wrapped, and we met Jonathan and Martha

Kent—Kevin Costner and Diane Lane—far from Plano, in a hotel suite in Los Angeles. Lane was in high spirits, saying her one regret was that she never got a chance to play Lois Lane, who shares her surname. “People have made fun of my name all my life, and I’m never going to get to play her,” she joked.

Lane, who has been acting since she was a child and racked up accolades including an Oscar nomination for Unfaithful, added that when she got the phone call offering her the part of Martha Kent, she was overwhelmed. “Zack was so electric about it all, like a 7,000-watt light bulb,” she remembered. “He was really fired up and full of ideas, and was so generous with his vision. ‘You’re Martha Kent, believe me!’ His passion for it and his capacity, which we’d already seen in his other movies, certainly made me trust that it wasn’t just enthusiasm.

So it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

His approach to Costner was equally confident. “He said, ‘There’s only one guy that can play this part, and if I don’t get you, then I’m not doing the movie,’” Costner recalled with a smile. “And when he cast Diane, I thought, ‘Well, this guy’s thinking. He’s building a foundation of people that bring a level of presence to their part. It was her level of presence, a level of natural beauty.’”

Costner, the Oscar-winning director of Dances with Wolves and iconic movie star, said he felt that Snyder’s approach and directorial style allowed them to create a very real human bond with their onscreen son. “I think we tried to find humanity in every moment,” he detailed. “And my particular one is that there’s a secret, and the notion that Clark wants to know about his real father. It bothers my character a little bit because he wants to be the solid person all the way through for him.”

“They can’t unlock all the doors for him,” Lane added. “They don’t hold the key that way. They know that he needs to go and find out about himself, like any child, but with this one, that journey is very extreme.”

Superman’s biological father, his Kryptonian father Jor-El, is played by Russell Crowe. While the acclaimed, Oscar-winning star of Gladiator was—like everyone involved in the film—reluctant to reveal much of the plot, he said Jor-El’s predicament, his reason for sending his only son to Earth, comes down to an act of desperation. “Jor-El is a good guy, but I think that is underselling the argument that exists because there’s a touch of madness in what he’s doing,” Crowe told us in a separate interview. “I mean, as far as he’s concerned, it’s the last throw of the dice for the entire race.”

In this aspect of the story—dealing with a dying Krypton—Crowe said he sees a dichotomy between Jor-El, a scientist, and the film’s villain, General Zod. “I think that both he and Zod are working under extreme pressure and a period of desperation. So, they both make the decisions that appear to be right to them under those conditions.”

Michael Shannon, the acclaimed star of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and Oscar-nominated for Revolutionary Road, agreed with Crowe’s assessment. “You can see the parallels between Jor-El’s and Zod’s approach to this problem,” said the soft-spoken actor. “I think here on Earth, there are some people that would try and deal with these circumstances, like Jor-El, in a compassionate, scientific manner. And there are people that would deal with it by force, like Zod.” The complexity of the character and the situation he faces made for a much more interesting role to Shannon than a standard bad guy.

“When Zack approached me, one of the first things he said was that he didn’t want Zod to be just a villain,” he recalled. “And that made a lot of sense to me. He’s a fiercely devoted warrior, fiercely loyal to Krypton, and when Krypton finds itself in a bad way, he’s trying to figure out what to do about it. It’s certainly worth imagining what it would be like if we found ourselves in that situation.

If Earth were in such dire straits as Krypton, what side would you take, and what would you try to do to stop it from happening?”

Crowe agreed, noting that the predicament they face, and its implications not only for Krypton but for Earth, resonated with him from his first read through the script. “If you engage on a certain level with the script that you’re reading,” he said, “I usually have a physical reaction: I get goose bumps. I’m not allowed to say ‘no’ to that one. So I thought, ‘I’m going to talk to this fellow, Zack Snyder.’ And that conversation, about the difference between conscience and consciousness, led me to understand that there is a lot to Zack, and I could enjoy working with him.

And he proved that on a daily basis.”

Back in Plano, at the end of our visit, the Apaches were landing for a stunt being shot from the ground and from a camera mounted on a helicopter swirling through the sky above. A chopper circled the smoke-hazy street and dropped low enough for a small battalion of troops to scramble out for an impending face-off against Faora and Zod. On a day with so much action, Snyder had his own father on set, who couldn’t help but smile at his son’s massive operation. “All I’ll say about my dad is that he’s awesome,” Snyder commented. “He’s always supportive and amazing.”

This connection brings home the crux of the story. Yes, it’s an apocalyptic clash between super beings fighting for the future of a fragile Earth. But, at its heart, Snyder said, “It’s about being a family, about finding a family that loves you, and then coming to terms with that love. Superman is in search of a family. You realize that the Kents are as good a family as he could ever have had, and that’s touching and beautiful. So, you can do all these fights and all these effects and craziness, but also really stay with those themes because we try and put Superman in the real world, and he’s going to find out what’s really important in this world.”

10

SCIENCEY

STATS ON THE MAN OF STEEL

- Kyle Hill A new iteration of Superman—the Man of Steel—zooms into theaters today looking to reboot the series for the latest generation (with Kryptonian latex, apparently). Superman is neither human nor bound by the laws of science, but there are still some fascinating facts to read up on before accepting this born-again hero.

1. Superman is basically a solar panel with red and blue tights.

Superman is able to man-handle puny Earthlings and smash through buildings for two reasons. First, his home planet of Krypton had much more mass than Earth, making the surface gravity of the planet much higher. His muscles are overqualified for 1G. Living on Earth after growing up under the stress of intense gravity would be like you moving to the Moon (you’d finally be able to dunk).

The other reason Superman is so, well, super, is that his cells basically photosynthesize. He doesn’t use the yellow Sun of the Earth precisely like a plant, but more like a photovoltaic cell. In such a cell, the Sun’s rays hit semiconductors made of some material like silicon and their interaction releases electrons. These flowing electrons create electricity. It’s not exactly spelled out how Superman’s cells use the Sun’s energy, but his costume kind of looks like a solar panel, so we’ll go with that.

2. Superman doesn’t understand how time works.

Famously, at the end of Superman: The Movie, Superman (fantastically played by Christopher Reeve) is so distraught by the death of Lois Lane that he tries to turn back time. He does this by flying around the Earth at unimaginable speed. It’s a valiant effort that works in the movie, but has no basis in physics.

If you wanted to travel backwards in time, you’re out of luck. We have theories on how it might be possible to do so, but they all involve

wormholes and black holes and other stuff that would probably kill you. If you want to travel forward in time, you just have to go really fast. If you go fast enough, according to Einstein, time will slow down for you. The faster you go, the slower you age. So if you did a Kessel run like Han Solo—a trip over many light-years in a few hours—you would only experience a few hours while the rest of the galaxy ages 40 years.

By flying really, really fast around the Earth, Superman will actually speed into the future, not the past. In fact, by the time he is done, he might return to find everyone he knew dead of old age.

3. Superman is a time traveler.

Before it blew up, Superman was sent to Earth from the planet Krypton—50 light years away. A little Kryptonian baby hurtling through space, Kal-El reached Earth in 1-3 years (the nerds disagree on the time). To travel such a long distance—300 trillion miles—in such a short time, the baby would have to warp the space-time continuum with his speed. Actually, such a speed, 25 times the speed of light, is physically impossible. But if the baby traveled for two years at nearly the speed of light—the universal speed limit—any remaining Kryptonians would be two years older while he only aged three months. Forward time travelers don’t get to make a lot of longterm friends.

