Every once in a while a picture will come along that makes you sit up and prompt you to think in a very different way. That is what director Ben Lewin’s The Sessions does to you as you sit in the darkened picture hall and watch a poignant, funny, optimistic and above all a well-made story about life and love unfold in front of you. Evoking such a vast range of emotions in a span of 95 minutes is not an easy task, but Lewin succeeds brilliantly in just doing that.
The Sessions is based on the real life-story of a polio survivor with an iron lung, who has a mission to accomplish at the age of 38. What that mission is and how he reaches his goal is what The Sessions is about. Like the protagonist, director and writer Lewin is a polio survivor, but that has not come in his way of achieving his dreams in the world of cinema and television.
The Sessions is a story about 3 people: a disabled journalist and poet, a Catholic priest and a sex surrogate. This is a story of how Berkeley-based Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes) wants to know a woman in the full biblical sense when he just shy of 40 years old. He confesses his desire to Father Brendan (William H.Macy), and wonders if he could help him with his journey? An opportunity presents itself to Mark to write an article about disabled people using sexual surrogate and that is how he ends up meeting sex therapist Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Helen Hunt).
Madhur Jaffrey is an actress, author and a cook, who seems absolutely indefatigable. Now in her late 70s she continues to write, act, and is back on the BBC this year with a new TV series Curry Nation that looks at the impact of Indian curry in the UK. In the 1980s her BBC series Flavors of India introduced a whole new generation of people to Indian cooking. Besides writing, she also continues to act in plays and films. She started her acting career in the 1960s.
A couple of years ago I got to meet Madhur in San Francisco when she released her cookbook At Home With Madhur Jaffrey. We spoke about her book, cooking, Indian food, acting, Ismail Merchant and Diwali. I had previously spoken to her in 2006 about her autobiography Climbing The Mango Tree, which is her food memories of growing up in Delhi. Here is the link to the previous podcast with Madhur Jaffrey talking about food in Delhi.
Here is Part-1 of the podcast interview that was just published, where Madhur talks about how she came to write the book and why. She also gives us a peek into her writing process. How does she go about writing her cookbooks?
Tune back in for Part-2 of the interview, where she talks about Indian food in Delhi, UK and the US.
Meet Silicon Valley-based Sujit Saraf- an engineer, writer, actor and director, who somehow seems to find the time to pursue his interests in a systematic and sustainable way. How does he do it you ask right? We had the same question.
Naatak means drama in Hindi. Naatak is the name of a Silicon Valley-based theatre group that started in the 1990s, and has continued to produce plays in Hindi, English and sometimes in Tamil over the years.
Sujit has written 3 novels so far. His latest is The Confessions of Sultana Daku set in 1920s British India in a area known as United Provinces (now it is the state of Uttar Pradesh). Prior to that he wrote “The Peacock Throne.”
Here is Part-1 of our interview where Sujit talks about how he finds the time to be involved in Naatak, write his novels and earn his daily bread.
Cloud Atlas is an epic of a film directed by Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski (Matrix trilogy) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). This “meta-narrative” as Tykwer put it spans 500 years of history and is embedded with 6 tales set in different parts of the world. The story begins in South Pacific in 1849 and ends in post-apocalyptic Neo Seoul in 2144. The film is based on a novel by the same title by David Mitchell, which I have not read.
So, that is the outline of the film, but making the film and then making it accessible to a global audience is a whole different experience. The Wachowski’s and Tkywer shot the film in 2 different locations with 2 cinematographers, 2 production designers and then put it all together. When you watch the film it is not immediately evident that there were 3 directors working on the film. This maybe because the film moves back and forth to different periods in history, while maintaining its focus on the larger story of humanity and connectedness.
“Everything is connected is the crux of the story and let us see how the dots are connected in this 500 year saga,” that is what I scribbled in my notebook as I sat down to watch the screening of Cloud Atlas. The opening shot is that of the Milky Way (I presume it is the Milky Way), and that scene dissolves to reveal a picture of an old man sitting in front of a fire telling a tale about voices etc. The next thing I knew I had stopped scribbling notes in my book, and tried to focus on the film to understand what was happening. I began to notice details like the make-up and the clever ways in which each artist morphed into a different character.
It took me a while to figure out that the film was “time-hopping” with the same ensemble of actors, who morph into a good person in one life, and a villian in another life. Once I understood that this was about the past, present and the future and there is this notion of reincarnation, karma and dharma things started to click. They don’t use those terms in the film. Maybe it was the timing of the screening of Cloud Altas with Dusshera that invoked those long, forgotten multi-threaded stories about the various avatars of gods and goddess of my childhood, which in turn may have colored my hybrid lens? Whatever be the case, I stopped writing and spent time trying to understand this film about “humanity,” and connectedness. Now, this was a theme I was familiar with having grown up in India, and listening to the epic stories from there.
