The Brew november by Sameer Bharat Ram

CINEMA, & ART WITH THE THE CINEMA,MUSIC MUSIC & ART WITH

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OCTOBER 2010 NOVEMBER VOL 01 ISSUE 01 02 ` 40 RNI NO.: TNENG/2010/05353 www.thebrewmagazine.com

THE IMMORTALS OF ROCK

HEATH LEDGER BRINGING BACK THE LEGEND NILADRI PAUL THE ARTISTIC GENIUS GETS CANDID Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | NOVEMBER 2010 | 1

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STRAIGHT FROM THE TOP

bama brought with him this month, an upbeat air of partnership and globalization. A brilliant orator, he charmed even our very high maintenance parliament! Lots of people may disagree with my positive interpretation, but I feel he came forward with our seat in the Security counsel, he spoke about his disapproval of terrorism, and his reluctance to ‘fight our battles’ with Pakistan was the act of a diplomat and the president of a large complex nation that cannot ‘take sides’ so openly. His spending of a large chunk of time in India is a show of solidarity and we need to see it as that. And in this mood of international fervour, we have on our cover not Aishwarya Rai or Sushmita Sen, who I shall soon be in an intimate tête-à-tête to bring to you the vignettes, but Bon Jovi, whom publisher Sameer Bharat Ram has brought in to ‘meet’ with you in our pages at BREW, and whose words I identify with ................ “It’s my life , It’s now or never ,I ain’t gonna live forever , I just want to live while I’m alive , ......I did it my way , I just wanna live while I’m alive .... Better stand tall when they’re calling you out, Don’t bend, don’t break, don’t back down”. Don’t you agree that its a fantastic way to look at life? So here it goes, on the threshold of a new year, new conquests and new global forays lets ‘live life to the lees’ as Tennyson said! Looking forward to seeing you again in December, until then read on.................. and do write in with all your thoughts and reactions.

Nisha JamVwal Editor-in-Chief

Nisha JamVwal is an interior architect and lifestyle columnist who also owns an eponymous Fashion Label that creates fashion for the contemporary woman and man. She has not compartmentalized life into preformatted roles but experimented with different creative media, works as a couturier, art consultant, television anchor,stage compere and model. She multitasks as a columnist where she writes on Art, Interiors & Fashion. As a Craft Activist Nisha works to save traditional Indian Crafts from becoming extinct ,has written three books on craft & orchestrated auctions to save dying crafts.

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

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CINEMA, MUSIC & ART WITH THE RNI NO.: TNENG/2010/05353

TEAM

Creative Director 01 Mihir Ranganathan Art Director 02 Sibiraj Bastin

Sr. Graphic Designer 03 Namitha Thomas 04 Sakthivel Arumugam

Sub-Editor 05 Selvan Ross Marketing Manager 06 Navin Dorai

Production 07 Srinivasan

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Circulation & Sales 08 Sentil Kumar 09 Shiva Ganesh

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CONTENTS

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Title : Natraj Titl N t j Size : 24" 24 x 24 24" Acrylic on canvas

VOL 01 ISSUE 02

FEATURES

Scottish Highland to Feudal Japan

Macbeth and The Throne of Blood - Aysha Iqbal

75 facts about the King

Elvis Presley

Theatre festival 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Colorful extravaganza!

Ranga Shankara - Veejay Sai

Brew Editor & Columnist Nisha JamVwal

meets famed artist Niladri Paul for a chat in Delhi

COVER STORY

You know the more things change the more they stay the same

bon jovi

REVIEW

SPELLBINDING SERIES NEARS ITS END

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - SUHAIL ISMAIL

Discover a world

OF FANTASY - ASHWITHA JAYAKUMAR

INTERVIEW

16 HIS LAST WORDS

HEATH LEDGER

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE Dear Readers, A big hello from everyone at The Brew. I am proud to bring to you in this penultimate edition of 2010, one of the greatest rock acts in the world, the authors of “It’s my life”, “Living on a prayer” and many more revered hits. Also, this edition contains whispers from beyond the grave as we get up close and personal with one of the most iconic actors of our time. So, buckle your seat belt and strap yourself in, because this edition will take you one rollercoaster of a ride! Sameer Bharat Ram Publisher and Managing Editor

CONTRIBUTORS Mallika Sarabhai, Artist & Activist 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.

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.

Avinash Gowariker He started his career with Aamir in 1995. It was nearly impossible to get Aamir to do a photo shoot which is not for a film or his endorsement- If at all, he prefers shooting in natural light instead of an artificial studio light set up. The cover was shot at C’est La Vie on their walk way to the swimming pool which is filled with natural light, so Aamir was happy shooting there. Avinash is one of India’s leading photographers and famed for his Bollywood repertoire of portraits and shoots. He has blazed a trail in experimental lighting.

ADVISORY BOARD 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.

Pravin Mani Originally from Chennai, Pravin shuttles between Toronto, London and Chennai on his musical adventure. He has worked with a number of record companies in Australia including Virgin, E.M.I, Sony music and secured a worldwide publishing contract with Warner Chappell, Australia. He has a number of album, film and session production credits with a wide range of music directors including A.R.Rahman

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CINEMA

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re the millions of Potter fans worldwide in for another mystifying experience, or will the latest instalment spell disaster for the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite wizardry franchise? In the weeks leading up to November 19th, millions of fans worldwide, both young and old, will be eagerly anticipating the release of the first instalment of the seventh and final part of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The first film in the series to be shot and released in two parts, the Deathly Hallows will hit theatres worldwide on the 19th of November with Part One and the second and final instalment, which will provide the finale to this

spellbinding series, will release on 12th June, 2011. Directed by David Yates, who has been in charge of rendering arguably the most famous series of novels in the world, into the world of motion cinema since The Order of the Phoenix, this title promises to offer the audience a completely different experience from the previous movies in the series. In the words of Daniel Radcliffe, who portrays the leading protagonist Harry Potter; â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a road movie, particularly in Part One of the film. People have been so used to seeing Harry Potter at Hogwarts and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just not there for the first part of the film. That seems to have really freshened things up, and hopefully will get people seeing the films with fresh

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eyes again, because it’s just a totally different look when you’re not just sat in the same room the whole time.” The audience must be prepared for an entirely different, yet equally enthralling experience, as they watch the lead characters, Harry Potter, played by Radcliffe, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, embark on a completely new and challenging journey to carry on the legacy left by the late Albus Dumbledore. To achieve this feat, they must locate and destroy the numerous Horcruxes that the Dark Lord has created, to bring him a step closer to immortality, and attempt to

gained the approval of the mastermind behind the entire franchise, one J.K Rowling. According to Warner Bros. executive Alan F. Horn, it will allow “an extra hour and a half to celebrate what this franchise has been and do justice to all the words and ideas in the amazing story. Heyman described the workings behind the split: “Deathly Hallows is so rich, the story so dense and there is so much that is resolved that, after discussing it with J. K. Rowling, we came to the conclusion that two parts were needed.” The soundtrack also retains the same haunting thrill that was made synonymous with the series by John

vanquish the Dark Lord Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes. There is also the added central element of the Deathly Hallows, three supposedly mythical objects that will enable the user to ‘conquer death’. This also catches the attention of the Dark Lord which leads to a frantic chase for these powerful objects, which contributes to a sub plot that pits the Horcruxes vs. the Hallows.

Williams and is expertly implemented and additionally composed by Alexandre Desplat.

The decision to split the book into two parts for the movie was made by producer David Heyman, after managing to convince writer Steve Kloves. All this was only after the

Draco Malfoy, whose role is reprised by Tom Felton, is also expected to have a much more significant role in the upcoming film as he faces an internal struggle with the battling forces of

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This film promises the audience much more screen time for the very controversial Severus Snape, played by Alan Rickman, who drew the ire of the millions of fans by shockingly killing the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore when Half Blood Prince drew to a close.