4. Superman’s weakness was inspired by a real element.

Kryptonite, that glowing green rock from the core of Krypton, is one of Superman’s few Achilles’ heels. Time and again it is a plot device to make the hero human. In 1898, two British researchers discovered the element that would become the inspiration for this material.

William Ramsay and Morris Travers were looking for elements in the helium family when they stumbled upon krypton, a gas that doesn’t want to play with any other element. It’s too noble for that. The team later discovered other noble gases, and Ramsay won the 1904 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

When Superman was created in 1938, the authors Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster named the hero’s home planet after the previously discovered gas. (While an oxyanion of krypton could give scientists a reason to actually call something “kryptonite,” the gas is simply nonreactive with most other elements.)

5. It’s radiation that makes Superman weak.

The prevailing theory in geekdom is that kryptonite can kill Superman because it disrupts his solar panel-like energy absorption. Without energy from the Sun, he weakens and eventually dies. Though kryptonite is a fictional mineral, the way it interferes makes sense.

Radioactive materials emit radiation in the form of particles and energy. This can be anything from whole helium nuclei to gamma rays. If gamma rays were emitted by kryptonite, they would ionize Superman’s cells. By knocking electrons and atoms around in his body, this process of ionization would wreak havoc and disrupt normal cell sun-gathering. Radiation sickness can be lethal, and it’s a form of it that reduces Superman to a defeated hero. (It’s also the reason why water bears should have saved the Enterprise instead of Captain Kirk.)

6. Superman didn’t destroy the Russian meteor earlier this year because it would have destroyed the city.

Quoting from an earlier piece that you can read right here on Scientific American: Superman, who seemed to know a fair bit about reporting, used the International Space Station (ISS) to convince reporters during the conference that smashing the meteor with a super punch would be a terrible idea. “This meteor entered the atmosphere with 170 times more kinetic energy than the ISS has while orbiting the Earth,” he exclaimed. Superman continued, “thankfully, the atmosphere absorbed most of the meteor’s energy, with only the aftermath of the fireball doing damage to Chelyabinsk.”

The hero noted that only around 20% of the meteor’s energy went into shaking the city, still blowing out windows and crumbling buildings.

“If I released all of the meteor’s energy at once by destroying it, I would have made it much worse.”

You can read the rest of the totally not fake press conference that I had with Superman here.

7. Superman probably shaves with an angle grinder.

Everything about Superman is super, even his beard. Bill Nye has a theory on how Superman takes care of his tough-as-steel five o’clock shadow. (It’s product placement but it’s also good science.

The Mythbusters have an answer too.)

8. Superman once gave Lex Luthor cognitive dissonance.

In the issue Superman #2 from 1987, Lex Luthor, Superman’s archnemesis, dumped resources into building a supercomputer able to deduce the hero’s identity. The machine worked like a dream and out the answer popped: “Clark Kent is Superman.” Done and done. But Luthor refused to believe it. The evil genius couldn’t easily resolve the cognitive dissonance in his head.

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is an internal tension between two beliefs a person holds. When it arises, we seek to alleviate that

tension by compartmentalizing the beliefs or coming up with an explanation to deal with it. Lex simultaneously held the belief that Superman was Clark Kent and that he was too smart not to realize that obvious answer. To get rid of the dissonance, Lex made a logical fallacy that we can call “the argument from brilliance.” Lex believed himself too smart to miss an easy answer, therefore the answer had to be false. Superman’s true identity remains a secret, and Lex Luthor makes illogical arguments. The world is safe.

9. Batman would beat Superman.

First, because Batman. Second, because it happened. Third, Batman even faked his own death while doing it, because he’s Batman.

10. Nobody recognizes Superman because they all have faceblindness.

In a piece appearing in the science section of Slate today, I explain a neuropsychological answer to the age old question of why, simply by matching faces, no one realizes that Superman is Clark Kent. I have excerpted a section below: The most powerful superhero of all time, Superman, has arguably the worst disguise of all time. A slight application of hair gel and some glasses turn the Man of Steel, the statuesque savior of humanity, into Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter at the Daily Planet. It’s a façade that a toddler should be able to see through, but no one does.

Why not?

This bizarre failure of perception can only be attributed to Superman’s greatest and perhaps most scientifically astute superpower: He is able to surround himself with friends and co-workers who all suffer from prosopagnosia—face blindness.

“Originally published on Scientific American” prominently at the top of the piece with the original link (http://blogs.scientificamerican. com/overthinking-it/2013/06/14/10-sciencey-stats-on-the-man-ofsteel/)

CELEBRATING 7 OF

WITH

75 YEARS

First ever sketch of Superman and Clark Kent

CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF

WITH

CINEMA

THE

ARMIE RANGER “There are not really many things that you can’t love.

There’s the fact that we traveled all over the American Southwest. We spent three months on the road in a different city almost every week. I got to work with Gore Verbinski. I got to work with Johnny Depp and Jerry Bruckheimer. The list of things that I actually love is too long. It’s amazing.”

- Armie Hammer (On the movie - Lone Ranger)

When producer Jerry Bruckheimer set out to cast the part of John Reid in the upcoming epic adventure “The Lone Ranger,” he knew that he would recognize the perfect actor to play the part the moment he saw him. “I saw Armie Hammer in ‘The Social Network’ and I said, ‘He’s just perfect for the Lone Ranger.’ He’s tall, he’s handsome, and there’s a kind of twinkle in his eye. I thought he’d be the most interesting casting that we could do for this part, and he’s a wonderful actor—that’s where you have to start.” Fortunately, director Gore Verbinski agreed and Hammer signed on to play the legendary masked lawman.

their game, and it’s fantastic to get to be a part of something like that.”

Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “J. Edgar”) doesn’t hesitate to reveal why playing John Reid, aka the Lone Ranger, in Disney’s “The Lone Ranger” turned out to be so much fun. “I love playing the Lone Ranger because it’s an amazing project, with an amazing cast and crew and everybody involved is just at the top of

Hammer admits that he has always been a fan of westerns. “I think that westerns are one of the pure examples of American storytelling,” he says. “It’s like there are no westerns anywhere else but America. They are kind of our own genre.”

But in fact, the adventurous Hammer found a lot more to love about the making of “The Lone Ranger,” despite the weather challenges and occasional harsh locations. “There’s the fact that we traveled all over the American Southwest,” relates Hammer. “We spent three months on the road in a different city almost every week. I got to work with Gore Verbinski. I got to work with Johnny Depp and Jerry Bruckheimer. The list of things that I actually love is too long.”

Hammer is quick to point out, though, how “The Lone Ranger” distinguishes itself in the genre. “There are so many things about ‘The Lone Ranger’ that make it so unique. The scale of this is incredible. You’ve got the transcontinental railroad. You’ve got the concept of the Native Americans’ conflict with the government. You’ve got the Texas Rangers. There are so many things in this that are historically correct and accurate. It’s accurate historically but told in such a fun, fresh way.”

because that horse knows where it’s tipping point is,” explains Hammer.

When Hammer remembers his exposure to the legendary Lone Ranger as a kid, he only recalls watching the TV show occasionally, but when he read the screenplay he was intrigued and did some research. Hammer says, “After reading the script, I went back and did my due diligence but before that, my only experience with Lone Ranger consisted of watching TV with my dad and all of a sudden he’d be like, ‘Hi-Yo, Silver!’ I do a lot of research before I start any project. I listened to some old radio serials and watched portions of the Clayton Moore ‘The Lone Ranger’ TV show.”

a complete outcast. The Lone Ranger just lost his brother and doesn’t know who’s on his side or who’s against him, so it’s complicated.”

