Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s award-winning film The Salesman (Forushande in Persian) centers around the notion of love, friendship, trust, revenge and forgiveness. If you have seen Farhadi’s previous films like About Elly or The Separation you know they leave you with more questions than answers. In The Salesman Farhadi skillfully peels layer after layer and… Continue Reading
San Francisco Bay area fans of filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch are in for a treat at Stanford Theatre. From now till March 25, 2017 you can catch Lubitsch’s silent and talkie or sound films. Lubitsch was known for his witty and elegant films like Trouble In Paradise, Ninotchka and The Shop Around the Corner. Lubitsch started his career in… Continue Reading
I sat down to speak with Halfdan Hussey, CEO and co-founder of Cinequest Inc, a Silicon Valley-based organization. Every year they host an annual film festival that features films, workshops, conversation and spotlights the latest technology for content creators and filmmakers. They also have a program for youths called Picture The Possibilities. Hussey talks about the philosophy behind… Continue Reading
Meet Devika Chawla, Engineering Director at Netflix and a music composer and singer. I sat down with her to find out how she developed and nurtured her interests in science, especially computer programming and music from a young age.How did her parents help shape her interests? Why did she elect to study computer engineering at George Town University?… Continue Reading
We caught up with Oscar nominee Theodore Melfi of Hidden Figures in San Francisco. Melfi directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Alison Schroder. We talked to him about the making of Hidden Figures, how he got attached to the film. the math boot camp for his actors and the music by Pharrell Williams and Hans… Continue Reading
I sat down to speak to with Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges about his role in Manchester By The Sea, Kenneth Lonergan, his new film with Martin McDonagh, acting, learning to pay the banjo and his love for Harry Potter. We also find out why he elected to study at University of North Carolina School of the Arts,… Continue Reading
I popped over to my local picture hall in Silicon Valley to catch the first show of a new Bollywood film. This was director Rahul Dholakia’s Raees starring Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Mahira Khan. All I knew about Raees is that it is a thriller loosely based on a underground criminal or a gangster from Gujarat,… Continue Reading
Silicon Valley’s annual film festival Cinequest is back this year with a strong foucs on virtual reality (VR). The VR offerings range from short VR films to VR experiences and workshops with filmmakers on how to capture and create VR content. Cinequest Film & VR festival runs from Feb 28 – Mar 12, 2017 and is… Continue Reading
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone was in Hollywood a few days ago to promote her new film xXx Return of Xander Cage that stars Vin Diesel and is directed by DJ Caruso. Diesel, Caruso and Padukone attended the Indian premier in Mumbai since the film released in India on Jan 13, 2017. Diesel’s films are hugely popular in India, and so… Continue Reading
Dr. Uma Jayaram is the co-founder and COO of VOKE VR that was acquired by Intel Corp in November 2016 for an undisclosed amount. We recorded our interview with Dr. Jayaram earlier this year before it was acquired by Intel. We sat down with Dr. Jayaram to find out how she and her husband Dr. Sankar… Continue Reading
We caught up director Theodore Melfi during the screening of his film Hidden Figures by the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS). We talked to him about the making of Hidden Figures which is about 3 African-American math teachers, who went on to work for NASA and worked in the Apollo project in the 1960s. We… Continue Reading
Veteran actor Om Puri (66) passed away on Jan 6, 2016 in Mumbai. A versatile and talented actor, Puri acted in theatre, films and TV. He made his film debut in the 1970s and went on to act in many art house films in Hindi and branched off into mainstream Bollywood. He then went on to act… Continue Reading
Flor de Anís is a song composed by Jorge Licego by Cascada de Flores, a San Francisco Bay area ensemble. Liceaga sings the music and is accompanied by Arwen Lawrence (vocalist, dancer), Kyla Danysh (violinist, vocalist), and Saul Sierra-Alonso (bass). You can watch the entire performance and an interview with Lawrence here. The show was… Continue Reading
Wish you a wonderful new year filled with happiness and joy.