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light and the pressure exuded by his dad to join him and the other Death Eaters, the loyal followers of the Dark Lord. Jason Isaacs considered not returning for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before the book was released, as he was worried that the senior Malfoy would have very little screen time due to the character’s imprisonment in the previous story. Meeting J. K. Rowling at an awards dinner he fell to his knees and said “Get me out of prison, I beg you.” Rowling reassured Isaacs by looking over her shoulder and mouthing “You’re out. Chapter One.” Isaacs signed onto the film immediately afterward. Joshua Herdman announced on 9 August 2009 that Jamie Waylett would not be reprising his role as Vincent Crabbe for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Waylett’s character would instead be written out and his role in the plot taken over by Herdman’s character, Gregory Goyle. Director David Yates has announced that, for the final scene in the film which is set nineteen years after the film’s main story, older actors will not be cast to play the main characters. Special effects will be used to depict the cast members as adults. The audience can be prepared to experience a completely new atmosphere as their favourite teenage wizards must learn to rely on themselves, being outside the protective walls of Hogwarts caste. They must deal with the number of Dark forces working against them, with the Dark Lord’s forces seizing control of both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School, which could jeopardize their mission as well as threaten to tear them apart. They are forced to deal with dangers and adversities that they have never before encountered. Regardless of how the movie pans out, it can be assured that the millions of Potter fans will flood theatres worldwide and are in for a thrilling ride as they watch their protagonists travel through England, from Tottenham Court, and Diagon Alley, to the fabled Godric’s Hollow, in an effort to recover the Horcruxes and destroy the ties that bind Voldemort to immortality, while also searching for the elusive seventh horcrux. The Chosen One, Harry Potter will have to come to terms with the loss of his beloved headmaster as well as the sensational truth about his mentor’s past that slowly is revealed to him. The entire future of the wizarding world rests on his shoulders as he battles to restore Voldemort to mortality as well as coming to accept the truth that could change, or end, his entire existence. Join Harry Potter on this last spellbinding adventure as he prepares face off against the Dark Lord in this last confrontation that will decide the future of the wizarding world.

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CINEMA

Heath his Last words 16 | NOVEMBER 2010 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Q: Everyone says that you are kind of fearless about taking on the role ‘the Joker’ - is that really true?

HL: I definitely feared it anything that fears me, I guess excites me at the same time and, so yeah. I don’t know if I was fearless, but I certainly had to put on a brave face and believe that I have something up my sleeve and something that was different.

Q: Did you ever watch Jack Nicholson’s version of the Joker?

HL: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean, not after I got the role, but I’ve seen it many times before. I was a huge fan of it and but you know, having seen Chris’s first film. I knew that there was a big difference between a Chris Nolan film and a Tim Burton film. And so therefore there was enough room to for a fresh portrayal. And so I kind of steered away from what Jack did. Hopefully.

Q: I’m just wondering again about getting to that process of getting to the Joker is the idea that he may have at once been a normal person. Unlike say, the Jack’s Joker was.

HL: Yeah, I think, I think most of the villains in kind of the Chris Nolan style of Batman movies. These are normal people or once were normal people. And I definitely am sort of came to my own conclusions about his background. But one scene, and I don’t know if I might be putting my foot in my mouth. By giving you that much, I guess it’s my secret to at this point. So, I don’t know if this is the first time I’ve had to speak about it. And no one’s really prepped me about what to say.

Q: How long does your makeup take?

HL: About an hour or an hour to an hour and a half kind of thing. It’s pretty quick. They’ve come up with a new technology for the mouthpiece as the scars are made out of silicone not prostatic. And so they have free silicone stamps that they put on here, here, and here. My whole bottom lip is fake. Essentially and they glue it on in here, and so that like yeah, it takes a half-hour to put those on. And then 20 minutes to a half an hour to paint the face.

Q: What does your child think? Was she scared?

HL: Um, she just frowned at him. You know, I don’t think she connected me to him.

Q: Preparing for the role.

HL: Yeah, yeah, it’s definitely the icing on the cake to do all the research prior to shooting for sure, and there is something about you know, the metaphor to work behind the mask and from within a mask. It always gives you the license to do whatever you want for the freedom, for your feeling like you’re being judged or viewed, and so I’m literally wearing the mask now, which is aimed empowers me twice as much to kind of feel free and feel unrestrained yeah.

Q: How do you get into this evil character?

HL: I don’t know, I think we all have it in us. You know, I don’t know, once again, it’s kind of, you know like and then

for a while there I was just thinking like you know, sometimes I’ll connect some scary thoughts. It’s kind of like eating raw meat. I don’t know what that does to your mouth and your eyes, and simple little visuals like that. That kind of twisted mind a little bit, and it feels evil when it’s not necessarily an evil thought, but it may look and come across as evil. And I don’t know, I guess the rest is just trusting like your research and trusting all the definitions of these words a psychopath. And then just running with the and I don’t know I’m trying not to give it too much thought at this point.

Q: Do you have big fight scenes with Christian?

HL: It’s been... I’ve been yet to… Christian’s beat me up a couple times, hit me, and I don’t mean in the jaw.

Q: The Joker gets beaten up quite a lot.

HL: Yet, not hard. He’s a total gentleman about it, but you know… been physical, but I enjoyed that it’s kind of a you know, I get battered and bruised, but you know I like feeling pain too. It’s kind of fun. I like it.

Q: Tell us more about your scenes with Christian then, because you are the nemesis, you know, the iconic Batman nemesis.

HL: Well, firstly, it’s an honor to work with Christian and I mean, the cast in general is pretty outstanding. I mean, every single one of these people I’ve wanted to work with and to have inspired me at some point. So it’s ridiculous, like, the cast and the first thing was with Gary Oldman, which was mind blowing. And then after he leaves the interrogation room. Batman arrives and it suddenly I realized what movie I was in, and it’s quite fun actually, because you know, I was supposed to… nothing really gets under my skin, including Batman. It’s quite easy as an actor because it’s kind of funny seeing somebody dressed up in a Bat suit it’s easy to laugh at it, but he’s incredibly professional and incredibly focused and one of the loveliest guys I’ve ever worked with and a brilliant actor. Even down to Batman how serious he takes it and how he transforms and his voice shifts, and how aggressive he gets. It’s really, really inspiring stuff.

Q: So the concept is that Batman uses fear and I guess the Joker feels no fear of Batman. Is that part of the relationship? HL: Sure, yeah, it’s kind of, you know they can’t really live without each other. It’s that kind of relationship, like they have no real purpose in life without each other. So they don’t really want each other dead.

Q: Now how about working with Maggie, because obviously you worked with her brother before, so it did you know her from that? HL: Yeah, I did. Yeah, that’s been great to… I’m mean, it’s fun.

Q: Yes, I see that. [indicating photo on stand – Joker’s knife to her face]

HL: Yep… you know it’s been a lot of fun and you know, she’s also a Brooklynite and so we’ve been just kind of trading a lot of family stories, and it’s been fun.

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Q: Could you describe what sets Chris Nolan, apart from other directors, what his quality is like?

HL: He drinks a lot more tea than I’ve ever seen anyone ever drink. That definitely sets him apart. He’s so young, but seems so old, he is just incredibly mature and organized and relaxed and he’s definitely in his world he has a wonderful relationship with his DP. While he is here and those two seem to have the entire world mapped out. And we just kind of follow in their paths. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like directing a movie.

Q: Since he’s also the co-writer, did he involve you in any fine tuning of the Joker’s character?

HL: Me? No. Not really. It was all there it was all on page. They did a really good job.

Q: He seems so serious, how do you know if he likes your performance?

HL: I guess when he laughs, you know, when ever he’s not taking it too seriously which is quite often. It’s just the way he holds himself. He seems like this very old soul kind of but he is youthful when he talks about his children, you know kind of that… I guess.

Q: Everybody has been saying how dark the film is, is there any moment of kind of twisted fun that the Joker kind of brings with him to the table with him? HL: Yeah, yeah, all the time. Yeah. There is nothing consistent about him at all. So he’s not consistently dark or consistently fun or funny. He’s just going up and down the whole time.

