The Kamla Show

Zal Batmanglij: On The East

kamla bhatt — Sat, 25 May 2013 05:54:53 +0000

When director Zal Batmanglij’s indie film The Sound of My Voice released in 2011 it earned him and Brit Marling, his collaborator and star of the film wide acclaim. Their first film was made on a shoe-strong budget. Batmanglij is back with his second film The East, a suspense thriller that he co-wrote with Marling. The film got [...]

Sukhi’s – A Blender And A Bucket And The Start Of An Entrepreneurial Journey

kamla bhatt — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:49:57 +0000

Meet Sukhi Singh. She started with a blender and a bucket in her kitchen and conjured up different curry pastes and thus began her entrepreneurial journey. ”We bring Indian food to the mainstream table,” is how she describes her company. Today, her company – Sukhis- is part of the fastest growing ethnic food market in [...]

Mira Nair On The Reluctant Fundamentalist

kamla bhatt — Thu, 02 May 2013 02:27:20 +0000

Mira Nair‘s latest films is The Reluctant Fundamentalist. The picture is based on a novel by the same name by Mohsin Hamid. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an intimate portrait told with anguish and love about the 2 societies: American and South Asian says Mira, who came to the US as a 19 year old undergraduate to [...]

Playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar Part-2

kamla bhatt — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:12:50 +0000

Anupama Chandrasekhar’s play Disconnect was staged at San Jose Rep in March 2013. We caught up with the Chennai-based playwright when she was in San Jose to attend the West Coast premier of her play. In Part-2 of our conversation Anupama takes us back to her childhood growing up in Madras, now known as Chennai. [...]

Cisco’s Padmasree Warrior

kamla bhatt — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:27:28 +0000

Padmasree Warrior is Cisco’s Chief Technology and Strategy Officer. She joined Cisco in 2007 after having spent many years working at Motorola in Chicago. At Motorola she was an Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this wide ranging interview we talk about role of CTO to Cisco’s strategy in an economic downturn [...]

Playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar

kamla bhatt — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:57:47 +0000

Meet Anupama Chandrasekhar, a playwright based in Chennai. Her play Disconnect made its West Coast debut at the San Jose Rep in March 2013. This is perhaps the first time that an Indian playwright’s work is being staged at San Jose Rep. Disconnect is translated in a couple of European languages and made its European debut [...]

Usha Raghunathan – Never, Ever Quit

kamla bhatt — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 05:40:25 +0000

Usha Raghunathan’s motto is never, ever quit. Be a survivor is her advice for those who want to do do something in their life, especially women. Usha should know what it is like to survive and make your dreams come true in a tough and conservative environment in South India. Brought up in a liberal [...]

Mrinal Pande on Technology & Media in India

kamla bhatt — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:50:45 +0000

Mrinal Pande shares her thoughts on technology, media and the vibrant, youthful energy in India. Pande has over 30 years of experience as a writer and journalist, and a decade as editor-in-chief of a leading newspaper. Pande was the first woman to become the chief editor-in-chief (2001-2009) of a leading Indian newspaper – The Hindustan Times, [...]

Mrinal Pande on Shivani, Writing and Journalism

kamla bhatt — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:02:16 +0000

Mrinal Pande is a journalist, author and TV personality. She was the first woman in Indian media to become the chief editor of a national newspaper. This was for the Hindi edition of The Hindustan Times. Mrinal was a teenager when cut her teeth as a copy editor. She helped her mother, the well-known Hindi [...]

Usha Raghunathan – How She Learnt To Fly A Tiger Moth

kamla bhatt — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:13:05 +0000

Trendsetter with a traditional touch is one way to describe Usha Raghunathan. She is a pilot, writer and an entrepreneur. In Part-1 of our interview Usha talks about her love for flying and how she earned her pilot’s license. Way back in the 1950’s Usha got her pilot’s license in Chennai formerly called Madras. What [...]

John Kahrs On Paperman, Animation & Technology

kamla bhatt — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:44:47 +0000

John Kahrs won an Academy award for his animated short film Paperman. This was Kahrs directorial debut and his first Oscar nomination. Paperman is a 7 minute black and white short film that combines old and new technology in a powerful and delightful way. We caught up with Kahrs just as his film was being premiered [...]