Once he signed on, Hammer had to attend three weeks of Cowboy Boot Camp with the other actors in the film. Describing the experience, Hammer says, “We rode horses all day, practiced putting on a saddle, taking it off, working with lassos, learning different ways to throw the rope. They were really trying to teach us to be cowboys. It was like an immersion project where we just went into it and just did it.

Basically it was all of the actors running around acting like six-year- old boys and having a great time.”

After Cowboy Boot Camp, Hammer, who had ridden before but was not all that comfortable with horses, found himself at ease in the saddle to the point that he actually learned how to rear his horse, Silver. “It’s very counter-intuitive to rear on a horse because you’d think you go backwards but in reality you have to throw all your body weight forward

When defining the relationship between his character John Reid and Tonto, Hammer explains, “The relationship develops out of necessity, where you have the Lone Ranger who’s completely incapacitated and nursed back to health by Tonto. But then it’s like an odd couple team. It’s like they couldn’t be more polar opposites. They come from different pages but they’re on the same mission. Tonto is a loner. He’s got no village. He’s got no family. He’s

Developing that relationship on screen with Johnny Depp was a lot of fun for Hammer. “Once we had a rhythm, we started to really have fun with these two characters and how they bounce off each other,” says Hammer. “I got to know the Tonto character better and I guess Johnny got to know the Lone Ranger character better too because we both knew how to push each other’s buttons. It’s a good relationship.”

Perhaps the best way to sum up the talented young actor’s experience on “The Lone Ranger” goes back to the first day he put on the mask and said, “Damn, this is badass. This is actually going to be cool.”

Q: What do you love about “The Lone Ranger” project?

A: There are not really many things that you can’t love. There’s the fact that we traveled all over the American Southwest. We spent three months on the road in a different city almost every week. I got to work with Gore Verbinski. I got to work with Johnny [Depp] and Jerry Bruckheimer. The list of things that I actually love is too long. It’s amazing. It’s been a great project.

Q: What did you think when you first read the script?

A: I thought, “Man, this is actually really funny. This is really a good script.” After reading the script, I went back and did my due diligence but before that, my only experience with Lone Ranger consisted of watching TV with my dad and all of a sudden he’d be like, “Hi-Yo, Silver!” I do a lot of research before I start any project. I listened to some old radio serials and watched portions of the Clayton Moore “The Lone Ranger” TV show.

horse goes up, you lean as far forward as you can and you just try to get as close to the neck without getting the back of a horse head to the face.

Q: What were your first meetings with director Gore Verbinski like?

Q: How is “The Lone Ranger” such a unique western?

A: There are so many things about “The Lone Ranger” that make it so unique. The scale of this is incredible. You’ve got the transcontinental railroad.

You’ve got the concept of the Native Americans’ conflict with the government. You’ve got the Texas Rangers.

There are so many things in this that are historically correct and accurate. It’s accurate historically but told in such a fun, fresh way.

A: At first it was just an audition; I went in and I read. And then, I got invited to come into Gore’s office and we just sat outside on his balcony, smoked a couple of cigars, and talked about the script. That was it and after that I really didn’t hear anything for some time. Then I got a call from Gore, and he was like, “You’re my dude. Let’s do this.” I was like, “Great. Come on. Let’s go.”

Q: Talk a little bit about the Cowboy Boot Camp that you had to attend.

A: Cowboy Boot Camp was something we did in the beginning of the movie where they basically just sequestered all the actors with a bunch of cowboys for three weeks. We rode horses all day, practiced putting on a saddle, taking it off, working with lassos, learning different ways to throw the rope. They were really trying to teach us to be cowboys. It was an immersion project where we just went into it and just did it. Basically it was all of the actors running around acting like six-year- old boys and having a great time.

Q: You actually learned how to rear a horse, correct?

A: I got to actually rear the horse, and I can say that I wouldn’t be able to do anything like that if it wasn’t for Cowboy Boot Camp. It’s very counterintuitive to rear on a horse because you’d think you go backwards but in reality you have to throw all your body weight forward because that horse knows where it’s tipping point is. It knows it can come up so high before it falls backwards. If you’ve leaned backwards at all and put any weight backwards, that horse is coming down on top of you. So as the

Q: Did you like westerns before making the film?

A: I did. I think that westerns are one of the pure examples of American storytelling. There are no westerns anywhere else but America. They are kind of our own genre.

Q: Let’s set up the world.

The railroad is about to unite this country. Can you talk about that?

A: You have a movie that takes place when the frontier is being pushed farther and farther west.

It focuses around the sort of industrialization of the railroad and dealing with how that affects old-world values and how that affects the fringe and the frontier.

All those people are fine on their homesteads and don’t need a railroad to kick them out of their houses so people can have oysters within a week of when they’ve been picked from Chesapeake Bay. This is a world where you see the modern and the old western world battling it out. It’s a good duality, I think.

Q: Talk about John Reid’s family and the legacy that he came from.

A: John Reid’s father was a Texas Ranger and his brother Dan is one too. But John was not really cut out for it so his dad sent John away back East to get educated. John returns home as a lawyer and espouses the principles of John Locke, regarding how the world should work, egalitarianism and all those things that didn’t really have a place on the frontier.

Q: What kind of relationship do the two brothers have?

A: Dan Reid is the son that their dad would have always wanted. He’s tough. He looks like a hardened Texas Ranger. He looks like he got run over by a truck. His jacket’s filthy. He looks like he’s probably been out for three weeks and hadn’t taken a shower. I think James Badge Dale did a great job of playing that.

When the two brothers interact you can see the rub; it’s a bit contentious, typical older and younger brother rivalry. But at this point I think John is tired of living in his brother’s shadow.

Q: Talk about how John Reid and Dan’s wife Rebecca Reid interact and a little bit about their history.

A: Rebecca and John were childhood sweethearts and then John left and she started dating Dan. When John returns home, they are married and have a kid. It’s awkward for John and maybe Rebecca too. As John becomes more like Dan, Rebecca starts to sort of fall for him more and more and you see their relationship blossom again from the childhood love that it was into something a little bit more serious.

Q: Talk about the bad guys in “The Lone Ranger.”

A: Butch Cavendish and Latham Cole are the two main villains in the movie. Butch Cavendish, played by William Fichtner, is just pure evil.

He’s just like a snake. And then, of course, you have Tom Wilkinson playing Latham Cole, who is smooth and refined but dangerous. He’s a bad man. Tom does a great job of bringing that out.

Q: How did you like working on top of the trains?

A: I think I’m the only actor who really liked being on top of the trains. If you’re doing a scene and you’re the guy facing back wards, you can’t see the turns coming, and that’s the worse. If you’re facing forwards, it’s fun being on the train. But backwards, it’s hard to keep your composure and stay in character when you’re thinking, “I’m going to fall off this thing.” But it was good fun on the train.

Q: You’ve done a ton of stunts on this movie. Talk a little bit about that.

A: There was a scene where I ran out of Red’s, and I’m being chased by a mob. I whistle and Silver is supposed to come running up. I run and jump and I land on this banister, slide down the banister, and when I get to the bottom, I hit this piece of wood that kind of pole-vaults me into the air and I land on Silver. I think we did it over 20 times before I was able to land on the horse because the horse would move off spot.

The mail chain hook was another rough one. That’s where we were chained and they swing us around in circle on a mail hook and then put us back. That was awful. It looked like a carnival ride and, in a way, it could have been fun like a carnival ride, but you have these metal shackles on your wrist that by the time they really start swinging that thing, it sucked you to the outside of it, like a centrifuge, so that chain just starts binding on your wrist.

Q: Talk about the Lone Ranger and Tonto’s relationship and how it develops in this movie.

