Sushmita Sen in Italia

Sushmita Sen è in questi giorni in vacanza in Sardegna. 

Aggiornamento del 5 agosto 2022: video.

Shahid Kapoor in Italia

Nei giorni scorsi Shahid Kapoor era in vacanza in Italia - a Sciacca e a Palermo - con la famiglia. Nell'estate del 2019, in occasione di un viaggio in moto, l'attore era stato avvistato con Ishaan Khatter e Kunal Khemu a Torino e a Livigno. 

Rajkummar Rao e Patralekha in Italia

Rajkummar Rao e la moglie Patralekha sono attualmente in vacanza in Italia. Nei giorni scorsi erano a Roma, oggi in Costiera Amalfitana.

Mahesh Babu e Namrata Shirodkar in Italia

In questi giorni il fascinosissimo Mahesh Babu è con la famiglia in vacanza a Milano. Vi ricordo che la fortunata moglie di Mahesh è l'attrice Namrata Shirodkar.

Ram Charan in Italia

Ram Charan è attualmente in vacanza in Italia con la moglie. La coppia sta festeggiando il decimo anniversario di matrimonio nella stessa località dove trascorse la luna di miele: il borgo Il Borro, in provincia di Arezzo. 

Aggiornamento del 18 giugno 2022: video (notare prego la scelta del commento musicale).

Vogue India dicembre 2012

Nayanthara e Vignesh Shivan oggi sposi

Nayanthara e il regista Vignesh Shivan si sono sposati poche ore fa, nel corso di una cerimonia a cui hanno partecipato, fra gli altri, Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth, Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Atlee e Boney Kapoor. Felicitazioni alla coppia!

Amitav Ghosh in Italia

In occasione del Fuorisalone 2022, ieri Amitav Ghosh era a Milano per l'evento Narrating, organizzato nell'ambito di Prada Frames On Forest, presso la Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense. 

Lo scrittore tornerà a Milano il 18 giugno 2022, ospite della manifestazione 2084 - Storie dal futuro, presso l'East River Martesana. Ghosh terrà una conferenza dal titolo Pensare l'impensabile. Comunicato ufficiale: 'Con La grande cecità Amitav Ghosh ha raggiunto un successo planetario: un segnale di speranza, trattandosi di un saggio che riflette sulla assurda divisione tra materie scientifiche e umanistiche, scienziati e artisti. Ma Ghosh è anche un romanziere di lungo corso e Anna Nadotti ne traduce l’opera da più di trent’anni, ricostruendo una lingua meticcia che riflette la polifonia di opere vaste come oceani, voci che rimbalzano tra ricordi e racconti, tracciando mappe di mondi ancora da scoprire'.

Amitav Ghosh e Elvira Dyangani Ose, Milano, 6 giugno 2022

Sonam Kapoor in Italia

In questi giorni Sonam Kapoor è in vacanza in Toscana col marito. La località selezionata per il soggiorno: Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco, in provincia di Siena. La coppia, che aspetta un bambino, è stata avvistata al ristorante stellato La Leggenda dei Frati a Firenze. 

Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco

Filming Italy Sardegna 2022

La quinta edizione del festival Filming Italy Sardegna avrà luogo dal 9 al 12 giugno 2022 a Cagliari. Fra i numerosi partecipanti che terranno dei seminari agli studenti, segnalo Kabir Bedi. L'attore indiano sarà inoltre a Roma il 15 giugno al Museo dell'Ara Pacis, e a Positano il 22 giugno ospite dell'evento Mare, Sole e Cultura 2022.

Aggiornamento del 21 giugno 2022: intervista video Kabir Bedi: "Sandokan, Gandhi, i Beatles e la morte di mio figlio: il romanzo della mia vita", Alvaro Moretti, Il Messaggero, giugno 2022. Nel testo di presentazione si legge: 'Al Messaggero e al suo paparazzo principe, Rino Barillari, Kabir Bedi, il Sandokan mitico dello sceneggiato tv del 1976, deve qualche fuga vantaggiosa dagli alberghi di via Veneto: frotte di donne e fan, la calca e lì ci vuole il talento del paparazzo per sfuggire alla morsa del successo. Sorride Kabir Bedi, ospite dell'Interrogazione del vicedirettore del Messaggero, Alvaro Moretti: perché entrando per la videointervista ecco che proprio Barillari spunta da un'auto in corsa a via del Tritone. "Sandokan!", lo chiamano tutti così. E quando in motorino un fattorino passa e lo riconosce ecco scattare un romanissimo: "Bada, Sandokan!".'

Sardegna 2022

Sardegna 2022

Kabir Bedi e Danny Glover

Kabir Bedi e Sarah Ferguson

Roma 2022

Priyanka Chopra: pubblicità Bulgari

Lo scorso marzo Priyanka Chopra era a Roma (clicca qui), probabilmente per la campagna pubblicitaria Unexpected Wonders di Bulgari. Vi propongo la fotografia promozionale. Priyanka indossa gioielli delle linee Alta Gioielleria e Serpenti. 

Sguardi Altrove 2022

La 29esima edizione del festival Sguardi Altrove si svolge a Milano dal 10 al 15 maggio 2022. In cartellone Yere Yere Pausa (titolo internazionale Come come rain), film in lingua marathi diretto da Shafaq Khan. La pellicola era stata presentata l'anno scorso al Giffoni Film Festival.

Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur, a decade later

Vi segnalo l'intervista concessa da Anurag Kashyap a Uday Bhatia, pubblicata ieri da Mint. Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur, a decade later: 

'What was the run-up to Cannes like?

