Browsing: Features

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
6 Meet the Real, 100 percent Preity Zinta

She is Bollywood’s Sweetheart for everyone in the cinema halls, from front benchers to the elite. But don’t let those dimples fool you – Preity Zinta is one of the smartest women in Bollywood who takes on tough challenges, is fearlessly outspoken and is the proud co-owner of the IPL Kings XI Punjab, along with ex-boy friend industrialist Ness Wadia.

The two are very much in the news, due to the FIR lodged by Preity Zinta, accusing Ness Wadia of molestation. The media is agog with all the details. While all that works itself out, I thought I’d share a chat I had with her some years back.

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Art
5 Contemporary Indian Art – Image of the Day – Ram Darwaza

This mesmerizing image by the artist Anil Revri is called Ram Darwaza – and you wonder why.
“These works pay homage to my mother. A leading exponent of the classical Indian Dance forms of Bharat Natyam and Kuchipudi she had, in her final days, expressed a great desire to be able to enter into one of my geometric compositions, and, accompanied by Lord Rama, dance her way into the distant horizon.”
This painting has just been acquired by the Asian Art Museum in Berlin.

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24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
4 The Ghosts of Colonial Calcutta

Calcutta was once known as ‘City of Palaces’ and in the days of the British Raj there were opulent buildings built by the rulers as well as the Bengal elite. Today many of these grand structures are in decay and a passionate chronicler of these disappearing stories is Prabir C. Purkayastha, award-winning photojournalist who tells evocative tales through his camera.
Purkayastha was recently in New York where the Sundaram Tagore Gallery showcased Stories in Stone: Colonial Calcutta, images which tell the story of grand edifices in decline.

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People
9 Catching Up with Miss America – Nina Davuluri!

If you thought Miss America had to be blonde and blue eyed, you have to meet Nina Davuluri, the current Miss America. Not only did her dark almond shaped eyes and dusky complexion showcase her Indian roots but she also won big with her rousing Bollywood dance number from ‘Om Shanti Om.’Yes, Miss America is of Indian origin – and proud of it!
Indeed, this Miss America is the first with Indian roots and really shows what’s special about America: you can be of a different heritage, speak a different language, pray to a different god, yet you are American. A chat with Nina Davuluri to find out how’s she’s doing.

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24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
9 Nagesh Kukunoor Makes The World's Shortest Movie

Can a film be just over six minutes – and still get you emotionally enmeshed? Our Bollywood movies are usually three hour plus juggernauts of drama, romance and comedy but this little film – over in the blink of an eye – shows that length has nothing to do with the impact of a film. Especially if it has a volatile mix of India, aspirations and the love of a father and son – and is directed by that ace director, Nagesh Kukunoor.
Here’s ‘Sapnon Ki Udaan’ – a father and son love story.

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Cinema
0 IIFA Through the Eyes of the #1 Bollywood Fan

You’ve heard of Alice in Wonderland – now meet Gloria in Bollywood Wonderland – IIFA. Gloria Tadjalli (nee Ramchandani) is a diehard Bollywood fan who will go anywhere for a Bollywood event. She trekked out from Georgia to give us a fan’s view of the glittering IIFA awards in Tampa Bay, Florida.

While media will give you the reporters’ viewpoint, here we bring you the view of the people who really matter – fans! Without them, where would Indian cinema be? And while others get the viewpoint of the big celebs on the green carpet, here we get the view from the other side, the enthusiastic crowds behind barricades and waiting patiently on line for a view of the superstars. Here’s star Vivek Oberoi surrounded by fans, in a selfie clicked by him.

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24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
1 2014 NYIFF – Eat, Drink, Live Cinema!

Dekh, cinema, dekh! In the old days, people in small towns and villages in India would wait anxiously for the traveling cinema to come to them with surprise offerings and entertainment.
In a way, the annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) does the same thing for New Yorkers who are a savvy lot. Yet the festival brings unexpected cinematic treats of found gems, lost stories and glimpses into lives lived.

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24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 IIFA through the Eyes of Vidya Balan

You could call it the traveling House of Wonders. One year it’s in South Africa, another in Singapore and yet another in Dubai. It’s a virtual orgy for Bollywood lovers.
We’re talking of course about the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) and there’s good news for Bollywood fans in the US – IIFA is coming to Tampa Bay this year, from April 23-26.For fans who want to rub shoulders with celebrity, there’s quite a red carpet contingent coming – Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Shruti Hassan, Sonakshi Sinha, Anil Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Sri Devi & Boney Kapoor, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar.

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24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 Radhe Radhe – Rites of Spring

It’s Holi! An appropriate time to share the exuberance of filmmaker Prashant Bhargavas’s film ‘Radhe Radhe’ – look forward to seeing it in New York, with the magic of Vijay Iyer’s original work.

Stravinsky’s controversial masterpiece ‘The Rite of Spring’ and the color-drenched Hindu festival of Holi – a match made in Heaven?

This unlikely pairing was seen in a work commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in North Carolina and premiered on March 26, 2013 on the day of Holi. ‘Radhe Radhe: Rites of Spring’ is the name of this new work, and the two noted artistes bringing it to stunning life are New York jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and Indie filmmaker Prashant Bhargava.

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