Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
होली आई है
सब बेटे बहुओं की टोली आई है
कई बरस में ऐसी होली आई है।
हमने तो हिल-मिलकर रहना चाहा था
क्या कीजे उस पार से गोली आई है।
शहरी आपाधापी में अकसर हमको
याद गाँव की हँसी ठिठोली आई है।
जब से मेरे जीवन में तुम आए हो
खुशियों से भर मेरी डोली आई है।
सुन पोतों की बातें सोचे दादी माँ
नए दौरे में कैसी झोली आई है।
कल से मेरे इम्तहान होने को है
सगुन भरी वो माँ की रोली आई है।
ममता किरण
कई बरस में ऐसी होली आई है।
हमने तो हिल-मिलकर रहना चाहा था
क्या कीजे उस पार से गोली आई है।
शहरी आपाधापी में अकसर हमको
याद गाँव की हँसी ठिठोली आई है।
जब से मेरे जीवन में तुम आए हो
खुशियों से भर मेरी डोली आई है।
सुन पोतों की बातें सोचे दादी माँ
नए दौरे में कैसी झोली आई है।
कल से मेरे इम्तहान होने को है
सगुन भरी वो माँ की रोली आई है।
ममता किरण
हवा डोली है
हवा डोली है मन भीगा हुआ है,
मेरी साँसों में तू महका हुआ है।
उसूलों में वो यों जकड़ा हुआ है,
कि अपने आप में सिमटा हुआ है।
नहीं जो टिक सका आँधी के आगे,
वो पत्ता शाख से टूटा हुआ है।
लिखा फिर रख दिया, जिस ख़त को हमने,
अधूरा ख़त यों ही छूटा हुआ है।
बिगाड़ा था जो तुमने रेत का घर,
घरौंदा आज तक बिखरा हुआ है।
भुलाना चाहती थी जिसको दिल से,
वो दिल में आज तक ठहरा हुआ है।
सजाए ख़्वाब जो पलकों पे हमने,
वो ख़्वाबों का महल टूटा हुआ है।
अदा से अपनी वो सबको रिझाए,
खिलौना एक घर आया हुआ है।
समूची उम्र कर दी नाम जिसके,
वही अब मुझसे बेगाना हुआ है।
ममता किरण
मेरी साँसों में तू महका हुआ है।
उसूलों में वो यों जकड़ा हुआ है,
कि अपने आप में सिमटा हुआ है।
नहीं जो टिक सका आँधी के आगे,
वो पत्ता शाख से टूटा हुआ है।
लिखा फिर रख दिया, जिस ख़त को हमने,
अधूरा ख़त यों ही छूटा हुआ है।
बिगाड़ा था जो तुमने रेत का घर,
घरौंदा आज तक बिखरा हुआ है।
भुलाना चाहती थी जिसको दिल से,
वो दिल में आज तक ठहरा हुआ है।
सजाए ख़्वाब जो पलकों पे हमने,
वो ख़्वाबों का महल टूटा हुआ है।
अदा से अपनी वो सबको रिझाए,
खिलौना एक घर आया हुआ है।
समूची उम्र कर दी नाम जिसके,
वही अब मुझसे बेगाना हुआ है।
ममता किरण
खुदकुशी करना
खुदकुशी करना बहुत आसान है,
जी के दिखला, तब कहूँ इनसान है।
सारी दुनिया चाहे जो कहती रहे,
मैं जिसे पूजूँ वही भगवान है।
चंद नियमों में न यो बँध पाएगी,
ज़िंदगी की हर डगर अनजान है।
टिक नहीं पाएगा कोई सच यहाँ,
झूठ ने जारी किया फ़रमान है।
भीगा मौसम कह गया ये कान में,
क्यों गली, दिल की तेरे वीरान है।
ममता किरण
जी के दिखला, तब कहूँ इनसान है।
सारी दुनिया चाहे जो कहती रहे,
मैं जिसे पूजूँ वही भगवान है।
चंद नियमों में न यो बँध पाएगी,
ज़िंदगी की हर डगर अनजान है।
टिक नहीं पाएगा कोई सच यहाँ,
झूठ ने जारी किया फ़रमान है।
भीगा मौसम कह गया ये कान में,
क्यों गली, दिल की तेरे वीरान है।
ममता किरण
रात जाएगी सुबह आएगी
रात जाएगी सुबह आएगी नई फिर से
दुख से मत डरना कि आएगी हर खुशी फिर से।
बहक गए हैं कि जो लोग अपने रस्तों से
बना दे काश कोई उनको आदमी फिर से।
एक अरसे से जो रूठी थी ये किस्मत मुझसे
आज लौटा के गई वो मेरी हँसी फिर से।
पत्तियाँ झर गई पेड़ों पे उदासी छाई
कोई बतलाए ये कैसे हवा चली फिर से।
सच कहा है ये किसी ने कि गोल है दुनिया
ये न सोचा था कि मिल जाएँगे कभी फिर से।
याद आए वो बहुत आज याद आए वो
आज महफ़िल में खली उनकी ही कमी फिर से।
सूनी दीवारों पे टँगते गए जो चित्र कई
ले के आए मेरी आँखों में इक नमी फिर से।
ममता किरण
दुख से मत डरना कि आएगी हर खुशी फिर से।
बहक गए हैं कि जो लोग अपने रस्तों से
बना दे काश कोई उनको आदमी फिर से।
एक अरसे से जो रूठी थी ये किस्मत मुझसे
आज लौटा के गई वो मेरी हँसी फिर से।
पत्तियाँ झर गई पेड़ों पे उदासी छाई
कोई बतलाए ये कैसे हवा चली फिर से।
सच कहा है ये किसी ने कि गोल है दुनिया
ये न सोचा था कि मिल जाएँगे कभी फिर से।
याद आए वो बहुत आज याद आए वो
आज महफ़िल में खली उनकी ही कमी फिर से।
सूनी दीवारों पे टँगते गए जो चित्र कई
ले के आए मेरी आँखों में इक नमी फिर से।
ममता किरण
आज मंज़र थे
आज मंज़र थे कुछ पुराने से
याद वो आ गए बहाने से।
जो खुदा से मिला कुबूल रहा
कोई शिकवा नहीं ज़माने से।
बारिशों की सुहानी रातों में
गीत गाए वो कुछ पुराने से।
इतनी गहरी है जेहन में यादें
मिट न पाएगी वो मिटाने से।
बीत पतझर का अब गया मौसम
अब निकल आओ उस वीराने से।
मैं नहीं ख़्वाब हूँ हक़ीक़त हूँ
ये बता दो मेरे दीवाने से।
चाहे जितना वो रूठ ले मुझसे
मान ही जाएँगे मनाने से।
घर में आएगा जब नया बच्चा,
घर हँसेगा इसी बहाने से।
रंग तुझपे चढ़ ही आया है
फ़ायदा क्या हिना रचाने से।
ममता किरण
याद वो आ गए बहाने से।
जो खुदा से मिला कुबूल रहा
कोई शिकवा नहीं ज़माने से।
बारिशों की सुहानी रातों में
गीत गाए वो कुछ पुराने से।
इतनी गहरी है जेहन में यादें
मिट न पाएगी वो मिटाने से।
बीत पतझर का अब गया मौसम
अब निकल आओ उस वीराने से।
मैं नहीं ख़्वाब हूँ हक़ीक़त हूँ
ये बता दो मेरे दीवाने से।
चाहे जितना वो रूठ ले मुझसे
मान ही जाएँगे मनाने से।
घर में आएगा जब नया बच्चा,
घर हँसेगा इसी बहाने से।
रंग तुझपे चढ़ ही आया है
फ़ायदा क्या हिना रचाने से।
ममता किरण
वही सबको नचाता है
कोई आँसू बहाता है, कोई खुशियाँ मनाता है
ये सारा खेल उसका है, वही सब को नाचता है।
बहुत से ख़्वाब लेकर के, वो आया इस शहर में था
मगर दो जून की रोटी, बमुश्किल ही जुटाता है।
घड़ी संकट की हो या फिर कोई मुश्किल बला भी
होये मन भी खूब है, रह रह के, उम्मीदें बँधाता है।
मेरी दुनिया में है कुछ इस तरह से उसका आना भी
घटा सावन की या खुशबू का झोंका जैसे आता है।
बहे कोई हवा पर उसने जो सीखा बुज़ुर्गों से
उन्हीं रस्मों रिवाजों, को अभी तक वो निभाता है।
किसी को ताज मिलता है, किसी को मौत मिलती है
ये देखें, प्यार में, मेरा मुकद्दर क्या दिखाता है।
– ममता किरण
ये सारा खेल उसका है, वही सब को नाचता है।
बहुत से ख़्वाब लेकर के, वो आया इस शहर में था
मगर दो जून की रोटी, बमुश्किल ही जुटाता है।
घड़ी संकट की हो या फिर कोई मुश्किल बला भी
होये मन भी खूब है, रह रह के, उम्मीदें बँधाता है।
मेरी दुनिया में है कुछ इस तरह से उसका आना भी
घटा सावन की या खुशबू का झोंका जैसे आता है।
बहे कोई हवा पर उसने जो सीखा बुज़ुर्गों से
उन्हीं रस्मों रिवाजों, को अभी तक वो निभाता है।
किसी को ताज मिलता है, किसी को मौत मिलती है
ये देखें, प्यार में, मेरा मुकद्दर क्या दिखाता है।
– ममता किरण
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Interview Sanjana Kapoor : Carrying On With Family Tradition
I guess for many like me, the first thing that comes to mind when we think about Theatre or Stage plays is a tiny little block in Juhu, very close to the beach and ever so filled with vibrant atmosphere - Yes, I am talking about Prithvi Theatre.
