Showing posts with label Raju Srivastav. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raju Srivastav. Show all posts
After artistes' calls to 'vote out hatred', 900 other artistes launch Pro-Narendra Modi counter campaign
8:28 AM
BOMBAY TIMES (April 12, 2019)
After 600 theatre artistes (including names like Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anurag Kashyap, Vinay Pathak and Amol Palekar) joined over 100 filmmakers (including Anand Patwardhan, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, Vetri Maaran and Pa Ranjith) and 200 writers (such as Arundhati Roy, Girish Karnad and Amitav Ghosh) to issue statements urging people to “vote hatred out of power”, 907 artistes initiated a counter campaign on Wednesday.
The 600 theatre artistes had appealed to people to “Vote against the BJP and its allies” under the collective Artist Unite India. Now, 907 artistes, filmmakers, actors and writers under the Nation First Collective, have lent their name to a statement urging people “to cast their vote and exercise their right to elect the new government without any pressure and prejudice.”
The artistes are confident that “the continuance of Govt. led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the need of the hour.” Their statement reads: “We believe that during the last five years, India has seen a government that has delivered corruption-free good governance and development oriented administration. During this period, globally India has acquired greater respect. It is our firm conviction that the continuance of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the need of the hour.”
The statement also reminds voters to consider the nation’s security and states that “when challenges like terrorism are before all of us, we need a “Majboot Sarkar” and not a “Mazboor Sarkar” and hence we need the present Govt. to continue.”
Filmmaker Akashaditya Lama, Convenor of the Nation First Collective, tells us, “We are a group of over 100 artistes and filmmakers. We decided to sign this statement and approach more people from the industry after we saw people telling others not to vote for Modi. That, I feel is against the Constitution. You can’t tell me who to vote for and who not to.” When asked wasn’t their statement doing the same, Lama responded, “No, I am only saying I am voting for Modi and BJP and so are these people. That’s all!” The group claims that they didn’t reach out to many known supporters since they are contesting the elections on BJP tickets and that their numbers are now up to 1300 with names like Paresh Rawal and lyricist Sameer also joining the fray.
Prominent names in the list include Vivek Oberoi, Shankar Mahadevan, Koena Mitra, Alok Nath, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Pratibha Prahlad, Anuradha Paudwal, Gajendra Chauhan, Mukesh Khanna and Raju Srivastav.
Pakistani artistes cancel scheduled events in India
8:50 AM
Divya Kaushik [with inputs from agencies] (BOMBAY TIMES; September 26, 2016)
NOT PLAYING CURRENTLY
Artists
from Pakistan are usually in demand for pub and restaurant gigs in
India. However, given the current atmosphere, restros in the country are
playing safe and not scheduling any events with artists from across the
border. “We have had Pakistani artists and bands playing at many of our
clubs and restaurants in NCR, and each session has been jam-packed. But
currently, we haven't planned anything for coming months,“ says a
restaurateur.
Shafqat Amanat Ali is among the artists who have postponed their India visit. While the singer is still in Lahore, his manager tells us that he was to perform on Sep 30 and Oct 1 in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, respectively, but the organisers and Shafqat decided to reschedule it. “We can't put an artist at risk. The current situation is such that anything can happen, and the concerts might be cancelled anyway. So, it's better to reschedule. Shafqat is open to performing here once the situation improves,“ his manager says.
AALISHAN PAKISTAN EXHIBITION CANCELLED
Earlier this month, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) postponed its fashion and lifestyle exhibition, Aalishan Pakistan, which was scheduled for Sep 1-4 at Pragati Maidan. However, the event has been cancelled. “The third edition of Aalishan Pakistan was planned in September-October, 2016, after successful previous editions in 2012 & 2014. Due to the current situation between Pakistan and India, which is beyond TDAP's control, the event planned for 2016 has been called off,“ read a post on Aalishan Pakistan's official social media page. The fate of many other concerts lined up for the coming months is undecided as the security of the Pakistani artists visiting India is a concern. “This is the beginning of the concert season in India, and many Pakistani artists travel here at this time of the year to perform. But after the Uri attacks, the scenario has changed. Almost every big artist from Pakistan has postponed their performance in India. Fortunately, none of our concerts were lined up for the near future, but we were involved with a student exchange programme, under which 60 students from Pakistan were to visit India on September 25. We cancelled the exchange programme on Thursday evening keeping in mind the current sentiment,“ says Rakesh Gupta, founder of an NGO, which brings many Pakistani artists to India for performances.