Q: Did you have fun in terms of playing it?

HL: Yeah, it’s the most fun I’ve had playing a role. I’m really surprised Chris knew that I could do it, or thought that I had something in me like this. And I don’t know how he came to cast me to do it. But yeah, it is the bomb. It’s it’s definitely the most fun I’ve had in the most freedom I had and the work schedule is great. I work two days and have three weeks off.

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It’s been like that for six months.

Q: Why is your clown posse so scary?

HL: It’s good that they’re silent but deadly.

Q: We understand these stunts are as real as possible, and there’s not much CGI.

Q: Is this the most expensive movie you’ve ever made? HL: Yes, definitely.

Q: Does it have the influence on the whole? HL: On my performance?

Q: Yeah, is it different from doing something that’s an indie?

HL: Yeah, it’s completely different. It doesn’t really change that space of time between action and cut; that’s always the same no matter what’s around you. If the same place you live in, but yet the different ball game it’s quite amazing. It’s quite jaw-dropping. It’s fun yeah, yeah it is. It’s been really a lot of fun watching it.

Q: Does the Joker have a special vehicle or mode of transportation? HL: He doesn’t have rollerblades, although that would be funny. No, he doesn’t have like, a set of wheels He steals whatever is around.

Q: Any other gimmicks?

HL: No, not a lot of gimmicks. He’s just bloody, yeah.

Q: So is it gory then?

HL: I mean, it’s you know, it’s a PG 13 isn’t it I think, you know it’s just more gore. I remember going into this thinking it was a PG 13, but I wanted to present kind of like an X-rated performance, if I could, so that’s kind of what I’ve been going for and the power of suggestion... it is pretty dark. But there’s not a lot of gore.

Q: Have you run into Nicholson ever since you got the part? Jack Nicholson? HL: Oh, I wish. I never run into him, but I’d like to, I may not literally, but…

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Image Courtesy: www.entertainmentwallpaper.com

HL: Christian did want to do his own, but I know Christian. He went and stood up on the Sears Tower himself. They took him right up to the very top, and they took his feet right to the edge and they put him on a thin wire and he just leaned off the tower like this. So I thought that was a pretty cool story. There’s been yeah, there’s been a lot of car chases and there’s an IMAX camera that got busted up got jammed between a truck and a car and they just replaced it and kept on shooting as you do.

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CINEMA

Scottish Highland to

Feudal Japan Macbeth and The Throne of Blood By Aysha Iqbal

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urosawa

remembered

stylist, with a deep humanism and compassion for his characters and an awe of the enormity of nature. He awakened the West to Japanese cinema with Rashomon, which won the top prize in the Venice Film Festival of 1951, and also a special Oscar for best foreign film. Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai was remade in the US under its alternative title The Magnificent Seven and the lone samurai hero Yojimbo was the inspiration for Clint Eastwood’s man with no name persona, most obviously in A Fistful of Dollars. Most Japanese films fall under two categories: the jidai-geki (or period films) and the gendai-mono (or modern story). In Macbeth, Kurosawa perceived a contemporary theme, namely, a parallel between medieval Scotland and medieval Japan which mirrored contemporary society. master technician and

The Throne of Blood Based on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Throne of Blood proves there is much more to Shakespeare’s work than the language. Directed, adapted and edited by Kurosawa, the film starred Toshiro Mifune (Washizu/ Macbeth), Isuzu Yamada (Asaji/Lady Macbeth) and Minoru Chiaki (Miki/ Banquo). Though unable to make use of the poetry of the original, Kurosawa carefully preserves the dramatic dynamics and visual vitality of the play. His translation is so complete, the film seems totally Japanese in its character and totally cinematic in its language. The film is set in medieval Japan, during “the Age of the Country at War”, a period when feudal Japan was undergoing civil war (1392-1568). This was a time when violations of the Samurai code were a concern, a time when traitors and renegade samurai were common figures and real kings were deposed in similar circumstances to the Lords in Throne of Blood (Kumonosu-Djo in Japanese, literally, ‘The Castle of the Spider’s Web’). It must be noted that the Samurai were a doomed class, disbanded in the 19th century. This idea is always present for

an audience - along with the knowledge that whatever action the hero chooses, his whole lifestyle is fundamentally doomed. The word ‘samurai’ is derived from the word sabarau meaning ‘to serve’. In Throne of blood this is ironic of course, as the whole world of the samurai is shown to be corrupt and self-serving. In place of an individual with a tragic flaw, as Macbeth is, we have a whole society with a tragic flaw, ie, feudalism. To the extent that Throne of Blood is about a trapped individual destroyed by a rigid social structure, the film can be read as an anti-feudal drama. The famous opening scene of Macbeth has three witches chanting magical rhymes, which signal the play themes to come of paradox & ambiguity. These utterances also establish an important ritualistic framework for the play. As if to demonstrate the power of witchcraft on Macbeth, Macbeth tells Banquo, “So foul & fair a day I have not seen.” The film however starts with an elegiac note. At the beginning says the chorus, once stood a mighty fortress where

Lived a proud warrior Murdered by ambition His spirit walking still. The final chorus, at the end of the film, repeats the story and reinforces the moral:

Still his spirit walks, his fame is known, For what once was is now yet true, Murderous ambition will pursue…. The story begins as General Washizu and his friend, General Miki, lose their way in a forest, as they return after quashing a rebellion against the king. In the forest, they meet a witch who prophesies that Washizu will reign but Miki’s descendents will inherit the land. Visually, the film tries to capture the good and evil side of human nature. Photographed in stark black and white, everything is either/ or. It must be noticed that Washizu’s banner carries the totemic emblem of a centipede, while the flag of Miki bears a rabbit. The film begins and

ends with the same image, including stony paths, the ruins of a castle and drifting fog. In fact, Kurosawa uses the all-pervasive imagery of fog, labyrinths and boundaries throughout. From the outset, Kurosawa suggests that there is no freedom, no escape where an aura of uncertainty looms large. In the opening scene, Washizu and Miki ride in and out of fog no less than twelve times. Plot While drawing from Shakespeare, Kurosawa lends his distinct touches to the proceedings. Every action, for instance, mirrors a parallel. The original rebel, from whom Washizu defended the lord, becomes Washizu himself. The dead lord’s lady kills herself as does Asaji who commits suicide. After Miki/Banquo’s murder, during the banquet the kyogen dancer/ singer says:

All of you wicked. Listen while I tell of a man, vain, Sinful, vileWho, though ambitious, insolent Could not escape his punishment. The song becomes a comment. The past warriors had the same career as Washizu, and he will end the way they have, guilty of regicide (ge-koku-jo). Kurosawa thus implies inevitability, yet mindless repetition of destiny. Washizu/ Macbeth’s death is far from heroic. By the end, Asaji has miscarried and died and Washizu has lost his precious sleep. The rebels surround the castle and Washizu’s servants speak of the rats abandoning the castle. As Washizu addresses his War Council, suddenly the rooms are invaded by birds. While the lord’s men gape in astonishment at the trapped birds swooping overhead, the distant sound of wood being cut is heard. The rebels are destroying the forest, a clever allusion to Birnam Wood of the original. Washizu has immense faith in the forest. “No one could defeat the man who planned this place. They cannot see us here inside, while we can