Prithvi holds many fond memories for me, starting from my college days. Since it is just a couple of blocks from home, I use to practically end up there every second day either enjoying some electrifying performances or simply making conversations with friends over a cup of coffee.
There is no denying the fact that Prithvi has been solely responsible for presenting the Hindi Film Industry with some of the best talents the nation has ever seen. Actors/writers like Kay Kay Menon, Anurag Kashyap, Naseeruddin Shah, etc. consider the experience gained as a theatre artist and the time spent at Prithvi to be the main reason for their success today.
So for me get a one-on-one conversation with the woman standing behind this Powerhouse platform and one of the most appreciated form of entertainment - was much more than a dream come true.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sanjana Kapoor.
~~
How did you end-up becoming the sole-handler of Prithvi?
Well it happened every so slowly and ever so insidiously, it was never meant to be. Really, genuinely was never meant to be. Ever since my mother passed away it was Kunal and Firoz who ran the theatre for 8 long years. And I was in and out of the country, watching from the sidelines and at times participating as a volunteer during festivals. And there were super festivals at that time. I always had this burning, indescribable desire to just connect and to somewhere know that perhaps there was something of my mother lingering inside of me. But I was hugely terrified of entering into anything at Prithvi, just the hugeness of responsibility and lack of experience in my life.
I came on board about 16 years ago very very gradually. I had time on my hand and I said to the trustees i.e. my brother and father, I am going to just see what’s going on and in what way I can fit myself in. So they did give me a long rope, as long as I was going to raise my own money. There were not going to give me a penny which was fine with me. I watched shows for one year and I realized that the most problematic area was the complete disconnect between our vision and what was actually going on here. The quality of theatre was a complete abysmal and so was the audience. There were paan-thuks on the wall, they were talking back to the actors in an incredibly surprising way almost as if they were watching television in their homes.
So I jotted down a 5 point plan then. I set about to start a children’s work-shop and so we started children’s program for summer, it’s been going for 15 years now. Then we started the Art Gallery, actually re-started the Art Gallery. Initially it was run by my mother and her friends. Then we had brunches under the bamboo in the cafe during openings, very relaxing and informal. We wanted to breathe a new life into the cafe because it is an integral part of Prithvi. Later we started our own production company called Prithvi Players and Little Prithvi Players. It happens occasionally, nothing on regular bases only when needed we come out with our own productions.
And the un-realized 5th point of the plan was a library. We had collected over 1000 books, they came mostly thru donations and connected to theatre. But we didn’t have a place to display them on. And sadly, the floods in 2005 destroyed quite a lot of them since they were kept in the basement. But now we are seriously thinking about it and should set up a library and a resource center very soon.
So it all happened real slow and I just started with these tiny little things. For me everything was learning on the job and I think it went quite well.
How much theatre in general and Prithvi theatre in particular contributed to your understanding of acting?
Ha! Well I don’t think I even understand it now. Appreciation of acting, well it could be mixture between being taken to England every year as a child and seeing work there. And I was taken to everything were my parents went to be it films, theatre or opera. And like wise here, I remember as a 10 year old sleeping the backseat after a long night at the theatre.
Just the other day my brother Kunal was telling me that our mum had such a reverence towards education that even during his ICSC exams she took him to a Vilayat Khan concert. I just love her for that because she knew it was as important, there was just no question of missing a Vilayat Khan concert. So that was the background we came from and it came as a rude shock to me when finally I did act in a film and it was like I had no idea how to work or act. Having been exposed to all this but then having no training as an actress and no experience. Plus having a director who was not necessarily good in getting it out. I mean Ketan is more of a vision man rather than an actor’s director so then I went to a drama school in New York which was an incredible experience. The process was just a year but it gave me the confidence and in many ways a better understanding of what acting is all about.
Don’t you find it difficult playing the role of a playwright, director and actor all at one time?
No…no, I have never written. I can’t write. But I have directed children many years ago. But now I am older, wiser and cynical and so I will never direct again.
What made you back-out completely from Bollywood and concentrate solely on Theatre?
I never got into Bollywood and it was not called Bollywood in those days either. Frankly I never wanted to be in Hindi commercial film. When I wanted to act I was really confused as to where I wanted to act, as in India or England and then language was also a problem. And Ketan then had made some very interesting films so I went up to him and said I want to work with you and if you I have a role for somebody like me then please do think of me. Then 2 years later, he did and it was crossover film. Hero Hiralal was a crossover between parallel and main-stream and perhaps a bit before its time.
So you think it would have worked had it been released now?
I don’t know, maybe. See cinema has changed so much and things have changed in the country now. And at that time there was nothing else to do, I got couple of offers from Hindi commercial cinema and there was no thinking twice about it and for me it was complete different culture which I was not prepared to indulge in.
I mean there were times when I hated my father’s films and I use to ask my mum why he does such types to which she clearly explained to me that when he did start out it was very different. In the 60s and early 70s films were different, an actor’s involvement was different and it all gradually changed. I guess for many like me, the first thing that comes to mind when we think about Theatre or Stage plays is a tiny little block in Juhu, very close to the beach and ever so filled with vibrant atmosphere - Yes, I am talking about Prithvi Theatre.
Prithvi holds many fond memories for me, starting from my college days. Since it is just a couple of blocks from home, I use to practically end up there every second day either enjoying some electrifying performances or simply making conversations with friends over a cup of coffee.
There is no denying the fact that Prithvi has been solely responsible for presenting the Hindi Film Industry with some of the best talents the nation has ever seen. Actors/writers like Kay Kay Menon, Anurag Kashyap, Naseeruddin Shah, etc. consider the experience gained as a theatre artist and the time spent at Prithvi to be the main reason for their success today.
So for me get a one-on-one conversation with the woman standing behind this Powerhouse platform and one of the most appreciated form of entertainment - was much more than a dream come true.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sanjana Kapoor.
~~
How did you end-up becoming the sole-handler of Prithvi?
Well it happened every so slowly and ever so insidiously, it was never meant to be. Really, genuinely was never meant to be. Ever since my mother passed away it was Kunal and Firoz who ran the theatre for 8 long years. And I was in and out of the country, watching from the sidelines and at times participating as a volunteer during festivals. And there were super festivals at that time. I always had this burning, indescribable desire to just connect and to somewhere know that perhaps there was something of my mother lingering inside of me. But I was hugely terrified of entering into anything at Prithvi, just the hugeness of responsibility and lack of experience in my life.
I came on board about 16 years ago very very gradually. I had time on my hand and I said to the trustees i.e. my brother and father, I am going to just see what’s going on and in what way I can fit myself in. So they did give me a long rope, as long as I was going to raise my own money. There were not going to give me a penny which was fine with me. I watched shows for one year and I realized that the most problematic area was the complete disconnect between our vision and what was actually going on here. The quality of theatre was a complete abysmal and so was the audience. There were paan-thuks on the wall, they were talking back to the actors in an incredibly surprising way almost as if they were watching television in their homes.
So I jotted down a 5 point plan then. I set about to start a children’s work-shop and so we started children’s program for summer, it’s been going for 15 years now. Then we started the Art Gallery, actually re-started the Art Gallery. Initially it was run by my mother and her friends. Then we had brunches under the bamboo in the cafe during openings, very relaxing and informal. We wanted to breathe a new life into the cafe because it is an integral part of Prithvi. Later we started our own production company called Prithvi Players and Little Prithvi Players. It happens occasionally, nothing on regular bases only when needed we come out with our own productions.
And the un-realized 5th point of the plan was a library. We had collected over 1000 books, they came mostly thru donations and connected to theatre. But we didn’t have a place to display them on. And sadly, the floods in 2005 destroyed quite a lot of them since they were kept in the basement. But now we are seriously thinking about it and should set up a library and a resource center very soon.
So it all happened real slow and I just started with these tiny little things. For me everything was learning on the job and I think it went quite well.
How much theatre in general and Prithvi theatre in particular contributed to your understanding of acting?
Ha! Well I don’t think I even understand it now. Appreciation of acting, well it could be mixture between being taken to England every year as a child and seeing work there. And I was taken to everything were my parents went to be it films, theatre or opera. And like wise here, I remember as a 10 year old sleeping the backseat after a long night at the theatre.