In my head I was not even looking at Cannes. (...) Marco Müller literally forced me to show him Wasseypur. I was surprised they liked it.

Did it screen as one film at Cannes?

It was screened together. I remember I was very nervous when the film was playing. I just sat outside for five hours, drinking. I didn’t think this is the kind of movie that plays at festivals. (...) The reception was crazy. They showed the movies back-to-back, with just a 10-minute break, but everyone stayed. There was total madness. The actors were getting stopped on the street. We were dancing late into the night.

Is the film more personal than it might appear at first? You shot a lot of it in your childhood town.

It is a very personal interpretation of the real story. We could not shoot in Wasseypur. The budget was very controlled. The only way I could maximise everything was to go back to where I grew up. I used all my father’s goodwill he had accumulated over the years to make the film. People opened their houses because of my dad, and because of them feeling I am one from amongst them who’s now making movies. I shot in the house I grew up in. The house where Richa Chadha gives birth is where my brother was born. The imagery is from my childhood: the mountain I used to sit on, the mines, Tashkent Colony. The powerhouses my father worked on are there in the film. The sequence with the first fridge, the way the family sits together, the way the singer adopts male and female voices - those things I grew up with. (...) I was very affected by a six-hour movie called The Best Of Youth (2003), which chronicled the history of Italy. I thought, this is an opportunity to tell the political history of Bihar. We shot a lot of material that we later took out - I got carried away with the politics of the land and the history of the mines. (...) I was averse to making a gangster film. After Satya (1998) and Black Friday (2004), I thought, what is left to be told? But I found these gangsters to be very funny and childish. (...)

It marked a decisive shift for the genre. The gangster film largely moved out of Mumbai after this.

I was very excited about making what I thought would be a commercial hit. I was genuinely not thinking about anything else. I just wanted to tell a very north Indian story, with north Indian humour. We wrote the first film before shooting; the second was written while shooting the first. UTV [Motion Pictures] backed out three days before the shoot. We were there with little money and little time. We couldn’t have gone and just come back. When you are working with a controlled budget, you come back with a finished film, otherwise it will never get made. (...)

Would you have made it with bigger stars if you could?

No. That’s the reason UTV didn’t work out, because they wanted bigger stars. They had talked to some. What happens with a bigger star is you have to have a definite story, a heroic ending - and you can’t have them play an idiot. Everyone comes with a sense of entitlement. It wouldn’t have been the same. I was so fixed on Nawazuddin [Siddiqui] and Huma Qureshi. I didn’t see anyone else but Nawaz. On the first day of shooting, there was a massive problem because he decided to play Faizal like a gangster. I had to stop shooting. Nawaz and I went back to the hotel and had green tea and a long discussion. I said, this man knows he’s a gangster, he doesn’t have to act like one. (...)

Is there anything you would re-do?

Just the climax, with blood pouring out of Ramadhir’s body... oh god. When I watch it, I want to kill myself.

Was it always planned as two films?

At one point it was almost a three-parter. Then [Vikramaditya] Motwane cut it down. (...) He took the soundtrack of The Dark Knight (2008) and cut the montages to that (Motwane remembers editing to the score of the 2009 film Moon).

It’s altogether rare today to find a Hindi film like this, where all the primary characters are Muslim.

Yeah. I don’t think you could make a Wasseypur today. (...) (The censors) did not cut anything in Wasseypur. Only one sequence where Danish knifes a man in the eye, they asked to mute the sound because it was too gruesome. Kudos to (censor board head) Pankaja Thakur, who said, this film is an authentic representation and it will not be cut. (...)

What effect do you think ‘Wasseypur’ has had on Hindi cinema in these 10 years?

I don’t know if it’s a positive or negative effect. There’s so much north Indian gangster stuff now - a lot of it is nowhere close to how it is (in real life). Unfortunately, what people borrowed from Wasseypur is abuses. (...)

If you made ‘Wasseypur’ today, would it be a series?

Definitely. I like the long format, and there was much more story to be told. There are a lot of my movies I would have done as series if OTT had existed then.

A decade later, how do you regard the film?

I know why I made the film but I don’t understand why people go crazy about it. (...) I don’t think any of the actors except Manoj Bajpayee got paid, it was made for such a low cost. It did not stay at the box office, it was pushed out by a Salman Khan movie. (...) People keep expecting me to make the same film. It has derailed me in a way. Everything I do is compared to that. It confuses me, because I do not want to make another gangster movie'.

Vedi anche Le prime del 22 giugno 2012: Gangs of Wasseypur I

Deepika Padukone a Venezia: evento Louis Vuitton

Lo scorso fine settimana Deepika Padukone era a Venezia, presso la Ca' d'Oro, ospite di una cena di gala organizzata da Louis Vuitton in occasione della 59esima edizione dell'Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte (clicca qui). L'evento mondano celebrava il sostegno al futuro restauro della Galleria Giorgio Franchetti. Video.

Aishwarya Rai: spot italiano L'Oréal

[Archivio] Vi segnalo la versione italiana di uno spot L'Oréal di qualche anno fa interpretato da una splendida testimonial: Aishwarya Rai.

Alia Bhatt e Ranbir Kapoor oggi sposi

Oggi sono state celebrate le nozze di Alia Bhatt e Ranbir Kapoor. Entrambi gli attori appartengono a due famiglie celebri dell'industria cinematografica hindi. In particolare, Ranbir Kapoor è figlio di Rishi Kapoor e Neetu Singh, e nipote di Raj Kapoor. Congratulazioni e auguri alla blasonatissima coppia!