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see them all.” No wonder he stands confounded as the wood advances upon him, while he leans from the ramparts of his castle. The magical forest is powerless to save him now. Washizu panics and then is pumped with arrows shot by samurai. (Viewers may note the conspicuous omission of Macduff and his wife and children). For Kurosawa, Washizu is as much a victim of a constraining feudal order and social decorum as of his personal sins. Noh traditions in The Throne of Blood The world of the Noh is both closed and artificial, and is widely referred to throughout the film. Begun around the twelfth century, the Noh theatre emerged as a highly esoteric presentational form which relies on dance, music, masks, and declamatory narrative to relate traditional folk tales. In Noh, one decodes the gestures, the masks, the music, and not the narrative being related. Its degree of compression is extreme, and it is full of symbols. Kurosawa preferred Noh to any other Japanese art form since, according to him, it was the core of all Japanese drama. In adherence to the tradition, the director avoids closeup shots of his characters because in Noh everything is seen full. This further leads to building an alienation effect. An interesting aspect of the film is that the Noh elements are mostly associated with Asaji, the Lady Macbeth role, for she is the most limited, and most evil. Her body language, her handwashing and her scenes with Washizu are most Nohlike. Other Noh aspect is the role of the witch. Her reed hut is akin to a Noh set and so is her make up. Her prophecies are articulated in the husky and unintonated voice of the Noh actor, and the sounds which both women make, that is, the squeak of Asaji’s tabi (the traditional socks), the sound of her kimono, the clatter of the witch’s spinning wheel, are sounds

one would associate with the Noh. It appears that the two women are the movers of the plot, and in Kurosawa (as in Shakespeare), women are truly on the side of evil. Indeed, as Asaji says at one point, “This is a wicked world. To save yourself you often first must kill. ..Children kill their parents for less.” (cf. Macbeth: “Come you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/ And fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty”). This is ironic, as it is her own child who still born, causes her death. Asaji’s ideas are on par with the witch’s who proclaims, “If you choose ambition, then choose it honestly, with cruelty…if you would make a mountain of the dead,

cry from Washizu who is too afraid and too much divide. No wonder Asaji taunts him with, “You who would rule a kingdom are yet afraid of a ghost.” This is akin to her earlier rebuke, “Without ambition, man is not a man.” However, Kurosawa’s concern is starkly different and operates on a metaphysical level. He agonises, “Why is it that human beings cannot get along with each other?”

then pile it to the sky; if you should shed blood, then let it run as a river”. Again, when Washizu expresses disbelief at her prophecy, the witch retorts, “You humans! Never will I comprehend you…You are afraid of your desires. You attempt to hide them.” One gets a feeling, she and Asaji would have understood each other well.

The Throne of Blood is a rich text that benefits from a viewing that includes knowledge of Macbeth, as much as it is enriched by familiarity with Japanese culture. It is new and yet timeless, largely due to the fusion of its two main sources and cultures: Shakespeare’s English play and Japanese Noh theatre. Like the Doubloon (literally, a pure gold coin) in Moby Dick which lends itself to multiple readings and analyses by a motley group of sailors, so do various works of Shakespeare, and Kurosawa’s Macbeth is a prime example of this trend.

Unlike Wahizu, Asaji is portrayed as a person who knows her mind. She knows what she wants and if Miki gets in her way, then he must be removed. Her rigidity is closer to Noh than anything else in the film. This is a far

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Conclusion Both Macbeth and The Throne of Blood can be seen primarily as social tragedies set within a distanced historical context in which social problems and contradictions can be rendered visible to the spectators.

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MUSIC

You know the more things CHANGE the more they

Bon 26 | NOVEMBER 2010 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

stay the same

Jovi

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grossing touring artist of the decade. “We’re writing about people and how the world affects them. We write songs that mean something to us and it somehow becomes this universal thing”, Sambora recently was heard stating in an interview. A nostalgic Sambora assures that Jon and he still pursue the ways in which they started out to make the most memorable anthems of rock music history, “… we sit in a room with two guitars and a tape player. It’s very old school.”

Never and forever just keep comin’ back again Don’t hold out for tomorrow or hold onto yesterday The more things change the more they stay the same. (Bon Jovi, ‘Greatest hits– The Ultimate Collection’, ‘The More Things Change’)

Being one of the most versatile and tenacious bands of all time, the passion took an Italian-American teenager, John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2nd, 1962 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey) who scooted from school to sweep and sing at Cousin, Tony Bongiovi’s New York City’s Power Station recording studio at the age of sixteen. John recorded several demos with likes of musicians as Aldo Nova and members of Springsteen’s E Street Band influencing the prototypical melodic, signature Keyboard riffs of his early music such as the Bon Jovi’s first single, ‘Runaways’(1984).

Traversing through generation and genres the iconic American band has seen, Jon Bon Jovi, alongside guitarist Richie Sambora, enshrined into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as well as, a much awaited place amongst the illustrious inductees at the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, UK.

With his friend from New Jersey, David Bryan Rashbaum (Keyboard) who called upon Alec John Such (Bass), Dave Sabo (Guitar, later founding member of ‘Skid Row’) and Tico Torres (Drums), they first grouped together to perform locally. As they received growing interest, record executive, Derek Shulman of Polygrams records signed and presented for the first time John and the rest of the band as BON JOVI in 1984. Consequently, guitarist Richie Sambora was recruited into the band and replaced Sabo.

hree decades after their first official album release (1984), 125 million albums sold around the world, 2600 concerts performed in front of 34 million people and more, BON JOVI, the veteran American rock band’s latest compilation ‘GREATEST HITS- The Ultimate Collection’ (2010) featuring an extraordinary, careerspanning collection of their music from the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, scored yet another Number#1 spot on the European Music Charts.

Other than a few alterations of time and trend, the band has remained impasse to the spirit of their music which resonates still unsullied, after various tags such as top–ten highest-

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The band released its self-titled debut album, Bon Jovi with the help

of their new manager, Doc McGhee; instantaneously delivering their first hit singles, ‘Runaway’ and She Don’t Know Me’ in the top Billborad Hot 50. Astonishingly, the song, ‘She Don’t Know me’ is the only song Jon has no songwriting contribution towards as it was an additional request by the record label. Subsequently, they earned their first gold disc for Bon Jovi’s first album in Japan. Their next album released in the following year itself, 7800° Fahrenheit unsurprisingly went gold with singles like, ‘Only Lonely’, ‘In And Out Of Love’ and the ballad ‘Silent Night’. As Bon Jovi toured extensively throughout UK, Europe and finally Japan, where all eight shows sold out making waves through the world about the arrival of the music legends. However it was not until Bon Jovi’s next experiments that their rank was edified in music history which resulted in the breakthrough album, Slippery When Wet. One of the key ingredients of the success of the album, and all

their work thereafter was Desmond Child. The former leader of the Seventies New York disco-rock band Rouge, he also wrote for Aerosmith, Cher and Kiss was brought in as a song doctor. Consequently, they recorded a set of thirty possible tracks which were then played to New York and New Jersey teenagers upon whose basing the next album’s content on the opinions the selection of the album was decided.

Alive’ (Number#7), the band had finally realized its zenith of celebrity status. From Australia, Finland, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Netherlands to Japan, Bon Jovi’s gigantic global fan base grew as they won MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance (1987), along with other titles American Music Award (Favorite Pop/Rock Band, 1988) and People’s Choice Award (1988).

Selling over 12 million copies Slippery When Wet became the number #1 hard rock selling album by the US Billboard, holding the record to date for the most weeks (8 weeks) spent for an album at the top slot. With MTV catapulting Bon Jovi’s concert videos and promotions showcasing the videogenic band along with their hit singles such as, ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ (Number#1), the hardscrabble romantic anthem ‘Livin’ on a Prayer”’(Number #1) — both of which Child co-wrote — and Bon Jovi’s ‘National Anthem’ ‘Wanted Dead or

Bon Jovi followed the Slippery formula to assimilate similar startlingly un-metal synthesized hooks and straightforward performance videos for the album, New Jersey (Number #1), which sold more than seven million copies and contained five Top Ten hits: ‘Bad Medicine’ (Number#1), ‘Born to Be My Baby’ (Number#3), ‘I’ll Be There for You’(Number One, 1989), ‘Lay Your Hands on Me’(Number#7) and ‘Living in Sin’(Number#9). Once again Bon Jovi’s album became the record holding hard rock album to produce the most Top –ten singles. In the midst of a 1989 tour, Jon

