IPL bid has made my film ‘Lahore’ a soft target: Director

Calcutta News.Net – Monday 25th January, 2010 (IANS)

The snubbing of Paksitani players in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) bid has not gone down well in the neighbouring nation whose people are now venting their anger on the Internet at Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s upcoming sports film ‘Lahore’.

‘My film has become the soft target because of the IPL bid boycotting the Pakistani players. The timing has been unfortunate and a mere coincidence that our promo came out at this time and we are being targeted for that with hate mails in reaction,’ an upset Chauhan told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

‘Pakistani people are thinking that it is a negative trailer. But ours is a very balanced promo and I don’t think it should raise so many negative remarks from them,’ he added.

Pakistanis are slamming the film promo and predicting the film will be a ‘super duper flop’.

‘I’ve just tried showing the sports rivalry and the condition of the players as in what they go through at that time. I hope their (Pakistanis’) perception changes after they see the film,’ said Chauhan.

Set against the backdrop of competitive sports (kick-boxing) in the international arena, it stars Nafisa Ali, Farouque Shaikh, Ashish Vidyarthi, Nirmal Pandey, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Kelly Dorji, Shraddha Das, Shraddha Nigam and Mukesh Rishi. Actor Aanaahad makes his debut with the film.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures India, ‘Lahore’ has been produced by Sai Om Films Pvt Ltd.

Releasing commercially March 19, it has already an international award — the jury award for the Best Feature Film at the 42nd WorldFest International Film Festival, Houston, Texas, where the world premiere was held on April 20 last year.

Chauhan puts forth another reason for receiving the hate mails.

‘It’s been a tradition that we’ve made Pakistan bashing films and we completely set to ignore that they are very fond of our films and watch it very passionately.’

Despite the negative reaction, the director is looking forward to a Lahore premiere for his film.

‘We want to have the premiere of the film in Lahore because it is the title of the film and plays a crucial part in the movie. It shows India and Pakistan in a new light. Though the cast and crew are a bit concerned about security measures but we are still trying to get the visas etc,’ he said.

URBAN TRANSPORT IN OUR SUB-CONTINENT : DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS

Vipul Thakore has contributed this post:

All large and expanding cities in our sub-continent have huge transport problems and there is not one standard solution. Without good and economic transport, our economies can not progress

In Indian capital  Delhi, Metro trains have been successfully introduced and the system is now slowly expanding. Similar Metros will be introduced in Bangalore, Chenai  and other cities in due course.

I think Pakistan authorities had some discussions with Delhi Metro Management for introducing Metro System in Lahore. I do not know the result.

I am detailing introduction of a different system, High-tec rapid bus services, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State. It may be suitable for introduction in some Pakistani cities, with necessary ‘local’ adjustments.

All Pakistan Music Conference – Concert announcement

Our next Concert is scheduled for 6th February 2010 Hall II, Lahore Alhamra Arts Council.
It is Mr Hayat Ahmad Khan’s 5th Barsi.

The Artists are

Shujat Ali Khan Vocal
Beenish Parvez Vocal
Ustad Altaf Hussain Tafo Tabla (SOLO)
Zohaib Hasan Sarangi
Parvez Paras Harmonium
Ghulam Sabir Tanpura
Haroon Samuel Tabla

Dr Ghazala Irfan
Secretary General
The All Pakistan Music Conference
Res: 12-a, Block E-2 Main Boulevard
Gulberg III
Lahore 54662 Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35763318/35873447
Fax: +92-42-35754702
E-mail: ghazalairfan
web site: www.apmc.info
Office Hours:(5:00 pm to 9:00 pm Monday through Saturday excluding holidays)

Lahore’s canal – alternative views

Raza Rumi

I am posting three insightful pieces on TheSouthAsianIdea Weblog that deal with the controversy over the construction of an expressway along the Lahore Canal. Whilst we support the Lahore Bachao Tehreek, it is important that all voices of reason should be reckoned for a full debate. I liked this part:

The bottom line is that it is not the case that there is no need for any new road construction at all. But smart urban growth requires that road construction be integrated into an intelligent plan that is focused on transporting the maximum number of people with the minimum number of vehicles at the lowest economic and environmental cost.

Here are the three articles:

Lahore – A Canal Runs Through It

Lahore – The Wisdom of Jane Jacobs
Lahore – What is to be Done?

Pakistanis for Palestine

A Pakistani campaign of solidarity with the Palestinian people has just been launched in Lahore. As its first action of solidarity, the campaign calls on Pakistani academics and cultural workers, —artists, poets, writers, singers and filmmakers— to join the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel that is spreading around the world.
We are focusing initially on endorsing the boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, as called for by the PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel). In the wake of the recent slaughter in Gaza in winter 2008-09, we oppose any kind of normalization of relations between Pakistan and Israel, including normalization of Israeli discourse about terrorism that masks the realities of occupation and the denial of human rights. We wish to send a message to the Palestinian people who suffer daily dispossession and denial of their rights to sovereignty, that Pakistani people of conscience support them in their struggle for justice and equality as men and women, children and youth, workers and the working poor. We are fully aware that Israel is aided by the economic and military might of the United States, and we oppose their imperialist designs and aggressions that are enabling violence and devastating the region. We call for an end to this violence and systematic denial of fundamental human rights.

TALIBAN THREATS ASIDE, THE SHOW GOES ON IN LAHORE

Despite the threats from Taliban, the show goes on in Lahore. Click on the link below to watch an interesting report about threats and difficulties faced by artists and theater workshops. Must watch:  http://vjmovement.com/truth/542

I’ve gone back to childhood in Lahore: Artist Krishen Khanna

In his new series of works, leading Indian contemporary artist Krishen Khanna has travelled back in time to his days in pre-partition Lahore, which today lies in Pakistan.

“They are mostly a recollection of events that I have seen in my early childhood – when tension between the British rulers and Indian freedom fighters was escalating,” Delhi-based Khanna told IANS in an interview.

The 84-year-old artist is preparing for a retrospective exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi Jan 23 to be organised by the Mumbai-based online gallery Saffronart.

Khanna has completed five large format oil compositions in monochrome, which he says are an extension of his memories of Maclagan Road in Lahore, where he lived in a cosmopolitan neighbourhood “with Parsis, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims”.

Behind Cooco’s with the bronze fountain

Behind Cooco’s with the bronze fountain, originally uploaded by Jahane Rumi.

I should thank Beena Sarwar for this contribution to Lahore Nama (Raza Rumi)

Welcome to the guitar school

Courtesy: Daily Times

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: At a time when fear and insecurity have put an end to most cultural activities, one art form, speaking the universal language of notes and harmonies, is still very much alive and kicking. One of the places still keeping musical traditions alive while promoting more contemporary forms, is The Guitar School. The brainchild of seasoned guitarist Hamza Jafri, the school, located in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), has already had 55 students since it opened its door in June this year.

Ravail Sattar, one of the teachers at the school, believes in the undying power of music. “It is like a flowing stream that is unstoppable. You cannot hold it back forever, it will break through,” he says. He insists that neither extremists’ threats nor criticism from the government could deter artists from their calling. Many artists have recently been criticised for including anti-US rhetoric in their lyrics.