Lahore-based model Mehreen Syed, who wants to pursue an acting course from India, and has applied for a visa to come to learn acting from theatre veteran Arvind Gaur, tells us, “I'm waiting for my visa clearance, but because of the present situation, it's taking longer than usual. If my work visa gets cleared, I will come to India. I can't say if other people have deferred their plans or if it's business as usual for them. A brand from India organised a fashion show in Lahore on September 23. The issues between India and Pakistan have been there, but artists have continued this cultural exchange and I think we should not stop that.“
RAJU SRIVASTAV CANCELS SHOW IN PAKISTAN
Raju Srivastav has cancelled his show in Pakistan, stating that after seeing the pain of families of the soldiers who died in the Uri attack, he won't be able to perform there. In a video posted online on Saturday, Raju said, “I have been invited to do a comedy show in Pakistan. But we can see the war raging at the border and our soldiers getting killed every day. I have seen the families of the deceased soldiers suffering. Pakistan always betrays us, while we send the message of friendship. The situation that we are facing right now... I don't think I can go to Pakistan to entertain those who murdered our soldiers. I can't crack jokes and perform. I don't want to go to Pakistan. In India, we respect, love and have some humanity for each and everyone. We are happy here. I will not go to Pakistan to do the show.“
Artists
from Pakistan are usually in demand for pub and restaurant gigs in
India. However, given the current atmosphere, restros in the country are
playing safe and not scheduling any events with artists from across the
border. “We have had Pakistani artists and bands playing at many of our
clubs and restaurants in NCR, and each session has been jam-packed. But
currently, we haven't planned anything for coming months,“ says a
restaurateur.Shafqat Amanat Ali is among the artists who have postponed their India visit. While the singer is still in Lahore, his manager tells us that he was to perform on Sep 30 and Oct 1 in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, respectively, but the organisers and Shafqat decided to reschedule it. “We can't put an artist at risk. The current situation is such that anything can happen, and the concerts might be cancelled anyway. So, it's better to reschedule. Shafqat is open to performing here once the situation improves,“ his manager says.
AALISHAN PAKISTAN EXHIBITION CANCELLED
Earlier this month, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) postponed its fashion and lifestyle exhibition, Aalishan Pakistan, which was scheduled for Sep 1-4 at Pragati Maidan. However, the event has been cancelled. “The third edition of Aalishan Pakistan was planned in September-October, 2016, after successful previous editions in 2012 & 2014. Due to the current situation between Pakistan and India, which is beyond TDAP's control, the event planned for 2016 has been called off,“ read a post on Aalishan Pakistan's official social media page. The fate of many other concerts lined up for the coming months is undecided as the security of the Pakistani artists visiting India is a concern. “This is the beginning of the concert season in India, and many Pakistani artists travel here at this time of the year to perform. But after the Uri attacks, the scenario has changed. Almost every big artist from Pakistan has postponed their performance in India. Fortunately, none of our concerts were lined up for the near future, but we were involved with a student exchange programme, under which 60 students from Pakistan were to visit India on September 25. We cancelled the exchange programme on Thursday evening keeping in mind the current sentiment,“ says Rakesh Gupta, founder of an NGO, which brings many Pakistani artists to India for performances.