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Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley in Las Vegas (they have four children). Sambora dated Cher for a while, and Bon Jovi backed her on some tracks on her 1989 Heart of Stone album. In 1994 Sambora married actress Heather Locklear (the pair’s separation became prime tabloid fodder in 2006). Later in 1993 Bon Jovi played in the Soviet Union at the Moscow Music Peace Festival — arranged as part of a communityservice sentence on Bon Jovi’s manager Doc McGhee, who in 1988 had pleaded guilty to drug-smuggling charges from a 1982 arrest. Bon Jovi then went on to take upon widespread touring worldwide (1989-1990), covering more than twenty two countries and two hundred and thirty two shows. At the end of this impressive period of touring the band had entirely expended themselves and returned home without any official plans. In this period both, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora pursued solo endeavours. Jon went on to make an album in collaborations with Jeff Beck, Elton John, Little Richard and others. The album titled Blaze of Glory was a chart topper number three in the year 1990. Other than Billboard number one hit the title track the song, ‘Miracle’ was in the Top- ten. ‘Blaze’ was the soundtrack for the movie Young Guns II, in which Bon Jovi had a bit part, and the album earned both Oscar and Grammy nominations. Though it was only during the band’s second and last Hiatus that Jon Bon Jovi started his Hollywood acting career. His first role being in the 1995 film Moonlight and Valentino, and continued acting throughout the Nineties, appearing in Ed Burns’ No Looking Back and the World War II submarine adventure U-571. Despite his brief but successful stint with the silver screen, Jon seemed less than satisfactory as he comments, “. A working actor is unemployed every two or three months. Wow! That’s a tough gig. I’d rather write a song.” Subsequently, he went on to record his first official non-soundtrack solo album, Destination Anywhere . Sambora on the other hand, released his first solo album in 1995, Stranger in This Town, ranking a respectable Number 36. The following year Sambora released his second solo album, Undiscovered Soul. As a band as well, Bon Jovi even after the Hiatus dominated the charts alongside concerts and soundtracks. In 1992 the band recorded Keep the Faith

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number five, which produced hit singles in the title track and “Bed of Roses” (Number 10, 1993). Another hit, ‘Always’, emerged from Bon Jovi’s 1994 anthology, Cross Road. In 1995 the band released These Days (Number Nine). After a full-scale world tour, the band went on hiatus. Bon Jovi regrouped in 1999 with two record “Real Life” for the EdTV soundtrack. It was in the new millennia that the band made it’s real come back in terms of sound, an original Bon Jovi old-style pop-style since the reunion. They released Crush in 2000, collaborating with Swedish teen-pop Svengali on the hit single ‘It’s My Life’ displaying their sound-effect hooks reminiscent of the band’s Eighties singles. Crush went double platinum in the U.S. and sold 8 million copies worldwide. In 2002 Bon Jovi returned with Bounce adopting a more updated youth-targeted more alternative-rock look and sound and played dates with the alternative-identified poprock band Goo Goo Dolls. Turning to more graver notes, Bon Jovi also took to more universal and social messages through their passionate lyrics. The Bounce track applied to multiple tangents of America’s ability to resurrect itself from the 9/11 attack. Parallely, the reference was also aimed at emphasizing the Band’s own ability to endure over the passage of time. Alternatively, the band modulated it’s sound targeting slowed-down adult contemporary songs by re-recording ‘This Left Feels Right’ and some of its biggest hits. The four-disc box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Number 53, 2004) — the title and packing art playing on the similarly titled Elvis

Presley album — compiled 50 rare and unreleased tracks and a behind-thescenes DVD. Still experimenting nearly twenty years from their original sound, Bon Jovi returned the following year with an album of new material which produced not only a pop single in the title track in 2005 but also the band’s first country crossover hit, ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’,’ Have a Nice Day’ scoring Number Twenty three Pop and Number One Hot Country respectively. In 2007 Bon Jovi went on to win the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for their duet with singer Jennifer Nettles of the country band Sugarland for their post- Garth Brooks country radio and adult-contemproray sound. Lost Highway included countrycharting singles “(You Want to) Make a Memory” (Number 27 pop, Number 35 Hot Country, 2007) and “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” (Number 47 Hot Country, 2007), a duet with LeAnn Rimes. These were directed at the country audience along with recording an episode of MTV’s Unplugged. To further their legendary exalted stardom, The Circle Tour was their biggest and most extensive since their late Eighties hair-metal prime. As well as providing the album, The Circle, was more rock than country. It soared at Number One in Billboard in November 2009, five months after Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora’s induction into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. The crowning glory being Bon Jovi was ranked as the ninth highest grossing touring artist of the 2000s by Billboard at the end of the decade.

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MUSIC

75 facts about the King Did you know? 1. Elvis Aaron was born in Tupelo on 8 January 1935. His mother, Gladys, was 21; his father, Vernon, was only 18. Elvis had a twin brother, christened Jesse Garon, who was still-born. 2. Among the many nicknames Elvis went by were: E, Big E, Big El, The Bopping Hillbilly, The Cat, The Chief, Mr. Dynamite and, of course, The King. 3. Elvis was inducted into three music Halls of Fame: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Johnny Cash is the only other artist to be in three music Halls of Fame - the Songwriters, Country and Rock halls.

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4. With over 600 recorded songs, you would think he would have written at least one of them, but he never did. 5. Elvis’ first 2 recorded songs cost him $4 at Sun Studios in Memphis, where he recorded “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” as a gift for his mother, Gladys. 6. Elvis’ natural hair color was sandy blond. He dyed it black for a movie role in 1956 and kept it black for the rest of his life. 7. Elvis grew up in poverty. His parents couldn’t afford a bicycle that he wanted so they gave him a guitar when he was 11 years old. 8. Before his career took off, Elvis worked as a truck driver and as an usher at Loew’s State Theater in Memphis 9. And, perhaps predictably, he only lost the job because the girls liked him a little too much. He’d get the last laugh, though, when Jailhouse Rock would premiere there! 10. He was 6ft tall and wore shoes that were size 11. 11. Early in his career, in the days before the gaudy comeback spangled jump suits, Elvis showed his ‘rebellious’ nature by choosing to wear clothes more often associated with AfricanAmericans. Indeed, he shopped for clothes at Lansky’s on Beale St, which had a predominantly AfricanAmerican clientele. That, and the unorthodox long sideburns set him aside from other performers of his generation. 12. His favorite actors were James Dean, Marlon Brando and George C. Scott 13. His favorite aftershave was Brut. 14. His televised concert Aloha from Hawaii was the first global satellite broadcast devoted to a single entertainer. It was seen by 51% of US viewers, more households than those that watched the first moon landing. In many countries it captured 70-90+% of the television audience. Ultimately, nearly 1.5

billion people in 40 countries saw this performance.

had been imprinted. TCB stood for “Take Care of Business”.

15. He played just 5 shows outside the United States: a concert at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on April 2, 1957 and a show the next day in Ottawa were well received.

19. On 30 July 1954, Elvis played one of his first shows, at the Overton Park Shell in Memphis. He was, apparently, so nervous, that his legs started to shake. The outlandish flares the singer had chosen to wear that evening only exacerbated the shaky movement. The girls in the audience went wild, and Elvis decided to incorporate his shakylegs routine into future shows.