A: The relationship develops out of necessity, where you have the Lone Ranger who’s completely incapacitated and nursed back to health by Tonto. But then it’s like an odd couple team. It’s like they couldn’t be more polar opposites. You have the Lone Ranger, who’s about justice and wants these guys brought to justice specifically in a court of law and then you have Tonto, who is like, “We kill them.” They come from different pages but they’re on the same mission. So they’re kind of stuck with each other. They’re kind of all they have. Tonto is a loner. He’s got no village. He’s got no family. He’s a complete outcast. The Lone Ranger just lost his brother and doesn’t know who’s on his side or who’s against him, so it’s complicated.

Q: Talk about how it’s been day in and day out creating the buddy relationship, the chemistry between the Lone Ranger and Tonto.

A: It’s been fun. In the beginning of the movie, we had all the Ranger stuff, so it wasn’t like Johnny and I were in every scene. But then there were two or three weeks where we had a scene together every single day. And that’s where we started to really catch our stride. Once we had a rhythm, we started to really have fun with these two characters and how they bounce off each other. I got to know the Tonto character better and I guess Johnny got to know the Lone Ranger character better too because we both knew how to push each other’s buttons. It’s a good relationship.

Q: You mentioned all the road tripping, the camping and meeting Navajo Nation leaders. What was that like?

A: It was great to have an opportunity to meet the Navajo Nation leaders and it was really fun too when we were shooting in Monument Valley.

At the end of the day, I just camped out at night, which was amazing.

At first it was just me and a couple of transportation dudes camping out. Over time more people started joining us. Some of the other actors started coming in and sleeping in their trailers. Gore was sleeping in his trailer as well.

Q: Talk about working with Helena Bonham Carter and how her character Red and the Hell on Wheels set fit in.

A: Helena was a trip, an absolute trip. This is the first time I ever worked with her—and the first time I ever met her. She’s just so sweet and so much fun. She just likes to play and acting for her I think is just like playtime.

She would get in full hair and makeup, full wardrobe, way before she was needed, hours before she was needed, and then just walk into set and just start playing around with the props and just like familiarizing herself with the set, making it her own, having fun, inhabiting the space and just having a ball with it. She seemed to really enjoy herself.

The Hell on Wheels set was great. When they built the interior of Red’s saloon, which we shot before the exterior, I remember walking in and seeing all the great set design and saying, “Oh, my God. This place is a scene.” I loved it. I walked up to the production designer Crash McCreery and said, “Will you please do my next birthday party?”

Then when we saw the exterior, it blew the interior away. We had this one shot where Tonto and I were riding into Hell on Wheels, heading to Red’s, through all these booths set up like a carnival.

There was a person who breathed fire in this booth and then next to him was this tattooed woman. Across from that was the snake oil salesman saying, “Come and get your tonic,” and the whole thing. And then you had these people who had scorpions in their mouths in one booth and these two little people, one dressed as an angel and one as a demon fist fighting. It was unreal.

Q: What did you think the first time you put on the mask?

A: The first time I put on the mask was in a tailor’s back office in Burbank.

It was just for a fitting so it didn’t feel right. Later on, of course, they brought in the proper mask. The real one just fit so perfectly. It’s like vacuum-pressed to fit my face. I remember putting it on and thinking, “Damn, this is badass. This is actually going to be cool.”

Q: What about the action in this film? What are people going to get?

A: Blown away. Totally blown away. There’s a lot of action, a lot of great action.

Q: Talk about the crazy weather during the shoot?

A: We have had the movie shut down because of blizzards, lightning strikes, floods, and sandstorms. To get this done has been a challenge, and I think that you’re going to get a sense of how epic it is and the scale of the undertaking it was for everybody involved.

Q: How is it working with director Gore Verbinski?

A: It’s great. He’s brilliant. His problem-solving skills are just second to none. He could not be more capable. He could not be more proficient at shouldering the burden and making this feel like the smallest big movie I’ve ever done. This movie for me is, because he’s made it this way, all about the little performances, all about the little scenes, all about the character and discovering. It’s not about how much this day is going to cost or what I have to jump off or whether I’m going to get blown up by this or that. It’s not about that at all and I think he’s done a really good job with that approach.

Q: Being part of a huge Jerry Bruckheimer film, do you get a sense of it?

A: Yes, absolutely. It’s massive. Jerry runs a huge, gigantic, tight ship.

And you feel it.

ABOUT THE FILM From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, comes Disney/ Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “The Lone Ranger,” a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

“The Lone Ranger” also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter.

A Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation, “The Lone Ranger” is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, with screen story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe and screenplay by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. “The Lone Ranger” releases in U.S. theaters on July 3, 2013.

MUSIC

THE

CULTURE CATALYSTS

On a humid afternoon in the prestigious IIM campus on the outskirts of Kolkata, a packed hall sat awestruck as the Pandwani exponent Teejan Bai, drenched in a riot of red, narrated an excerpt from the Mahabharata in her own inimitable style. By the weekend a teenager attempted the same, leaving the whole hall spellbound. It was almost impossible to think that Teejan Bai could mentor someone so efficiently in just one week. In another account,a 105-year ‘young’ Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan patiently sat with a batch of youngsters to teach them a few of his compositions. By the weekend, they not only presented what they were taught,

32 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

but as a guru-dakshina, the kids pooled in money to get Khan saab a wheelchair. This touching gesture left a packed hall of rasikas in tears. These small acts of benevolence have been some of the many results of a long penance done by Dr Kiran Seth through his organization; SPIC MACAY for the last thirty six years. The journey hasn’t been an easy one but Dr Seth’s optimism for the cause is exemplary.

At their first international convention held in the end of May, one witnessed a tsunami of Indian culture and arts. High on the spirit of volunteerism, bonhomie and a solid agenda to propagate Indian arts to the next generation, the thousands

gathered for this event was a witness to the soaring graph of successful this movement was. Completely run by students, this is 21st century’s only cultural movement for the arts, anywhere in the world. Spreading out in chapters and sub-divisions, the organization has managed to take Indian performing and visual arts to remotely unimaginable corners of the country. Their ‘Vision 2020’ aims to cover twenty lakh schools, colleges and other allied educational institutions and initiate them into the world of arts.

For all this work, immense support has come from many artistes, art-enthusiasts and other support systems.

Summers aren’t the best time of the year travel to Kolkata. The humidity in the city isn’t just intense but drives one to a state of helplessness. For the participants who gathered, from Pakistan to Poland, Afghanistan to Bangladesh, this was ‘normal’ and the weather was the last of things that bothered their restless minds.

With day-breaking at 3 AM, hundreds of delegates were grouped into smaller batches. Some chose to experience the beauty of

Jogen Chowdhary took sessions on visual art.

By sunset, a packed hall of ‘rasikas in the making’ assembled to experience the finest of Indian artistes perform for them. Be it a contemporary dance by Astad Deboo or a Rudra Veena concert

by Ustad Bahauddin Mohiuddin Dagar, a Kudiyattam performance

by Kapila Venu or a bunch of songs from the wandering Bengali minstrels by Parvathy Baul, Kathak by Pt Birju Maharaj or concerts by Ustad Shahid Parvez and Pt Ullhas Kashalkar. A day at the convention was equivalent to a wholesome organic meal with endless courses of the tastiest culinary creations for one’s mind and thought process.