What a year 2016 turned out to be. To use the hackneyed phrase surreal to describe 2016 would be a master understatement. It is as if we are all part of some bad film. What was utterly surreal is the way in which the mother and daughter actors Carrie Fisher (60) and Debbie Reynolds (84) passed away… Continue Reading
Meet Silicon Valley-based Christopher Lochhead, co-author of f Play Bigger – How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets. Prior to writing the book Lochhead was the Chief Marketing Officer of 3 Silicon Valley-based companies. He is also the father of 7 hens, a surfer and a priest in the Church of Latter-Day Dude. We sat… Continue Reading
We got an opportunity to speak with Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz about the making of La La Land, its music, the influence of Hollywood musicals, Jacques Demy and their first day in Los Angeles. Are there any autobiographical elements in this film? Tune in to find out. Chazelle wrote and directed the film… Continue Reading
Director John Madden’s new film Miss Sloane is about a powerful Washington DC lobbyist played by Jessica Chastain. We caught up with Madden at Industrial Light Magic’s (ILM) office in San Francisco. ILM was a fitting venue since Madden’s first American project was a radio drama of Star Wars. George Lucas is a big fan of radio… Continue Reading
Jayalalitha Jayaraman, the Chief Minister of the southern Indian India state Tamil Nadu passed on Dec 5, 2106 in Chennai. Jayalalitha (68) represents a rare breed of Tamil politicians, who built their career in the Tamil film industry before joining politics. Jayalalitha along with MGR and Karunanidhi exerted a powerful influence on their voters and on the policy… Continue Reading
Jayaraman Jayalalitha, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu passed away on Sunday, Dec 4, 2016 in Chennai. She was 68 years old. This obituary from the BBC sums up Jayalalitha’s life in films and politics. She was popularly known as Amma (mother). For many Jayalalitha was the “Iron Lady” of Tamil Nadu, the Southern state… Continue Reading
Alam Khan is a musician, composer and educator. He plays the sarode. We spoke with Khan about his father Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the legacy of Maihar gharana and his love for both Hindustani or North Indian classical music and hip-hop. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan was one of the most famous sarode player and Khan… Continue Reading
Lucas Hedges is a fine, fine actor. I sat down to speak to Hedges about his role in Manchester By The Sea, Kenneth Lonergan, his new film with Martin McDonagh, acting, music and Harry Potter. Hedges has known Lonergan since he was a kid and yet was very nervous when he audioned for the film. He auditioned… Continue Reading
You know how Netflix makes recommendations for you? That is how I discovered Brown Nation. At first I overlooked their suggestion since I had no clue what Brown Nation was all about.And then I succumbed out of sheer curiosity and was hooked. Part of the reason for being hooked is the way the series captured… Continue Reading
Dr. Aaron Lington and Chris Motter play their version of Bags’ Groove, a well-known jazz tune by Milt Jackson. Dr. Lington shares how they have funkified their version and explains how they improvised this well-known jazz number. Dr. Lington is an educator, composer and arranger, who teaches at San Jose State University. Motter is a… Continue Reading
Actor Lucas Hedges shares how he got to star in Kenneth Lonergan’s film Manchester By The Sea. He auditioned for his role 5 times and was very nervous if he’d bag the role he shares. Lonergan wrote and directed the film that stars Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler and Lucas Hedges. We have a… Continue Reading
Singer-songwriter and novelist Leonard Cohen died in his sleep in Los Angeles on November 7, 2016. He was 82 years old. Cohen’s “dry, monotone voice…provided a rarefied alternative to more accessible troubadours, employing meticulous language to plumb the vagaries of the human condition,” writes Joseph Cerna of Los Angeles Times. And, Cerna is absolutely right.… Continue Reading
Kamala Devi Harris (D) was elected as California’s new Senator. Harris won the seat that was vacated by Barbara Boxer. On Jan 3, 2017 Harris will be sworn in as the new Senator from California, and will step down from her role as Attorney General of California. Do we retreat, or do we fight asks Harris in her election… Continue Reading
Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berg share on how they came to write the screenplay for Trolls. One of the interesting things about trolls is that there was no backstory or a universe available for them. Aibel and Berger got an opportunity to architect and create a whole new world and backstory for these happy-go-lucky trolls. Their… Continue Reading
We discovered a whole new world of Northern California when we took the back roads to Gilroy, Watsonville, Salinas and Carmel. These towns are located in the verdant Santa Clara Valley, Santa Cruz & Monterey counties that is home to “Artichoke capital of the world,” and “Salad Bowl of the world.” The arrival experience to these towns… Continue Reading
Damien Chazelle’s beautifully crafted film La La Land hits theatres in December 2016. I saw the film a couple of months ago and instantly fell in love with it. The film pays homage to dreamers, Los Angeles, Hollywood musicals and to French filmmaker Jacques Demy. We have an interview coming up with Chazelle and Justin… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 