july 2014

July 2014

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Anita Ratnam & Anil Srinivasan In conversation| UNCUT

Photographer G Venket Ram

on

Getting Modi-Fied

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Sameer

Bharat Ram

Editor’s Note Dear readers Welcome to yet another exciting edition of Brew!. We have ensured that it is as eclectic as it can get. I don't think it gets any better when we get two of the most talented artists of our times - who have been consistently breaking rules and doing things different and making a huge impact with whatever they do!

As artists they have collaborated with each other too! - a long pending cover story - presenting the very beautiful Anita Ratnam and the reclusive wizard Anil Srinivasan. You can imagine how a conversation between them can be - so look out for the cover story ! A big thanks to my dear friend ace photographer Venketram for capturing some great moments of the conversation with his camera. He also talks to us about his photo shoot with our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. And a lots more in this edition of the Brew.

Keep brewing.

Until next time.

Sameer Bharat Ram Editor

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CONTRIBUTORS The young American Soparno, Kavita Baliga sung in concerts around the U.S., 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.

Kavita Baliga He is an Indian film art director and production designer who has worked in Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, Malyalam cinema and Bollywood . As of 2013, he has won two Awards South. His work consists of paintings, murals, paper collages, wooden montages, installations and so on.

Venket Ram is a leading Indian celebrity & fashion photographer, who has shot principal photography stills for several notable films as well as portfolios. He quite 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 Haskar and in 1993, started his own studio. He recently released the first two editions of his annual calenders.

Venket Ram

Internationally acclaimed, award winning violin Masteros 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 Ambassdors and dignitaries to the US and UK respectively. They have published books and written numerous articles relating to the Music and religion.

Thotta Tharani

Dr. M Lalitha and Dr. M Nandini

Is one of the youngest education enterpeneurs 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.

Ashok Verghese

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Educated as an economist and a buisness manger, Mallika Sarbhai is one of India’s best known Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi Dancers. She has taken her work and her company Darpana to not only over 90 counteries around the world, but alsoto the farthest parts of India.

Mallika Sarabhai

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9

9 Caught in the web 13 Other side of Sunny

17 Kireedam Tribute

23 Cover Story 34 Ankle bells Ira Trivedi 35 Getting Modi-Fied

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Doors that Talk 43

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Caught in th It’s been two years since actor Andrew Garfield last donned the red-and-blue Spandex Spidey suit for his starring role in the 2012 blockbuster, The Amazing Spider-Man. As the actor swings back into action, audiences will find that many things have changed for Peter Parker as they catch up with him and his skyscraper-scaling alter ego in The Amazing Spider-Man 2™.

“I definitely feel more confident this time around,” says Garfield. “I enjoy being Spider-Man, which is for sure what Peter feels as well.”

In some ways, the character has returned to his roots, with a costume that is more faithful to legendary comic-book creator Stan Lee’s original, and an attitude to match. Peter has found his footing in his unlikely role as a super hero, and as Spider-Man’s confidence has burgeoned, so has his ability to fire off a quip—even in the direst circumstances “What sets Spider-Man apart from other super heroes is his humor,” says the young actor. “He fits perfectly into the classic trickster archetype and one of the defining characteristics of a trickster is that they use their enemies’ weaknesses against them. That’s one of Spider-Man’s strengths.

Peter Parker may trip over his own feet, but as Spider-Man he’s able to trip anyone up.”

Garfield polished his physical-comedy chops with the help of Cal McCrystal, the award-winning Scottish Clown and theater director.

“There are scenes and ideas in the movie that come directly from my work with Cal,” says Garfield, who cites Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton as among his acting idols. “He created specific choreography for me. Our work together brought Spider-Man a physical goofiness and fun, which was really exciting to explore.”

The film, which will be released in April 2014, pits Spider-Man against his most dangerous foe to date—Electro, played by Oscar®-winner Jamie Foxx. “Watching Jamie Morph from Max into Electro is emotionally .

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e web

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powerful,” says Garfield. “He is a great adversary for Spider-Man, but he wasn’t born bad. He has been manipulated by evil forces, and that creates compassion for him.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 finds the character at the top of his game, as he ricochets through Manhattan with his newly perfected Spidey skills. That meant Garfield had to up his game as well, relying on Armando Alarcon, his trainer for the first film, to get him into the best condition of his life.

“I am practically naked when I’m in the Spider-Man suit,” the actor says. “You have to look a certain way and feel a certain way to pull that off. Your body has to seem super human.”

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Starting three months before shooting began and continuing through out filming, Alarcon helped Garfield hone his physique, creating a newly mature Peter Parker whose body reflects the changes the young man is going through.