Festival del cinema africano, d'Asia e America Latina 2022

La 31esima edizione del Festival del cinema africano, d'Asia e America Latina si svolgerà a Milano dal 29 aprile all'8 maggio 2022. In cartellone Gaadi, film srilankese diretto da Prasanna Vithanage.

Priyanka Chopra a Roma per Bulgari

In questi giorni Priyanka Chopra è a Roma per un impegno professionale commissionato da Bulgari. Nella fotografia che segue, la diva è al Ristorante Dal Bolognese in Piazza del Popolo.

Aggiornamento del 25 maggio 2022: Priyanka Chopra: pubblicità Bulgari.

Azad: Khaas

[Archivio] Vi segnalo il video promozionale del brano punjabi del 2020 Khaas. La canzone è composta da Azad e interpretata dall'attore e cantante Navraj Hans. Le attrici nel filmato sono Ihana Dhillon e Neha Rana. Il video è stato parzialmente girato a Maiori e Minori. (Fotografia a sinistra: Ihana Dhillon in costiera amalfitana).

Michele Morrone: Mud Mud Ke

L'attore italiano Michele Morrone debutta in India nel video promozionale del brano Mud Mud Ke, affiancando Jacqueline Fernandez. La canzone è composta da Tony Kakkar, e interpretata da Tony e Neha Kakkar. Il filmato è stato girato a Dubai. Michele ha dichiarato: 'I'm grateful for such a heartfelt welcome. I'm aware that the music of India has a wide reach and it defines the nation's heritage. It is truly an honour to be part of the music industry that has entertained listeners across the globe.' Jacqueline ha dichiarato: 'It's wonderful to be welcoming Michele Morrone to India with 'Mud Mud Ke'. As the nation's musical identity is changing and the world is getting smaller, it is fitting to have Michele join us.'

Writing With Fire in corsa per l'Oscar

Writing with fire, di Sushmit Ghosh e Rintu Thomas, è entrato nella cinquina per il miglior documentario agli Oscar. La pellicola era stata proiettata in prima mondiale al Sundance Film Festival 2021, dove si era aggiudicata, oltre al premio del pubblico, anche il World Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change. Lo scorso settembre Writing with fire era stato presentato a Milano al Festival Internazionale del Documentario Visioni dal Mondo 2021, dove aveva vinto il premio per il miglior documentario internazionale con la seguente motivazione: 

'Il premio internazionale della giuria spetta a un film nuovo e originale - una storia alla Davide e Golia - dove chi storicamente non ha voce, può finalmente farsi sentire e urlare la verità ovunque su internet. I protagonisti sono scelti con occhio sapiente e abilmente sviluppati nel corso del tempo. I due registi dimostrano una notevole sensibilità nel seguire il percorso personale dei personaggi, descrivendo allo stesso tempo il duro ambiente socio-politico in cui si svolge la vicenda. La giuria ha unanimemente apprezzato la destrezza dei registi nel narrare e portare alla luce una storia drammatica di violenza, abusi e ingiustizie usando un tono leggero dove le donne, che combattono contro un sistema secolare di sfruttamento, non rinunciano mai al sorriso, andando sempre avanti, affrontando situazioni e condizioni difficilissime. La giuria ha anche apprezzato il tono e un ritmo di regia che contribuisce a creare un’atmosfera di suspense. Non sai mai cosa può capitare a una donna Dalit, della casta degli Intoccabili, che con il proprio giornale e un canale youtube denuncia senza mezze misure violenze sessuali, corruzione politica e ingiustizie sociali'.

Aggiornamenti del 14 gennaio 2024: Writing with fire purtroppo non ha conquistato l'Oscar.

Vedi anche:

- The triumph and tragedy of the Indian documentary, Rahul Desai, Film Companion, 19 febbraio 2022;

- Filming with fire: behind Indian documentary's biggest year, Uday Bhatia, Mint, 26 marzo 2023.

Sundance Film Festival 2022

L'edizione 2022 del Sundance Film Festival si è svolta dal 20 al 30 gennaio. In cartellone All that breathes di Shaunak Sen, opera che si è aggiudicata il World Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Il 3 febbraio 2022 Film Companion ha pubblicato una lunga intervista concessa dal regista a Sankhayan Ghosh, nella quale Sen, fra l'altro, dichiara: 'I’m deeply interested in the styles of (...) Gianfranco Rosi a lot in terms of how he shoots human, and Roberto Minervini in terms of how he comes out as a kind of hybrid between nonfiction and controlled spaces'. Shaunak Sen on his Oscar-nominated documentary All that breathes.

Aggiornamenti del 26 marzo 2023: All that breathes, in seguito proiettato fuori concorso a Cannes (clicca qui) e a Roma, è entrato nella cinquina dei titoli candidati all'Oscar senza purtroppo aggiudicarsi l'ambita statuetta.

Vedi anche:

- The triumph and tragedy of the Indian documentary, Rahul Desai, Film Companion, 19 febbraio 2022;

- Filming with fire: behind Indian documentary's biggest year, Uday Bhatia, Mint, 26 marzo 2023.

Lata Didi, "l'usignolo dell'India", è volata via

Lo scorso 6 febbraio è deceduta la celeberrima (e amatissima) cantante Lata Mangeshkar. Vi segnalo il video in italiano condiviso il 7 febbraio 2022 da Euronews: Lata Didi, "l'usignolo dell'India", è volata via.