‘Hat Yoga’, while some others were part of ‘Naad Yog’ sessions under the able guidance of experts. Morning sessions were filled with ‘intensives’ where some of the country’s top most Gurus took time out of their hectic schedules to patiently sit with hundreds of kids and teach them arts. If not teach them in a week, alteast give them a distilled glimpse into the world of indian arts. If in one class Bharatanatyam Guru Chitra Vishweshwaran was busy teaching them the basic foot work, elsewhere veteran Carnatic vocalist Vedavalli was teaching them a Tyagaraja Kriti. In other sessions there was everything from Manipuri Raas Sankirtan to Pichwai paintings. Legendary painters like Anjali Ela Menon and

insignificant in comparison to ‘We’. It proved that the greater common good of Indian culture and heritage is not a utopia. It proved that persistence pays, and does it very well. Kiran Seth with his almost-Gandhian zeal managed to convert hundreds into art lovers in a span of just one week and SPIC MACAY was the magic catalyst he utilized to achieve this. There couldn’t be a better proof to demonstrate the power of today’s youth in the land of Swami Vivekananda on his 150th birth anniversary. Three cheers to SPIC MACAY and vision of Dr Seth!

Behind all this were Dr Kiran Seth and his efficient team of dedicated volunteers managing the mindboggling logistics and silently working their way about to see there was no discomfort for anyone. Once again, SPIC MACAY proved that for any cultural movement to function and thrive, the ‘I’ was smaller and almost

Veejay Sai (Veejay Sai is a writer, editor and culture critic) Images courtesy: Veejay Sai Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 33

CINEMA

34 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

LoOtera

- In a freewheeling conversation with MAM Vikramaditya Motwane spoke about his forthcoming movie Lootera and lots more. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation.

Your very first film Udaan which was made after a lot of struggle went on to get selected at Cannes, eventually getting a lot of critical acclaim.

What was the main learning from the whole experience?

Well Udaan gave me the confidence and the feel that I can deliver as a filmmaker. While I always knew that I had it in me to become a good filmmaker, this experience was a validation of that aspect and the feeling. It also gave me a big sense of relief. I also felt that post Udaan I should now very consciously make a bigger film, I did not want to be stuck making small films after Udaan. Obviously the films would be the way I want them to be, but a lot bigger in spectrum.

How did an old story like O.Henry’s The Last Leaf remain with you for so long? What inspired you to make a film based on it? Apparently you and Bhavani Iyer had written the script of Lootera way back in 2004-05, so how did you maintain your conviction about the film for so long?

Well ideally I always wanted Udaan to be my 1st film and Lootera to be my 2nd; however it is when Udaan was getting stuck that I tried to

go ahead with Lootera earlier, which again did not happen for various reasons initially. In my mind Lootera was a film which was always meant to happen and never wanted to drop it at any point of time. Incidentally one of the scripts that I had written with Bhavani Iyer prompted a friend to remark that it reminded him of O.Henry’s short story called ‘The Masterpiece and I was like oh! What’s that? Later when we checked it out we realized that it wasn’t actually The Masterpiece, but it was actually The Last Leaf. On reading the story I got hooked to it & decided to write a script on the same along with Bhavani. The story and the whole subject was so arresting that it was enough for me to maintain my conviction of making it into a film one day.

You have worked with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Anurag Kashyap, 2 different filmmakers, both accomplished in their own right and making their kind of films. What did you learn from each of them?

Well along with Sanjay and Anurag I would also add Manu Gargi and Deepa Mehta to the list, as I had lots to learn from all four of them. With Manu I worked on Disney Club, Disney’s T.V show and he gave me a lot

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 35

of freedom, freedom to do what I liked and learn in the process.

This way I got to do editing (those days there was no Avid or FCP and hence non-linear editing was not possible). So while it was a tough ask it was also interesting to actually work on the basic systems available and slowly migrate to Avid later.

While working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali one of the first things I enjoyed was the feel of working on film and cutting on Steinbeck, something that’s unimaginable now. It was a magical experience for me. While things now are a lot more developed I still thank my early days with SLB where I could get to work on editing, sound design etc all because Sanjay encouraged it. I learnt useful things like craftsmanship, preparation for a scene/ shot, breaking a scene, elements of pre-production, production, post production all while working with Sanjay.

When it comes to Anurag Kashyap, the best thing that I like about him as a filmmaker is his spontaneity. He has an uncanny knack of capturing the spontaneity of the moment, something

that he taught me. I also learnt not be fearful and be stifled of my inadequacies, either that of my own or what’s around me. All these have been crucial learning’s for me. From Deepa Mehta I learnt how to block/plan a scene every day at the start of the shoot and how to derive efficiency out of the actors. Working on Water was a fantastic experience and gave me so much of insight. Though we did whatever best we could once the film unit shifted to Sri Lanka from Banaras, I still feel it would have been an even better film if made the way it was originally planned as it would have looked a lot more authentic.

You’ve made 2 films so far- Udaan and Lootera and both these films have been appreciated for its music. How do you conceive the use of music in your films? What/how do you brief Amit Trivedi?

With Amit Trivedi there is no need for any handholding at all, he’s a genius. As a filmmaker it’s nice to connect the dots, and I guess in my own way I do it with Amit. I always give him the script and then leave him alone for a few days. Amit enjoys presenting songs to the director and he doesn’t mind if the tune is rejected.

In fact with me so far only on one occasion (across both the films) did I have to reject a tune. So that makes the whole process of working on the music so much more enjoyable with Amit. The same is also true in case of Amitabh Bhattacharya, in case

36 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

of lyrics I do not give him any reference and he still comes up with lyrics which suit the song and the requirement of the film amazingly well. I have always been inspired by legends like S.D.Burman, R.D.Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, LaxmikantPyarelal etc who had showed so much of variety in the kind of music they composed for various films, many composed around the same time as well. Now look at Amit Trivedi, he has back to back releases in the form of Lootera and Ghanchakkar and both are way too different albums. Working with him makes the whole experience feel magical.

What is your most challenging/favourite moment/portion from Lootera and why?

Well the entire segment which was shot in Purulia was very challenging. It is a difficult place to shoot thanks to all the history associated with it nd half of the film carries a chase sequence, both these moments were quite challenging and I always wanted to ensure that I pull them off well.

How did you go about arriving at the principal cast of Lootera- Ranveer and Sonakshi? More so because we have heard you mention that they were your first choice. So how did that happen?

Well when it came to Ranveer it was more like a case of casting against type. In his first two films he had played characters which were quite different from that of Varun (the character in Lootera). I met him during a Filmfare Awards show backstage and approached him for the same. Initially he was quite nervous and I was quite looking forward to him coming on board. It was important that he agreed which would enable the film to start rolling.

As far as Pakhi’s character is concerned, it’s a very important character in the film. I wanted someone who’s a good actress and who would have looked the part (a Bengali girl) and who could carry the film. If she did not agree to do it then who knows the film may not have happened as I could not think of anyone better than Sonakshi for the role. In fact it was when I saw Dabangg that I realized that even in her limited portions she held her own against a veteran like Salman Khan. I felt that she has a spark and would make an ideal choice for Pakhi.

While considering Ranveer did you also sub consciously feel that

you did not want a conventionally good looking actor for your male lead as it may take away the rawness required for the character?

Well not exactly as I feel in their own ways most of the popular young male stars these days are all flawed with respect to their appearance. No one in my opinion is the perfect chocolate boy hero around and in a way its good as all of them, be it Ranveer, Ranbeer, Shahid etc can all fit into so many varied characters primarily because they can camouflage their looks well.

Why hasn’t Lootera been sent to film festivals unlike Udaan? Do you feel it’s not a festival oriented film?

Well we did want to send it to Cannes but then we did not have the film ready well in time for the deadline. By then the release date had got blocked and hence it was a production call to go ahead and focus on the theatrical release.

What kinds of films usually excite you as a filmmaker and as a

viewer?