Trichy Sankaran On Music, Education & Childhood Part-1

kamla bhatt — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:11:39 +0000

Prof Trichy Sankaran is a musician, composer, teacher & author. Based in Canada he teaches Carnatic music at York University. A master percussionist, Prof. Sankaran plays the double-headed drum mridangam. He has written 2 books on Carnatic music The Rhythmic Principals and Practice of South Indian Drumming and The Art of Konnakkol. Prof. Sankaran has worked with musicians [...]

Deepak Chopra on God, Reading, Writing and USA in the 1960s

kamla bhatt — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:10:33 +0000

Meet Dr. Deepak Chopra – a writer, thinker and physician. A prolific writer, he is the author of over 60 books and the latest one released in 2012 was God – The Story of Revelation. In this interview Dr. Chopra talks about God, reading, writing, USA in the 1960s, life and death. He takes us back [...]

Madhur Jaffrey on Filmmaker Ismail Merchant & Food

kamla bhatt — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:07:26 +0000

Madhur Jaffrey says “I am just an actress, who loves to cook.” Food and acting are her twin passions. She is the author of many cookbooks and was featured in a BBC series Flavors of India, where she took us around India on her culinary adventures. After a 17 years break from TV Madhur is back on BBC with [...]

Javed Akhtar On Films, Poetry and Writing

kamla bhatt — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:40:32 +0000

Javed Akhtar is a well-known Hindi film lyricist, screenwriter and an urdu poet. He has been involved in Hindi film industry or Bollywood for over 40 years. In the interview Mr. Akhtar talks about Umrao Jaan, his father Jan Nissar Akhtar and writings. This interview was recorded on November 2, 2006 at the IAAC film festival in Manhattan, New York. At the [...]

Bangalore’s Taj West End Celebrates125 years

kamla bhatt — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 06:00:42 +0000

Bangalore’s Taj West End Hotel turned 125 years old in 2012. This iconic Bangalore hotel is perhaps one of the oldest hotels in India. Established in 1887, the Westend was initially known as Mrs. Bronson’s Boarding House and had 10 beds. The original building where the boarding house was located is still intact and is [...]

Mathew Lillard: Fat Kid Rules The World

kamla bhatt — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:30:09 +0000

Meet actor turned director Mathew Lillard, who talks about his debut film Fat Kid Rules The World. Based on a best-selling novel by AL Gooing it’s a poignant and interesting coming-of-age film about two teenage boys with very different personalities. What unites them together is their love of music. Lillard is using new and interesting [...]

Sacha Gervasi on Hitchcock

kamla bhatt — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:19:27 +0000

Director Sacha Gervasi’s debut feature film Hitchcock is an unusual film. While we know quite a lot about the “master of suspense” Hitchcock and his movie-making techniques, there is very little we know about his personal life and the key role his wife played throughout his long and distinguished film career. The film is a [...]

Ang Lee on Life Of Pi

kamla bhatt — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:26:33 +0000

Academy award winner Ang Lee talks about his new film Life of Pi that is based on a novel by best selling author Yann Martel. This is Lee’s first major foray into 3D filmmaking. The film traces a the story of Piscine Militor Patel (Pi) and a tiger called Richard Parker. Trapped in a small white [...]

Madhur Jaffrey on Food & Writing

kamla bhatt — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:30:28 +0000

Meet Madhur Jaffrey an award-winning actress and cookbook writer and one of the earliest culinary ambassadors of Indian food in the US and UK. She is the author of many cookbooks and was featured in a BBC series Flavors of India, where she took us around India on her culinary adventures. Now in 2012 after [...]

Ford’s Futurist Sheryl Connelly Part-2

kamla bhatt — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:54:38 +0000

In Part-2 of our conversation Ford Motor Co’s futurist Sheryl Connelly talks about her role as a futurist. While we can predict the future, we can help shape it is one way of describing what she does points out Sheryl. A car is much more than taking you from Point A to Point B she [...]

