VIDEO: Beautiful Sara Tendulkar with father Sachin, Anjali

MUSSOORIE: Sachin’sbeautiful daughter Sara Tendulkar was spotted with her parents and younger brother Arjun in northern India’s popular hill station Mussoorie recently. As we all know, 17-year-old Sara has been attracting attention and gaining immense popularity with her elegance and style.

Sara’s simple yet stunning look has put her in the spotlight and she is being touted as the next big thing in the world of glamour and glitz. There are several Facebook fan pages and Twitter handles dedicated to Sara Tendulkar, who is often seen accompanying father Sachin and mother Anjali Tendulkar in parties. She is at times compared to Alia Bhatt made her acting debut with Bollywood film Student Of The Year at the age of 19.

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The Slumdog and Millionaire debate

I just watched Slumdog Millionaire. I had to. What if so much is being written and said about the film. Ever since, Big B reportedly expressed his disagreement about the film, the debate has heated up.

Not only the Indian media but also the International media paid their respect to Big B’s comments. The Guardian as well as BBC had reports about the Bollywood star’s views.

One question that both the critics and supporters of the film have raised is:

If this film was made by a local director and not by a Western biggie, would our reaction to the film have been the same?

Whether it is the seasoned blogger, Amit Verma who has heaved praise on the film or the critical Arindam Choudhuri who has urged Indians not to waste their time in watching the film, the same question has been raised.

But, the truth is, the film has not been made by a local Indian director and therefore the question remains unanswerable.

It is true that the film illogically shows every negative thing about India happening in the protagonist’s life...slums, open-air lavatories, riots, underworld, prostitution, brothels, begging, child labour, blinding and maiming of kids to make them into “better beggars”, petty pedlars, traffic jams, irresponsible call centre executives... It fails to provide a balanced view.

That the maestro A.R. Rahman has secured three Oscar nominations is one convincing factor. Nonetheless, it can also be asked: Is his music in Slumdog Millionaire his best performance? Has he not scored music in Indian music that was even better?

Contrarily if Slumdog Millionaire offends or pleases, it is in the nature of art to do so.

Still confused? Watch it for yourself and decide.

Making the films I have made – Shyam Benegal

Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal at Jamia Millia Pix: Dipu Shaw

The 3rd Anwar Jamal Kidwai Memorial Lecture was held in the Ansari Auditorium of Jamia Millia Islamia yesterday. Eminent film maker Shyam Benegal who was the chief guest on the occasion delivered the lecture on “Making the Films I have made”. Prof. Mushirul Hasan, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, delivered the key note address.

The lecture is now organised every year by the Mass Communication Research Centre as a mark of tribute to its founder, the late Anwar Jamal Kidwai. The occasion too was appropriate. Jamia Millia Islamia is celebrating its 88th anniversary with the Annual Talimi Mela.


An excellent opportunity

For the students of the Mass Communication Research Centre, it was a rare opportunity to hear the seasoned filmmaker speak about his ordeals and experiences in the film-making industry. Many students of the Centre are about to join the industry by the end of the academic year and Shyam Benegal is an inspiration for most of them.

The veteran film maker who has also made more than 50 documentaries including one on Satyajit Ray and the much applauded television serial, Bharat Ek Khoj, talked on how he began his journey in the film-making business.

Mr. Benegal's inspiration

The recipient of 17 National film awards and the coveted Dada Saheb Phalke Award related about his visit to Kolkata in the 50s when he was a student. “When I saw Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, there was an explosion in my brain”, remembered the veteran film maker. “I saw it 12 times then and eventually ended up seeing it 26 times”.

The film made him realize that there was no need for him to follow any kind of convention that was being followed by the film makers in the country. “It had the smell of the earth and showed relationships that all of us have,” said Mr. Benegal. This probably is one reason that Benegal’s films are replete with strong social messages.

He said that the juxtaposition of the feudal and colonial set up that he grew up with also got reflected in his films. Ankur, Mr. Benegal’s first feature film, was based on a short story that he had written when he was in college. “It was a part of the change when I was growing up”, he added.

Revisiting the Indian village

Talking about his latest box office hit Welcome to Sajjanpur, the director enumerated his wish to revisit the Indian village, that had been largely neglected by Hindi films for 10 to 12 years. “But, it had to be in a form that urban people would watch it”, he enumerated. “Therefore, I chose comedy as the medium to tell the story. It could then deal with the issues of low literacy and honour killing, in an engaging fashion.