Just the other day my brother Kunal was telling me that our mum had such a reverence towards education that even during his ICSC exams she took him to a Vilayat Khan concert. I just love her for that because she knew it was as important, there was just no question of missing a Vilayat Khan concert. So that was the background we came from and it came as a rude shock to me when finally I did act in a film and it was like I had no idea how to work or act. Having been exposed to all this but then having no training as an actress and no experience. Plus having a director who was not necessarily good in getting it out. I mean Ketan is more of a vision man rather than an actor’s director so then I went to a drama school in New York which was an incredible experience. The process was just a year but it gave me the confidence and in many ways a better understanding of what acting is all about.
Don’t you find it difficult playing the role of a playwright, director and actor all at one time?
No…no, I have never written. I can’t write. But I have directed children many years ago. But now I am older, wiser and cynical and so I will never direct again.
What made you back-out completely from Bollywood and concentrate solely on Theatre?
I never got into Bollywood and it was not called Bollywood in those days either. Frankly I never wanted to be in Hindi commercial film. When I wanted to act I was really confused as to where I wanted to act, as in India or England and then language was also a problem. And Ketan then had made some very interesting films so I went up to him and said I want to work with you and if you I have a role for somebody like me then please do think of me. Then 2 years later, he did and it was crossover film. Hero Hiralal was a crossover between parallel and main-stream and perhaps a bit before its time.
So you think it would have worked had it been released now?
I don’t know, maybe. See cinema has changed so much and things have changed in the country now. And at that time there was nothing else to do, I got couple of offers from Hindi commercial cinema and there was no thinking twice about it and for me it was complete different culture which I was not prepared to indulge in.
I mean there were times when I hated my father’s films and I use to ask my mum why he does such types to which she clearly explained to me that when he did start out it was very different. In the 60s and early 70s films were different, an actor’s involvement was different and it all gradually changed. Despite of fearsome competition from Bollywood and Cable Channels, what do you think make Prithvi still sustain its popularity?
I don’t think it’s only Prithvi but theatre itself. I mean nothing can beat this live-interaction we have, I mean no television, cinema or any other media for that matter can grab you in the intimate active way and the exchange that takes place. And I think this is the reason why theatre will always survive the on-slaughter but the only thing in theatre always has to be on its toes and re-discover itself and its own role. Now with the advancement in technology we should try incorporate that in theatre but sadly we don’t try such things in this country.
What’s your stance on Indian theatre’s current scenario?
Well I don’t I think I can say on something as vast as that but I could talk more specifically to Mumbai. Even though over the last three years we have actively gone out and created a more dynamic network. We are trying to build link with people who are doing interesting bit across the country and there are amazing pockets of work happening around, like in middle of Karnataka, in Manipur and many other small towns. It’s just that they are not taking place in big metros so therefore they lack this glitz and glamour around them.
I think most importantly we need more homes for theatre. I mean its shocking shame that even after 28 years of Prithvi there is no other place like Prithvi. There are just no more Prithvis in this country or even in this city. There is just one Rang Shankara that was built two years ago again thanks to madness of one woman. But it’s sad that there are no more such mad people around who are ready to put in their sweat and blood in something they love and other people backing them with financial support and breathe life into something so creative and beautiful.
But don’t you think such festivals are making theatre a rather corporatized affair?
Yes, I would say now there are becoming a fad. When we started in 1983, we had our first festival and there were hardly any regular festivals on national level happening around that time. For us it was clearly about celebrating 5 years of our existence and the fact that we had developed a bit of an audience and were focused on few groups so we just pulled them all together and went about with our celebration.
And then we decided to do it annually with the pick of the best productions. What we were constantly trying to do is ask ourselves that why we have our festivals and whether it really makes sense to anybody’s life and sometimes we do really wish to take a pause and not do one in a particular year but then getting back to the question it is a bit of a corporate pulp. Such acts are the reason why they connect to us and in return they get the gains on their investments. And thankfully we have been very lucky with Hutch. But yes it is a bit of pressure to do festivals each year especially when there are others things we would like to concentrate on.
Many well-known actors & directors acknowledge and owe their success to their struggling days spent at Prithvi, how does this make you feel?
Well it is good to hear them speak such kind words but I would rather see them act on them. As in my family always believed in giving back whatever we have gained from theatre so it would be really good to see these very people doing the same and paying up their dues.
Where would you like to see Prithvi Theatre couple of years from now?
Hopefully we will still be around and doing what we do best that is entertaining our audiences.
~~
From the hour that I spent with Sanjana, her most striking feature I would say is her simplicity - Dressed in plain salwar suit, lack of colored gloss on her face and armed with an ordinary looking dairy. I admire “such” qualities as it only shows how comfortable they are within their own skin and don’t feel the need to prove themselves to the world. Hailing from one of the biggest and most influential families in Bollywood, Sanjana too could have chosen to take the easier path by simply using her surname and bagging many films under her belt; afterall haven’t we seen star kids making most of their parent’s achievements rather than their own.
But unlike others, she decided to follow her heart - Prithvi Theatre. And believe me there are many who would thank her for a life-time for making that choice.
Prithvi holds many fond memories for me, starting from my college days. Since it is just a couple of blocks from home, I use to practically end up there every second day either enjoying some electrifying performances or simply making conversations with friends over a cup of coffee.
There is no denying the fact that Prithvi has been solely responsible for presenting the Hindi Film Industry with some of the best talents the nation has ever seen. Actors/writers like Kay Kay Menon, Anurag Kashyap, Naseeruddin Shah, etc. consider the experience gained as a theatre artist and the time spent at Prithvi to be the main reason for their success today.
So for me get a one-on-one conversation with the woman standing behind this Powerhouse platform and one of the most appreciated form of entertainment - was much more than a dream come true.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sanjana Kapoor.
~~
How did you end-up becoming the sole-handler of Prithvi?
Well it happened every so slowly and ever so insidiously, it was never meant to be. Really, genuinely was never meant to be. Ever since my mother passed away it was Kunal and Firoz who ran the theatre for 8 long years. And I was in and out of the country, watching from the sidelines and at times participating as a volunteer during festivals. And there were super festivals at that time. I always had this burning, indescribable desire to just connect and to somewhere know that perhaps there was something of my mother lingering inside of me. But I was hugely terrified of entering into anything at Prithvi, just the hugeness of responsibility and lack of experience in my life.
I came on board about 16 years ago very very gradually. I had time on my hand and I said to the trustees i.e. my brother and father, I am going to just see what’s going on and in what way I can fit myself in. So they did give me a long rope, as long as I was going to raise my own money. There were not going to give me a penny which was fine with me. I watched shows for one year and I realized that the most problematic area was the complete disconnect between our vision and what was actually going on here. The quality of theatre was a complete abysmal and so was the audience. There were paan-thuks on the wall, they were talking back to the actors in an incredibly surprising way almost as if they were watching television in their homes.
So I jotted down a 5 point plan then. I set about to start a children’s work-shop and so we started children’s program for summer, it’s been going for 15 years now. Then we started the Art Gallery, actually re-started the Art Gallery. Initially it was run by my mother and her friends. Then we had brunches under the bamboo in the cafe during openings, very relaxing and informal. We wanted to breathe a new life into the cafe because it is an integral part of Prithvi. Later we started our own production company called Prithvi Players and Little Prithvi Players. It happens occasionally, nothing on regular bases only when needed we come out with our own productions.
And the un-realized 5th point of the plan was a library. We had collected over 1000 books, they came mostly thru donations and connected to theatre. But we didn’t have a place to display them on. And sadly, the floods in 2005 destroyed quite a lot of them since they were kept in the basement. But now we are seriously thinking about it and should set up a library and a resource center very soon.
So it all happened real slow and I just started with these tiny little things. For me everything was learning on the job and I think it went quite well.
How much theatre in general and Prithvi theatre in particular contributed to your understanding of acting?
Ha! Well I don’t think I even understand it now. Appreciation of acting, well it could be mixture between being taken to England every year as a child and seeing work there. And I was taken to everything were my parents went to be it films, theatre or opera. And like wise here, I remember as a 10 year old sleeping the backseat after a long night at the theatre.
Just the other day my brother Kunal was telling me that our mum had such a reverence towards education that even during his ICSC exams she took him to a Vilayat Khan concert. I just love her for that because she knew it was as important, there was just no question of missing a Vilayat Khan concert. So that was the background we came from and it came as a rude shock to me when finally I did act in a film and it was like I had no idea how to work or act. Having been exposed to all this but then having no training as an actress and no experience. Plus having a director who was not necessarily good in getting it out. I mean Ketan is more of a vision man rather than an actor’s director so then I went to a drama school in New York which was an incredible experience. The process was just a year but it gave me the confidence and in many ways a better understanding of what acting is all about.
Don’t you find it difficult playing the role of a playwright, director and actor all at one time?
No…no, I have never written. I can’t write. But I have directed children many years ago. But now I am older, wiser and cynical and so I will never direct again.
What made you back-out completely from Bollywood and concentrate solely on Theatre?