Ford’s Futurist Sheryl Connelly

kamla bhatt — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:30:02 +0000

Why does an automobile company need a futurist? Ever wondered about it? Meet Ford Motor Company’s Sheryl Connelly, who breaks it down and shares what a futurist brings to the table, especially for an automobile company. How to you bridge the gap between what is happening today, and what is going to unfold in the [...]

End of Watch’s Michael Pena & Nataline Martinez

kamla bhatt — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:32:54 +0000

Director David Ayer of Fast and Furious fame has a new film out – End of Watch. This unusual cop film revolves Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena and their police beat in Newton, a gritty part of Los Angeles. Behind that police badge beats a heart just like yours is part of the opening dialog [...]

Pushpesh Pant on Indian Food

kamla bhatt — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:50:18 +0000

What is Indian food? Or, should the question be what are Indian foods? How do you define Indian food especially when India was not always a cohesive geographical entity? What was the role of the 2,000 year old spice trade on Indian cooking? Do geographical barriers matter when it comes to food? What happened to [...]

Prof. Pushpesh Pant on India: The Cookbook

kamla bhatt — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 06:06:43 +0000

Prof. Pushpesh Pant has written a handful of books on Indian cuisine. His best known is India: The Cookbook published in 2010. This comprehensive book contains 1,000 recipes from different parts of India. But, what is Indian food? What is Indian cooking? How has Indian cuisine evolved and changed over the years? How do you [...]

India in 1947: Eunice D’Sa

kamla bhatt — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:25:44 +0000

India in 1947 what was it like? How did the young people react when India became independent on August 15, 1947? What was the transition like? How did they learn the new national anthem? What did the young students learn in their geography classes in the 1940s? What was the map of India like? For [...]

David Rai on His Punjabi-Mexican Heritage

kamla bhatt — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 02:20:54 +0000

“I am an American-Punjabi-Hispanic,” is how Lal David Rai, a second generation Punjabi-Mexican describes himself. Meet David, a 3rd generation farmer from Yuba City, Sutter County in Northern California. He comfortably straddles all 3 cultures. Over 100 years ago David’s paternal grandfather moved from Punjab in India to the USA and eventually settled down in Arizona. [...]

Yuba City’s Rai Family on Punjabi-Mexican Heritage

kamla bhatt — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 06:25:28 +0000

Meet Mary Singh Rai and her children David and Leela of Yuba City in Sutter County, California. Mary’s father Bishan Singh came to America in 1909 and married Ernestine Zuniga. They settled in Arizona and raised their 5 children. Their daughter Mary, a first generation Punjabi-Mexican married Lal Rai and lived in Yuba City. In [...]

In Conversation with Amitav Ghosh

kamla bhatt — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 05:30:35 +0000

In River of Smoke author Amitav Ghosh takes us to the heart of opium trade between British India and China. He takes us to 1830s Canton, which was the main outpost for the opium trade. Opium was a major revenue generator for the British and helped offset the balance of trade as Ghosh points out [...]

Desis in California – Meet Dave Teja of Yuba City

kamla bhatt — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 05:42:33 +0000

There is a place in Northern California that is home to an interesting mix of people of Indian origin. That place is Sutter county and the town where the early Indians settled is called Yuba City. By the close of the 19thc a small band of Indians mostly from the Punjab province made their way [...]

Bangalore: A Pensioner’s Paradise

kamla bhatt — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 04:52:12 +0000

Bangalore was a pensioner’s paradise in the 20thc. “It was a lively place and every town had a youth center,” says Glenn Webber, who grew up in Bangalore in the 1940s and 1950s. “Restaurants used to be open till 2-3 am,” says Mona Webber, his sister. Their conversation is peppered with names like MacIver Town, Tasker [...]

Kora Chandy – Bangalore’s Chronicler of 20thc

kamla bhatt — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:10:24 +0000

Kora Chandy was Bangalore’s chronicler of 20thc. In this interview Chandy’s daughter Ceclia (Cecy) Anthrapar talks about how her father developed his interest in the old, charming city. Trained as a lawyer in Kerala, he came to Bangalore in 1930 and worked for the British residency and then went to work in the Bangalore’s High [...]