Andrea Guerra, il compositore di musiche per il cinema dei due mondi

Vi segnalo l'intervista concessa dal compositore Andrea Guerra a Lisa Bernardini, pubblicata da La Voce di New York il 22 novembre 2021. Andrea Guerra, il compositore di musiche per il cinema dei due mondi:

'Nel 2015/16 ti sei dedicato alla scrittura della musica per il film indiano Fan. (...) Quali sono le principali caratteristiche del cinema firmato da registi stranieri rispetto a quello fatto da registi italiani, secondo te?

C’è una mutazione in corso nel cinema indiano. La trasformazione - da musical con danze al vero e proprio cinema di immagini - sta prendendo piede, così anche il ruolo della musica sta cambiando. È una mutazione dolorosa per noi occidentali; è rimasta ad esempio la struttura a “quadri” tipica per mettere in scena le coreografie e che è una eredità narrativa interiorizzata. Il concetto di bellezza e riuscita dello spettacolo in India prevede che si attraversino tutte le fasi narrative. Dramma, situazioni grottesche, commedia, amore, thriller, situazioni patetiche: ciò proviene dalla loro storia letteraria e religiosa. Un film indiano deve contenere tutto questo. Le canzoni e le danze si prestano perfettamente a questi cambi repentini, anzi: li magnificano; questa mutazione verso un cinema più tradizionale invece deve adattare un racconto più identitario e unico, che può smarrire l’intensità nelle singole emotività.'

Vidya Balan: I love Italian men

[Archivio] Vi segnalo un vecchio articolo decisamente insipido ma dal titolo interessante, Vidya Balan: I love Italian men, di Sumitra Nair, pubblicato da iDiva il 6 gennaio 2011. L'unica frase degna di nota: 'Her dream destination is Sicily in Italy since she loves "Italian food and men!".'

River to River Florence Indian Film Festival 2021

La 21esima edizione del River to River Florence Indian Film Festival si svolgerà dal 3 all'8 dicembre 2021, parte in presenza e parte in streaming. Vi segnalo l'incontro virtuale in diretta con Amitabh Bachchan, il 5 dicembre, al termine della proiezione di Chehre. In cartellone anche Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham, sottotitolato in italiano e in inglese.

Aggiornamento del 5 dicembre 2021: video ufficiale della partecipazione di Bachchan.

Vedi anche Amitabh Bachchan, la star indiana che ha conquistato il mondo, 28 novembre 2021.

Amitav Ghosh: Jungle Nama

È in distribuzione in libreria Jungle Nama. Il racconto della giungla, il nuovo lavoro di Amitav Ghosh pubblicato da Neri Pozza Editore. Nei prossimi giorni lo scrittore sarà in Italia. Di seguito le date:

- 15 novembre, Roma, inaugurazione dell'anno accademico dell'Istituto Europeo di Design, lectio magistralis What do we miss when we speak of sustainability?; 

- 15 novembre, Roma, teatro Piccolo Eliseo;

- 16 novembre, Roma, evento Green&Blue Open Summit (aggiornamento del 17 novembre 2021: video de La Repubblica);

- 16 novembre programma Fahrenheit, Rai Radio 3;

- 18 novembre, Mestre, museo M9;

- 19 novembre, Torino, Circolo dei lettori;

- 20 novembre, Milano, Castello Sforzesco, evento BookCity.

 

Aggiornamento del 21 novembre 2021 - BookCity, Amitav Ghosh presenta la sua favola ambientalista: "I cambiamenti climatici sono una violenza", Annarita Briganti, La Repubblica: '"La cosa sconvolgente dell'avidità è che un tempo era considerata negativamente, ma da un certo punto in poi è diventata un 'valore'. Il sistema la glorifica, le élite al potere in tutto il mondo la pensano così. (...) Non si può più nascondere la realtà: i cambiamenti climatici sono una guerra, una violenza. Chi è tra i meno fortunati subisce perdite e deve affrontare situazioni difficili, come in una guerra. Una emergenza che non risale, come dicono gli esperti, alla rivoluzione industriale, ma bisogna andare ancora più indietro, fino al XVII secolo, al colonialismo, alla violenza coloniale. (...) Non c'è solo Greta. Lei rappresenta l'idea del bambino redentore che viene a redimere gli adulti dai loro peccati".' 

Aggiornamento dell'11 luglio 2022: intervista video concessa da Ghosh a Rai Cultura nel novembre 2021.

BookCity 2021

Loredana Bertè: Bollywood

Ieri Loredana Bertè ha presentato il video di Bollywood, il suo nuovo brano.

Nella spettacolare residenza londinese di Sonam Kapoor

Il 4 ottobre 2021 l'edizione italiana di Architectural Digest ha pubblicato l'articolo Nella spettacolare residenza londinese di Sonam Kapoor Ahuja. Il pezzo include un video, sottotitolato nella nostra lingua, nel quale Sonam mostra la sua casa. L'articolo è la traduzione di AD Open Door: Sonam Kapoor Ahuja's spectacular London townhouse and studio, di Farah Shafiq, pubblicato l'8 settembre 2021 dall'edizione indiana della stessa testata.