I never got into Bollywood and it was not called Bollywood in those days either. Frankly I never wanted to be in Hindi commercial film. When I wanted to act I was really confused as to where I wanted to act, as in India or England and then language was also a problem. And Ketan then had made some very interesting films so I went up to him and said I want to work with you and if you I have a role for somebody like me then please do think of me. Then 2 years later, he did and it was crossover film. Hero Hiralal was a crossover between parallel and main-stream and perhaps a bit before its time.
So you think it would have worked had it been released now?
I don’t know, maybe. See cinema has changed so much and things have changed in the country now. And at that time there was nothing else to do, I got couple of offers from Hindi commercial cinema and there was no thinking twice about it and for me it was complete different culture which I was not prepared to indulge in.
I mean there were times when I hated my father’s films and I use to ask my mum why he does such types to which she clearly explained to me that when he did start out it was very different. In the 60s and early 70s films were different, an actor’s involvement was different and it all gradually changed. I guess for many like me, the first thing that comes to mind when we think about Theatre or Stage plays is a tiny little block in Juhu, very close to the beach and ever so filled with vibrant atmosphere - Yes, I am talking about Prithvi Theatre.
Prithvi holds many fond memories for me, starting from my college days. Since it is just a couple of blocks from home, I use to practically end up there every second day either enjoying some electrifying performances or simply making conversations with friends over a cup of coffee.
There is no denying the fact that Prithvi has been solely responsible for presenting the Hindi Film Industry with some of the best talents the nation has ever seen. Actors/writers like Kay Kay Menon, Anurag Kashyap, Naseeruddin Shah, etc. consider the experience gained as a theatre artist and the time spent at Prithvi to be the main reason for their success today.
So for me get a one-on-one conversation with the woman standing behind this Powerhouse platform and one of the most appreciated form of entertainment - was much more than a dream come true.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sanjana Kapoor.
~~
How did you end-up becoming the sole-handler of Prithvi?
Well it happened every so slowly and ever so insidiously, it was never meant to be. Really, genuinely was never meant to be. Ever since my mother passed away it was Kunal and Firoz who ran the theatre for 8 long years. And I was in and out of the country, watching from the sidelines and at times participating as a volunteer during festivals. And there were super festivals at that time. I always had this burning, indescribable desire to just connect and to somewhere know that perhaps there was something of my mother lingering inside of me. But I was hugely terrified of entering into anything at Prithvi, just the hugeness of responsibility and lack of experience in my life.
I came on board about 16 years ago very very gradually. I had time on my hand and I said to the trustees i.e. my brother and father, I am going to just see what’s going on and in what way I can fit myself in. So they did give me a long rope, as long as I was going to raise my own money. There were not going to give me a penny which was fine with me. I watched shows for one year and I realized that the most problematic area was the complete disconnect between our vision and what was actually going on here. The quality of theatre was a complete abysmal and so was the audience. There were paan-thuks on the wall, they were talking back to the actors in an incredibly surprising way almost as if they were watching television in their homes.
So I jotted down a 5 point plan then. I set about to start a children’s work-shop and so we started children’s program for summer, it’s been going for 15 years now. Then we started the Art Gallery, actually re-started the Art Gallery. Initially it was run by my mother and her friends. Then we had brunches under the bamboo in the cafe during openings, very relaxing and informal. We wanted to breathe a new life into the cafe because it is an integral part of Prithvi. Later we started our own production company called Prithvi Players and Little Prithvi Players. It happens occasionally, nothing on regular bases only when needed we come out with our own productions.
And the un-realized 5th point of the plan was a library. We had collected over 1000 books, they came mostly thru donations and connected to theatre. But we didn’t have a place to display them on. And sadly, the floods in 2005 destroyed quite a lot of them since they were kept in the basement. But now we are seriously thinking about it and should set up a library and a resource center very soon.
So it all happened real slow and I just started with these tiny little things. For me everything was learning on the job and I think it went quite well.
How much theatre in general and Prithvi theatre in particular contributed to your understanding of acting?
Ha! Well I don’t think I even understand it now. Appreciation of acting, well it could be mixture between being taken to England every year as a child and seeing work there. And I was taken to everything were my parents went to be it films, theatre or opera. And like wise here, I remember as a 10 year old sleeping the backseat after a long night at the theatre.
Just the other day my brother Kunal was telling me that our mum had such a reverence towards education that even during his ICSC exams she took him to a Vilayat Khan concert. I just love her for that because she knew it was as important, there was just no question of missing a Vilayat Khan concert. So that was the background we came from and it came as a rude shock to me when finally I did act in a film and it was like I had no idea how to work or act. Having been exposed to all this but then having no training as an actress and no experience. Plus having a director who was not necessarily good in getting it out. I mean Ketan is more of a vision man rather than an actor’s director so then I went to a drama school in New York which was an incredible experience. The process was just a year but it gave me the confidence and in many ways a better understanding of what acting is all about.
Don’t you find it difficult playing the role of a playwright, director and actor all at one time?
No…no, I have never written. I can’t write. But I have directed children many years ago. But now I am older, wiser and cynical and so I will never direct again.
What made you back-out completely from Bollywood and concentrate solely on Theatre?
I never got into Bollywood and it was not called Bollywood in those days either. Frankly I never wanted to be in Hindi commercial film. When I wanted to act I was really confused as to where I wanted to act, as in India or England and then language was also a problem. And Ketan then had made some very interesting films so I went up to him and said I want to work with you and if you I have a role for somebody like me then please do think of me. Then 2 years later, he did and it was crossover film. Hero Hiralal was a crossover between parallel and main-stream and perhaps a bit before its time.
So you think it would have worked had it been released now?
I don’t know, maybe. See cinema has changed so much and things have changed in the country now. And at that time there was nothing else to do, I got couple of offers from Hindi commercial cinema and there was no thinking twice about it and for me it was complete different culture which I was not prepared to indulge in.
I mean there were times when I hated my father’s films and I use to ask my mum why he does such types to which she clearly explained to me that when he did start out it was very different. In the 60s and early 70s films were different, an actor’s involvement was different and it all gradually changed. Despite of fearsome competition from Bollywood and Cable Channels, what do you think make Prithvi still sustain its popularity?
I don’t think it’s only Prithvi but theatre itself. I mean nothing can beat this live-interaction we have, I mean no television, cinema or any other media for that matter can grab you in the intimate active way and the exchange that takes place. And I think this is the reason why theatre will always survive the on-slaughter but the only thing in theatre always has to be on its toes and re-discover itself and its own role. Now with the advancement in technology we should try incorporate that in theatre but sadly we don’t try such things in this country.
What’s your stance on Indian theatre’s current scenario?
Well I don’t I think I can say on something as vast as that but I could talk more specifically to Mumbai. Even though over the last three years we have actively gone out and created a more dynamic network. We are trying to build link with people who are doing interesting bit across the country and there are amazing pockets of work happening around, like in middle of Karnataka, in Manipur and many other small towns. It’s just that they are not taking place in big metros so therefore they lack this glitz and glamour around them.
I think most importantly we need more homes for theatre. I mean its shocking shame that even after 28 years of Prithvi there is no other place like Prithvi. There are just no more Prithvis in this country or even in this city. There is just one Rang Shankara that was built two years ago again thanks to madness of one woman. But it’s sad that there are no more such mad people around who are ready to put in their sweat and blood in something they love and other people backing them with financial support and breathe life into something so creative and beautiful.
But don’t you think such festivals are making theatre a rather corporatized affair?
Yes, I would say now there are becoming a fad. When we started in 1983, we had our first festival and there were hardly any regular festivals on national level happening around that time. For us it was clearly about celebrating 5 years of our existence and the fact that we had developed a bit of an audience and were focused on few groups so we just pulled them all together and went about with our celebration.
And then we decided to do it annually with the pick of the best productions. What we were constantly trying to do is ask ourselves that why we have our festivals and whether it really makes sense to anybody’s life and sometimes we do really wish to take a pause and not do one in a particular year but then getting back to the question it is a bit of a corporate pulp. Such acts are the reason why they connect to us and in return they get the gains on their investments. And thankfully we have been very lucky with Hutch. But yes it is a bit of pressure to do festivals each year especially when there are others things we would like to concentrate on.
Many well-known actors & directors acknowledge and owe their success to their struggling days spent at Prithvi, how does this make you feel?
Well it is good to hear them speak such kind words but I would rather see them act on them. As in my family always believed in giving back whatever we have gained from theatre so it would be really good to see these very people doing the same and paying up their dues.
Where would you like to see Prithvi Theatre couple of years from now?
Hopefully we will still be around and doing what we do best that is entertaining our audiences.
~~
From the hour that I spent with Sanjana, her most striking feature I would say is her simplicity - Dressed in plain salwar suit, lack of colored gloss on her face and armed with an ordinary looking dairy. I admire “such” qualities as it only shows how comfortable they are within their own skin and don’t feel the need to prove themselves to the world. Hailing from one of the biggest and most influential families in Bollywood, Sanjana too could have chosen to take the easier path by simply using her surname and bagging many films under her belt; afterall haven’t we seen star kids making most of their parent’s achievements rather than their own.