“The regimen was pretty intense,” says Garfield. “Armando is passionate about health and fitness and I couldn’t have done it with anyone else.”

There’s also a new emotional maturity to Garfield’s character, as Peter learns to keep more plates spinning in his complicated double life. For example, he’s now head-over-heels in love with Gwen Stacy, and struggling with his promise to her father that he would keep his distance.

“Like any love relationship, it has inherent challenges,” Garfield explains. “He’s dealing with the guilt of a broken promise, but there’s also a destiny between them that they can’t deny. He’s a torn, confused young man trying to figure out the best thing to do.”

Of course, some important elements from the first film haven’t changed. The film’s director, Marc Webb, once again takes the helm and actress Emma Stone returns as Gwen Stacy.

“The beauty of working with the same people again is that you start to create a shorthand,” Garfield says. “Marc and I communicate very efficiently.

I feel like I know what he’s going to say before he says it. He knows when I need space; I know when he needs communication. It always helps to have great actors, a great director, a great producing team, a great script and a great camera department. There are endless options, endless choices. But it’s always about how we serve the character.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2™ is directed by Marc Webb and produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach. Screen Story and Screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

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I believe you were working in a tax and retirement firm, so how did you first start off with acting?

I started acting in Bollywood films after I was in the Big Boss show Pros and cons of both mainstream films and pornographic films according to you?

They are completely different for obvious reasons.

How do you feel about the changes in your life and career, now that you have ventured into bollywood?

This is my dream come true to be making movies. I have always wanted to act in mainstream movies but never had the chance till Bigg Boss.

s y i d n e n u u p S

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Have you left your adult-star days behind you or are you willing to continue?

Yes, I am finished with shooting adult films and no I will not continue.

Do you feel at home here in India and how has the public reacted to seeing you in Bollywood?

Yes I live in Mumbai and love it. I believe the public is happy I am here. I am so happy that I have more fans that like me than not.

Your Jism 2 and Big Boss experience?

Jism 2 was a huge learning experience. I learnt a lot about what to do and especially what not to do. Big Boss was the best decision I have ever made career wise. I am glad I went on the show.

Pornography films or mainstream films?

Mainstream would be my choice.

Your experience with Ekta kapoor’s Ragini MMS 2.

How comfortable were you in the horror genre?

I love horror and happy that I made this film. Its so much fun to make a movie like this.

A few words about the chemistry, the support and the freedom that you share with your husband?

He is my best friend and is extremely supportive in everything I do. We are a team and work very well together.

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Have your fans followed you to bollywood?

Yes they have certainly been there for me antime, anywhere.

With your Porn-star career in everybody’s mind, have you felt that most men assume of you as easily available?

Well, they can think anything they want.

But they are never going to have me. So I say keep dreaming.

Anything you would like to say to our Indian people, especially engineers or geeks who are your biggest fans?

I am a geek myself so keep rocking on and stay geeky.

Geeks run this world. We should never forget that.

How difficult was it for you and your husband to move and settle in India?

It was the easiest move I have ever made.

We settled in very fast and love living in Mumbai.

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Kireedam (1989) -Sethu Madhavan

Tribute on its 25th Anniversary I was named after my paternal grandfather in a rather filmy sort of manner. My grandmother lay seriously ill a few months before I was born and call it a strange premonition or not; she called over my mother one day and said “I feel that I just may not be alive when my grandson/granddaughter is born. In case if it’s a boy, please promise me that you will name him after your father–in-law, i.e the boy’s grandfather”. And so my mother promised to do so and my grandmother indeed passed away a few weeks later. I ended up getting to be named as Sethumadhavan, taking after my grandfather. But unlike what the elders at home might have thought of, from the time I remember going to school I really started disliking my name.

While people around me were all having relatively simpler names like Ravi, Sunil, Dilip and so on I found my name to be too traditional and totally ‘uncool’. What added to my misery was my paternal grandfather naming my younger brother as Pradeep, something which put me off completely. As I slowly became more and more interested in films my mother would tried to comfort me that my name was special and I could also look up to the popular film director, K.S.Sethumadhavan for inspiration as I shared my name with him. But even that did not really wipe away my anguish, but little did I know that very soon things would change and that I would finally go on to accept name gracefully and even feel happy about it.

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Kireedam is a wonderful example when it comes to portraying life of a typical middle class Malayalee household in the late 1980’s.