16. Many think the reason he never toured abroad again was that manager Colonel Tom Parker was an illegal immigrant from Holland and would have been deported if he applied for a US passport. 17. Elvis was a black belt in karate. He took up martial arts under the shotokan sensei Jürgen Seydal, while fulfilling his military duties in Germany in 1958. He was awarded his black belt before he returned to the United States, in 1960, by the chito-ryu instructor Hank Slemansky. Elvis’s love of martial arts continued throughout his life. His favourite form of fighting became American Kenpo. 18. The King’s entourage were known collectively as the Memphis Mafia. All members of the Memphis Mafia sported diamond and gold rings, given to them by Elvis, on which a thunderbolt and the letters TCB

20. Led Zeppelin were big fans of Elvis and were desperate to meet him when they toured the US. In 1973, the longed-for meeting came to pass, when Robert Plant and John Paul Jones met the King in Los Angeles. The Zeppelins were rendered speechless by the meeting, but Elvis broke the ice by swapping his $5,000 gold and diamond watch for Jones’s watch – which featured a picture of Mickey Mouse. From that moment on, any member of Led Zeppelin was welcome in the front row of an Elvis concert. 21. In 1973, Elvis gave Muhammad Ali a $10,000 white robe, with the words “People’s Champion” emblazoned across the back. Ali was touched, and wore the robe on 31 March, when he fought Ken Norton for the first time. Norton broke Ali’s jaw in the second round, before winning a 12-round decision. Ali vowed never to wear the robe again, although he maintained his friendship with Elvis. 22. Presley’s first ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ appearance, on September 9, 1956, was seen by an estimated 55-60 million viewers. That’s at least 21 million more viewers than the last ‘American Idol’ finale. 23. None of Elvis’s feature films or music documentaries were ever nominated for an Oscar in any category. He made 31 movies and two music documentaries. 24. When Elvis first grabbed popular attention in the 1950s, it was often stated scornfully that he couldn’t actually play a guitar. This was

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possibly a bitter response from the then older generation, or may have arisen from Presley’s later frequent use of a guitar as a stage prop, swinging it around to his back, making love to it … indeed, doing anything but playing it. 25. Elvis could certainly play rhythm guitar and his lead guitarist, Scotty Moore, attests that he was hard on them, frequently breaking strings. On stage, Elvis played a range of guitars over the years, but mainly Gibsons and Martins.

30. While on military service in Germany in 1959 Elvis met 14-year old Priscilla Beaulieu. Eight years later she would become his wife. At their wedding they danced romantically to his hit Love Me Tender. 31. While in the Army he bought his fellow soldiers clothes and TVs and gave his army pay to charity. 32. Presley was honored, by his commanding officers for “cheerfulness and drive and continually outstanding leadership ability.”

26. Originally recorded in 1950 by Ernest Tubb, Elvis Presley recorded Blue Christmas in 1957 for his Elvis’ Christmas Album. It wasn’t released as a single until 1964,

33. When recording Are You Lonesome Tonight at 3am, Elvis insisted that the studio lights be lowered to create the right mood.

when in the US it was backed with “Wooden Heart” from Elvis’ soundtrack to his film G.I. Blues, but from 1965 and on, it was backed with “Santa Claus Is Back In Town.”

34. At the end of the song you can hear him bump into a microphone stand.

27. When performing on TV in 1956, host Milton Berle advised Elvis not to use his guitar, saying: “Let ‘em see you, son.” 28. He spent 2 years in the army when he was drafted in 1958. He was a Sergeant when he got out. 29. Elvis’s first assignment was as a tank gunner - until it was realised his hearing was being affected. He was quickly transferred to quieter duties.

35. Elvis and Priscilla’s daughter Lisa Marie was born in 1968. 36. Elvis named his private jet plane ‘Lisa Marie,’ after his beloved daughter. The plane is on exhibit at the Graceland mansion museum. 37. She grew up to marry Michael Jackson and, later, actor and Elvis obsessive Nicolas Cage. 38. He had a pet chimpanzee called Scatter which liked to look up women’s skirts. 39. Elvis’s gyrating hips caused outrage across the US. Within days he had

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been nicknamed Elvis the Pelvis. 40. Recording Hound Dog in the studio, he demanded 31 takes. 41. The Steve Allen Show “Hound Dog” performance has entered into the realm of legend by now, emblematic of the strained relationship between Elvis and the popular culture of the time. But while many fans thought Elvis was enjoying himself by singing to an actual basset hound, in truth he felt humiliated -- exploding in anger at the Colonel backstage for agreeing to such a stunt, and making the backing Jordanaires swear to never mention the appearance again. 42. January 27, 1956 “Heartbreak Hotel” released by RCA sells

300,000 copies in its first 3 weeks and earns Elvis his first gold record. 43. The 1957 film Jailhouse Rock premiered at the Loews State Theater cinema in Memphis, where Elvis had been an usher. 44. Jailhouse Rock was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote “Hound Dog,” which became a huge hit when Elvis recorded it. Leiber and Stoller excelled at writing catchy Pop songs with elements of Blues music. Their songs could be very funny and clever, and often take place in unusual situations. Some of their other hits include “Love Potion #9”

and “On Broadway.” Mike Stoller played piano on this track. 45. In 1962 Elvis had a hit with Return To Sender. 46. Return to sender , This song is about a guy who sends a letter to a girl, but she refuses to read it, instead writing “Return To Sender” on it and having it sent back to him. Our hero has a hard time believing she doesn’t want to read the letter, so he sends it special delivery to make sure it arrives. When that letter gets sent back, he decides to hand-deliver it. 47. In 1992, on the day a commemorative Elvis stamp was issued in the US, many people used it on letters with deliberately invalid addresses so that they would receive it back marked “return to sender”, increasing the stamp’s value. 48. Elvis: That’s the Way It Is is a documentary movie directed by Denis Sanders about Elvis Presley that was released on November 11, 1970. The film documents Elvis’ Summer Festival in Las Vegas during August 1970. It was his first non-dramatic film since the beginning of his movie career in 1956, and the film gives us a clear view of Presley’s return to live performances after years of making movies. 49. Elvis had plastic surgery in the mid-1970s. He had two full facelifts and rhinoplasty surgery. During this time he would have been around 40 years old. Its hard to believe that he actually needed these surgeries. 50. In 1977 Elvis saw a petrol station attendant being attacked by two youths. He got out of his limo and took up a karate stance. The shock of being confronted by the star calmed them down 51. Despite his addiction to prescription

medicines, he was very anti-drugs. He wrote to President Richard Nixon asking to be made a Federal Agent at Large in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Nixon sent him a Special Agent badge 52. He was distantly related to Presidents Abraham Lincoln, and Jimmy Carter. 53. The Beatles visited Elvis at his home in California on Aug. 27, 1965, joining him in an informal jam session that, tragically, wasn’t recorded. 54. The name Elvis used as an alias was Jon Burrows when he travelled the world 55. Elvis’ concert jumpsuits were given names. They included: Peacock, White Prehistoric Bird, Flame, Gypsy, Mad Tiger and King of Spades. 56. Elvis’ 1968 “comeback” special restored his place on the rock music throne, and rightly so. Yet to get the King to agree to it, producer Steve Binder had to first convince him he wasn’t King anymore by taking him down to Sunset Boulevard to see if he’d get mobbed. He didn’t. 57. Love me tender was the theme song to the first of 31 Elvis movies. The movie was titled The Reno Brothers before it was renamed to capitalize on the song. Originally, Elvis had just a small role in the movie, but during filming it became apparent that he was a really big deal, and his role was expanded to take advantage of his stardom. His character is killed at the end of the movie, but Elvis reappears to reprise the song. 58. This was Elvis’ most popular and famous “love song,” but it was not sung to his love interest in Blue Hawaii - It was sung to his grandmother on the occasion of her birthday. Elvis presented her with a music box, which she opened and it played the song, which Elvis

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then sang along with. 59. The song in the Ghetto is about poverty, describing a child who can’t overcome his surroundings and turns to crime, which leads to his death. It was the first song Elvis recorded with a socially-conscious message. He was reluctant to do it for that reason, but knew it would be a hit. 60. A little less conversation was a fairly obscure Elvis song until it was remixed and released as a single in 2002. The new version went to #1 in the UK, giving Elvis 18 #1 hits there, the most of any artist. Previously, he was tied with The Beatles at 17.

him take the part. The chance was a career-making comeback opportunity, and ex-wife Priscilla urged him to take the role. Now THAT was “crazy.” What was NOT crazy was the way Priscila turned Graceland into a moneymaker after Elvis’ death. 69. The Elvis stamp released by the Postal Service on January 8, 1993, remains the top-selling commemorative postage stamp in the US. 70. Elvis is still the king of postage stamps, as the US Postal Service