Well I will watch any film that is honest enough to the craft; I am not particular about genres when it comes to watching films. As for making films I want to make all kinds of films, those different from each other. I do not want to be seen repeating the same kind of films and thus I want to keep challenging myself.

Any particular reason to make Lootera as a period film since you cannot deal with today’s pertinent issues of romantic relationships when it comes to a period setting?

Why do you think that the audience must go and watch Lootera?

Well the audience will never get to see a film like this- Lootera will make you laugh, cry and experience various emotions. It’s a unique film with great performances and good music.

So what are your expectations from Lootera?

As long as they watch it and maybe appreciate it, Well I want people to like Lootera and watch it multiple times if possible.

What has been your learning’s from the two films you’ve made so far?

Well tough to say anything in this context as every film is different and unique in itself. But yes in terms of production my

understanding of the same is a lot better now. For example when compared to Udaan I did not shoot a lot of extra stuff for Lootera, so I did shoot a lot more optimally for my 2nd film. Also Udaan had a lot more rawness than Lootera, but then again it was definitely needed for the same then.

Here’s wishing Vikramaditya Motwane all the very best for the release of Lootera.

Note- This interview was originally published in www.madaboutmoviez.com

Well I chose to make Lootera naturally the way it was envisaged.

I was very clear that I wanted to do justice to the thought behind the concept and not deviate from it. Though I would have loved to make it as a contemporary film, setting the film in present times would have been difficult as there would be certain elements like Social Media which could question the aspect of loneliness required in the film. Also I believe that the 50’s had a lot more innocence than what exists today and I personally find that period setting to be so much exciting. I was also very clear that just because it is a period film I should not attempt to make a picture perfect film. Sure it is a beautiful film but there has been a constant endeavour to ensure that the cinematography does not overshadow the film.

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 37

A chat with

COVER STORY

PRIYA anand

“

I am very lucky to have worked with top cinematographers like Santhos Sivan, and now Richard Balu. It’s always because of them that I’m remembered so much after a long break. Having no contacts, no god fathers or boyfriends in the industry, I don’t socialize for work. Above all, there is always something which connects me with the audience.

Sameer: What I have observed is, you are one of the heroines with a interesting bouquet of films in interesting different languages. Who else has done such interesting films in hindi and doing couple of them?

Priya Anand: If you look at the large scale then obviously Asin, but we are completely different from each other.

Sameer: No, Asin is not the kind I’m talking about. But is there a strategy to build yourself as an actress?

Priya Anand: Truth be told when you come from a non filmy background who has always loved movies, and I have been a fan of masala movies. When I was moved to America, all I would watch were commercial films. I thought I was going to assist Director Shankar, and I move to India, wanting to meet him and work under him because I love the relationship that the Indian film audience have with their movies and their actors. And Shankar, his films are huge, large scale, commercial productions with a message. They will always be that one, morally told thing. They are things that are not forced upon the audience but something that is so appealing for the common man. If you take a movie like ‘mudhalvan’, ‘Indian’ etc, and even now with ‘Robo’ or ‘Enthiran’ as cheesy as it sounds, you can really do a paper on it. When I studied Lifestyle in the US , I worked on this French film, so one could really do a paper on it. You can see the same film in a non commercial format and see what it is that they are trying to tell the common man through the film. And I like movies like that. I love item songs, and watching films that have item songs. I don’t mind films that have a separate comedy track also. But when it comes to work the only kind of films that I have been offered are something a little bit more sensible, I think.

Because I can relate more to the audience. In the sense, people can connect with me a lot easier on screen than a commercial heroine who has the perfect hair, and make up, and costumes. If u see me on screen, I’m more real, and girls are not afraid of liking me. I think that’s because I am very relatable and they are not threatened by me. The kinds of films that approach me are also very sensible, very niche. So that’s the strategy when you come from a nonfilmy background. I learnt everything from scratch. I didn’t even know that a set needs a spot boy during my first film. I’ve come from not knowing anything to being self-assured of myself and whatever I do. I don’t mind helping out my female co-stars, like getting them work from different people. I’ve always been comfortable doing that.

38 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Sameer: Now that your career has taken shape, how would you like to mould yourself?

Priya Anand: Now I have a choice of the scenes I want to do, my character and much more. It’s a conscious decision of where to stand, should I be a commercial actor or a person who chooses to do different roles all the time, but it is important to find a balance.

I have never signed a movie based on who my co-star is but it usually depends on who the technicians are. I am very lucky to have worked with top cinematographers like Santhos Sivan, and now Richard Balu. It’s always because of them that I’m remembered so much after a long break. Having no contacts, no god fathers or boyfriends in the industry, I don’t socialize for work. Above all, there is always something which connects me with the audience.

Sameer: What is the perception of people about you, outside work?

Priya Anand: The truth is that when there is an NRI role, the first person coming to the director’s mind is me because of the way I carry myself, but never the way I look like. I can look like a typical Indian woman wearing just half sarees throughout a movie. The comfort I have wearing the clothes that I usually do, gives people a perception that I am this urban NRI chic. The problem is, the girls coming from various places to act may give a few hits, but their character on screen becomes usual that they cannot be used in any different roles. I think it is important that an artist be able to do different things. But sometimes when you limit things, and avoid over experimenting, you set a style for yourself, and so far its worked well for me. I did a role as a school teacher, and in telugu, I did a film where I was a Rajput girl and it was nice to know that many people actually liked my look in the film. So I think it depends on the costume and everything, but I am still new here. I have just come in the map. It is just now that I am coming up in the film industry.

Sameer: Keeping English Vinglish and Fukrey in mind, and the national exposure, does the hindi film industry provide you with a better fit?

Priya Anand: Not really, but you know how it is for a person who has no contacts, no film background, and here, the easiest work I’ve gotten is from Bollywood. I have signed up my third film now, after ‘English Vinglish’ and ‘Fukrey’. But my heart is still with Tamil and Telugu because I am from here, I work here, the language is not an issue and the audience are a lot bigger when it comes to Kollywood.

Sameer: You actually turned down work?

Priya Anand: It is so funny actually. I turned up working in hindi films and I run behind people over here. No matter where I work I like being in Chennai. Like I said, my grand mom is alone here and I would not be satisfied if I go anywhere else leaving Chennai.

Sameer: Do you think this is the right time in Indian Cinema when you can do a hindi film and then come back to do a tamil film or a telugu film?

Priya Anand: It is so amazing, especially when you come from outside the industry and hear such stories. I think this is the best time for any girl to try pursuing their dreams although a lot of families hold their children from cinema industry due to the fear of the unknown. You audition, you get the part. I have signed my 12th film now. I auditioned for about 8 to 9 films and I got the part. It feels nice when they pick you among 50 other girls. It feels like you have earned your way to the project. It makes you feel like, there must be something nice about you. At this time, if you are strong, determined and focused, you can have a future here. There are different kinds of films being made, small budget, Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 39

big budget, and they have so many different kinds of audiences and film makers you can cater to. But now I think it is becoming more panicky because you don’t have more stories that you can choose to be a part of. I cannot pick and choose where I want to be working instead of being tied down. Most importantly I think same stories have been made back and forth. Obviously, we have the same technicians working in the north and the south and it is nice to see that.

Sameer: So do you see this Bollywood/Kollywood breaking away in terms of what you just said?

Priya Anand: Yes, I think that obsession will last a little longer. I mean we do have different kind of film-makers coming in, who have a lot more exposure. But, the people who are more exposed and travel, don’t want anybody from here, they still want that girl from Bombay, that’s a lot more glamorous for them. But, that’s alright, because there are many other film-makers who are here.