'Sonam Kapoor Ahuja è nervosa; i membri del team di Architectural Digest Open Door sono i primi ospiti che filmano la sua residenza londinese: «Le troupe televisive non sono mai entrate a casa mia». (...) Camminando per le stanze della sua casa londinese a Notting Hill, Kapoor Ahuja spiega che quegli spazi rivelano «un aspetto della mia personalità che molti non hanno visto», aggiungendo anche che «casa e ufficio rispecchiano al massimo chi sei come persona». Che cosa ha trovato AD? Un’oasi di tappezzerie dipinte a mano con paralumi abbinati, una promettente collezione d’arte indiana, arredamenti contemporanei e antichi messi insieme nel corso del tempo... Ma il pezzo forte di Kapoor Ahuja ci ha sorpreso. «Sapete qual è la cosa più speciale? - ci domanda entrando nel suo bagno tappezzato Ralph Lauren - Questa toilette POTO. Ne vado pazza», esclama ridendo, divertita dalla passione per la toilette ad alta tecnologia. L’attrice, imprenditrice e filantropa ha passato gran parte dello scorso anno nel Regno Unito a causa della pandemia, facendo di questa casa il suo santuario. Mentre ci parla del ponderato design degli interni, indicandoci i suoi tratti preferiti, confessa di aver sentito la mancanza della sua famiglia a Mumbai. “Ho voluto che tutte le stanze mi ricordassero l’India e i suoi colori,” afferma. “Tutto mi riporta a casa mia, di cui sento un’enorme mancanza.” 

Nel frattempo, a poca distanza da casa sua si trova lo studio che condivide con suo marito Anand Ahuja, imprenditore della moda. I due sono sposati dal 2018, e come i tanti che lavorano da casa con un partner, Kapoor Ahuja afferma: «Viviamo e lavoriamo insieme, il che è fantastico e impegnativo allo stesso tempo». Qui l’attrice organizza sessioni di lettura del copione, riunioni e prove costume... Infatti, tutte le prove costume del suo ultimo film Blind, girato seguendo un programma di 39 giorni in Scozia all’inizio del 2021, si sono tenute qui. Ci avviciniamo di soppiatto all’ufficio di Anand Ahuja. «Anche se non potrei farlo, voglio portarvi al piano di mio marito. Lui non c’è, quindi abbiamo poco tempo», afferma in tono cospiratorio. Chi comanda? «È lui il grande capo - ci dice sorridendo, per poi fermarsi a riflettere - No, sono io il grande capo». Qual è il suo mantra principale quando si tratta di stile degli interni? «Di qualsiasi cosa si tratti, l’importante è che abbia un aspetto favoloso e che sia comoda».'

Mammootty: The discreet masculine charm

La superstar del cinema malayalam Mammootty compie oggi 70 anni. Per celebrare l'evento, Film Companion pubblica un lungo articolo nel quale ripercorre la carriera dell'attore. Mammootty - The discreet masculine charm, C.S. Venkiteswaran:

'The variety of roles he has essayed, the diverse acting modes and speech styles he has experimented with, and the untiring efforts he puts into each role, are phenomenal to say the least. (...) A rare and unique combination of magnetic personality, physical charm, longevity of career, diversity of roles and ever-increasing popularity - all make Mammootty one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema. (...) 

He entered the scene when major actors of the earlier era were at the fag end of their careers. (...) This was the scene when both Mammootty and Mohanlal entered it in the early 80's. But it was the decade when the Malayalam film industry was witnessing a huge jump in terms of production: from around 80 films a year in the previous decade it rose to more than 110, averaging about 2 new releases every week! It was also a period when gulf remittance to Kerala was on the rise, spurring film production and the growth of exhibition halls. In terms of content, treatment and themes too, this decade proved to be very prolific: films of all kinds - 'art', 'middle' and 'commercial' - and genres - suspense thrillers, family dramas, northern ballads, socials, films based on contemporary events and politics etc. - were being made. All this created a vibrant industry atmosphere that encouraged experimentation with daring themes, introduction of new techniques and technologies, and the entry of more and more new talents: scenarists, directors and technicians, as well as producers. (...) Entering the scene at such a high point in Malayalam film industry, a hardworking actor like Mammootty had ample opportunities to hone his skills, connect with the audience, and to entrench himself as a star in the industry and as an actor in popular imagination. In his first decade itself, Mammootty had the opportunity to work with all the important filmmakers from different generations, and in diverse categories and genres. (...) So much so that in the very first decade of his entry, he had acted in more than 200 films in all conceivable genres - socials, family dramas, mystery thrillers, ghost stories, period films, art films, and also some light comedies. By the end of the decade, he had established himself as a very dependable and successful star with an acting style of his own.

Even in the 1990s when the entry of television rocked the film industry by capturing its most favourite and popular thematic terrains, and hitting the box office by bringing visual entertainment to the audiences' homes, the popularity and stardom of Mammootty continued to grow. Actually, in the case of both Mammootty and Mohanlal the coming of television was a blessing in disguise. Though television captured the most important segment of the movie market - the 'family audience', as far as its entertainment content was concerned, it predominantly depended on cinema for its films, songs, comedy scenes, clips and the umpteen parodies based on that. (...) The burgeoning popularity of Mammootty as an actor and his pre-eminence within the industry are evident from the fact that he acted in as many as 220 films in the 1980's. From 1983 to 1986, he acted in about 35 films every year! In the next decades, along with the general decline in film production, Mammootty films also came down to an average of around 55 films a year. It was also a period when production, turnover and also the number of theatres were on the wane. If the 1990s saw a more mature Mammootty performing with greater ease and in a variety of roles, in the post-millennium years his persona has assumed greater gravitas and grace. A host of young 'newgen' actors were entering the field in the last decades, and superstars like Mammootty and Mohanlal becoming more selective in their choice of roles and films, and so, figuring mostly in mega productions. But even in the so-called 'newgen' films one can see the glare and shadows of these super stars - in the form of references, tributes, jokes, imitations or parodies. (...)