A Tour of The Anglo-Indian Kitchen Table

kamla bhatt — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:25:53 +0000

A tour of the Anglo-Indian kitchen table with Bangalore-based Bridget White Kumar reveals a list of interesting sounding dishes like bubble and squeak, pepper water, Bengal Lancers shrimp curry, railway mutton curry, dak bunglow curry, Hussainy curry, foogath, pepper okra, bread pudding, carmel custard and shandy. Bridget deconstructs these dishes in the interview and takes us [...]

Bangalore’s Cartoonist Paul Fernandes

kamla bhatt — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:08:07 +0000

Meet Bangalore’s cartoonist Paul Fernandes, who found that he could not stay away from the city even if he wanted to. There is something about this “city of pubs,” “pensioner’s paradise,” “garden city” that keeps him grounded and happy. It is the many moods of that happy, delightful and lazy charm of an old Bangalore [...]

Mohandas Pai on Education, Investment & IPO Part-2

kamla bhatt — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:15:01 +0000

Mohandas Pai on education, investment and IPO in part-2 of our conversation. He is the chairperson of the board of Manipal Global Education Services that has schools and educational institutions in India, Malaysia, Dubai and Antigua. Interestingly, the California Educational System serves as a role model for Manipal’s educational system. What prompted Mohan to join Manipal Global [...]

In Conversation With Mohandas Pai Part-1

kamla bhatt — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:32:02 +0000

How do you keep a company financially healthy? How do you deal with the capital structure and the financial forecasting of a company? That is the challenge many companies face, and having an efficient and effective Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is key to the financial success of a company. Meet Mohandas Pai, who has carved out [...]

In Conversation With Nandan Nilekani Part-1

kamla bhatt — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:35:04 +0000

Nandan Nilekani is the co-founder and former head of Infosys. This is the company that put Bangalore on the global map. New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman credits Nandan for coining that famous phrase The World Is Flat, which became the title of his book. Banglaore-based Infosys is one of the best Indian success stories. Founded during the [...]

In Conversation With Nandan Nilekani Part-2

kamla bhatt — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:28:22 +0000

In Part-2 of the interview Nandan Nilekani talks the changing dynamics of Indian political landscape, especially in the federal-state relationship. What can India learn from China? What is needed for India to move forward? What is missing? These were some of the questions he answered. In case you missed, you can listen to Part-1 of the conversation, where Nandan [...]

Banglaore’s Gold Dosa Creator: Chandan Lokesh

kamla bhatt — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:59:11 +0000

Meet Bangalore’s gold dosa creator: Chandan Lokesh. Yes, in Chandan’ restaurant the ordinary dosa or lentil crepe has been redfined and re-imagined and has a touch of gold. “Taste redfined,” is the rather apt tagline of his new multi-cuisine restaurant Rajbhog in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. With the introduction of “gold dosa” or “golden dosa” Chandan has [...]

Steve Hamm on Bangalore Tiger – Wipro

kamla bhatt — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:06:30 +0000

Steve Hamm’s Bangalore Tiger: How Indian Tech Upstart Wipro Is Rewriting the Rules of Global Competition traces the growth and success of Azim Premji and his company Wipro. Wipro is one of the largest Information Technology (IT) companies of India. Wipro, along with Infosys are the two major IT companies that put Bangalore on the global [...]

Spy Princess: Noor Inayat Khan

kamla bhatt — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:21:37 +0000

Spy Princess: Noor Inayat Khan is a biography written by London-based Shrabani Basu. Noor is an intriguing historical figure for a number of reasons , including a Bangalore/Mysore connection through the famous Tipu Sultan. She was the only woman spy of Indian heritage that fought in World War II, and was also the first woman radio [...]

Leela Chander on 1930s Bangalore

kamla bhatt — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:19:30 +0000

Leela Chander is 91 years old, and in 1938 she came to Bangalore as a young bride. She arrived by train from Pune and settled down in Bangalore’s cantonment area, where she worked alongside her physician husband at his Dr. Chander’s Clinic on Mosque Road. What was Bangalore like in the 1930s? She shares her [...]