Sameer:Is it Bombay or is it fair skin or is it…??

Priya Anand: Its fair-skin bollywood. They think bollywood but, but it’s really funny because these girls start their career offer from Bombay because Bollywood is very open to south girls right now, it’s good to have a girl from the south having to work in their films, because they get someone who is fresh with experience, so it’s like a win-win situation for everyone..

Sameer: And you’ve seen the scope of women growing in the industry as an actress…??

Priya Anand: See, that’s the thing, I think there are a lot of girls who always say that..”oh..you know..it’s a male dominated industry and I wish there were more female-oriented stories…” and all of that. But not every actress is really talented and equipped enough to hold a scene, having a whole film on her shoulders, for instance, a person like Vidya Balan can carry an entire film on her because she keeps you engaged. She’s a kind of a performer who can really carry a film.

40 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

I don’t think most of the heroines right now who are in the industry can really hold an entire film on their shoulders. It’s not only the starpower and screen presence, it’s so much further, than just having been a part of the film. It takes a lot of character and strength to hold a film. I think Nithya Menon is one of those actresses from the south who can easily carry a film on her shoulders. But people are now open to that feel like, if it has to be a female-oriented film then its ought to have a big starbitz of market , but not everyone can carry a film. But I think everyone has a space, I think the commercial girls do well in that kind of a film in which they fit and they do a good job for that. The girls who are doing more character-driven roles and story-driven films, do a good job for that. But then I think it is silly when people complain because they haven’t had a real …… (chuckles) Sameer: (chuckles) Priya Anand: But that is true right?..

Sameer: Totally true..

Priya Anand: It’s not easy to hold a scene and to carry a film. I think it’s very difficult and you have to be very realistic. People can like you, but you have to know why the audience likes you. Sometimes they like you because you are working with big stars and hence your visibility is so much more. Sometimes they like you because you look real, you look like the girl next door. Sometimes, they like you because they think “Whoa. I need a girl with so much fun, in my life..” . So you have to really know what your strengths are and be realistic with them. You don’t have to go and make a tabloid headline about your limitations.

But you should personally know your limitations and be realistic about them.

Sameer: What are the kind of films that you personally like?

Priya Anand: I love watching commercial movies. I was telling you I love watching a movie with an item-song. I wait for the item song to come on screen. I like the typical Indian audience. I like screaming and cheering in the theater. Like a Rajinikanth movie..??..like a vijay…

I totally love those movies. Like I’ve watched them three to four times. I watched Villu for like 3 or 4 times in the theater. It’s like I totally love the experience of going to a theater the first day, 11:30 show when I used to have the time and when I wasn’t so busy. I like to watch every movie like that, small, big, bad, good, every movie, I used to go to the 11:30 show at Satyam and buy pop-corn and enjoy myself like everyone else.

Sameer: Have you fancied yourself like that?

Because you have never done such a film so far.

Priya Anand: I have done one in Telugu called “Rama Rama Krishna Krishna” with Ram as a hero. I love it. I totally enjoyed it. I guess people think that commercial cinema is very easy.

But it is not. It is not easy standing in a scene and not doing anything because you have to be focused. Sometimes when you have dialogues and acting it is so much easier to just waiting for your turn to speak and then you just go with the flow and re-act and so forth. But to just stand there, be pretty and get some attention from the heroes doing lots of stuff, it is not easy being a commercial heroine, I am sure! It’s a lot easier being real on screen. For me it’s a lot easier being real than to over-act, to be glamorous since it is a lot more effort than not being yourself.

Sameer: You believe that an actress’s life is a shelf life at all?

Priya Anand: It depends on what you want to do.

Sameer: So what would you want?

Priya Anand: Basically, I am so fortunate that language is not an issue for me and the kind of cinemas that come to me are not that very time-centric. I just got offered for a musical.

It’s a Hollywood movie where I get to sing and I could say that there are lots of interesting stuff coming my way. English Vinglish opened a lot of opportunities, like to have people from LA call me to make films and I don’t have to audition, but just to hire me based on one character that I did in a Sridevi film. To get noticed next to Sridevi is something that I never thought would happen. I did that film just to meet her and I never wanted anything out of it, but to meet her. So there were a lot of different opportunities that crossed over because of my background, because of the way I carried myself, I think it is easy for me to cross over and I can always do French films. There are a lot of different things that are happening. So it depends on what your intention is. Obviously I can’t be a pin-up doll.

But if you want to be an actor…..there’s always plenty of work happening. So for me, money, recognition and being famous are not the criteria. Learning and growing from it is what is important for me. So that I can do that for the rest of my life.

Sameer: So does that mean you can go beyond Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 41

acting, into other roles in films?

Priya Anand: I already have right? I’ve already done films where I have just been a character.

Sameer: In the sense, would you like to take up the role of direction and other roles?

Priya Anand: I have initially wanted to be an assistant director, but now when I see how the AD’s work, I don’t think I was ever made for that. It is so much hard work and they keep running around like crazy. Now that I have become an actor, I don’t know if I can do that. Coming to production, I think I’ll have a heart-attack with the kind of stress they go through. I have so much respect for them.

Especially when I have my friends turning into producers, seeing the stress that they go through every day, it makes me so much more respectful for my producers because for someone who puts even 10 lakhs on me and who is not even a star….it is a big deal, it is a gamble, it is a risk. So I have so much respect for my producers and I don’t think I’ll have the heart to do what they do. So I don’t know. We’ll see…!

Sameer: Any specific director you want to work with?

Priya Anand: You know there are so many new interesting directors coming in like more of persons who made “Nadula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom”, “Pizza” and our own “Soodhu Kavvum” and even “Edhir Neechal”. Who would have even thought that new people will make such films and make so much noise? So I have always really experienced people like Mr.Priyadharshan and then someone who is really new like Sendhil from “Edhir Neechal” or Anand whose film am starring in. So I think you can never really tell who has it in them. Anybody who has a good story and is very authentic to it and has the intention of making a honest film and not trying to say “Ahh..paathukalam..its okay..” and take the liberty and take it for granted. I think anyone who is honest enough is somebody I’d like to work with, anybody who has a vision. Someone who is very sure of what they want and those who would stick with it, I think those are the kind of people whom I’d like to work with.

Sameer: So are you not particular about working with the poster boys of Kollywood??

Priya Anand: No, I’ve never been like that. When I signed a film with Dhanush and Sivakarthikeyan, Sivakarthikeyan had no hit then. I mean he was just in “Marina” and he was not like a central part of the story. To me it was just meeting the director and I didn’t even know who Sivakarthikeyan was, to be honest. I went home after I met the director and then I googled him and he was just so funny. He was such a funny guy and has so much talent. He’s like the underdog of the film industry and it’s so nice to see people like that succeed. Only after we started and almost finished the film and “Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga” got released. His opening was so huge, bigger than a lot of so called big names in the industry. It wasn’t about who the hero was, ever, for me. It was always about the director, the production, and the music. I loved Anirudh’s music in 3 and I loved the background scores. It was nice that he was trying to do something different and I wanted to take a chance on it, as somebody who took a chance on me at some point and which is why I am Priya Anand.

Sameer:Did you have to rebel your way out to films with your parents or..?

Priya Anand: No. After a point my parents knew that I was depressed in America and I so badly wanted to move to India.

They were definitely concerned about how I would adjust here as I have everybody in my family in the US. But my dad was skeptical about how people would treat me because I was always little Ms. Sunshine, who was happy and he didn’t want me to face failures and that would change who I was as a person but now that they see the way I work, the way I handle people and carry myself, I think 42 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

they’re very confident and they’re very proud and very happy that I kind of, guided myself too and ended where I am now.