I struggled to understand some parts of the film, but did not have to struggle with other parts. Maybe I was trying too hard? Interestingly, the audience was engaged in watching the film and at one point were visibly shocked by the brutality of one of the characters. You could sense the audience recoil in horror when they witnessed that scene. At other times, they were laughing and clapping. At the end of this 3 hour epic film some in the audience clapped, while others were still trying to figure out what they had just seen. “There was too-much of time-hopping,” one of them remarked in a loud voice. That, I think is going to be the challenge for viewers. There are some loose ends that don’t quite tie up, and I guess that is ok. The film addresses the larger issue of freedom, oppression, and this notion of connectedness that transcends geographical boundaries. It is about actions in one life, impacts your future life, and this is familiar territory for those of us, who grew up in India. It is also about love.
I have purposely refrained from describing the 6 stories that are melded into this “meta-narrative” of a film. It is really one big story that gets played out in different avatars, but with the same soul. The stories are familiar ones of greed, oppression, standing up for your rights etc. Those are universal themes, but what is more interesting is how they wove all those different strands into one big picture. This is a film where the directors have spent lot of their love, time and devotion and that is amply clear. But, maybe it too much for us? I will leave it to you, dear reader, to decide that. We bring our set of lenses when we go to watch a film. It depends what that lens is made of.
Special mention must be made of the music that enhanced the whole experience of watching the film.Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil scored the music. This is perhaps one of the rare times when a director is part of the music team. The other director that comes to mind is Clint Eastwood, who has composed music for some of his films.
The ensemble of actors who come in different avatars are Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David and David Gyasi.
Wikipedia. Chances are that when you want to look up you look it up on Wikipedia. Need that information in French, Spanish or Tamil on Wikipedia? That is not a problem, you can read that information in those languages. Need that information served in your latest smart phone? That is not a problem either. There are apps for that.
We spoke with Wikipedia’s Alolita Sharma, Director of Engineering, about her passion for open source and her work at Wikipedia. How to make Wikipedia available in more than 200 languages and on mobile devices are couple of the major projects that keeps Alolita and her team busy. In the interview Alolita talks about her passion for open source, how she came to join Wikipedia and her work at this San Francisco-based company.
Connected cars and parking apps. What is the connection you ask? Think about this – you are cruising along onInterstate 280 in a car with all kinds of bells and whistles like voice-activated commands and smart self-parking. Yes, there is such a thing. Your connected car can park itself once you identify a parking spot. I saw it at Ford Motor Company’s racetrack last year. But, how can a park by itself? How can it see? Sensors. Sensors respond to light, touch, pressure etc as Paul Saffo and other pointed out in a Churchill Club meeting in 2010.
Given all this technology and changes in consumer behavior how does a car company figure out what it needs to plan for the future by looking at current consumer trends and technology? That is where a futurist comes in, and Ford Motor Co’s Sheryl Connelly takes us behind the scene and demystifies her role to some extent in this podcast interview.
Let us go back to that connected car in which yo are cruising down highway 280 and have reached San Francisco. A car can self-park only if there is an empty parking spot in the first place, right? A frentic search ensues for finding that rare commodity – a parking spot. If the parking gods are smiling at you, you just may luck out and find that coveted parking spot. If not, you may have to shell out boatloads of greenbacks for valet parking. But, wait what about that parking spot that you just spotted a block away in front of that lovely home? Could you park there? Yes, you could if you had the right parking app in your smart phone. That is right there are apps that will help you find a coveted spot and that is precisely what Silicon Valley-based Parkify does. Nickesh Viswanathan, co-founder of Parkify explains how Parkify works in this video interview.
But, wait a sec. What happens if your phone runs out of juice and you can’t listen to your favorite playlist of Ella or Duke Ellington in your connected car, and are unable to use Parkify’s app? I guess there must be an app for it somewhere that beeps loudly and lets you know your smartphone is going to shut down and your connected life as you know it is going to hit a glitch. No, wait it can’t be an app. You need power for extended period of time and maybe an app can’t really help you with it. It has to be battery. That is right, the next wave of innovation is going to be in battery technology, but that is whole different story.
Come October and it is time to remember Gandhi. Born on Oct 2, 1869 in Gujarat, India Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi played a key role in India’s freedom movement during the British Raj. Gandhi’s influence was not limited to India, but went to influence other leaders like Martin Luther King.
