Gandhiji is 25

Gandhiji

It’s been twenty-five years since Academy Award-winning director Richard Attenborough put the story of Mahatma Gandhi on celluloid.

On February 20th, Gandhi will be released as a special (anniversary-edition) DVD. You can expect additional features (although it’s unclear what these will be exactly–vintage newsreel footage? Photos taken behind-the-scenes?).

The two-disc collector’s edition set has been digitally remastered, and is currently available for pre-order at BarnesAndNoble.Com.

SAALT Summit

SAALT Rally in DC (SAALT.Org)

DC-based non-profit SAALT, the South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow, will be hosting the South Asian Summit March 16th through the 18th.

“It will be an opportunity for organizational leaders and community members around the country to engage with policymakers, federal agency representatives, South Asian advocates, and funders,” says SAALT’s Executive Director Deepa Iyer.

Workshop topics range from the practical (how to effectively build a grassroots movement) to sessions that focus on emerging policy issues (“restoring civil liberties” and “worker rights”).

For more information, and to find out how you can register, visit SAALT.org.

Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told

Celebrate the day after Valentine’s Day with Nina Paley’s Sitayana Sita Sings the Blues, the animated feature based on the ancient Indian epic the Ramayana, as told from Sita’s view. Expected to be completed by 2008, the feature includes jazz vocals from Annette Hanshaw and music from Rohan. Thursday’s screening at the Cinema Arts Centre in Long Island, NY, with Paley in person will be the most extensive show of the work-in-progress yet, featuring eleven musical episodes and the first public screening of the latest chapter, Agni Pariksha (Trial by Fire).

More:
Nina Paley: America’s Best-Loved Unknown Cartoonist
The Ramayana
The Ramayana in Wikipedia

Burger King To Have It Y(Our) Way

HinduOnNet.Com

American fast food world domination continues as Burger King looks to enter the Indian market.

A report out today suggests Ravi Jaipuria, (a franchisee for Pizza Hut and KFC) is in talks with the company about expanding.

If true, Burger King would join Domino’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s (among others) in its fight for a slice of the desi market.

The “home of the Whopper” has taken its time with the move however, and is seen as a relative latecomer (KFC has been on Indian soil for over twelve years now).

The news will be disappointing to food activists and others concerned about the growing obesity problem in India. NPR’s All Things Considered recently took a look at the emerging issue of “urban, middle-class obesity, especially among children.” The segment is available online.

More:
Mickey Dee’s home in India and its vegan menu offerings

Tunes in Saskatoon

Deesha on MTV Desi (MTVDesi.Com)

The Junos (Canada’s top music awards) have recognized desi singing sensation Deesha, by nominating her debut album Life Less Ordinary as one of the country’s best R & B/Soul records of the year.

As an Indo-Canadian woman, Deesha’s commitment to R&B—a musical tradition she finds “melodic and timeless”—has been challenged.

Last December, she told Nirali magazine she understands R & B music, and remains reluctant to lace her tracks with dhol beats. “Just because the blood that runs through my veins is Punjabi doesn’t mean the music that comes out of me is going to be—if it’s going to be honest.”

Read the full feature here.

The Juno Awards will be held on April 1st, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and televised live on CTV.

Dhoom Machaoo Dhoom!

Shah Loungin’ (Santosh Verma for The New York Times)

Ghanshyam P. Shah spends about eight hours a day camped out in his bedroom, watching TV (prayer services, financial news, whatevs, really). “I’ll become really agitated if I can’t watch,” Shah, 82, explains to Vikas Bajaj of the New York Times.

I understand completely.

Bajaj’s Sunday Times feature, “In India, the Golden Age of Television Is Now,” tells us the state of television there is amidst change. The rise of cable channel networks continues, and American networks work to bring classics like Sesame Street to an Indian audience (Globalization. Sigh).

Bajaj also introduces us to Dhoom Machaoo Dhoom—a Disney show made for Indian teens. “It is about four teenage girls, one of them from New York, who want to start a band so they can represent their school in a talent contest. They face a number of challenges, including an arrogant classmate who is determined to derail their plans.”