Academy Winner John Knoll on Technology in Filmmaking

kamla bhatt — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:11:56 +0000

Academy-award winner John Knoll works behind the scenes, but you have probably seen his visual effects magic in “Avatar,” “Rango,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Hugo,” Mission Impossible,” “Star Wars” and many other films. Knoll is a visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic and in 2007 won an Academy award for Best Visual Effects [...]

In Conversation With Sam Pitroda Part-2

kamla bhatt — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:52:23 +0000

In Part-2 of our conversation Sam Pitroda talks about his second innings in India, and what brought him back from his hometown of Chicago to New Delhi? He is currently an advisor to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Public Infrastructure, Information and Innovations. He shares his thoughts about being part of the Knowledge Commission [...]

In Conversation With Sam Pitroda Part-1

kamla bhatt — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:29:19 +0000

1984 was a pivotal year in India’s history from a technological perspective. It was in 1984 that C-Dot was founded, which in turn unleashed the Indian telecom revolution and highlighted how technology can help bring change in India, especially rural India. C-Dot was also an incubator of sorts for new ideas and a new way [...]

Walter Murch on Technology, Editing & Filmmaking

kamla bhatt — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 13:27:13 +0000

Meet 3 time Oscar-winning editor and sound engineer Walter Murch, who talks on how technology has changed film editing and how “digital revolution has invented the equivalent of aensthetic for the cinema.” Mr. Murch points out before the digital revolution film editors were “physically cutting through the substance of film.” Mr. Murch started his career [...]

Naresh Fernandes on Jazz in Bombay Part-2

kamla bhatt — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:38:53 +0000

India discovered America and made it their own though jazz music explains Naresh Fernades, whose book Taj Mahal Foxtrot, chronicles how jazz entered Bombay and found a new home in this port city. Taj Mahal Foxtrot was the first jazz song recorded in Bombay. The early American musicians were traveling ministrels, who came to Bombay [...]

Ira Pande on Jaipur Literary Festival & Indian Publishing Industry

kamla bhatt — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:20:54 +0000

The publishing landscape in India has changed quite a bit in the last few years and Indian and South Asian writers are on the radar of international publishing houses. What does the Indian publishing industry have to learn from these changes? One of the major change in Indian publishing according to Ira Pande is the [...]

In Conversation With Ira Pande Part-1

kamla bhatt — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:39:16 +0000

Shivani and Manohar Shyam Joshi are two well-known Hindi writers, whose work until a few years ago was confined to Hindi readers. However in the last few years Shivani and Joshi’s books were translated in English by Shivani’s daughter Ira Pande, who is an author herself. Shivani’s Diddi and Apradhini and Joshi’s T’Ta Professor were [...]

Celebrating Pongal in Pondicherry

kamla bhatt — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:08:48 +0000

The Hindu festival Pongal is celebrated on 15th January all over South India. This harvest festival is to give thanks to the Sun god for a bountiful harvest, and takes place 21 days after the winter solstice. In the former French colony of Pondicherry there is an interesting tradition where the Catholics celebrate Pongal to [...]

Naresh Fernandes on Jazz in Bombay Part-1

kamla bhatt — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:41:28 +0000

Naresh Fernandes is the author of Taj Mahal Foxtrot that traces the history of jazz in Bombay, a thriving and important port city of India. Just like the American jazz age of the 1920s, there was an Indian jazz age in the 1920s that continued to grow and flourish until the 1940s. At first it [...]

Delhi Belly’s Akshat Verma Part-2

kamla bhatt — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:06:37 +0000

In 2011 “Delhi Belly” proved to be unusual success in Bollywood. Unusual because this funny, comic thrilled is largely in English with a few sentences in Hindi thrown in. The film was dubbed in Hindi to make it accessible to a larger audience in India. “Delhi Belly” was also unusual since this was Los Angeles-based [...]