The setting is authentic, the people literally live the characters that they portray and we are easily drawn into the narrative as we experience a feeling of being part of it in a way. The film revolves mainly around Achuthan Nair (Thilakan), a police constable who leads a simple life with his family comprising of his wife, 2 sons and daughters. Hi major desire is to see his eldest son Sethumadhavan (Mohanlal) become a police inspector, and Sethumadhavan himself is determined to live up to his father’s expectations. Sethu is engaged to Devi (Parvathi), the daughter of his maternal uncle and they are happily looking forward to a wonderful future. Unfortunately one day Achuthan Nair is transferred to Ramapuram for having charged the son of a local MLA in a petty case.

So why am I going down memory lane and talking about my story when I am supposed to share my thoughts about the popular Malayalam film Kireedam? Well by now anyone and everyone who has seen the film would probably understand why this back-story was needed .

The year was 1989 and I was yet to enter my teens, that were also the time when Malayalam Cinema was probably going through its best phase ever, but strangely I wasn’t too impressed. Well as a kid

Cinema was probably going through its best phase ever, but strangely I wasn’t too impressed.

Well as a kid it was mainly action and comedy films that held my attention, so every time my folks wanted me to come along to watch a Malayalam movie, I would throw a fit if it wasn’t either an action or comedy film. Strange as that might sound now but then those were some truly different days indeed. Sibi Malayil’s Kireedam (The Crown) released then and initially my parents did not take me and my brother to watch the movie. I wasn’t too upset about it till I heard that the film has some really strong ‘violent’ portions and that Mohanlal plays a youngster named Sethumadhavan.

Pretty soon the film was being talked about a lot and that was when I watched the film and finally felt a sense of pride on seeing one of my favourite actors play a powerful role bearing my name. The combination of director Sibi Malayil and writer A.K.Lohithadas have gone to create some wonderful Malayalam movies, starting from Thaniyavarthanam (1987) and going all the way up to Sagaram Sakshi (1994), a total of 14 films in all. Kireedam for me ranks right on top of the list, a list that also comprises of gems like Dasharatham, His Highness Abdullah, Bharatham etc and hence it’s a rather special film on all counts. This is also a film that I have gone on to re-visit a few more times over the years and I also got to see at least 2 of its 4 other language remakes, Gardish (1993-Hindi)and Kireedam (2007-Tamil) while I am yet to watch the other 2 versions (Rowdyism Nasinchali,1990-Telugu and Modadha Mareyalli, 1991-Kannada).

In fact every time I re-visit the film I can only marvel at the intensity that the film generates at various points of the film and the kind of standout performances that Mohanlal and Thilakan, inarguably 2 of India’s finest ever actors have churned out. Kireedam is a wonderful example when it comes to portraying life of a typical middle class Malayalee

household in the late 1980’s. The setting is authentic, the people literally live the characters that they portray and we are easily drawn into the narrative as we experience a feeling of being part of it in a way. The film revolves mainly around Achuthan Nair (Thilakan), a police constable who leads a simple life with his family comprising of his wife, 2 sons and daughters. Hi major desire is to see his eldest son Sethumadhavan (Mohanlal) become a police inspector, and Sethumadhavan himself is determined to live up to his father’s expectations. Sethu is engaged to Devi (Parvathi), the daughter of his maternal uncle and they are happily looking forward to a wonderful future. Unfortunately one day Achuthan Nair is transferred to Ramapuram for having charged the son of a local MLA in a petty case. The entire family shifts along with him to Ramapuram.

While everything is looking good for the family, things take a turn one day when Sethu sees his father getting beaten up by a local thug, Keerikadan Jose (Mohan Raj). Sethu steps in to save his father and ends up beating up Keerikkadan Jose, but then unexpectedly the entire market responds by hailing the downfall of a criminal and the rise of a saviour.,

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This is when things start getting complicated in the life of Sethu and the wonderful relationship between him and his father Achuthan begins to get strained. Circumstances begin to go against Sethu as he gets further and further involved in things which he doesn’t want to be part of, ending up losing his ladylove Devi as well.

What happens from thereon in the lives of the father and son is what the rest of the film is all about which culminates in a climax, that could well and truly serve as an inspiration for aspiring writers, director and actors. The film is filled with wonderful moments, all of which bring in the required dimensions to the movie.

Take for example the scene when Sethu and Devi are watching their respective fathers enjoy a round of drinks from behind a window and enjoying a private moment themselves, only to be caught by their grandmother. Or the dining room scenes, such scenes are filled with subtle humour and reflect upon what could be happening in our homes as well.

The action sequences are shot wonderfully and build up the tension adequately. The two market fights in particular are commendable, more so considering the huge crowd in the background, which wouldn’t have been easy to handle considering the logistics involved. The cinematography by S.Kumar also deserves a mention especially for the way the action sequences have been picturised, especially with a specific use of tone and hue. L.Bhoominathan’s editing is again praiseworthy as there’s not a single moment in the film where you feel the pace slacken.