Lahore-based model Mehreen Syed, who wants to pursue an acting course from India, and has applied for a visa to come to learn acting from theatre veteran Arvind Gaur, tells us, “I'm waiting for my visa clearance, but because of the present situation, it's taking longer than usual. If my work visa gets cleared, I will come to India. I can't say if other people have deferred their plans or if it's business as usual for them. A brand from India organised a fashion show in Lahore on September 23. The issues between India and Pakistan have been there, but artists have continued this cultural exchange and I think we should not stop that.“
RAJU SRIVASTAV CANCELS SHOW IN PAKISTAN
Raju Srivastav has cancelled his show in Pakistan, stating that after seeing the pain of families of the soldiers who died in the Uri attack, he won't be able to perform there. In a video posted online on Saturday, Raju said, “I have been invited to do a comedy show in Pakistan. But we can see the war raging at the border and our soldiers getting killed every day. I have seen the families of the deceased soldiers suffering. Pakistan always betrays us, while we send the message of friendship. The situation that we are facing right now... I don't think I can go to Pakistan to entertain those who murdered our soldiers. I can't crack jokes and perform. I don't want to go to Pakistan. In India, we respect, love and have some humanity for each and everyone. We are happy here. I will not go to Pakistan to do the show.“
Many Indian stand-up comics are better than Russell Peters-I Am Offended director Jaideep Verma
9:12 AM
With his documentary on stand- up comedy in India, I Am Offended, director Jaideep Verma hopes to break stereotypes and capture an exciting, new scene in India in its nascent stage
Deepali Dhingra (MID-DAY; February 1, 2015)
Before he started work on India’s first documentary on stand-up comedy, I Am Offended, Jaideep Verma had never watched a stand-up comedy show. But for the 47-year-old director — who earlier made documentaries such as Baawra Mann, based on Sudhir Mishra’s life and Leaving Home, based on music band Indian ocean and even a film titled Hulla in 2008 — humour has always been paramount.
Verma was
piqued by stand-up comedy when he heard about stand-up comics Andy
Zaltzman in London and Varun Grover in Mumbai, who happen to be his good
friends. “While shooting a show for Andy in Mumbai in December
2012, I discovered Gursimran Khamba, Tanmay Bhat and Aditi Mittal and
liked their work. So I decided to explore the scene further,” he says.Over the course of one year, between 2012 and 2013, Verma worked on the 102-minute documentary that presents Indian stand-up comedy in the overall context of humour and the culture of offence. Featuring prominent stand-up comics such as Johny Lever, Vir Das, Raju Srivastav, Varun Grover, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, Rohan Joshi and legendary literary humourist PL Deshpande among others, the director says he hopes to capture an exciting, new stand-up scene in its nascent stage in India, one that challenges the status quo in many ways.
Through the course of the shoot, Verma made a few discoveries of his own. “These stand-up comics are extremely bright, even when it sometimes does not show in their performance. Sometimes, they make choices after second-guessing the audience or because they get too self-conscious and that falls flat. But they are quick-witted enough to turn it all around." In an anecdote that standup comic Varun Grover shared with him in the film, he mentions a corporate show where things turned ugly because the company’s management was second-guessing the audience there. “Comics learn to treat corporate shows as stints where they experiment with their ‘safer’ material,” he says.
The documentary releases on February 5 on the YouTube channel, Being Indian original, as part of its launch.
Verma hopes to break a few stereotypes — including one that most stand-ups here are clones of Russell Peters. “Many artistes are far superior to Peters. I hope it comes across in the film,” he says. As for the title of the film, he says that Indians have the propensity to take offence. “But when they’re not looking over their shoulder to see who might be getting offended, they enjoy that same humour, which is strange,” he smiles.
I Am Offended, a documentary on stand-up comedians to premiere online in February
7:59 AM
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 17, 2015)
Filmmaker Jaideep Verma who has previously made documentaries on the indie band Indian Ocean (Leaving Home) and filmmaker Sudhir Mishra (Baawra Mann) has now completed a documenatary on the current stand-up comedy scene in India. Mirror has learnt that the film will feature top comedians, including Vir Das, Cyrus Broacha, Johny Lever, Raju Srivastav, Varun Grover, Sanjay Rajoura, Aditi Mittal, Sorabh Pant, Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, Rohan Joshi, Rajeev Nigam, Rajneesh Kapoor, and legendary humorist Pu. La. Deshpande. It will premiere online in February.
Titled I Am Offended, the film has been put together by Being Indian, and focuses on the rising level of intolerance among people as well as on freedom of expression and the extent to which it can be used. The narrative develops through conversations between the comedians with a segment dedicated to some of their best performances.
Confirming this Jaideep told Mirror, "Humour has a particularly important role to play in this rather grim world we seem to have created for ourselves. Hopefully this film demonstrates that aptly."
Sameer Pitalwalla of Culture Machine, which got the comedians together for the project said, "It is an ode to the scene as much as to our promise of delighting India's Internet audiences with cutting-edge programming."
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