Dr. Amin Jaffer On The Splendors of Indian Maharajas

kamla bhatt — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:10:09 +0000

The splendors of an Indian maharaja’s (king) court is the stuff of legend that you may have heard or read in books. In Made For Maharajas A Design Diary of Princely India (Vendome Press, 2006) Dr. Amin Jaffer takes us on a splendid journey of the lifestyle of the rich and famous Indian maharajas and maharanis [...]

Delhi Belly’s Akshat Verma Part-1

kamla bhatt — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:47:36 +0000

This year’s Bollywood film “Delhi Belly” was an unusual success. Tthe film was in English, which is a big departure since most Bollywood films are in Hindi. And then there was the fact that the screenplay writer cum associate director and director were making their debut in Bollywood. But, backing this film was a successful [...]

Filmmaker Prashant Bhargava on Patang

kamla bhatt — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:20:18 +0000

Prashant Bhargava’s new film “Patang” (The Kite) is set in Gujarat located on the west coast of India. The film unfolds in the old town of Ahmedabad against the backdrop of the colorful kite festival that takes place every January. “Patang” (Hindi) is an interesting narrative film, which at times feels like a documentary where [...]

Meet Paul Debevec – Hollywood’s Master of Light

kamla bhatt — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:41:04 +0000

Meet Prof. Paul Debevec described as “Hollywood’s Master of Light” by MIT’s Tech Review. His pioneering work at the intersection of technology and films has won him recognition and awards. In 2010 Debevec won an Academy Award in science and engineering for his digital facial-rendering technology. You can see Debevec’s digital innovation in virtual cinematography in [...]

Gerard Butler on Bollywood, India & Danny Boyle

kamla bhatt — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 08:13:23 +0000

Gerard Butler talks about Bollywood, India and Danny Boyle. Many years ago, Mr. Butler auditioned for a Bollywood film, but did not land the part. That was 13 years ago. Since then he has gone on to make a name for himself in block-buster Hollywood films like “300.” Bollywood is on Mr. Butler’s mind, and [...]

In Conversation With Gerard Butler & Michelle Monaghan

kamla bhatt — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 04:00:21 +0000

Gerard Butler and Michelle Monaghan talk about the making of “Machine Gun Preacher.” The film is directed by Marc Forster and is based on Sam Childer’s book “Another Man’s War.’ Gerard and Michelle talk about how they prepared for the role. Were they concerned about making a movie about a living person, who is sometimes [...]

In Conversation with Director Wayne Wang

kamla bhatt — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:45:40 +0000

San Francisco-based Wayne Wang’s new film “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” is based on Lisa See’s novel by the same name. In this interview Wang talks about growing up in Hong Kong and California, what drew up to make “Snow Flower and The Secret Fan,” in Shanghai, foot binding practice in China and his [...]

Greg Booth On Making Of Bollywood Music Part-3

kamla bhatt — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:35:39 +0000

Greg Booth is a musician, teacher and an author. In his book “Looking Behind The Curtain Making Music In Mumbai’s Film Industry” he takes us behind the silverscreen to show us how music was made in Hindi or Bollywood films. In this segment Greg talks about the process of how songs were created especially in [...]

Shenaz Treasurywala on Delhi Belly & One Life To Live

kamla bhatt — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:02:27 +0000

Meet Shenaz Treasurywala, who started her career as a VJ on MTV India and made her debut in Indian cinema. In this interview Shenaz talks about working in Aamir Khan’s new Bollywood film Delhi Belly and how she landed the role. She also talks about her foray into American soap opera ABC’s One Life to [...]

Greg Booth on The Making of Bollywood Music

kamla bhatt — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:59:26 +0000

Greg Booth is a musician, author and teacher at University of Auckland, New Zealand. In 2008 Greg’s book “Behind The curtain: Making Music in Mumbai’s Film Studios,” was published. The book highlights the contributions of individual musicians, who were part of a larger Hindi or Bollywood music orchestra led by C. Ramachandra, SD Burman, Laximant [...]