Johnson’s music is good and the ‘Kanneer Poovinte’ song (sung by M.G.Sreekumar and lyrics by Kaithapram) conveys the melancholic mood at that part of the film wonderfully. Kireedam is also a film which is considered to be a milestone for most of the actors involved in the film. Cochin Haneefa who was more popular for his negative roles, played the role Haidrose, a local thug with a comic element wonderfully, paving the way for the start of his career as comedian. He went on to reprise the same role in the Tamil version of the film as well.

Mohan Raj till date is remembered fondly by the Malayalam audience as Kirekkadan Jose, such is the impact that he generated with his presence in Kireedam.

Parvathy, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Murali, Jagathy Sreekumar, Sreenath, Manianpilla Raju, Jagadish, Mammukoya, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Philomina are appropriately cast for their roles and do well. But the film ultimately belongs to Thilakan and Mohanlal who are both excellent in their respective roles as Achuthan Nair and Sethumadhavan respectively. Thilakan as Achuthan Nair brings out various shades to his character-he is a fearless duty bound cop at work, a committed family man and someone eagerly awaiting for his son to become a police inspector. He is comfortable in both the light hearted moments and the emotional moments.

p o r t r ay a l o f a yo u n g m a n' s a g o ny i n a unique style

Watch for example the two fight scenes in the market, in the first one he keeps appealing earnestly for his son to stop the fight and watches helplessly as Keerikkadan Jose is brutally beaten up. In the climax fight scene he implores his son to drop the knife and this is done in a totally different manner. If Thilakan is amazing as Achuthan Nair, then Mohanlal is equally good (if not better) as Sethumadhavan. In the pre-climax when he asks Devi to get married and tells his uncle that he is not there to create any nuisance but to say goodbye to Devi or in the climax fight scene in the market, Mohanlal shows why he is just a class apart and he truly deserved the National Award (Special Jury Award) for his performance. But to ensure that the film is filled with wonderful moments one has to appreciate the writing involved and similarly the direction is commendable for ensuring that the writing is translated wonderfully on screen and for extracting such wonderful performances especially from Mohanlal and Thilakan. The combination of director Sibi Malayil and writer A.K.Lohithadas have left their stamp behind in grand fashion with Kireedam.

Kireedam is a special film which portrays the father-son relationship with such finesse, that you cannot stay unimpressed. It is also a reflection of our society in a way as it dwells upon the topic of every criminal is not born as one; instead there are some whom are a victim of certain unavoidable situations as well. Kireedam is also a rare Malayalam film which truly inspired the makers to come back again and deliver a sequel that does justice to the original film as seen in the form of Chenkol (1993). Here’s hoping that a film like this continues to be remembered in the future as well, here’s wishing Sibi Malayil and co a very Happy Silver Jubilee for Kireedam. As for my name then I just have to conclude that with films like Kireedam, Chenkol and Mithunam, Mohanlal went on clearly make me feel proud of my own name and more than two decades later, I am still grinning when I think of those days.

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The COVER STORY

Brewing up a conversation with

Anil Srinivasan

Anita Ratnam PHOTOGRAPHS - VENKETRAM LOCATION COURTESY- BREW ROOM , SAVERA HOTEL

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T

he multifaceted and very beautiful Dancer Anita Ratnam in an uncut conversation with the musical genius and usually shy Anil Srinivasan while the Brew editor Sameer Bharat Ram listens in.

Anil: In this very visual world, that we know what’s going to happen to all the things that we grew up on which we hold very precious like the classical arts, classical dances and so on. Is that one more trend like every other trend to be hash tagged or will it last the course?

Anita: Well, I think in our lifetimes we have seen the classical arts change tremendously, though everybody wants to hold on to the tag “classical”. I think they are getting too fixated on nomenclature. If we just take Bharatnatyam as one of the forms, we have traditional Bharatanatyam, that a community of artists practice which still can be seen in some styles in Thanjavur and Kumbakonam. They have the urban Bharatanatyam as Kalakshetra demonstrated & then they have the neo-classical Bharatanatyam where people try new themes but wearing the same clothes and using the same Carnatic music. Then we have Modern Bharatanatyam which is what Chandralekha spearheaded. So, we have already several avatars . What works for people is to me the larger question because I think the classical artists especially in Bharatnatyam have become so narcissistic and inward looking that they are too content that if their own friends, their own family and their own small group of Facebook followers will either like their photographs, like their performance and some of their attempts. They feel that an audience of 200-300 is a fantastic success.