Does Diddy know about this?

Be sure to check out the article’s accompanying video produced by Jigar Mehta (we blogged about Mehta a few weeks back—remember? Course you do), and let us know what you think.

More:
India’s Disney Channel
SRK’s New Gig As TV Host

Dhol Di Awaz IX

With an emphasis on culture and tradition, Dhol Di Awaz brings bhangra dance groups from across North America together for performance and competition. Billed as the oldest bhangra competition on the west coast, DDA was formed nine years ago as a fundraiser by students from the Berkeley Student Sikh Association and put on in a high school gym with six teams, an audience of 300 and the students’ parents as supporters. It has grown to sell out increasingly larger venues with audiences of thousands, obtain business and media sponsors and feature dozens of accomplished bhangra groups. This year’s Dhol Di Awaz takes place February 24, in Cupertino, California.

Videos:
Surrey India Arts Club exhibition performance at DDA 2006
2005 DDA champions Florida’s PHULorida Bhangra
Jeeta Jatt, parody of Punjabi movies of the past

“Hotter Than A Vindaloo”

Lady in Red

Rumor has it Shilpa Shetty will soon be starring in a romantic comedy with the king of rom-coms himself, Hugh Grant.

An unnamed “industry insider” tells the Daily Star that “it’s going to be hotter than a vindaloo… with dancing, singing and a spicy story to boot.”

The rumors “gained momentum” when Shetty showed up at the London premiere of Grant’s latest film Music and Lyrics on Monday night. The film stars Drew Barrymore and Daily Show--resident desi Aasif Mandvi. It is to be released on Valentine’s Day.

(We sat down with Mandvi on the set of Music and Lyrics. Be sure to check out our upcoming issue for the exclusive.)

Attorney Receives Angel Award

Out of more than 200,000 attorneys throughout the state, California Lawyer magazine awarded its inaugural Angel Award to 16, most of whom are partners. The award honors “those idealistic attorneys who have made substantial pro bono contributions.” Hitesh S. Barot, one of only two associates receiving the award, was honored for his pro bono work in securing a settlement in a case brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act for an Indian woman who was brought to the Los Angeles area, forced to work long hours, effectively imprisoned in the house, and sexually assaulted by an acquaintance of her employer. She escaped with the help of the South Asian Network and since 2004 a team of lawyers had been working on the case together with the ACLU.

Barot initially began working on the case in October 2005 because he was able to translate Hindi. He soon took over the matter, gaining the trust of the plaintiff, who had been suffering from post-traumatic stress. A graduate of UC Berkeley’s engineering and law schools who is active in local and national South Asian bar associations, Barot told India Journal, “I was surprised and humbled to be recognized along with veteran luminaries in the pro bono space…This case resonated with me because I have known others in our Indian community who have been mis-treated the same way and so it was particularly important for me to give my client a voice and empower her to strike back at those who wronged her.”

More:
Domestic Workers’ Resources
Andolan

Ballads By Bali

Vandana Bali (Urban Peacock Studios)

Noted in the San Francisco Bay Times “10+ Best Shows of 2006,” and recently profiled by India Abroad, Vandana Bali is a classically-trained vocalist with a three-octave range and two albums who enjoys singing powerhouse songs just as much as she loves singing sultry, soothing standards. Her primary influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Patti LuPone, Sam Harris and Barbra Streisand.

Born in India, she grew up in a New York household where she could hear legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar in one room and Streisand, The Police and the Beatles in the next. Bali feels the story-telling tradition of Indian music has drawn her to cabaret. After moving to California, she found that the air pollution wreaked havoc with her voice and started working with a nonprofit promoting clean air policies. Today she works in government, running clean vehicle and alternative fuel infrastructure programs.

In honor of her parents’ 43rd wedding anniversary she is kicking off 2007 with a show full of positive songs about love and life at Martuni’s Piano Bar on February 17, before heading out to London and L.A. with her “Power of Love” show. The show debuted last year, featuring 14 ballads and show tunes including the works of Steven Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gershwin, and Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child.” Listen to samples of her high-powered voice online.