But unlike others, she decided to follow her heart - Prithvi Theatre. And believe me there are many who would thank her for a life-time for making that choice.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Friday, February 2, 2007
Sheetal Mafatlal
The glamorous Sheetal Mafatlal is on cloud nine, ever since she was featured in Time Magazine for her new business venture – bringing the international brand Valentino to India. The article mentions Sheetal as “India’s fashion-retain pioneer” and goes on to add, “When a mysterious and beautiful newcomer took her seat at the Valentino Show in Paris in March, sporting a 20-carat diamond ring on one hand and 200-carat emerald on the other, her appearance sent a frisson of intrigue through the front-row crowd. It never occurred to anyone at the basement of the Louvre that Sheetalo Mafatlal was one of India’s luxury dealmakers.”
Sheetal is utmost casual when se talks about how she bagged the deal. She tells Time, “In early 2004, I was having lunch at the jet-set London restaurant Sah Lorenzo, and Mr. Valentino and his entourage walked in. So I sent over a note and Carlos (Souza, the company’s indefatigable major-domo) came over and we talked.” The best compliment Shetal has received has been from Valentino CEO, Michele Norsa. As he tells the international magazine, “Lots of people approached us about a partnership there (India). But it was of key importance to us to work with someone who really understood luxury. In 1.3 billion people in china, you wouldn’t find one like Sheetal.” Wonder what her one-time good friend Sonia Garware would have to say to this.
Sheetal is utmost casual when se talks about how she bagged the deal. She tells Time, “In early 2004, I was having lunch at the jet-set London restaurant Sah Lorenzo, and Mr. Valentino and his entourage walked in. So I sent over a note and Carlos (Souza, the company’s indefatigable major-domo) came over and we talked.” The best compliment Shetal has received has been from Valentino CEO, Michele Norsa. As he tells the international magazine, “Lots of people approached us about a partnership there (India). But it was of key importance to us to work with someone who really understood luxury. In 1.3 billion people in china, you wouldn’t find one like Sheetal.” Wonder what her one-time good friend Sonia Garware would have to say to this.
Royalty Vividly
Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, the last ruler of the princely state of Aundh, is often described as the painter king. His legacy of 130 paintings is now to be exhibited at the Deshpande Kala Academy, Prabhadevi.
A painter himself, Balasaheb also collected a number of works by European artists, during his lifetime. He built a museum, Bhavani Chitrasangrahalaya, to house his collection, which he handed over to the state government after Independence.
This exhibition, which begins on January 18, will continue till February 1. The paintings are valued at 3 crores each. The works of other painters, like Raja Ravi Verma and European artists like Francis Goya will also be a part of this two week display.
A painter himself, Balasaheb also collected a number of works by European artists, during his lifetime. He built a museum, Bhavani Chitrasangrahalaya, to house his collection, which he handed over to the state government after Independence.
This exhibition, which begins on January 18, will continue till February 1. The paintings are valued at 3 crores each. The works of other painters, like Raja Ravi Verma and European artists like Francis Goya will also be a part of this two week display.
Sexy Move for Beauty
Is India going the Latin American way? Winning beauty contests has become an unhealthy, calculative, manipulative obsession and young girls are prepared to pay any price to win the crown or even go in for dangerous reconstructive plastic surgery to achieve their goal. While still in its infancy in India, on Latin America, it’s a way of life.
The first time she thought of getting breast implants, Juanna Ramos Mejia was at her pediatrician’s office. “I was 12 or 13 then, absolutely flat, and I asked him whether my bust would grow,” recalls Mejia, a 32 year old secretary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He said, “Kid, forget it.” From that moment on, I knew I would do it.” Ramos’ precocious interest in cosmetic surgery is hardly unusual in Buenos Aires. Maria Marta Talice Laboratto, 26, eschewed a quinceanera megaparty in order to straighten her nose 10 years ago. The “Hook I had for a nose,” she says, besides attracting taunts might have made it difficult for her to progress professionally in “Argentina’s still male-dominated white collar world. “Almost every girl I know wants to have something done,” she says, “And if they haven’t done it, it’s because of fear or lack of means.” Machismo plays a larger part in South America’s beauty obsession. There is a strong pressure for women to adhere to a European look and if they don’t fit the mould, they suffer harsher judgment, personally and professionally, than in many cultures. You could also say that South American societies suffer from an inferiority complex. The Argentines, for example, have always felt one step away from real modernity ad wealth. In his book, The Masks of Argentina, journalist, Luis Majul describes cosmetic surgery as a quick personal route to the so called First World. Like Brazil and Venezuela, Argentina has a booming cosmetic surgery industry. Although no official statistics are compiled, Argentina is among the top ranked countries in per capita rates of cosmetic surgery, says Guillermo Flaherty, president of the Argentine plastic surgeon’s association.
Now look what’s happening in India. Sushmita Sen has had a breast implant. Shilpa Shetty had a nose job done. Leave alone the major cities, place like Ludhiana and Ajmer, plastic surgeons are performing breast implants and rhinoplasty (nose job) and there is no control on their activities. Horror stories of botched up cases are covered up and startling cases of deformities abound, as a result of plastic surgery gone wrong are common. Young men and women fill the waiting rooms, their vanity fanning this unhealthy obsession and doctors fill their coffers playing on their insecurities. Will some regulatory authority step in before it is too late?
The first time she thought of getting breast implants, Juanna Ramos Mejia was at her pediatrician’s office. “I was 12 or 13 then, absolutely flat, and I asked him whether my bust would grow,” recalls Mejia, a 32 year old secretary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He said, “Kid, forget it.” From that moment on, I knew I would do it.” Ramos’ precocious interest in cosmetic surgery is hardly unusual in Buenos Aires. Maria Marta Talice Laboratto, 26, eschewed a quinceanera megaparty in order to straighten her nose 10 years ago. The “Hook I had for a nose,” she says, besides attracting taunts might have made it difficult for her to progress professionally in “Argentina’s still male-dominated white collar world. “Almost every girl I know wants to have something done,” she says, “And if they haven’t done it, it’s because of fear or lack of means.” Machismo plays a larger part in South America’s beauty obsession. There is a strong pressure for women to adhere to a European look and if they don’t fit the mould, they suffer harsher judgment, personally and professionally, than in many cultures. You could also say that South American societies suffer from an inferiority complex. The Argentines, for example, have always felt one step away from real modernity ad wealth. In his book, The Masks of Argentina, journalist, Luis Majul describes cosmetic surgery as a quick personal route to the so called First World. Like Brazil and Venezuela, Argentina has a booming cosmetic surgery industry. Although no official statistics are compiled, Argentina is among the top ranked countries in per capita rates of cosmetic surgery, says Guillermo Flaherty, president of the Argentine plastic surgeon’s association.
Now look what’s happening in India. Sushmita Sen has had a breast implant. Shilpa Shetty had a nose job done. Leave alone the major cities, place like Ludhiana and Ajmer, plastic surgeons are performing breast implants and rhinoplasty (nose job) and there is no control on their activities. Horror stories of botched up cases are covered up and startling cases of deformities abound, as a result of plastic surgery gone wrong are common. Young men and women fill the waiting rooms, their vanity fanning this unhealthy obsession and doctors fill their coffers playing on their insecurities. Will some regulatory authority step in before it is too late?
Fali Homi Major new Indian Air Force Chief
For the first time in the history of the Indian Air Force, a helicopter pilot will be taking over its reins. Fali Homi Major will become the chief of the Indian Air Force. This coveted position is usually held by fighter pilots.
Homi Major was inducted into the IAF in 1967 as a helicopter pilot and currently holds the position of Air Officer, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern India Command. He will take over his new position after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal, S.P Tyagi, on March 31.
Since 1967, Homi Major has occupied several important positions, which include a number of command and instructional appointments. However, Homi Major’s major achievement was his participation in the world’shighest battlefield operations in the Siachen glacier, where he commanded a helicopter unit. He was decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal for his IPKF operations in Sri Lanka.
Homi Major was inducted into the IAF in 1967 as a helicopter pilot and currently holds the position of Air Officer, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern India Command. He will take over his new position after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal, S.P Tyagi, on March 31.