Anil: I will add to what you are saying. Its also become a world which largely has started believing that external validation is far more important than internal validation of what you do, in the sense that I can buy likes on Facebook and if I can buy fans and if I can have X number followers, it means that I have arrived in life, that since everything is ephemeral, and about capturing attention for that moment, as long as I know how to.

Anita: What am trying to say is, Why should today’s young generation want to come and see the classical arts? They are all working hard, people are commuting or they are working in these BPOs, working all nights, they are having vampire hours, they are sleeping during the day for whatever reason. Today, the young really want to work hard and play hard & every spare minute is spent in a lifestyle enhancement which means hanging out in glamour zones like malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, coffee shops and retail spaces. Now, why should they give up the comfort of either a 300 channel TV set in the house or going to be with their friends? Fighting out crazy traffic, having no parking and coming to watch a live performance. These performances are usually badly illuminated, seats where their sarees will be torn and sometimes poor sound. I am purely talking from the audience point of view so we as artists need to think of the frame now as a 360 degree visual experience as well.

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So, as a dancer I should not just think of the choreography and costume but lighting design, promotion, visual communication and every single aspect of my event has to be planned and it has to be at least promoted in a way that also reflects the event.What i feel is, well... My time is not really over but it’s a really huge shift. Unless we adapt I don’t know what is going to be the power of live performance. Are we going to have live performance with a virtual audience? Are we only going to videotape live performance for streaming. Streaming has already become a fact of life. So, at this point am very happy and content that am not 25 anymore and that i have seen and experienced the best.

Anil: Well,I think people in my generation specifically the people in the late 30s and early 40s are in the zone of tremendous confusion. I am not talking about the young but relatively a little older people but not yet old….generation like me. we unfortunately saw both eras. The pre ’91 India and the post ’91 India. Which can be defined as India of restricted choices, India of relatively free choices now going into the India of too much choice. We are becoming too depressed, because the success matrix that we were brought up on are no longer relevant.

The first reaction for a person like me when it comes to art and performance and doing what I believe in is because i believe in what am doing. The number of people who follow it, the number of performances you do and the numbers of all these things are irrelevant as long as what you say and your content has relevance. Who decides the relevance? You decide it; this is what you were brought up to believe. Now, it’s a world which says hash tag some VIP has more likes in two hours than what I will get over a lifetime. Hash tag #Poonam Pandey has millions of fans that anything I will do can’t and will never fetch me. So people like me are prone to a lot of depression because we grew up in a different success matrix of being content and successful and being able to look upto our family and ithe matrix was not bout buysing the next SUV or a beach house in ECR. Now these have started occupying conversations and because of which a lot of disillusionment, a lot of broken marriages etc is happening. My generation specifically is a generation in transition. We are “Jits” we don’t know what to do because we neither have the advantage of experience that you can rely upon and say that I have done my bit.

This morning I had a conversation with our mutual friend Devdutt, the great mythologist and at the end of our talk we zeroed down on the fact that our need to question our purpose has become even more and has started to come even more earlier, as someone said to me long back that 29 is the new 50. I will continue to work with young people to keep me relatively abreast of what’s going on. But, it is a country, a culture and an ethos in transition. We are going to see a lot of subversive new art forms, urban art forms and all kinds of things emerge which we will have to be prepared for. I agree with you and resonate with you when you said that the classical arts better have a serious look at itself to stay relevant, to stay abreast and to keep itself going.

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Anita (Looking at Sameer who is listening to this conversation) : Anil grew up in the same block where I live just separated by a wall. Our parents were great friends. He has known me all his life. 2007 was the first year when we professionally started working together. That was the earliest time when he and Sikkil Gurucharan created music for me. The sound that we now know as Anil and Charan, I was one of the early people to present it in dance. Having said that, I also work with young musicians through Anil and my bigger question is with all this confusion, with increasing depression and increasing suicide rates among young people, isn’t it more important more than ever that the arts be made a closer part of today’s life. Which means how early should we include the idea of art of any kind that is creative to our children at a very young age in our schools, and unless we do that no amount of us talking and trying to do whatever we do in our own spaces is going to change anything. Yesterday, I met a venture capitalist and turned him down saying that “money was no object”. I don’t want to be tied to money because passion has always driven me. But, that means I cannot scale up who I am and what I do. I know that my Independence is very important to me, I want to walk away at any point like at this point I have taken a six month hiatus because I can do it, and no one can question me. That’s a kind of life that I follow. This is not an answer somebody in the corporate field will give or if somebody was managing a brand, if you were a movie star or somebody else on another treadmill ,your life is not your own, you cannot decide these things. But, the world needs I feel more of us who can do what we do, do it at our pace and do it excellently. Each time when we do something of this sort we create a little pin-prick. We need dreamers and specialists who are prophetic. These set of people should be able to think three steps ahead. People, who are sitting in big group meetings and deciding that what is going to be the next trend, are not a part of this game. If we look through this tree all the great artists were considered mad and flop in their own time. So, I have told you many times that I may never get a National Award because as we speak the Indian Press association does not recognise pure internet publishing which does not have a print version. So, I can say that I have a award winning global portal which means nothing for the Government of India because I don’t have a print version and they are not going to give anything to me. But, I will continue to dream and do what I do.I have a lot of people who follow me, wait to see me or listen to what I say. But, I am not going to become the oracle of Omaha or Oprah Winfrey who has become a huge brand.