Sameer:Tell us about your Fukrey experience.

Priya Anand: “Fukery” was my 10th film and that was such a proud moment for me and that’s when I was like “Ah..!!” So this girl who had these random dreams all her life is finally doing something because, you know, like I said I am Tamilian, Telugu, Maharashtrian and even in my hindi films like “English Vinglish” and in “Rangrezz” I played marati girls. “Fukrey” was the first time I played someone totally out of character, with a culture that I didn’t understand because I was this 17-year old teenager from SubashNagar in the movie, who is a Punjabi girl, so it was very different for me, it was really alienating for me and it was really nice to think that I was working with one of India’s finestFarhan Akhtar, under his production, Ram Sampath’s music we had someone like Monahan shoot me who is such an amazing cameraman and when you work in a film where the standards are so high and you’re someone who is always second guessing yourself and it is so nice to work on a film even though I was a small part of the film. I am just so proud and excited that I got to be a part of something that is so different from what I could do. That is when I realized that am fortunate that I am not one of those top commercial girls because I get to do different kinds of films. A lot of them are my friends and I know they are frustrated because they are stuck in a box and they can only do so much and not everyone can take a chance. “Edhir Neechal” is a very small film as you know. But it’s nice to see the kind of films and the kind of response that the audience give. It has always been nice. I let go of one of the biggest, biggest, biggest tamil films of last year because I was a part of “English Vinglish” and it was very unfortunate at that point.

“English Vinglish” has given me so much that I don’t have any regrets. It doesn’t upset me.

The game and the numbers change when you go to Bombay.

“English Vinglish” was totally worth it because Sridevi was my idol and she gave me so much confidence as to move forward.

Sameer: Thank You for your time. Looking forward to your next ventures.

Priya Anand: It was my pleasure.

Interviewed by Sameer Bharat Ram Transcripted by Prashantth S Sutrave Photographer G. Venkat Ram Styling Chaitanya Rao Wardrobe Forever New, EA, Chennai

there are so many new interesting directors coming in like more of persons who made “Nadula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom”, “Pizza” and our own “Soodhu Kavvum” and even “Edhir Neechal”

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 43

44 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

ARUNAGIRI

Art

First of all I wish to thank the BREW Magazine and the editor Sameer Bharat Ram. In today’s scenario art has become as a fashion more than a profession. This is because of the recent advancements in technology and tools which we use for painting. So it has become difficult for the artists to earn money in this situation. Fashion has replaced the welcome which people actually gave to fine arts which is my personal opinion. People in olden times after when completing the attainment of their basic desires of life gave more importance to fine arts in interior designing them. But now things have changed widely where the desire of any common man ends no where. The younger generation now a days is more often not even aware of the necessity of art because the focus has completely shifted to things which they find it more important than art. The clarity of knowledge about art was more in olden times which made them afford to buy paintings whereas it is completely missing in recent times. Famous artists like Santhanam Sir, Adhimoolam Sir, Anthony Das Sir and our legend Alphonse Sir captured the market successfully where in their paintings are considered as gold which is so precious and can be sold at a greater price in fore coming years which is more like a business.

This was basically due to the impact which M. F. Hussain created in the field of art as a trend. In such crisis the only consideration that we artists get is through organizations like ART HOUZ. So I would like to specially thank Sreedhar sir for giving me an opportunity in exhibiting my creativity. When I approached him for permission he said that he would like to see my artworks and after seeing them he appreciated my works and gave me the permission. But I took four months because I wanted to plan something new which can relate to various issues and causes that is happening in our country. So I have made many bronze sculptures and installation which has become a recent trend in conveying messages in a simpler way which is the current culture. In foreign countries, the trends have changed from canvas and brushes to conceptual installations and I wanted to bring this idea to the local public. Hence I have made few installations that depict the current behavior of a few who neglect the old and the needy.

To exhibit the current communication technology, I have made an installation in which a woman is placed in a dark room with numbers around her, which simply means that nobody is alone and everyone is reachable through contact numbers and protocol addresses. I believe that half the problems faced by today’s women in India are caused by women themselves. June 5th is World Environment day and I am sure nobody knows about it. The importance given for friendship day and valentine’s day is for sure not given for June 5th.

This shows that today’s world is selfish and self concerned. This is a bitter fact. Seems like we will not see any trees in the far future. My art is all about nature. Coming to my painting, I work around nature and its characters. The intrigue part of my paintings and as well as in the foreground, u can see the nature and its components. Tattoos are getting popular in today’s world and has always been an ever growing culture since the ancient times. Moreover, the art of tattooing is not limited for a single part of the body and some people have gotten tattooed from head to toe. I have depicted this style as a major part of my art form. I believe that these tattoos a based on geometrical shapes, and all other designs used in my art are dependent on these basic geometric shapes. The less forgotten practice of Yogasana and its postures have also been highlighted in my style of art. My art captures all forms of life and nature, from today’s imaginative creatures to the disappearing animals from decades ago. Through my work I can see a deeper connection between art and philosophy and I am sure that someday everybody will realize this. Life today seems to revolve around science and art. I think that art and science are interlinked and that it should be given equal importance. I am proud that I have depicted the importance of both art and science through my artwork and I am happy for this opportunity to share my work with everyone.

with the way how they struggle to survive in the society. So I have decided to take this issue through the path of art. Thus came up with a sculpture which reflects the night life of those people and exhibit it in this gallery so that its gives a message “Life of a bat”. I also feel that they should also be given equal rights in the society and treated like every other man. I am very much inspired by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalaam, India’s legendary scientist and an awesome philosophies.

I feel so proud that I live in an era with people like him. I was driven by this inspiration to do a beautiful sculpture of him. I would also like to put forward that if you see my paintings I portray many small artworks inside which looks like tattoos but those are actually different cultures and concepts which I want people to revamp in their mind. For example, the images you see has many old cultures and practices like YOGA which people have forgotten. This is one such methodology of my painting which I think is capable of making my art unique.

You won’t believe I had no practice in drawing till I was studying 6th grade. I had a friend of mine who was trying to draw a Lion hunting a deer. I saw his drawing and I found some anatomical imbalance in his drawing. Seeing that I thought of correcting the mistake and it came out well. Further I started copying cartoon images from various magazines and gradually drawing became a passion for me.

I still enjoy drawing cartoons. R. K. Lakshman is one such famous cartoonist whom the world still remembers and I admire him a lot.

In later part of my life I joined a company as commercial artist which was much in to cutting and pasting kind of works. And it is also a sad news from one point that the digital world has surpassed the old method of printing and other print related art works. Later I joined an advertising agency as an artist. Then I went to work with the famous Art Director Sabu Cyril. I worked with him for 5 years. He gave me an opportunity to step in to the film industry. I worked for nearly two to three films in various languages and later due to some family issues I had to start going for work keeping my passion aside and I joined Indian Railways. Even now I used to spend a part of my time in brewing my passion without letting it die.

Transcripted by Shreeram Sreenivasan Photographer Tamizhthambi

The next biggest issue that is happening in our country is the way how trans gender people are treated in our society. It is so pathetic Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 45

ART

46 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | JUly 2013 | 47

For reservations, please call Ms. Beni Kikon on +91 99628 46624 or 6631 3131 Extn: 3951 E- Mail: Beni.Kikon@tajhotels.com / jivaspaclubhouse.chennai@tajhotels.com Taj Club House, Chennai, No.2, Club House Road, Chennai - 600002, India T 91 44 66313131 F 91 44 6631 3030 E clubhouse.chennai@tajhotels.com 48 | JUly 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew