Genelia Charms Her Way in Force

Film Review:

Her sparkling eyes, easy-going demeanor and body language are a visual treat. Pretty comfortable in front of the camera her delivery and timing keeps the viewer fascinated. The writers and editors deserve a lot of credit as does this female lead.

I am referring to Maya (Genelia D’Souza) in Force, a romantic action film that includes male lead John Abraham (Yashvardhan), a hard-working, but stubborn, narcotics officer who ensures that bad guys get their due. In his self-styled vigilante role, Yashvardhan sometimes bends the rules to obtain justice. He believes that the only way to eradicate crime is to give criminals the bullets -- not handcuffs.

Maya, a strong-willed, affable social worker helps children learn and is keen in making a difference in people’s lives. In one of the encounters, she bumps into Yashvardhan, the ACP (Asst. Commissioner of Police) and it’s a matter of love at first sight for the free-spirited girl. Maya’s love pushes the “ACP sir” to make a choice between the life he already knows and the life he could have with her. Yashvardhan's decision to let happiness and normalcy into his life changes his life forever.

Amorous lead couple (left) and Beefy John Abraham (right)

An actor who has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films, Genelia says, “Force allows me to push both my artistic and physical boundaries. I think while the young, cute, energetic girl has been something most people associate me with, this film has given me a character who is definitely a mature extension of that bubbly girl. As soon as I read the script, I was hooked and wanted to be a part of this film” directed by Nishikant Kamath (Mumbai Meri Jaan) and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah.

In terms of breath-taking action, John is superbly matched with debutante villain Vishnu played by Vidyut Jamwal who has been trained in the martial arts including gymnastics and Kalari or Kalaripayattu which originated in Kerala. Vishnu’s nemesis is Yashvardhan who keeps the fights credible and thrilling thanks to his newly-acquired muscles and weight. Reportedly, stunt director Allah Amin was on hand for the more difficult scenes.

Fighting drug traffickers

While reporting to the chief of the drug operations played by Raj Babbar Yashvardhan confesses about Vishnu, “I told you we are not dealing with a person, I told you, its an animal.” The rite of passage for an actor these days seems to be a bare-breasted image made popular by the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan, and John Abraham does not disappoint with his “8-pack” abs. At times the tough guy shows his softer side which is refreshingly endearing since Maya (Genelia) virtually carries the film. John says, “As a love interest Genelia is so full of life who brings so much energy on the sets, it was amazing to work with a thorough professional.”

Force is the Hindi remake of Gautham Menon’s 2003 Tamil thriller Kākka Kākka (or the Protectors), that featured actor Surya. In the Tamil version the cops were battling organized crime, here the draw is drugs being smuggled and exported on an international level.

Well-choreographed and crafted the gripping narrative shows lots of action and romantic takes. Music director Harris Jayaraj gives new meaning to sentimental scores with Chahoon Bhi, sung by Karthik and Bombay Jayshree, bound to become an iPod favorite.

Wedding scene

Light-hearted banter at times between Yashvardhan’s colleague Atul (Mohnish Behl) and his wife, Rachana (played by Anaitha Nair) helps ease the tension. In one candid shot, she recommends to the ACP to “lose his virginity” that day.

Finally, some of the fighting and shooting scenes could have been left behind in the editing room. Force could have been contained within two hours instead of the 138 minutes it runs for.
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[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, reviews books and films for media based in New York; Toronto, Canada; Seoul, Republic of Korea; and India. He can be reached at raj.rangarajan@gmail.com]

Why A. R. Rahman is a Musical Genius?

www.tcln.blogspot.com

Raj S. Rangarajan

Allah Rakha Rahman (ARR) has finally reached. But does he think so?

With two Oscars in the same year – one for Best Original Music Score and another for Best Original Song, “AR” as he’s affectionately known in the industry, has put India on the Hollywood map for music. At 43, looks like he’s just getting started. Rahman said recently, “I have many more notes to compose and create.”

On the first day of this year, 2009, visually-impaired children appeared on a television station in Chennai and asked the music maestro some pertinent, inspiring questions. One of the first questions was, “since our world is basically ‘sound’ we feel we need to ask you what is your definition of sound.”

Known for his unassuming earthiness and willingness to work with anyone whether an accomplished artiste or a potential wiz kid, AR said, “it could be anything as long as you learn to dream.” Among the words he used to describe the experience were “ragam”, soul, language, spiritual, mind’s eye. “Music with its methodology or ‘isai’ (notes) is universal but is difficult to describe. Let me just say, music happens. It could be the pitter-patter of rain, birds in a forest, the strain of a tambura. It could be human connectivity between souls where one doesn’t need to see: all one needs is an open mind and a fertile imagination.”

At the 81st Annual Academy Awards last month ARR attributed his success to his mother’s blessings and his decision to always choose love over hate. Born a Hindu, A.S. Dileep Kumar converted to Islam at 23 and took over the name, Rahman. This keyboard artist, pianist, synthesizer, guitarist et al. was first recognized for his talent with a National Award when AR was merely 26. Around this time, based in Chennai he obtained a distance learning degree in western classical music from the Trinity College of Music, London. At a SAJA (South Asian Journalists Association) blog radio interview in December 2008, AR emphasized how music is often needed to express anger or perhaps change a tense situation with a sudden shocking sound. In passing, he clarified that his music degree was obtained in Chennai, not in London.

Ph.Ds Comment on Rahman

To obtain an intellectual dimension to Rahman’s wide range of talents this writer spoke with two doctorates – Dr. Natalie Sarrazin of College at Brockport (SUNY) in upstate New York, and Dr. Pavitra Sundar of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire – both of whom specialize in Rahman’s music and on Bollywood.

Sarrazin says, “AR’s light, jazz style borrows heavily from other styles and as a student of his music I am yet trying to figure out if he has a signature style, for he has this large repertoire (West African, South African, Japanese, wrap and hip hop). He happily borrows from folk music in a seamless Hindu/Muslim/western node in a post-modern identity. To a question if AR will continue to rule the waves, Sarrazin says, “only one (musical) giant at a time – remember – we had S.D. Burman then we had R.D. Burman.” Talking of giants, AR’s one ambition was to sing with Lata Mangeshkar which he fulfilled when he performed the duet with her in Rang De Basanti.

Dr. Sundar agrees that Rahman is a significant musical phenomenon. He has almost single-handedly changed the sound of Hindi film music (specially since he produces much of his music on a synthesizer). Hindi cinema had not heard such a distinct, catchy sound – and such a shift from the current style or sound of film music – since Bappi Lahiri and his disco beats of late ’70s.

Conceding his weakness for the keyboard, AR in fact told his young admirers in January how music has to be adapted to the period – whether it’s a movie on Subash Chandra Bose or Bhagat Singh or Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth, the Golden Age – just as costumes have to be adapted for differing periods. AR’s versatility and international flavor is evidenced with his score for Warriors of Heaven and Earth, a Chinese film as also his creation for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage presentation of ‘Bombay Dreams’ in New York few years back.

Sundar’s dissertation entitled, “Sounding the Nation: The Musical Imagination of Bollywood Cinema” examined how the music of Hindi cinema (i.e., not just the lyrics and visuals of film songs, but the instrumentation, arrangements, voices, etc.) draws on and expresses ideas about gender, sexual, racial, and national identity.

Sarrazin’s thesis was on Rajasthani folk music that spoke of trance music of one of the local ‘devatas’ with analysis and rituals. At his powwow with aspiring singers in January, AR elaborated, “just as music has no limits nor sound have any bounds, folk music or folk dance is universal. There is a certain magic when we think of folk music whether it is Tamil, Gujarati or Turkish or even Irish folk music.”

Jai Ho – Not AR’s Best

By many accounts in India and the West ‘Jai ho’ was not Rahman’s best musical effort – a sentiment echoed by both Sarrazin and Sundar in that Natalie feels AR had a better score in Lagaan (‘Mitwa’ was nominated in 2002 but didn’t win). Adds Pavitra, “it didn't work for me as a song. I thought ‘O Saya’ the other song that won him an Oscar nomination was great, though. It really captured the excitement and frenzy of the chase through the slums which the camera captured dynamically.”

Commenting on AR’s creativity, Natalie says, “what resonates in India is not necessarily resonating in the diaspora. Rahman was the first person to change the musical language of Bollywood and around the time when the Indian economy was turning around in the early ’90s, home video sales were also on the increase even in the U.K. and coincidentally, AR was a fresh sound on the airwaves.” He helped introduce Bollywood music to the rest of the world and what “I would call musical theater.” Sarrazin teaches musicology and the piano, has studied classical music theoretically and created courses for Bollywood. Her book, Indian Music in the Classroom, published in 2008, covers the gamut from Hindi-Pop to bhangra to the bhajan to the Urdu ghazal.

Rahman shows great respect for the director and the scriptwriter since “I have to base my music and nuances on what the movie aims to accomplish and more so since the sound track plays a vital part in many Indian movies.” To a question if Rahman’s success is a mere flash in the pan, Pavitra Sundar hails him as a leading composer in Hindi and Tamil cinema since the mid-1990s (Mani Ratnam’s Roja in Tamil was released in 1992, a film that made him a household name in urban India). He’s also good at “diversifying” – at finding new avenues for his work (e.g., his leap from advertising to cinema to Broadway) and forging new connections with prominent musical performers from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to Andrew Lloyd Weber to M.I.A., already popular in the West now.

But Rahman attributes his success to his basic multi-culturality. He says, life is about human redemption and the film Slumdog Millionaire brings hope and love and a certain positivity in today’s hard times. His mantlepiece is surely fighting for space with a legendary amount of awards from all over including Indian government’s civilian honor of the “Padmashree” in 2000. For India’s 50th year of independence AR created “Vande Mataram.” Also legendary are his hits in Tamil (Roja, Bombay, Alaipayuthey, Kandukondein Kandukondein) and in Hindi (Dil Se, Taal, Lagaan, Yuva) – to name a few.

According to Sundar, A. R. Rahman’s and Slumdog Millionaire’s Oscar awards signal the U.S. mainstream’s first real foray into popular Indian musical consciousness. Hindi cinema has been attempting to lure audiences in the West (mostly South Asians in the diaspora) for years. Films such as Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake, and Lagaan drew the attention of art house audiences in North America and “I should say that critics in the U.S. lauded the music of all of these films. The Kronos Quartet’s album with Asha Bhosle, ‘You’ve Stolen My Heart’ gave audiences a taste of R. D. Burman’s music, but none of these films or music albums, caught the imagination of mainstream U.S. media and the blog-world the way Slumdog did.” Significantly, Rahman’s recent win is not the first Indian attempt to capture the U.S. market – it’s actually the first time such an attempt has been granted recognition by a Western audience.

From Amjad Ali Khan to Gulzar to Grammy winner and soul singer, John Legend (who performed Peter Gabriel’s nominated song from the animation movie Wall-E in February) it has been all aces for AR. The stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings with music co-composed by Rahman was voted one of the 10 greatest musicals of the last 30 years in an online poll conducted by Dress Circle, a website that covers theater in the U.K.

Rahman has been involved with charitable causes as well. In 2004, he was appointed the global ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project by the World Health Organization (WHO). As a producer on the single ‘We can make it Better’ by Don Asian alongside Mukhtar Sahota, he showed his soft side with all the proceeds going to tsunami victims, as did his 2004 tsunami relief concert in India. The A R Rahman Foundation, launched in 2001, aims at eradicating poverty and in this pursuit, his song, ‘Pray for me Brother’ is quite popular. Rahman has opened a western conservatory in Chennai where he trains about 100 students on the ABCs of music and music scores. His love for people and the underdog are constantly being demonstrated.

As AR reiterates, “Rhythm, melody and the resonance that a listener experiences is the best feedback a person needs. Whether the composition is spiritual or light, whether it’s a fusion of Carnatic music and western or a song by a fisherman about to launch his early catch, I have to think creatively.”

[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, reviews books and films for media based in New York, Toronto, Republic of Korea and India.]

Dance-Drama (Central Park, New York city)

Ramayana in New York
BY RAJ S. RANGARAJAN *



L to R) Regina Ress, Diane Wolkstein, Tamara (from PS 242), and Raouf Mama at CelebrateStory 2007.
Photo courtesy of & ©2007 Philip David Morgan / Cloudstone Productions.





Summer and stories always go together. Whether it is Canada, U.S.A., India or Australia, there is something special about summer. Imaginations run wild and children tend to become creative and sometimes get into raptures in the heat. Adults spin yarns and create magic for the young listeners.

India and Indians in Canada have had a long storytelling tradition with the generic grandma constantly regaling young minds with humour, exaggeration, suspense and adventure, incredibly-talented fairies, winged animals and huge aircraft – all for passing time on a lazy evening.

For more than 50 years – on Saturdays – during the summer, New York City’s children and adults have assembled around Hans Christian Andersen’s statue in Central Park to hear tales told by well-known storytellers and performers such as Victor Borge, Eva LaGallienne and Diane Wolkstein. Hans Christian Andersen was known for his fairy tales and his statue is a well-known Central Park landmark.

This year – the 51st anniversary – it was the turn of Indian performer, Anita Ratnam.
Anita narrated her Dance Katha, Tales from India as part of the celebrations to honour a veteran storyteller of 40 years, Diane Wolkstein who created CelebrateStory: storytelling as entertainment. Anita enacted scenes from the epic Ramayana that were based on “Neo Bharatam” that she created ten years ago as an artistic archetype.

Anita says, she was inspired to create Neo Bharatam after seeing the 1999 science fiction (sci-fi) movie Matrix where Thomas Anderson, played by Keanu Reeves, has the alias ‘Neo.’ In Anita’s case, the search was “to find an original way to protect my work, interpret new nuances, rhythms and moves that defined my style and creativity.”

CelebrateStory is actually a special “thank you” to the City of New York and to the caretakers of Central Park for nourishing not only Diane's Wolkstein’s career but also that of so many other storytellers from New York and elsewhere. Many of the festival tellers – Laura Simms, Regina Ress, Ron Sopyla, Therese Folkes-Plair, Gioia Timpanelli, and Bill Gordh are in fact long-time residents of the New York metropolitan area. This year, special guests included Raouf Mama (from Benin in West Africa), Michael Parent (of Portland, Maine), Dovie Thomason, a Native Indian (of Lakota and Plains Apache heritage) and India’s Anita Ratnam.

Known for her versatile prowess in Bharata Natyam and other dance forms, Anita translated her love of mythology into a new genre of “dancing stories” for an urban audience and “conveyed the stories of her soil in English.”

On her 40th anniversary of performing at Central Park Diane Wolkstein, also was in action. She inaugurated the day with a small sampler of the stories told through her career, including Andersen’s comic tale of “Hans Clodhopper,” followed by “The Glass Mountain” (her retelling of the Brothers Grimm's “Old Rinkrank”), and others.

Diane’s webmaster in New York, Philip David Morgan says, “Diane’s kind of storytelling involves the audience directly, whether by asking listeners what they think might happen next (and why), by inviting them to join in the refrain of a song that may be part of the story, or by making the audience part of the story.

Anita opened with “an invocation of Ganesha, the god of all beginnings, how Ganesha got his head (demonstrated with a cut-out of an elephant’s head) and then I moved on to the Rama story; starting with Vishwamitra, the wise priest counseling his wards Rama and Lakshmana, how the prince was banished to the forest and how his adversary Ravana cut off his sister Soorpanakha’s nose (tall Amazonian-looking woman), of Lakshman-rekha and Hanuman, the monkey god who enlisted help from his friends to locate Sita.”

Anita interspersed the English narration with slokas in Sanskrit and Tamil and with “dance movements and expressive articulation, I could capture the essence of the 40-minute presentation. I tried to make the overall effect prismatic and multicultural, being New York.” In a final act of audience participation, Anita handed over “jalra” sets (two-finger cymbals used for rhythmic accompaniment) to the kids urging them to join in a procession towards the lake.
On a salubrious Sunday afternoon in Central Park with distractions such as cyclists, boat enthusiasts and picnickers vying for attention, the writer inquired, “how did you manage to get the attention of the audience?”

Anita’s response: “It was a wonderful feeling narrating the story with adults and children listening intently; there was a certain silent ambience. Since I had thought out the dress and accompaniments earlier, had rehearsed and practiced voice modulation for the open air event distractions didn’t bother me.”

For a predominantly New York audience not familiar with the epic, to a question, “what kind of allegoric metaphor did you create?” Anita said, “the Neo Bharatam-based moves in a free-flowing style blended with sound, dance and pithy explanations helped me communicate. I now have the space and luxury of innovating as a kind of optic idiom.” Through choreographic motifs of her Neo Bharatam, Anita is known to raise the bar, so to speak, with a dance repertoire that crosses national boundaries.

Complimenting both the beautiful weather and a great turnout, Morgan said of the evening: “...it was simply a large, lavish banquet of story that no one could take in all at once. The most you could do was hear and see all you could, and go home grateful for that.” On Anita’s performance, the webmaster added, despite having to dance on concrete and marble in the New York summertime heat, she held the audience rapt throughout.”


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[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, travel, lifestyles, Indian cinema and reviews books, films and plays for media based in New York, California, Toronto and India. He can be reached at raj.rangarajan@gmail.com]

Four Girls and Two Weddings in Bride & Prejudice

(Aishwarya Rai with Martin Henderson -- Photo: Miramax Films)

Raj S. Rangarajan

The clever title of the film says it all. Author Jane Austen may not have approved the corruption of her famous book title, but director Gurinder Chadha has gotten away with it. Perhaps. Bride & Prejudice is a light comedy with no objectives to meet. It could qualify as an Indian musical with 8-10 songs in English with a white actor Will Darcy’s (played by New Zealander Martin Henderson) wooing Lalita Bakshi (Aiswarya Rai) and just when he thinks he has her, he loses.

With a script from Chadha and her husband Paul Mayeda Berges who also co-wrote Beckham here comes a story that would perhaps appeal to your “soft” side. Chadha says, “while washing the dishes, she was struck by an idea: why not mesh the Eastern mystique of Bollywood with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.” Chadha saw in Aiswarya Rai an Austen character – feisty and independent Elizabeth Bennet with brains and guts.

Bride is a formula story with a twist where an obsessed mother wants her four daughters married. Whether she succeeds and how well she does is part of the narrative. The mother in the movie, Manorama Bakshi (Nadira Babar) does a good job (a woman larger than life, according to Chadha), but Nitin Ganatra’s (“No life without wife” Mr. Kholi) first attempt at humour tends to jar a bit. His earlier roles have been on stage with Sam Mendes and the Donmar Warehouse and in the mini-series version of The Canterbury Tales.


(Caption: Namrata Shirodkar, Nadira Babar and Anupam Kher; Photo: Miramax Films)

Anupam Kher who also appeared as the father in Beckham and several other comedic roles in Bollywood, and Aiswarya Rai have the best lines and they carry them off with aplomb most of the time. Being a pretty face and having a storyline that’s right up her alley Lalita - high strung and incensed about American tycoon Darcy’s seeming lack of respect for India carries the movie up to a point. If you believe that many a romance has started with a verbal duel Chadha has gotten it right with Lalita and Darcy going hammer and tongs at the slightest provocation. Their “now on” and “now off” dalliance sequences carry the story along splendidly with Naveen Andrews (The English Patient, ABC drama Lost) playing a supporting role as Darcy’s friend.

Namrata Shirodkar (Hathyar, Charas) Miss India 1993, (Jaya Bakshi in the movie) plays a subdued role. Chadha’s direction is superb in places, but making a slapstick shtick with translated – rather – transliterated humour is perhaps not easy.

Kher is in his element as father Chaman Bakshi but overbearing Mrs. Bakshi seems to move the story by herself. North American audiences may like the hodgepodge film thanks to songs in English with a Mariachi Mexican band, soul music on the beach in California, the dandia-raas garba and of course the boisterous Bhangra in Amritsar. Whether it will help at the box office remains to be seen. Adults living in North America and kids who have grown up here may want to see the movie more because of the curiosity factor since Beckham raised expectations that Bride does not live up to.

(Namrata Shirodkar & Aishwarya Rai -- Photo: Miramax Films)



Lest you get the impression that Bride & Prejudice is another sentimental mishmash, you are treated to a “dishum-dishum” cinema-hall scene when hero (Martin Henderson) and Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gillies) who is interested in two of the Bakshi girls, mix it up when another movie is on. The scene seems straight out of an old Western, adopted for H(B)ollywood.

“With a multinational crew, challenges differ”, says Chadha. In India there was the dust, the heat, the slowness and the chaos, which the westerners had to get used to, but on the other hand, the director felt “it was even harder for us in America because suddenly there were so many rules…its more organized but more rigid.”

Chadha pays a lot of respect to choreographer Saroj Khan for her active tutoring of dance sequences to Henderson and Andrews and New Yorker Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is singled out for the Goa Groove song on the beach. Santosh Sivan, known for his camera skills was thrilled to be able to use naturalistic lighting for intimate scenes and in the wide western outdoors of London and los Angeles, he improvised to prevent it appearing unBollywood-like.

An ideal film for a lazy weekend or when its cold and snowing. Being released, Feb. 11, in most major cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco.

The Canadian Premiere of the film is set for Feb 8, 2005 and proceeds will be donated to Masala! Mehndi! Masti! 2005.

[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, travel and lifestyles and reviews books, films and plays for media based in New York, California, Toronto, India and Australia.]

Splendid Odissi Spectacle Warms Hearts

Raj S. Rangarajan

NEW YORK - The rhythm, the swagger and the vibrant costumes were unmistakable. And, so were the charming, graceful movements and bold passion that the Odissi dancers showcased recently. The show was Neel: The Eternal Blue and the performers seemed to be extensions of the terrific ensemble they have created. One didn’t have to be born in India or to have learnt Oriya, the language spoken in Orissa in eastern India, where Odissi originated. All one needed was an open mind and an interest in the performing arts.

The multi-layered presentation was the creative choreographic effort of the Trinayan Collective, a group of dancers devoted to the study, performance and dissemination of Odissi. The spiritual content and sensuous variation of the music and the beat helped one comprehend the nuances that the dance-form offers.

Color has always been a mainstay in Indian dance interpretation and even the deities from different parts of India acquire different hues of the region and as understood by the locals for centuries. Krishna, the blue-bodied flute player, Shiva, the blue-throated one and kali, the blue-black goddess were alive, as one would expect, in merciful resonance with the limbs in tandem. The song-and-body gestures on occasion were robot-like though with a certain purpose symbolizing meaningful fulfillment. The blue color, of course symbolizes the fifth chakra in the human body, located at the bottom of the throat wherefrom creative inspiration springs forth.

Trinayan, or the third eye, represents the site of our inner selves, reportedly, the nexus of divine energy in each human being. Trinayan’s five core artists comprise Bani Ray, the teacher and re-stager for the group, Kakoli Mukherjee, Alicia Pascal, Taiis Pascal and Nandini Sikand, each with versatile skills. A Odissi dancer herself, Rajika Puri is the storyteller or narrator – a sutradhara – in traditional Indian theater who creates the collage of dances through stories, chants and lucid comments. An ardent follower of the Deba Prasad Das style of Odissi, Rajika’s knowledge of Indian and western classical music has helped her create for the stage (Flamenco Natyam) and the screen (Mississippi Masala) and many more visually appealing gems.

Each of the dancers has a personal story, and each is motivated with the common aspiration to dance and excel. From the age of 6, Bani Ray has been dancing and learned from gurus such as Shri Valmiki Banerjee, Sri Durga Charan Ranbir and late Shrinath Raut. An exponent of Mohini Attam and Manipuri styles as well, Bani is also active at Nehru Institute of Odissi Research and Training in Delhi. Originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Kakoli Mukerjee has been dancing Odissi since the age of 12 and works for a weekly publication in New York. A Manhattan speech therapist by day, Alicia Pascal started at 15 and learned under Deva Deva Jagatpate and now under Bani Ray and Guru Durga Charan Ranbir. Taiis Pascal too enrolled when merely 11 and works as a certified physical therapist in a New York hospital. Born and raised in Delhi, Nandini Sikand started learning Odissi at the early age of 7 under Shri Shrinath Raut. She moved to America for graduate school and studied with Ritha Devi and currently is a disciple of Shri Durga Charan Ranbir and Bani Ray. This Neel effort was her debut exploration of dance and film and is working for her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology.

[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, travel and lifestyles and reviews books, films and plays for media based in New York, California, Toronto, India and Australia.]