Evolution of an actor 

(...) In most of the films, (...) one can see both these character-types and role models - that of the protector of the weak and women, and as the enforcer of Law - being elaborated in various guises, diverse situations and different milieus. (...) In many of the (...) films in the 80's, Mammootty plays the role of the family man who is caught in domestic and marital conflicts of different kinds (...) strengthening Mammootty's fan base among the female audience. (...) Soon, too many films of the same genre led to a series of box office failures. (...) By the end of 1980s and the beginning of 1990s, we see the actor persona of Mammootty strongly leaning towards hyper-masculine roles, with a slew of commercially successful and thematically engaging films. (...) These films expanded and placed Mammootty on to a wider canvas of narratives that portrayed different and more complex shades of masculine power and conflicts. Compared to earlier films, the narrative world of these macho protagonists expanded from the realm of the individual and the family, to that of society and nation at large, and the paternal/protector figure turned into an authority figure representing the State. These narratives traversed history and legends, and were animated by various shades of desire, valor, love and troubling questions about corruption in public life and crime. These varied roles successfully combined Mammootty's stature as an actor and appeal as a star. What distinguished Mammootty the actor was his continuing engagements with films outside the commercial-mainstream that constantly enriched and expanded his repertoire, and brought him critical acclaim and national accolades. (...) Though not very comfortable in his comic roles, Mammootty also experimented with light comedies. (...) Another feature that distinguishes Mammootty is his ability to embody and voice 'regionalities'. There are several hit films where he plays the role of a hero belonging to a particular locality/region/milieu, and speaks the respective local lingo. (...) While elevating him as a versatile actor, these roles also indicate the pan-Kerala image that he has built up through his career. (...)

Mammootty-Mohanlal duo and the Ambivalence of Malayalee Masculinity

It is impossible to talk about Mammootty and his acting career without referring to Mohanlal, the other super star, his friend, competitor and his alter ego. (...) One, the upright, powerful, masculine and monogamous family man, and the other the playful, eternal flirt and boy next door, vulnerable, polygamous, lyrical and romantic. While one readily sings and dances around trees, the other is averse to it. (...) Such strange equivalence could be read as the expression of the ambivalence in Malayalee male masculinity - one that is torn between the macho and the tender, the masculine and the feminine, the strong and the vulnerable, the rigid and the flexible, the tragic and the comic. Incapable of making any final choice between the two, Malayalee masculine imagination seems to waver between the two, consciously and subconsciously, and indulges in the possibilities and diverse pleasures they open up through these star-duo. (...) As a lone, masculine hero, age and aging go much more comfortably or convincingly with Mammootty whereas with Mohanlal it often looks odd or a little forced, for we always associate him with youthhood, playfulness, and often childlikeness. (...) While Mammootty roles are more often associated with seats of power and authority, (...) Mohanlal plays the common man, the one who is in search of security, life, freedom and love. (...) While the concern of one is to control and conquer the world, the other explores and revels in all its uncertainties and accidents. So, while one offers love and invites our identification, we are in awe of the other and look up to him in admiration. While one is a companion and fellow prankster, the other is a protector or guide. (...)

The Star Persona

(...) In the last decades, stories about loss of masculinity itself becomes a theme in some films. (...) Interestingly, they all tangentially tap on to the Mammootty persona deeply embedded in public minds to poignant effect. So through time, Mammootty persona has not only embodied and enacted masculine charm, power, desires and fantasies, but also its fears, anxieties and uncertainties. Another makeover domain was visible in the new millennium, when Mammootty played several light and comic roles. (...) The incisive self-criticism he expresses in many of his acclaimed interviews prove his commitment to the art and also his relentless effort to reinvent himself. This is also a unique feature that elevates him from other actors of his generation, who tend to get pigeon-holed into certain stereotypes, industry models or generic patterns. As an actor and a star, Mammootty had always tried to transgress these boundaries and to redefine and remake himself. Which is what has always kept him at the top, for so long and for so many'.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali: 25 anni di carriera

In occasione dei 25 anni di carriera di Sanjay Leela Bhansali, vi segnalo il video ufficiale celebrativo, nonché l'articolo A tour through Sanjay Leela Bhansali's cities of dreams, di Baradwaj Rangan, pubblicato ieri da Film Companion:

'The masochistic unattainability of love by at least one of the vertices of the triangle is something that's always watered this director's imagination. (...) I do not think Bhansali has ever entered the modern era, or even the real world. (...) Even if the places "look" real, they are cities of dreams, cities you won't find in any map of the world because they exist only in Bhansali's imagination. (...) 

It took a while for this Bhansali to bloom. His first two films aren't his. (...) He's trying (...) to get those images from inside his head onto the frame that the audience will see them in, but keeps failing, and failing. (...) These two films had too much generic melodrama, and it's only when we come to Devdas that we finally get inspired melodrama: in this sado-masochistic (...) story, Bhansali finds the pitch on screen to match the pitch he's been hearing inside his head. (...) Devdas is the first real Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie. (...)

It's not just the writing, but also the way he uses colour that singles him out. (...) Bhansali's dream worlds require dream logic. (...) In a Hindi cinema landscape littered with filmmakers who write in English and quote English filmmakers as inspiration, Bhansali is one of the last of the traditionalists. His "madness", if you will, reflects the emotion-filled Indian nature. (...) 

It's not that every film of Bhansali's, post-Devdas, has been successful in its entirety. But he is one of the handful of original, homegrown Indian filmmakers who can be counted on to give us at least 10-20 scenes (even in the lesser films) that sear themselves into memory. (...) His love for artifice and theatricality, his love for Indian music and Indian folk arts and Indian movie-making traditions, (...) his love for beauty and symmetry. But this beauty isn't just empty prettiness. (...) At his best, no one comes close to the mix of the real and the unreal that Bhansali unleashes on the big screen. (...) It's a style. And no one does it better'.