Since 1967, Homi Major has occupied several important positions, which include a number of command and instructional appointments. However, Homi Major’s major achievement was his participation in the world’shighest battlefield operations in the Siachen glacier, where he commanded a helicopter unit. He was decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal for his IPKF operations in Sri Lanka.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Blair 'delighted' at Mittal's £2 mn gift
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has thanked NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal for his contribution of £2 million to the ruling Labour Party and said he was "delighted" to receive such a sizeable donation from one of the "world's most successful businessmen". Mittal, President and Chief Executive of world's largest steel company Arcelor-Mittal, on Tuesday announced the donation to Labour Party, commending PM Blair's record since he came to power in 1997. "I am delighted that Mittal, who is one of the world's most successful businessmen, has made such a generous donation. I thank him for his continued support for the Labour party," Blair said. Mittal, the world's fifth richest men, is a major supporter of the party and donated a similar amount in 2005. "I am a long-term supporter of the Labour party and the work it has done in the United Kingdom to improve the overall prosperity and prospects of the country since coming to office in 1997," Mittal, said, in a statement. A previous gift of £125,000 in the 2001 general elections prompted a political row when it emerged that Blair later wrote in support of his company, LNM, when it was trying to land a lucrative contract in Romania. The latest donation comes as the Labour party struggles to avoid a financial disaster in the wake of allegations being investigated by police that several wealthy businessmen who lent Labour money for the last general elections were rewarded by being nominated for peerages.
Wipro Q3 net profit up 46% at Rs 738.9 cr
Software major Wipro on Wednesday posted a 46.28 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 738.9 crore for the quarter ended December 31, as compared to Rs 505.1 crore for the same quarter last year. The total revenue of the company increased by 45.82 per cent to Rs 3,651.1 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, from Rs 2,503.7 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, Wipro informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday. “Our global IT business delivered good volume growth primarily driven by robust performance of our energy and utilities vertical, technology infrastructure services and enterprise application services. Our financial services and retail businesses delivered more than 50 per cent YOY growth,” Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said. Premji also said that the software biggie has brought down its attrition rates in both the IT and BPO businesses. He said that he expected revenue from the global IT services and products businesses to be approximately around $685 million for the quarter ending March 2007. The group posted a net profit of Rs 765.4 crore for the quarter ended December 31, as against Rs 543.5 crore in the same quarter last year. The total revenue of the group increased to Rs 3,979 crore for the December quarter from Rs 2,743.9 crore in the year-ago period.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Hindus resist pollution to bathe in Ganges festival
Hindu holy men brandishing spears and tridents charged into the sacred Ganges on Monday, after threats to boycott the world's largest religious festival over pollution failed to dent devotees' fervour.
The ritual bathing kicked off the most auspicious day yet in the six-week Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Pitcher festival, where tens of millions of pilgrims gather to wash away their sins and free themselves from the earthly cycle of reincarnation.
Chanting battle cries to Lord Shiva, holy men dressed in saffron robes and other naked and ash-smeared "sadhus" ran into the river to the sound of drums for the first "Royal Bath" as dawn broke over the Ganges.
"The water is dirtier than last time. It's like neglecting my mother. This river is the source of all life," Naga Baba Triveni Puri, a naked holy man whose dreadlocked hair had not been cut in 18 years, said as he smoked cannabis after a dip.
After thousands of holy men had threatened to boycott a festival that records show is more than 2,000 years old, authorities last week released fresh water from an upstream dam to clear up what many locals said was filthy and greenish water.
Industrial discharges, sewage, pesticides and the rotting remains of dead bodies have increased pollution levels in the Ganges over the years despite government promises to clean-up India's most sacred river.
The ritual bathing kicked off the most auspicious day yet in the six-week Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Pitcher festival, where tens of millions of pilgrims gather to wash away their sins and free themselves from the earthly cycle of reincarnation.
Chanting battle cries to Lord Shiva, holy men dressed in saffron robes and other naked and ash-smeared "sadhus" ran into the river to the sound of drums for the first "Royal Bath" as dawn broke over the Ganges.
"The water is dirtier than last time. It's like neglecting my mother. This river is the source of all life," Naga Baba Triveni Puri, a naked holy man whose dreadlocked hair had not been cut in 18 years, said as he smoked cannabis after a dip.
After thousands of holy men had threatened to boycott a festival that records show is more than 2,000 years old, authorities last week released fresh water from an upstream dam to clear up what many locals said was filthy and greenish water.
Industrial discharges, sewage, pesticides and the rotting remains of dead bodies have increased pollution levels in the Ganges over the years despite government promises to clean-up India's most sacred river.
Saddam's aides hanged
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's co-defendants - his half brother and the former head of Iraq's revolutionary court were both hanged today, just two weeks after Saddam's execution. Saddam's half brother Barzan Ibrahim, was the former intelligence chief. The other - Awad Hamed al-Bandar headed Iraq's Revolutionary Court. Both, along with Saddam, were found guilty in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims, prompted by the 1982 assassination attempt on the former dictator. The execution of the two, who were initially to be hanged along with Saddam, had been delayed by Iraqi authorities after there was a huge outcry over the manner in which Saddam's execution took place.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Who is Arun Sarin?
Arun Sarin is the chief executive officer of Vodafone Group Plc, the United Kingdom-based global mobile operator.He has been mandated by the company's board of directors to pursue a cash offer for India's fourth-largest mobile firm Hutchison Essar. Vodafone's move to enter the fray to buy out Hutch-Essar has heated up the race with Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani too eyeing to pick up a stake in the telecom firm.
Vodafone boss Sarin was also non-executive director of Vodafone, Charles Schwab Corp, Cisco Systems and Gap Inc, till such time as he took over as Vodafone CEO.
An India-born United States citizen and Indian Institute of Technology graduate with a Bachelor in Science (Engineering), Sarin gained a Master in Science (Engineering) and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of California, at Berkeley in 1978.
The race of Hutch-Essar: Coverage
Vodafone boss Sarin was also non-executive director of Vodafone, Charles Schwab Corp, Cisco Systems and Gap Inc, till such time as he took over as Vodafone CEO.
An India-born United States citizen and Indian Institute of Technology graduate with a Bachelor in Science (Engineering), Sarin gained a Master in Science (Engineering) and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of California, at Berkeley in 1978.
The race of Hutch-Essar: Coverage
He started his career as a management consultant before moving, in 1984, to the Pacific Telesis Group in San Francisco. Commencing in corporate development, he was instrumental in the company acquiring the first cellular licences in the US as well as winning the first cellular licence in Germany and a personal communications network licence in the United Kingdom.
He was subsequently appointed as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer at Pacific Bell, before moving on to become vice-president and general manager, San Francisco Bay Area Telephone Company, a Pacific Bell division with 12,000 employees.
Following the demerger from Pacific Telesis of the mobile and paging businesses to form AirTouch Communications, Arun was appointed senior vice-president, corporate strategy and development, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing a growth strategy encompassing partnerships and acquisitions, which included the merger with the US West wireless business.
On becoming the president and the chief executive officer, AirTouch International, Sarin was responsible for the acquisition of wireless licences in several overseas territories and establishing the management teams of these new ventures.
He then became president and CEO of AirTouch Communications where he was responsible for managing the cellular and paging operations in 14 countries and was a key negotiator in the successful acquisition of AirTouch by Vodafone Group Plc. Within the combined business he was CEO US/Asia Pacific region, managing the group's operations in the US, Asia and Australia.
In addition, he headed the Global Technology division, responsible for the introduction of wireless internet services.
In 2000, with the successful merger of Vodafone AirTouch's US businesses with those of Bell Atlantic and GTE to form Verizon Wireless, Sarin, whilst maintaining a non-executive directorship of Vodafone AirTouch Plc, became CEO of Infospace.
In 2001 he joined Accel-KKR Telecom, a telecom investment and management business, where he evaluated numerous opportunities in the telecommunications industry around the world and oversaw the acquisition of Bell Canada's Yellow Pages business.
He was subsequently appointed as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer at Pacific Bell, before moving on to become vice-president and general manager, San Francisco Bay Area Telephone Company, a Pacific Bell division with 12,000 employees.
Following the demerger from Pacific Telesis of the mobile and paging businesses to form AirTouch Communications, Arun was appointed senior vice-president, corporate strategy and development, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing a growth strategy encompassing partnerships and acquisitions, which included the merger with the US West wireless business.
On becoming the president and the chief executive officer, AirTouch International, Sarin was responsible for the acquisition of wireless licences in several overseas territories and establishing the management teams of these new ventures.
He then became president and CEO of AirTouch Communications where he was responsible for managing the cellular and paging operations in 14 countries and was a key negotiator in the successful acquisition of AirTouch by Vodafone Group Plc. Within the combined business he was CEO US/Asia Pacific region, managing the group's operations in the US, Asia and Australia.
In addition, he headed the Global Technology division, responsible for the introduction of wireless internet services.
In 2000, with the successful merger of Vodafone AirTouch's US businesses with those of Bell Atlantic and GTE to form Verizon Wireless, Sarin, whilst maintaining a non-executive directorship of Vodafone AirTouch Plc, became CEO of Infospace.
In 2001 he joined Accel-KKR Telecom, a telecom investment and management business, where he evaluated numerous opportunities in the telecommunications industry around the world and oversaw the acquisition of Bell Canada's Yellow Pages business.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Saddam Hussein’s last moments on earth
Clutching a Koran and refusing a hood, Saddam Hussein went to the gallows before sunrise on Saturday, executed by vengeful countrymen.
It was a grim end for the 69-year-old leader who had vexed three United States of America presidents.