Interestingly, in the 21stc it looks like Gandhi has been rediscovered by the startup and entrepreneur community in San Francisco. Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square is known to take new employees of his start-ups to Gandhi’s statue at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. So, one foggy morning I trekked down to Ferry building and lo! and behold! there was a meeting in progress right under the Gandhi statue. Not wanting to disturb the group of people gathered under the statue I quickly took somephotos and exited. I did hear the leader of the group mention why he started his company.
Besides the recent photos here is a podcast interview on Gandhi. In the 1940s Flower Silliman was a student at Lady Irwin College, New Delhi and part of the choir that sang for Gandhi’s choir in the city. In this podcast interview Flower remembers Gandhi.
San Francisco is getting ready for its 10th year celebration of South Asian films. 3rd I Film Festival featuring South Asian films opens today in San Francisco and runs through the 23rd of September 2012. And for the first time they will show films in San Jose on September 30th. Here is the link to the festival guide.
I sat down to talk with co-founder Ivan Jaigirdar and co-progammer Anuj Vaidya, who take us behind the scenes and talk about the festival got its start and the highlights of this year’s festival. Recently, both Ivan and Anuj were recognized as “local heroes” by KQED and Union Bank of California.
Interview with Ivan Jaigirdar:
Interview with Anuj, who highlights some of the interesting South Asian films at this year’s festival.
Set in New York, Arbitrage takes you into the complex and opaque world of hedge fund managers. “We call the big hedge fund mangers ‘The Masters of Universe,’” says Jarecki in this interview. Arbitrage stars Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling and Tim Roth with Yorick Le Saux as the cinematographer
In this video interview Jarecki talks aabout a subject he is familiar with – business and how he came to write the script for Arbitrage. Both his parents were commodity traders and his father Prof. Jarecki was the head of well-known commodity company.
Jarecki started his own business as a teenager and has a bit of that “hacker” spirit in him he points out. “Business is such a big game,” he says and it is one aspect of that business he explores in the film. But, why did Jarecki wait so long to make his first Hollywood feature film? Tune in to find out why.
Murphy radio and Radio Ceylon mentioned in Ala Barfi song from the upcoming Bollywood film Barfi have probably opened the floodgates of happy radio memories for millions of people that grew up in India. Swanand Kirkire brilliantly captures a slice of Indian life that is probably disappearing. There was a time when Murphyradio and Radio Ceylon played a central role in providing entertainment for millions of Indians.
Murphy radio and Radio Ceylon bring back warm memories of entertainment for those who grew up in the pre-MTV and pre-Internet era. Think the 1950s through 1980s when music streamed through those tiny transistors or radios that were a permanent fixture in millions of homes across India. This was an era of shortwave radio, All India Radio and Doordarshan. Radio Ceylon was thePandora andSpotify for the analog generation of India, where some lucky ones may have worked on mainframe computers and WordStar programs on their very first personal computers.
Murph radio meant the iconic Murphy baby, whose face smiled down to us from various shops and hoardings. I remember the Murphy radio baby smiling down at me from its hoarding on Mount Road in Madras. Yes, that is right I thought that little baby was staring down at my little face and smiling at me. I bet you that many people ended up buying a Murphy radio because of that baby and that wide-eyed and happy expression on its face. Who was that Murphy baby in real life? Turns out it was 3-year old Kagyur Tulku Rinpoche from Manali in Himachal Pradesh, who is now married to actress Mandakini of Ram Teri Ganga Maili fame.
And what streamed through that Murphy radio in many people’s home? It was Radio Ceylon, which brought the latest and greatest Hindi songs to its listeners. Radio Ceylon also meant listening to Ameen Sayani, the legendary broadcaster, whose hit radio program Geet Mala started in 1952 and continued for over 30 years. Radio Ceylon was the go-to-station for the latest and greatest songs from Hindi (Bollywood) films. Listeners from all over India like Jhumaritalaya to Yavatmal sent in their requests to Radio Ceylon and then heard their favorite song over their shortwave radios.
Now, 60 yeas after Geetmala started and made Radio Ceylon a household names, here come Ala Barfi with its references to 2 forgotten pieces of radio’s rich legacy in India – Murphy radio and Radio Ceylon. Can you imagine the happy memories this song would have triggered in people’s mind? Can you imagine the conversation in desi living rooms around Murphy radio and Radio Ceylon? I know this song brought back memories to me and thanks to Swanand Kirkire’s whimsical and beautiful Ala Barfi lyrics.
The Sessions is based on the real life-story of a polio survivor with an iron lung, who has a mission to accomplish at the age of 38. What that mission is and how he reaches his goal is what The Sessions is about. Like the protagonist, director and writer Lewin is a polio survivor, but that has not come in his way of achieving his dreams in the world of cinema and television.