Priyanka Chopra testimonial di Bulgari

L'incredibile notizia è di pochi minuti fa: Priyanka Chopra è la nuova testimonial di Bulgari. Il profilo Twitter del celebre marchio italiano annuncia: 'The Bvlgari family are proud to welcome actor, film producer, and activist @priyankachopra as a Global Ambassador. She debuts wearing a B.zero1 Rock necklace and ring. Welcome Priyanka!'. Dal canto suo, la diva indiana scrive: 'So proud to join the @Bulgariofficial family as a Global Ambassador. Thank you #JCBabin and the entire team for such a warm welcome. Many things drew me to this iconic brand, but what we connected on so organically is our mutual love for India and the beauty it has to offer'.

Il Cinema Ritrovato 2021

La 35esima edizione del festival Il Cinema Ritrovato si svolgerà a Bologna dal 20 al 27 luglio 2021. In cartellone la rassegna Poeti ribelli e spiriti rivoluzionari: il Parallel Cinema indiano. Nella presentazione si legge: 'Che cos’è il Parallel Cinema? Dopo cinquant’anni, rimane ancora una questione aperta. È un movimento, un genere, una rivoluzione, un nuovo linguaggio cinematografico? Spesso utilizzato in modo improprio come sinonimo di cinema sperimentale, non convenzionale o semplicemente in antitesi al cinema mainstream o populista, il Parallel Cinema è un fenomeno estremamente ricco ed esteso, complesso da definire. La sua genesi affonda le radici nel Manifesto del movimento per il nuovo cinema pubblicato nel 1968 dai registi Arun Kaul e Mrinal Sen. L’anno successivo, l’uscita di un trittico di opere innovatrici come Bhuvan Shome di Mrinal Sen, Uski Roti di Mani Kaul e Sara-Aakash di Basu Chatterjee segna l’inizio di una delle congiunture più creative e radicali del cinema indiano. Questi tre film furono prodotti dalla nascente Film Finance Corporation, ente istituito dallo stato per concedere prestiti a bassi interessi alle produzioni, che avrà un ruolo chiave nella definizione e nelle future declinazioni del Parallel Cinema. Il nostro programma guarda ai suoi anni fondativi (1968-1976), caratterizzati da diversi flussi creativi che scorrono in molteplici direzioni, assorbendo l’influenza delle nouvelle vague europee così come l’ideologia di stampo comunista e l’estetica del cinema bengalese'.

Suketu Mehta: Questa terra è la nostra terra

È in vendita nelle librerie italiane Questa terra è la nostra terra. Manifesto di un migrante, di Suketu Mehta, pubblicato da Einaudi. Nella presentazione si legge: 

'Le migrazioni sono una costante della storia umana. E oggi piú che mai, perché le conseguenze del colonialismo, delle guerre, del cambiamento climatico hanno reso la vita impossibile nei loro Paesi d’origine a milioni di persone. Siamo un pianeta in movimento e Suketu Mehta, con la chiarezza e la passione che l’hanno reso celebre, ci racconta perché questa è la cosa migliore che potesse capitarci. (...) Partendo dalla sua esperienza personale - lo scrittore è emigrato ragazzo da Bombay a New York con la sua famiglia -, Mehta fa il giro del mondo per delineare il quadro della situazione in Occidente: dalla frontiera tra Messico e Stati Uniti, alla recinzione che separa il Marocco da Melilla, alle politiche islamofobe di molti governi europei, il sentimento prevalente è la paura. Perché le storie di chi ogni giorno lavora e lotta duramente per conquistare diritti che dovrebbero essere scontati sono offuscate dai discorsi altisonanti pieni di retorica populista. E allora tutti a difendersi, chiudersi, respingere invece di accogliere. È un errore, e Mehta lo racconta in questo vero e proprio manifesto a favore dell’immigrazione: non si può che trarre vantaggio dall’apertura, dall’accoglienza, dallo scambio. Appassionato, intenso, tenero, pieno di storie e personaggi memorabili, Questa terra è la nostra terra è una lucida lettura del presente, e un incoraggiamento a cambiare il futuro'.

Vi segnalo l'intervista concessa dallo scrittore a Nandini Nair, pubblicata da Open il 15 agosto 2019. Suketu Mehta: From America with Love and Anger:

'In 1977, a 14-year-old Suketu Mehta moved to the US with his parents and two sisters. In Bombay, he left behind his closest friends. To them he would write letters, not of the aching loneliness or isolation he felt at the all-boys’ Catholic high school in Queens, New York. He did not tell them that a bully had christened him ‘Mouse’, and would trip him in the hallways. He did not mention the time when his family found hate painted across their car. Instead, he would share with his friends pages from comic books, which were available in the US, and were coveted back in India. Speaking on the phone from New York, he says, “The stories immigrants send back home is, ‘Look, we’ve gone to America, this is the dream.’ But it is actually not. It is a very emotionally fraught kind of storytelling.” As an immigrant, even a teenage Mehta knew that the stories one shares with those one has left behind, are stories of success, anecdotes of joy, to prove that the move to the new land has, indeed, been a successful one. The role of stories, those which we tell ourselves, those we recount to our family, and those which politicians tell us, play a pivotal role in Mehta’s most recent book This Land is Our Land. An Immigrant’s Manifesto. (...) He writes, ‘The first thing that a new migrant sends to his family back home isn’t money; it’s a story.’ It could be about the first snowfall, or the first sight of Brooklyn bridge or the first taste of a hotdog.