"We wanted him to be executed on a special day," National Security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told state-run al-Iraqiya.
"It was very quick. He died right away," one of the official Iraqi witnesses told Reuters, saying the ousted president’s face was uncovered, he appeared calm and said a brief prayer as Iraqi guards walked him to the gallows and put the noose round him.
Shortly before the execution, Saddam’s hat was removed and Saddam was asked if he wanted to say something, al-Askari said.
"No I don’t want to," al-Askari, who was present at the execution, quoted Saddam as saying. Saddam repeated a prayer after a Sunni Muslim cleric who was present.
"Saddam later was taken to the gallows and refused to have his head covered with a hood," al-Askari said. "Before the rope was put around his neck, Saddam shouted: ‘God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab’."
Saddam briefly struggled when he was taken from his cell
Saddam was executed at a former military intelligence headquarters in Baghdad’s Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, al-Askari said. The neighborhood is home to the Iraqi capital’s most important Shiite shrine, the Imam Kazim shrine.
"We heard his neck snap," Sami al-Askari, a political ally of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told news agencies after the indoor execution at a Justice Ministry facility in northern Baghdad.
A political adviser of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, al-Askari said Saddam briefly struggled when he was taken from his cell in an American military prison but was composed in his last moments.
He said Saddam was clad completely in black, with a jacket, trousers, hat and shoes, rather than prison garb.
Al-Askari said the government had not decided what to do with Saddam’s body. Issam Ghazzawi, a member of Saddam’s defense team, said he was worried the body would be buried in an unmarked location.
Saddam was hanged for crimes against humanity, a dramatic, violent end for a leader who ruled Iraq by fear for three decades before he was toppled by a US invasion four years ago.
The former president recited the Muslim profession of faith "There is no God but God and Mohammed is his prophet" but made no other remark as uniformed guards took him to the scaffold.
Execution procedure took just a few minutes
Saddam, 69, was bound and shackled but his face was uncovered as he met his death.
"We took him to the gallows and he was saying some few slogans. He was very, very, very, broken," Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said.
They watched as a judge read out the sentence to Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader was carrying a copy of the Koran and asked for it to be given to a friend.
The noose was then placed around his neck. When the hangman stepped forward to put the hood over his head, Saddam Hussein made it clear he wanted to die without it.
The execution procedure took just a few minutes. A small group of Iraqis witnessed the execution inside a building at an Iraqi compound known by the Americans as Camp Justice, a secure facility in the northern Baghdad suburb of Khadimeya.
Mouwafak al-Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, told the BBC that the former leader went to the gallows quietly.
"When we received him, he was handcuffed and holding the Koran on his chest. And he sat and the judge read the detailed sentence, or conviction. Then, after that, we took him to the gallows and he was saying some few slogans. He was very, very, very, broken."
But another senior witness to the execution told Reuters : "He seemed very calm. He did not tremble."
Despite fears of a backlash from Sunni insurgents, initial reactions were fairly muted as Iraqis woke to begin a week of religious holidays for Idd al-Adha.
Jubilant Shi’ites danced in the streets of Najaf
Jubilant Shi’ites, oppressed under Saddam, danced in the streets of Najaf and cars blared their horns in procession through Baghdad’s Shi’ite Sadr City slum.
The main Sunni television channel in the capital gave little coverage to the news — though it did show old footage of Saddam meeting former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a time when Washington helped Iraq against Islamist Iran in the 1980s.
State broadcaster Iraqiya on the other hand ran graphic footage of Saddam’s agents beheading and beating their victims. It promised to air film of the execution later.
Saddam’s daughter Raghd, in exile in Jordan, wants her father buried in Yemen, a source close to the family said.
A senior Iraqi official said the family could claim the body. It might also be sent to Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, where the governor had declared a four-day curfew.
Saddam Hussein combined a shrewd tactical mind with a taste for violence as he rose from humble beginnings to enjoy three decades of absolute power in Iraq.
But overarching ambition, which saw him invade neighbouring Iran and Kuwait and defy former United States allies who accused him of developing nuclear and chemical weapons, destroyed Iraq’s oil-rich economy and finally brought him down.
Rule crumbled when US tanks swept into Baghdad
Saddam rose from fatherless poverty in Tikrit to seize power in a 1968 coup with his pan-Arab Baath party.
He went from being the Baath’s power-behind-the-throne to Iraq’s presidency in 1979 and invaded Iran the following year, launching a war that lasted eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of people, scarring an entire generation.
His rule crumbled when US tanks swept into Baghdad in April of 2003.
Saddam, meaning "one who confronts" in Arabic, was captured in December of that year when American soldiers found him in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
He had vowed to go down fighting, as his sons did months before, but gave up without firing a shot. US forces said Saddam was disoriented when they found him in a pit covered with polystyrene and a rug, near a simple shack in an orange grove.
"I am the president of Iraq, and I want to negotiate," he told the soldiers who found him.
The hut where he had been staying consisted of one room with two beds and a fridge containing a can of lemonade, a packet of hot dogs and an opened box of Belgian chocolates. Several new pairs of shoes lay in their boxes scattered around the floor.
A US general said he was caught "like a rat" and many Arabs who had admired his defiance of the United States were shocked by his failure to fight back.
Iraqis who lived for years under the gaze of proud Saddam statues and posters saw humiliating images of him in custody, mouth held open by a probing medic, an unfamiliar beard streaked grey and dishevelled after months on the run.
Bush hailed death sentence as a milestone for democracy
Saddam was sentenced in November to hang for crimes against humanity for killing, torture and other crimes against 148 Shi’ites following a 1982 attempt on his life.
An appeals court upheld the ruling on Tuesday and he was hanged in Baghdad on Saturday.
In a letter written after his sentencing in November, he said: "I offer myself in sacrifice. If my soul goes down this path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity."
US President George W. Bush hailed the death sentence as a milestone for democracy and US officials presented the trial as an Iraqi catharsis, but Iraq is gripped by sectarian and ethnic strife in which tens of thousands of people have died.
Saddam became president in 1979 after using his skills as a street fighter and conspirator to get the Baath party into power. Surrounding himself with relatives from his hometown of Tikrit, he maintained an iron grip on Iraq despite bloody wars, uprisings, coup plots and assassination attempts.
His ruthless rule, during which his enemies say hundreds of thousands of people died, largely kept the lid on simmering tensions between Arabs and Kurds and between majority Shi’ite Muslims and the strongman’s once-dominant fellow Sunnis.
Saddam spent the last three years of his life in US custody
Once an ally of the United States, which aided him in his war against Shi’ite Islamist Iran, he was demonised by Western leaders after his army invaded Washington’s ally Kuwait in 1990. His description of the first Gulf War as the "mother of all battles" has entered the lexicon.
For some years, US policy was to contain Saddam but after the September 11 attacks in 2001, Bush chose Iraq as the next target in his "war on terror" after Afghanistan.
Having held on to power with much bloodshed when US-led forces did not follow through on their victory in the 1991 Gulf War, he was eventually toppled in a lightning three-week war.
Despite US efforts to take him out, Saddam eluded their grasp and spent eight months on the run.
Captured in December 2003, Saddam spent the last three years of his life in US custody, the spartan life in a US military cell a far cry from the extravagant luxury of palaces where the bathrooms were famously fitted with gold taps.
When his Dujail trial opened in October last year, he appeared in a neat suit and was defiant from the start, insisting, "I am the president of Iraq" and denouncing the US-backed court.
Playing to a televised gallery and for his place in history, he told the court in July in a typically bravura performance that as a military officer he deserved to be shot, not hanged.
Even in death, there are those who still supported Saddam
In August 2006, Saddam’s second trial started, on charges of war crimes including genocide against Iraqi Kurds. It was not concluded by the time of his death and the charges lapse.
In his final days in a US-run prison, he called on Iraqis to stop fighting each other and instead focus on killing Americans, projecting the image of a father figure in a country formed by European colonial rulers from a patchwork of ethnic and religious communities.
As president, he appealed variously to Arab nationalism, Islam and Iraqi patriotism and would appear in the traditional clothes of an Iraqi peasant, military uniform or Western suits.
In court appearances he appeared tie less in a sober suit and clutching a Koran. His lawyers and co-accused respectfully called him "Mr. President".
During his Dujail trial he said: "Even if they put me in hellfire, God forgive me ... I would say, ‘Fine, for the sake of Iraq’. And I will not cry, for my heart is full of belief."
Even in death, there are those who still supported Saddam. A top commander of Afghanistan’s Taliban said today that the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would galvanize Muslim opposition to the United States.
Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former Taliban defence minister and top insurgent commander, also said Saddam’s execution on the Idd al-Adha Muslim festival — marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca — was a provocation.
"Saddam’s hanging on the day of Eid is a challenge to Muslims," Obaidullah told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"His death will boost the morale of Muslims. The jihad in Iraq will be intensified and attacks on invader forces will increase," he said. "Thousands of people will rise up with hatred for America."
It was a grim end for the 69-year-old leader who had vexed three United States of America presidents.