So, am I a success? I am always surprised when people say I am. Because, I am never content with what I do, I am very unhappy with myself.

And, I feel that I am nowhere where I want to be, forget what the public want me to be. So, I think that’s who I am- I would like to be the independent,a lone person who has hacked through the bushes, created a path and stumbled, fallen. I have been married twice and I have realized that marriage is not for me. I feel Men are terribly disappointing but having no regrets because every stumble has been a huge learning curve. Today, you can point a gun at me and I will say “Oh, I already had one pointed at me”. My entire working palette has been shaped by New York City, not India. As the saying goes, “If you can make it there you can make it anywhere”.

Anil : I would say that in my life women have always been most instrumental both creatively and destructively too. I have always had my destiny ruled by women, in every sphere be it professionally, personally and financially. Anita, as you know about my latest financial debacle again thanks to a woman (laughs). But, luckily I am married to a woman whom I love with and everything is going great in that front. New York also has shaped me definitely. New York has influenced my Aesthetics and New York is the reason why I am able to continue what I am doing which is probably much tougher than for which I was originally designed to be.

So, I agree that the world needs more specialists and when I say young people I work with children.

My latest project this year is called the “Imaginarium” where I am working with schools in very poor neighbourhoods and create self expression labs. I don’t want them to turn into performers and artists but to turn them into people who can think on their own, right from a very early age. I think that I look myself as an enabler and perhaps this will be the more significant role I will do in my life than just being a performer. And like you, I don’t look at myself as a success and it surprises me when people consider me one.

We are going to continue searching and working very hard and in the process creating a lot things and thats they beauty of it. we will never say that we are very content and retire. Its a great way to live according to me.

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i would probably retire when my hands cease to function.maybe.

Anita: well, I would always think of myself as a dancer, but I may not dance for much longer. I might morph into a story teller, and I know I am writing more, I have always been a motivational speaker to a lot of corporates about creative thinking. AniI calls himself an enabler but I would call myself as a culture catalyst for example,I am currently working with a young group of seven dancers in their 20’s , it’s called the “Padne Project”, I have got an Italian composer and Belgian choreographer working with these seven dancers in Bangalore and giving them for their first taste. See, a lot of Indian youngsters say that they are a professional dancers with no idea of what it is to be a professional, which actually means working for 8 hours a day. In Indian dance they only rehearse for 1 hour may be 2 and they leave. these dancers will spend Six days a week for 8 hours a day with yoga, meditation, taichi, choreography and improvisation. The premier is supposed to be held on 9th of August in Bangalore. Anil is very much part of it too.

Whenever, I want an idea, I want to think something through whether if he is going to be a part of it or not, Anil is my go-to person. It’s great to have a comfort level with someone who is sort of tuned in that way. It’s fairly unusual to somebody in his generation, to persist in wanting to be a dreamer. In my generation in 50’s you may find more people who were born and brought up in a different India. My mother got a signed copy of a “Beatles” album because she was a tour guide at the world’s fair in 1964 in Queens. It is great to born in 50’s and see my country change in my lifetime. I would share this with your readers that those days a walk on the Marina Beach was a huge deal, to dress up and go to the beach. Dressing up and going to the cinema and the original Spencers.

Anil: In those days, people would welcome you into their homes because you mattered to them, that culture has gone. I miss that Madras. Somebody told me this once - Madras is an emotion and Chennai is a city. Unfortunately, Anita and I lived in Madras and are continuing to live in Madras. We keep with it and try best to be a part of it. We are hashtagging ourselves all the times but somewhere I am also lost. But someone like Anita , she has been such a great inspiration to me personally in so many levels. Very few artistes will do this for other artistes.We can see a lot values disappearing, but in summation I don’t want to whine. Anita and I have agreed not to whine. I think this city is becoming younger despite its heritage which

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I find is a fantastic combination of old world and new. It’s going to be a big challenge for the people in the classical space and dreamer’s space to continue persisting with their dreams and how to keep themselves relevant unless they keep their eyes and ears to the ground. I think certain things like good values and good art and good taste will endure, no matter what the trends are. I believe in investing in the young and will continue to do that. And as we dont believe that we are successful , I guess we may become extremely popular after we are gone. (laughs) Anita: I have always done things way ahead of time and its now that i have been able to take a breather from all of it.

A small incident - when i was cleaning my wardrobe just this morning, I remembered my dad talking about my grandfather T.V.Sundaram Iyengar having only 4 dhoties till the end of his life. Thats how spartan he lived. But, when I looked into my wardrobe this morning I had around 200 saris of my own. Then, I said to myself why do I need this?

So, how much is enough? How many new things will be enough? How many different brands of wine and rarest whiskey’s or the most fancy watches be enough? I have children in their 20’s, both are creative and up till now they have stepped away from the rest of the family’s economic business model .They haven’t been to B Schools or ivy league

universities, I have a film-maker son and a daughter who is a writer. So, it will be interesting for me to see India through their eyes as well. Because, when I create any new work I actually get their feedback to keep my work relevant in this era. People of my parent’s generation have sometimes walked out of my performances; calling it travesty, but it didn’t bother me. I have disagreed to wear any Bharata Natyam jewellery, act as a temple sculpture come to live or pose as a new bride during a Bharatnatyam performance. Now, I want my life and my art to come together. I want people to know who am I from within, I don’t want a separation from my life and art. What I wear on stage I should be able to wear it and go to an after party.

So, does that means I am performing all the time? Perhaps, I am. But having worked in television for 10 years in New York ,I am very conscious about the power of the sound byte and extremely vigilant about the image. I know the power of the image. I’m not going to be photographed first thing in the morning, and even if am, am not going to put that up on Facebook. Because people generally, believe in heroes and heroines. They want to believe in larger myths. Today, if you look at the highest grossing Hollywood movies they are all mythology from the Harry Potter to Star Trek and Avatar. Artists have enlarged spirits and that’s why they are able to expand.

Most people with Jaguars and other luxurious vehicles feel that having that allows them to expand. Most artists have nothing of that sort but they still expand, just because of their aura field is magnified and thats what makes them attractive to other people.The younger generation now are very easily inclined towards Gurus like Deepak Chopra and saints like Sri Sri Ravishankar because even their wisdom is given in sound bytes and gyan is given in daily quotes. So, maybe Anil and I will have to do some arts gyan through sound bytes and Youtube videos. Maybe that will help!.

The conversation now drifts to other things and a little gossip as we drink more coffee and enjoy the ambience of the newly opened BREW ROOM @ SAVERA HOTEL

Anita on collaborating with Anil “We both jointly worked for Neelam in 2007 for the first time. Since, then with Anil and I have done a lot of prductions together. Anil has had a presence in each one of my productions be it by his piano or by his valuable suggestions.

There would have been creative input of his in every work of mine. I would say my best soundscape of his work of his is “Matrika”. I love it because it re-imagines the goddesses Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Meenakshi.

His favourite is Neelam. Am taking “Matrika” across the world this year because i truly believe that it is an Indian Sound with a global feel and appeal.

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-Veejay Sai 33 |JULY 2014 |THE BREW

FOR THOSE WHO TALK CONDESCENDINGLY AT MALE DANCERS & DOUBT THEIR FUTURE, BE READY FOR STRONG & PLEASANT SURPRISES Hailing from north Karnataka’s famous Jain communities is Parshwanath Upadhyay.

Equipped with a black belt in Karate he is also a state level swimming champion who holds a Masters degree in literature and has trained in Bharatanatyam. Today, he is easily one of the top five dancers from Karnataka and has achieved a good name for himself in a very short span of time.

His performance at the Purush festival was an eye opener to many. Stunning everyone with his presentation, Parshwanath proved himself a roaring success for the dance scene in the years to come. Suresh Kaliyath had a packed hall splitting in laughter with his highly enjoyable performance of Ottan Thullal. A mechanical engineer by profession and an artiste by choice, Suresh is trained in Thullal, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Parichamuttukali and the intricate art of playing the Mizhavu.

He is one of the few professional Thullal artistes we have in this country with high expertise and flair to keep his audiences wanting for more. His efforts to preserve this fading form are highly commendable.