But if stories bind, they can also sever. And of late, they’ve been used as tools to create discord and divisions. Mehta writes, ‘Stories have power, much more power than cold numbers. That’s why Trump won the election; that’s why Modi and (...) Orbán (...) and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte won power. A populist is, above all, a gifted storyteller, and the recent elections across the world illustrate the power of populism: a false narrative, a horror story about the other, well told.’ It is these false narratives that Mehta redresses in his book. He says, “The debate around migration is a contest of storytelling.” He believes that all “these populists” - whether it is Trump on television, or Bal Thackeray at Shivaji Park - know how to tell a story, how to build a brand, and they do it adeptly, through lies. The only way those false stories can be fought is “by telling a true story better.” And that is the job of journalists and writers. “Why are all these people demonising writers and journalists,” he asks, “it is because they are truth tellers. (...) I felt I had to write this book now. The US 2020 election will be won or lost on the basis of immigration. It is the single most pressing issue for Americans. (...) I felt it almost like a calling. I did this because I felt angry. This book was born out of rage. Because of the staggering global hypocrisy built around migration.” 

This Land is our Land is an excellent example of crystallised rage. This is not the rage of spit and bluster, that leaves the recipient of it annoyed, but unmoved. Instead it is a rage borne from moral clarity and fostered by the truth. It is a rage that has been harnessed into adamant arguments, and which only the wilfully blind and selectively deaf can choose to ignore. Mehta comes to the issue of migration from personal experience, but through the stories of others, and in-depth research on the topic, he proves that we are all migrants. The fear of immigrants is stoked only by politicians to earn votes, make money, and to vilify the ‘other’. “Trump calls migrants robbers or rapists, I call them ordinary heroes,” Mehta says. (...) In this book, Mehta underscores that the great animating force of migration is that most human and innate of desires - to do better for one’s family, to provide for one’s children, and to toil towards a future that is brighter than the present.

An ‘Immigrant's Manifesto’ is an apt title for the book because it is as much an exploration of migration, as it is a proclamation. This Land is Our Land is a public declaration of the belief and aims of all immigrants. It is a manifesto, which in no uncertain terms declares, ‘I claim the right to the United States, for myself and my children and my uncles and cousins, by manifest destiny. This land is your land, this land is our land, it belongs to you and me. It’s our country now. We will not reassure anybody about their racist fears about our deportment; we’re not letting the bastards take it back. It is our America now.’ Mehta stakes a claim to America, as he believes all immigrants can lay ownership to the richer world, because of the past workings of colonialism and the present machinations of capitalism and climate change. Migrants from poorer parts have a right to settle into richer parts, and that right is essentially restitutionary. (...) For Mehta the restitutionary nature of immigration can be simply explained by - we are here, because you were there. Mehta adds, “The British ran India not as civilising endeavour. But to make England rich.”

While the US can choose to obfuscate and declare that they don’t owe anything to India, since they were a colony themselves, they need to be held accountable for the ruin they are unleashing upon the planet today. While the US military alone is a bigger polluter than 140 countries combined, the “US has walked away from the Paris Accord and will do nothing about climate change,” says Mehta. “Indians are suffering, and will continue to suffer, at enormous rates,” he adds, “because the developed countries, built up their economies, with fossil fuels.” Climate change of today has replaced the colonialism of the last century, as we will continue to see the rich countries get richer, and the poor countries get poorer. Mehta believes that the catastrophic effects of climate change, when entire countries get submerged, will unleash the kind of human migration that history has yet to witness. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, when it comes to movement,” he says, and even over a trans-Atlantic phone line I can hear his assertion in all capitals.

It is little surprise that Mehta’s book has been met by a range of reactions. (...) He notes how one reviewer on Amazon said he should be ‘skinned alive’ and must return to his ‘turd-world country,’ while someone else tweeted, ‘This cockroach needs sent back to whatever shit hole he crawled out of.’ But for Mehta what is interesting and meaningful is the appreciation he has received from people like him. He says, “I have been getting all these letters from Indian Americans, saying that my book has really made them stop apologising, for moving. People who came here in the ’60s, they are professionals, they are expected to be really grateful to America for letting them in. My book points out that this country would fall apart without immigration.” Now is not the time for the Indian American community to merely enjoy its economic success, instead they need to contribute to the public sphere, possibly join politics and “claim our place in the country,” he asserts.

According to Mehta, everyone benefits from migration. For the refugees, it might make the difference between life and death. For the recipient country, it will bring young and enterprising migrants who having left home and embarked on an arduous journey will work hard and honestly. The immigrants will send back money to their homes, and the remittances will benefit the countries that they’ve left behind. As Mehta writes, ‘They will make their new countries richer, in all senses of the word. The immigrant armada that is coming to your shores is actually a rescue fleet.’ Mehta might have written This Land is Our Land from anger, but it is ultimately “an angry book with a happy ending”. And the happy ending is that immigration benefits everybody. Mehta adds, “The end of the book is also a renewal of my faith in America.” He loves America because it is one country made up of all other countries'.

Tesher: Young Shahrukh

Compie un anno il brano Young Shahrukh, scritto e interpretato da Tesher, rapper indo-canadese. Vi segnalo il video prodotto da Tesher (vale la pena, fidatevi), e il video ufficiale realizzato da Sony Music India. Il mio verso preferito? From Bombay to Milan I feel like Shah Rukh Khan, ovvio! Il brano campionato è Bole Chudiyan, di Jatin-Lalit, tratto dalla colonna sonora di Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.