"We wanted him to be executed on a special day," National Security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told state-run al-Iraqiya.
"It was very quick. He died right away," one of the official Iraqi witnesses told Reuters, saying the ousted president’s face was uncovered, he appeared calm and said a brief prayer as Iraqi guards walked him to the gallows and put the noose round him.
Shortly before the execution, Saddam’s hat was removed and Saddam was asked if he wanted to say something, al-Askari said.
"No I don’t want to," al-Askari, who was present at the execution, quoted Saddam as saying. Saddam repeated a prayer after a Sunni Muslim cleric who was present.
"Saddam later was taken to the gallows and refused to have his head covered with a hood," al-Askari said. "Before the rope was put around his neck, Saddam shouted: ‘God is great. The nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab’."
Saddam briefly struggled when he was taken from his cell
Saddam was executed at a former military intelligence headquarters in Baghdad’s Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, al-Askari said. The neighborhood is home to the Iraqi capital’s most important Shiite shrine, the Imam Kazim shrine.
"We heard his neck snap," Sami al-Askari, a political ally of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told news agencies after the indoor execution at a Justice Ministry facility in northern Baghdad.
A political adviser of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, al-Askari said Saddam briefly struggled when he was taken from his cell in an American military prison but was composed in his last moments.
He said Saddam was clad completely in black, with a jacket, trousers, hat and shoes, rather than prison garb.
Al-Askari said the government had not decided what to do with Saddam’s body. Issam Ghazzawi, a member of Saddam’s defense team, said he was worried the body would be buried in an unmarked location.
Saddam was hanged for crimes against humanity, a dramatic, violent end for a leader who ruled Iraq by fear for three decades before he was toppled by a US invasion four years ago.
The former president recited the Muslim profession of faith "There is no God but God and Mohammed is his prophet" but made no other remark as uniformed guards took him to the scaffold.
Execution procedure took just a few minutes
Saddam, 69, was bound and shackled but his face was uncovered as he met his death.
"We took him to the gallows and he was saying some few slogans. He was very, very, very, broken," Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said.
They watched as a judge read out the sentence to Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader was carrying a copy of the Koran and asked for it to be given to a friend.
The noose was then placed around his neck. When the hangman stepped forward to put the hood over his head, Saddam Hussein made it clear he wanted to die without it.
The execution procedure took just a few minutes. A small group of Iraqis witnessed the execution inside a building at an Iraqi compound known by the Americans as Camp Justice, a secure facility in the northern Baghdad suburb of Khadimeya.
Mouwafak al-Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, told the BBC that the former leader went to the gallows quietly.
"When we received him, he was handcuffed and holding the Koran on his chest. And he sat and the judge read the detailed sentence, or conviction. Then, after that, we took him to the gallows and he was saying some few slogans. He was very, very, very, broken."
But another senior witness to the execution told Reuters : "He seemed very calm. He did not tremble."
Despite fears of a backlash from Sunni insurgents, initial reactions were fairly muted as Iraqis woke to begin a week of religious holidays for Idd al-Adha.
Jubilant Shi’ites danced in the streets of Najaf
Jubilant Shi’ites, oppressed under Saddam, danced in the streets of Najaf and cars blared their horns in procession through Baghdad’s Shi’ite Sadr City slum.
The main Sunni television channel in the capital gave little coverage to the news — though it did show old footage of Saddam meeting former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a time when Washington helped Iraq against Islamist Iran in the 1980s.
State broadcaster Iraqiya on the other hand ran graphic footage of Saddam’s agents beheading and beating their victims. It promised to air film of the execution later.
Saddam’s daughter Raghd, in exile in Jordan, wants her father buried in Yemen, a source close to the family said.
A senior Iraqi official said the family could claim the body. It might also be sent to Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, where the governor had declared a four-day curfew.
Saddam Hussein combined a shrewd tactical mind with a taste for violence as he rose from humble beginnings to enjoy three decades of absolute power in Iraq.
But overarching ambition, which saw him invade neighbouring Iran and Kuwait and defy former United States allies who accused him of developing nuclear and chemical weapons, destroyed Iraq’s oil-rich economy and finally brought him down.
Rule crumbled when US tanks swept into Baghdad
Saddam rose from fatherless poverty in Tikrit to seize power in a 1968 coup with his pan-Arab Baath party.
He went from being the Baath’s power-behind-the-throne to Iraq’s presidency in 1979 and invaded Iran the following year, launching a war that lasted eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of people, scarring an entire generation.
His rule crumbled when US tanks swept into Baghdad in April of 2003.
Saddam, meaning "one who confronts" in Arabic, was captured in December of that year when American soldiers found him in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
He had vowed to go down fighting, as his sons did months before, but gave up without firing a shot. US forces said Saddam was disoriented when they found him in a pit covered with polystyrene and a rug, near a simple shack in an orange grove.
"I am the president of Iraq, and I want to negotiate," he told the soldiers who found him.
The hut where he had been staying consisted of one room with two beds and a fridge containing a can of lemonade, a packet of hot dogs and an opened box of Belgian chocolates. Several new pairs of shoes lay in their boxes scattered around the floor.
A US general said he was caught "like a rat" and many Arabs who had admired his defiance of the United States were shocked by his failure to fight back.
Iraqis who lived for years under the gaze of proud Saddam statues and posters saw humiliating images of him in custody, mouth held open by a probing medic, an unfamiliar beard streaked grey and dishevelled after months on the run.
Bush hailed death sentence as a milestone for democracy
Saddam was sentenced in November to hang for crimes against humanity for killing, torture and other crimes against 148 Shi’ites following a 1982 attempt on his life.
An appeals court upheld the ruling on Tuesday and he was hanged in Baghdad on Saturday.
In a letter written after his sentencing in November, he said: "I offer myself in sacrifice. If my soul goes down this path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity."
US President George W. Bush hailed the death sentence as a milestone for democracy and US officials presented the trial as an Iraqi catharsis, but Iraq is gripped by sectarian and ethnic strife in which tens of thousands of people have died.
Saddam became president in 1979 after using his skills as a street fighter and conspirator to get the Baath party into power. Surrounding himself with relatives from his hometown of Tikrit, he maintained an iron grip on Iraq despite bloody wars, uprisings, coup plots and assassination attempts.
His ruthless rule, during which his enemies say hundreds of thousands of people died, largely kept the lid on simmering tensions between Arabs and Kurds and between majority Shi’ite Muslims and the strongman’s once-dominant fellow Sunnis.
Saddam spent the last three years of his life in US custody
Once an ally of the United States, which aided him in his war against Shi’ite Islamist Iran, he was demonised by Western leaders after his army invaded Washington’s ally Kuwait in 1990. His description of the first Gulf War as the "mother of all battles" has entered the lexicon.
For some years, US policy was to contain Saddam but after the September 11 attacks in 2001, Bush chose Iraq as the next target in his "war on terror" after Afghanistan.
Having held on to power with much bloodshed when US-led forces did not follow through on their victory in the 1991 Gulf War, he was eventually toppled in a lightning three-week war.
Despite US efforts to take him out, Saddam eluded their grasp and spent eight months on the run.
Captured in December 2003, Saddam spent the last three years of his life in US custody, the spartan life in a US military cell a far cry from the extravagant luxury of palaces where the bathrooms were famously fitted with gold taps.
When his Dujail trial opened in October last year, he appeared in a neat suit and was defiant from the start, insisting, "I am the president of Iraq" and denouncing the US-backed court.
Playing to a televised gallery and for his place in history, he told the court in July in a typically bravura performance that as a military officer he deserved to be shot, not hanged.
Even in death, there are those who still supported Saddam
In August 2006, Saddam’s second trial started, on charges of war crimes including genocide against Iraqi Kurds. It was not concluded by the time of his death and the charges lapse.
In his final days in a US-run prison, he called on Iraqis to stop fighting each other and instead focus on killing Americans, projecting the image of a father figure in a country formed by European colonial rulers from a patchwork of ethnic and religious communities.
As president, he appealed variously to Arab nationalism, Islam and Iraqi patriotism and would appear in the traditional clothes of an Iraqi peasant, military uniform or Western suits.
In court appearances he appeared tie less in a sober suit and clutching a Koran. His lawyers and co-accused respectfully called him "Mr. President".
During his Dujail trial he said: "Even if they put me in hellfire, God forgive me ... I would say, ‘Fine, for the sake of Iraq’. And I will not cry, for my heart is full of belief."
Even in death, there are those who still supported Saddam. A top commander of Afghanistan’s Taliban said today that the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would galvanize Muslim opposition to the United States.
Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former Taliban defence minister and top insurgent commander, also said Saddam’s execution on the Idd al-Adha Muslim festival — marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca — was a provocation.
"Saddam’s hanging on the day of Eid is a challenge to Muslims," Obaidullah told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"His death will boost the morale of Muslims. The jihad in Iraq will be intensified and attacks on invader forces will increase," he said. "Thousands of people will rise up with hatred for America."
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