Last but not the least was Tribhuwan Maharaj, the grandson of the Kathak maestro Pt Birju Maharaj. Other than his esteemed pedigree, Tribhuwan brings to the table his own enthusiasm and passion to keep the legacy of the Lucknow Gharana alive. Debuting at Purush in the presence of his grandfather and several legendary gurus, scholars, dance veterans and enthusiasts, Tribhuwan’s performance was greatly lauded by one and all. For his age, his dedication is admirable. He is a superstar in the making and blossom into his best over time. .

These were just a few of the country’s talented male dancers presented at the Purush festival. In an age when Sabhas and organizers don’t go looking out for male dancers, where sponsors don’t come easy, where the risk of them being labeled and branded is high, what is it about these dancers that keeps them going, irrespective of all the predicament they face? They are strong, intelligent, belong to the multi-tasking generation of savvy youngsters who can manage their own careers and take risk without a second thought. They know their capabilities, have no insecurities and speak their minds They are not ready to cater to sycophancy and know the good from the best. They are ready to put in all the needed hard work and have high assurance levels in their art. In an age where thousands of boys are taking to technical education and MBA’s are dozen a dime, these artistes will be prime property very soon. One just needs to give them time, wait and watch. For those who talk condescendingly at male dancers and doubt the future of their dance, be ready for strong and pleasant surprises. The next generation is footloose and more than fancy-free.

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 In conversation with Ira Trivedi

on her latest book “INDIA IN LOVE” 1. India in Love is very different from your previous works as an author and non fiction. Why the move?

Yes, India in Love is rather different from my previous works which have all been works of fiction. But at the end of the day all writers have to evolve, and as a full-time writer its exciting to try different forms. Non-fiction came naturally to me, especially given by rigorous academic training, which allowed me to look at things in a very analytical way, as well as conduct research and the like. Also I felt a book like India in Love was really the need of the hour, and I wanted to write this book.

2. Any particular incident/issue that motivated you to write about sexuality in India?

As I write in the book, India in going through a sexual revolution at the moment and this is something which I wanted to capture.

I saw signs all around me, and the turning point was really the December 2012 rape in Delhi which brought sexual violence to the fore, and I realised how important it was for us to address this issue of sexual violence. Also, we must not forget marriage, because in India, marriage and sexuality have always been connected, and I do feel that we can’t de-link the two at all. Being in the “marry-go-round” as a young Indian woman myself, I realised and saw this change all around me. This is the reason why half of India in Love is about marriage.

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3. Its been quite an exercise traveling and interviewing so many people across the country. Any particular interview that really shocked/changed your views on this subject?

Yes, over the course of this book I travelled to 15 cities, interviewed 600 people and spent four years (full time) doing this. I spent about six months just researching the book and its subjects, so I was prepared for the stuff that I was about to see.

What I Was most shocked about was the magnitude of the change- it was happening all across urban India, in small cities and big cities alike. This change was affecting hundreds of millions of people across castes, religions, professions and demographics.

4. Were people open and comfortable when you were interviewing them? How did you manage to get people to open up and talk.

I was really surprised at how open people were to sharing their lives. I think it was because they wanted, maybe ben needed someone non-judgemental who they could speak with. I managed to get people to open up and talk to me by spending time with them. My subjects became my friends, and a part of my day to day life. I’m still in touch with so many of them. That was the beauty of this book… it wasn’t just work for me, it became my life.

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Ace Photographer G Venket Ram on

GETTING MODI-FIED

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3. Any qualities that impressed you during the course of the shoot?

His easy-going and grounded persona really impressed me. He has no airs about him and was friendly and open. Like I said, he even let me choose his clothes for the shoot.

4. Would you like to have another shoot with PM Narendra Modi?

Yes, Indeed I would love to have that opportunity again.

1. How was your experience shooting him?

It was a vey humbling experience. When I worked with him, he was the CM of Gujarat.

I was pleasantly surprised that he was so down to earth and humble. Not quite what I had imagined.

2. Is he camera friendly? Comfortable with the idea of a photoshoot?

He was very camera friendly. We were given half an hour for the photo shoot. But it stretched to 4 hours and he was cheerful and friendly throughout. He even let me rummage in his wardrobe to select his clothes.

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Doors

that talk santhanakrishnan

1. When did you start off? where you interested in art right from when you were school?

I was very much interested in drawing, in my school. I used to participate in all drawing competitions and was also a member in drawing club at school.

2. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I used to go to my grandparents' place, Kumbakonam, for vacations. I was inspired by the drawings in the walls of temples ( in and around Kumbakonam ) and the colours they use.

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highlighting lifestyle of forefathers

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