61. Suspicious minds was the last #1 hit for Elvis during his lifetime. 62. The last song he ever sang was Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, sitting at his piano at home on the night he died. 63. His last meal was four scoops of ice cream and six chocolate chip cookies. 64. Ever the ardent spiritualist, Elvis died reading one of his favorite books: The Scientific Search For The Face Of Jesus by Frank Adams. The King had specifically requested it a few weeks earlier, having heard that it proved the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, said to be Jesus’ burial wrapping 65. Elvis’ last words (to his girlfriend Ginger Alden, who had cautioned him against falling asleep reading in the bathroom) were; “Okay, I won’t.” 66. “Unchained Melody” was a song he only performed during the last 6 months of his life. 67. Some strangely titled Elvis songs include: “Queenie Wahini’s Papaya,” “Yoga Is as Yoga Does,” “There’s No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car.” 68. Some members of the Memphis Mafia called Presley “Crazy.” He turned down the opportunity to play Kris Kristofferson’s role in “A Star Is Born” opposite Barbra Streisand, because the Colonel wouldn’t let

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reports the ‘Young Elvis’ 29-cent stamp is its best seller. 71. Elvis is the No.1 most impersonated celebrity ever. There are estimated to be over 50,000 people in the world who make a living as Elvis impersonators 72. Impersonators include black Elvises, disabled Elvises, Jewish Elvises, Greek Elvises and child Elvises. A Mexican one is called El Vez. Elvis Herselvis is a lesbian one. 73. In 1977 there were 170 Elvis impersonators. By 2002 there were 85,000. At that rate of growth, by 2019 a third of the world’s population will be Elvis impersonators

. 74. One hundred forty-eight different Elvis recordings have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum. And with more than 1 billion albums sold worldwide, he’s the biggest-selling solo artist ever. 75. He’s worth more dead than he was alive. In 1977, Elvis had around $5 million banked. In 2004, 27 years after his death, Forbes magazine listed him as the richest deceased person, worth about $45 million.

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ART

Ranga Shankara Theatre festival 2010 – Colorful extravaganza! Veejay Sai

he year-end festivities began with a bang and how! Ranga Shankara has now grown to be the cultural heartland of theatre enthusiasts from across the world. Thanks to Arundhati Nag, the one-woman-army who is behind putting this phenomenal show together for the last many years. In spite of the fact that sponsorships were hard to come by, she managed to pull off the whole festival with absolute professionalism and charisma. This year the annual festival was a

tribute to Folk theatre. Spread across ten days, a varied bouquet of some of the country’s most phenomenal folk performances were lined up for this theatrical extravaganza. From Pandavani by the legendary Padma Bhushan Teejan Bai to Theya Theyyam by K.N.Panicker, from the Sattriya Monks to Yakshagana, from Dastaangoi to Phou oibi, this year’s festival was one of the most colorful ones of all time. There couldn’t have been a better amalgamation to showcase the rich folk heritage our

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country has in such close proximity. In addition to the festival, there was also an excellent workshop on art appreciation spearheaded by renowned culture critic Sadanand Menon. Lectures by some of the biggest names in the fields of performing arts, literature and cinema like Leela Samson, Bombay Jayashri, U.R.Ananta murthy, Prakash Belawadi, Girish Karnad and many more, this was one of the best workshops that came about from the festival. Academically rich in content with all

these luminaries speaking and sharing their experiences, the workshop was one not to miss for everyone who loved Indian arts.

All in all, this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual theatre festival turned out to be a grand success. In days when lazy festival organizers blindly go by popular names and make a hotch-potch of events, the Ranga Shankara festival turned out to be one of the most original festivals to take place anywhere across the country. Three cheers to that!

Photographs courtesy: Ranga Shankara

Fringe performances at the foyer were jam-packed with audiences who bore the torrential Bangalore rains to show their love for theatre. The main shows inside the auditorium went house-full with tickets at the box office being sold out days ahead of shows. That speaks volumes for how theatre in Bangalore is thriving. Arundhati Nag and her efficient team of volunteers ensured every one of the members in the audience had a wonderful time. If not for a festival of this nature, one wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to imagine going far away to all those remote villages across the country to get a glimpse of these folk artists and the wonderful work they do. Keeping that in mind, audiences thronged Ranga Shankara like never before.

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ART

Brew Editor & Columnist

meets famed artist

for a chat in Delhi

very work from Niladri Pauls Oeuvre relates a magnificent journey from the vivid imagination of the artist to us. Looking from the outside I see kaleidoscopic works that are concurrently forthright and reminiscent of the transient world

of theatre presented in a formidable drama play of colour on canvas. Metaphors and Niladriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creative idiom Fifteen years of fervourish passion and experiment resulted into strokes of colour that narrate Niladriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey from within him to the world

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outside, from observing life through childhood to the transitions of youth to the experiences of age. His poignant quintessence are redolent of metaphors of musical perceptions and his keen interest in theatre, the rhythm of musical instruments and opera, the fantasy of lyric, the beat,

that symbolize motion, tempo, vigour, liveliness. His matrix of imaginations and observances take us through a drama play of colour , where the viewer is compelled to stand before the canvases and wander though a pleasurably sensory experience narrated through a palette of theatrical shades conveyed through an amalgam of mediums which simulate a dream like ambience. Niladri uses nature as a force that infuse his colours with a creative force, the powerful energy of the rising sun and the eternal magnificence of dawn and twilight, epitomized by the use of crimson off set by use of pink and green run through his works. My ‘meeting’ with Niladri Paul

the grandeur and the pathos of acting,

Titlethe : Sutra celebration and the sorrow of Size theatre; : 72”” x 24” the” riding of waves of music andon drama that are narrated in a Acrylic canvas remarkably forceful fusion of dazzling color in its natural form, instinctive lines, and a fascinating use of white as a color resulting in figures that

might cause the art lover to miss a heartbeat. Each canvas comes alive with fantasy, subconscious utterances, allegory, veracity, mindful perspective that come across to me like Niladri’s visual diary overflowing with bold heavy, extending identities; strokes

Niladri’s paintings, from the time that I stumbled upon them walking through the art district of Bombay, Kala Ghoda, fifteen years ago on a holiday from a study stint in America, have always been attractive for their illusionary translucence, nearly like visions in a dream. Each work back then had narrated a journey from his spirit, observing the transitions undergone through mottled experiences.

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Stutradaar

Title : Sudama Size : 24"" x 60"" Acrylic on canvas

Niladri is showing after three years at Jehangir Art Gallery on November the 29th, a collection entitled ‘Stutradaar’, an oeuvre of paintings that are like blueprints of art in motion where pulsating figures convey a rhythmic force from the time of Bharat Muni’s Natya Shastra. ‘Trividho shilpam nrutyam gitam vaditam sha’, a life size act, leaving nothing out of its scope of art and creative impetus. Using a modernist idiom, Niladri merges the prescribed construction of performing arts with kaleidoscopic brushstrokes through various allegories of classical, folk and modern theatre to breathe life into his characters and to convey a larger than life philosophy of all the world being a stage, and all of us characters playing a part in this vast stage.

Curious to get within the skin of the artist I met him, and in my conversation wanted to bring out to you what drives Niladri.... nay! What drives an artist to go the journey........... Arduous or unsung as the journey may be many a time? Excerpts from a tête-à-tête at Delhi’s Habitat Centre, an artist’s hub surrounded by theatres, art galleries and eateries.

When did you decide you’d be a painter and did you decide as a child? I mean was the urge to paint and draw there since you were young? Were you encouraged by your parents? I don’t know whether I decided or not to be a painter as a child, but i was doodling all over the place and on all my books and notebooks, much to the chagrin of my parents and teachers. I just felt a compulsive urge to draw

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: Tara all the time. Needless to say,Title there Size : 36" x 48" Acrylic on canvas was no encouragement whatsoever from my parents. In fact, they used to fret that I was not studying enough to be successful. I appeared for the College Of Art entrance exam without my father’s knowledge and even got myself admitted there.

One day when we were sketching in the museum nearby , a family passed by and the man stopped his children , pointed at three us and warned them

“ if you dont concentrate on your studies this will be your future” It was a profoundly funny moment and brings a smile on my face everytime I recall it. I wasn’t that seriously into painting as a career till I met nirupama, my wife. She was instrumental in me making this a career choice at a time when it was quite a struggle to survive as an artist. Her rock solid support in difficult times saw me through the initial years. From there on it has been smooth sailing ever since.

Who influenced you since your journey started? 1. In your style 2. In your career path 3.Who are the Indian and international painters you admire I was always inspired by Dali, Van Gogh , Pollock, Klimt and a whole lot of other impressionist and surrealistic artists. Maybe because of the kind of person I am, I have always reacted to the positive energy of colours and my own palette has been exceptionally vibrant.

I am an ardent admirer of Tyeb Mehta, M.F. Hussain, Chittravanu Mazumdar , Raza and then Internationally , Yve Mia Jun , ThanBinh , Mario zampedroni , keely Moore and Anish kapoor.

How would you like term your art, how do you describe it? If you were to interpret it how would you? I would like to call my art Modern Impressionist. Impressionist application with freedom in lines and bold palette. I think my work is free-flowing and yet definitive and I’d like to believe with a definitive signature style in my content, form and treatment. My paintings are an amalgamation of colors in their natural mode, instinctive, unbridled lines, and I use white as a color with bold brush - strokes. The consummate execution of big, flat strokes on the faces of my figures on an almost finished artwork is something I discovered is a hallmark of my work. I use light to its natural advantage for my work. I complete all my paintings using a unique three stage application

Title : Malhaar Size : 48" x 72" Acrylic y on canva

Title : Sri Si : 24" x 48" Size Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | NOVEMBER 2010Acrylic | 45 on canvas

Title :in Chanakya , whereby all works are given final touches three separate sittings with special focus on Size light: 24" as x 48" canvas available in the morning, afternoon andAcrylic night,onthus ensuring that the artwork is well appreciated at all times and is not held hostage to available light while viewing.

Where do you find inspiration and ideas? I am invariably inspired by performing arts , anatomy , rhythm and anything that generates motion .yes, I do travel quite a bit and its always very inspiring to see new places, meet new people and see new cultures.

How do you grow as an artist? Do you travel a lot? Read? Practice like a singer does Riaz? If you call it so, then yes, Riaz is the key word for all arts. i keep sketching and drawing all the time.

Do you push yourself to change your signature style? Do you agree with me that an artist must constantly metamorphose? I definitely push myself as in my thinking process and the change one sees on canvas is a spontaneous evolution which is the outcome. An artist must evolve, metamorphose, grow, experiment, learn and grow. Stagnation is a very real possibility and we see it all around unfortunately. Size : 14.5" x 21.5" Acrylic and ink on paper

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Chennai Dimonds AD

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ART

DISCOVER A WORLD OF FANTASY

rodo Baggins, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Lyra Belacqua, Eragon – these names are familiar enough to those who venture into the dark, uncharted waters of genre fiction. Specifically, the genre that is derisively said to be ridden with swords and wizards, magic rings and flying carpets, creatures whose evolution could only have occurred with a little help from the occult and of course, multiple instances of the impending destruction of the world on the whim of an evil being. Fantasy as a genre has historically suffered from a great deal of conceited neglect on the part of the academy, but has a dedicated, even fierce following among the general reading public. Thousands of people lined the streets outside bookstores in the wee hours of the morning to buy the latest Harry Potter instalment; people scrawled “Frodo Lives!” on subway walls after the Return of the King (the final novel

in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) was published. The kind of mania that works of fantasy induce is something extraordinary. I discovered Tolkien when I was fifteen, and I haven’t looked back since. Tolkien’s epic, widely considered the founding text for the modern genre of fantasy, is one of the most widely-read books in the world, and has equally delighted and frustrated readers ever since its publication in 1954. At the core of the story, which is spread across three novels, is a battle between freedom and enslavement; between light and darkness; between knowledge and propaganda; it pits love, valour, honour against bondage, coercion and hatred. Most importantly, this battle is set in this world, but in a fictional historical moment, one that is peopled by Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Wizards, hobbits as well as Men. The depth and breadth of the detail in which the backdrop of the story is drawn is truly breathtaking.

The End of Mr Y. Scarlett Thomas

his is a deep, dark, mysterious book that explores the ethics and politics of thought-control, knowledge and the ability to enter “mindspace”, or the landscape of the collective unconscious. This is probably one of the most clued-in contemporary fantasy novels I have read, and seems tailor-made for serious literature/cultural studies students to whom Derrida, Foucault and Heidegger are household names, and who appreciate the sort of genre-crossing mix of quantum physics, history, literature and romance that the book revels in. It is a tragic, beautiful, complicated and intelligent ride that aptly captures the sort of self-contradictory lethargic energy that pervades universities, students and the humanities in general.

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However, since discovering Tolkien, I’ve always been a bit suspicious of fantasy. Reading The Lord of the Rings, while it certainly became one of the most significant experiences of my life, also made me less willing to accept new worlds that did not conform strictly to the archetype of Middle-Earth. And what’s more, when you have Tolkien’s depth of creation as a standard, everything else seems shallow, ill-constructed and merely derivative. So yes, for a long time, I avoided those shelves in book-stores labelled “fantasy”. With good reason, I might add, since they were almost always filled with books that had garish and badly conceived pictures of dragons, elves and all manner of strange mutant creatures on their covers. But thanks to my tentative forays into newer contemporary fantasy that celebrates how truly subversive the genre can be, I’ve discovered some incredible novels:

Neverwhere Neil Gaiman

et me preface my comments with this statement: I absolutely loved this novel. It endeavours, in the manner of much contemporary urban fantasy, to create a whole new London – London Below, which winds through the vast network of sewers and tunnels of the Underground. London Below is anarchic, frightening and tremendously more complicated than the London we all know (London Above). The novel zips along at a breathtaking pace, following the fortunes of one Richard Mayhew as he is catapulted from his mundane existence Above to the mad, careering rush of life Below. The novel you wanting a lot more of London Below; I want to understand its politics, its factions, its landscape and its people in a much more detailed way than is described. But that hint of vast detail is what makes London Below so believable. It’s a technique any reader of fantasy recognises from Tolkien, and it is a technique Gaiman uses to his advantage. It’s a fast read, a roller-coaster ride that never stops long enough for you to take stock of what has happened, but keeps you hooked nonetheless.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Gregory Maguire

icked really took the world by storm when it became a Broadwayhit musical, but it is worth every minute spent reading it. Wicked is one of those books that falls into the category of “parallel literature” i.e., books that make use of pre-existing fictional worlds and characters and exploit the barrier between fiction and reality. I’m usually a fan of parallel literature because I love being on this side of the barrier: I get the jokes when other people don’t, I smile knowingly when a particularly apt allusion is offered up and I like making connections across books. Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the Wizard of Oz film, so my only memory of the witch is a mad cackle and a preternaturally green face. Maguire creates, out of this caricature, a living breathing woman, Elphaba, whose career cannot be viewed dispassionately. Discriminated against because of her green skin, she retreats into knowledge, and fights for what she believes to be right. It is a book of love and loss, fear and denial, courage and selfishness and a fitting attempt to reclaim the Witch from obscurity and ridicule. Fantasy can be an extremely rewarding genre to venture into. Whole worlds grow in one’s mind, depending on the skill of the author, and the genre has the amazing quality of being able to question the most fundamental assumptions of this world, by tackling them in an entirely new, entirely imaginary setting. Above all, fantasy is a resounding triumph of that incredible and mysterious faculty we call imagination. Imagination begets stories and stories are one of the few things that have defined the human race through history: stories teach us about ourselves, teach us to think about the world, to question and criticise and understand. In the words of the literary critic Derek Pearsall, “We should never underestimate the charismatic power of stories as stories. Stories are precious inheritances; they have powers and meanings that cannot readily be subdued to the imperatives of a socio-economic reality. They have a shape which is intrinsically satisfying and they partake of the numinous power of myth”.

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