Greg Booth: Indian Wedding Brass Bands

kamla bhatt — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:24:44 +0000

Prof. Greg Booth is a teacher, author & musician. In his book Brass Baja: Stories From The World of Indian Wedding Bands he takes us behind the scene into the world of the Indian brass band musicians, whose rich musical traditions and history has been largely ignored. It was way back back in the 17th [...]

Ford’s Joe Hinrichs On India & China

kamla bhatt — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:03:14 +0000

Asia’s automobile market is the fastest growing one in the world with China and India leading the growth. Many are first time car buyers in two of the most populous nations of the world. Automobile companies are ramping up to meet that demand for vehicles in India and China. For instance, for 2011 Ford Motor [...]

LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman: Part-2

kamla bhatt — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:37:52 +0000

Silicon Valley-based LinkedIn is going public on May 19, 2011 and is expected to raise about $350-400 million. This is the first time an American social network is going IPO. LinkedIn was co-founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002 and was officially launced in 2003. Reid is often described as the most connected person in Silicon Valley. LinkedIn has [...]

LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman Part-1

kamla bhatt — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:25:28 +0000

LinkedIn was co-founded by Reid Hoffman in his living room in Silicon Valley in 2002. Today LinkedIn has over 100 million members with 9 million plus members in India alone. Over 2 million companies, big and small, have LinkedIn pages for their business. Given the size of its membership and the reach of its network it [...]

In Conversation With Actor Rizwan Manji

kamla bhatt — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:15:00 +0000

Rizwan Manji’s dream growing up in Canada was to be in an American sitcom. That dream came true. After studying at American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. H has appeared on TV shows like ”24″, “Glee,” “Hannah Montana” and now NBC’s “Outsourced,” where [...]

In Conversation with Parvesh Cheena aka Gupta

kamla bhatt — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:21:21 +0000

Meet Parvesh Cheena, who plays the socially awkward man-child Gupta in NBC’s Outsourced that debuted in 2010. Outsourced is a show based on workplace except this one is a call center for an American company in Mumbai, India. Outsourced is the first TV show that is about the South Asian community and features a large [...]

In Conversation With Sacha Dhawan

kamla bhatt — Thu, 12 May 2011 23:01:12 +0000

British actor Sacha Dhawan acts as Manmeet in the NBC TV serial Outsourced, a workplace comedy series about an American company’s call center in Mumbai, India. Outsourced debuted in 2010. This is the first time an American television series is based on the South Asian community and features a large ensemble of South Asian actors. [...]

In Conversation With Ram Shriram

kamla bhatt — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 11:13:21 +0000

Ram Shriram is an entrepreneur and investor, who was a founding board member of Google. He is currently a member of the board of trustees at Stanford University. Identified as one of the top tech dealmakers by Forbes in 2008 and 2009 Ram founded his investment company Sherpalo Ventures in 2000. He has invested in a handful of [...]

Jim Kohlberg & Lou Taylor on The Music Never Stopped

kamla bhatt — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 05:04:06 +0000

The Music Never Stopped is based on a true story that was described in a essay The Last Hippie written by Dr. Oliver Sacks. The film is about a 37 yr old man Greg Sawyer (Lou Taylor Pucci), who undergoes a brain tumor surgery and losses his abilities to form memories. Estranged from his family [...]

Jane Eyre’s Mia Wasikowska & Cary Fukunaga

kamla bhatt — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:19:06 +0000

British author Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre was first published in 1857 and since then a number of reprints of the books have been made. There have been numerous film versions of Jane Eyre, and director Cary Fukunaga’s is the latest version of the novel. The film stars Mia Wasikowska (“Alice in Wonderland”), Michael Fassbender (“Inglourious [...]

Bollywood Music Director Ehsaan Noorani

kamla bhatt — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:29:55 +0000

Meet Bollywood’s music director Ehsaan Nooran, part of the musical trio of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, harbingers of the new wave of Bollywood music . Within a short span of 10 years Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy as created memorable music for Bollywood films like Dil Chahata Hai, Mission Kashmir, Taare Zameen Par, Kal Ho Na [...]

Meet Bjorn Lomborg: Skeptical Environmentalist

kamla bhatt — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:28:36 +0000

Meet Bjorn Lomborg, the skeptical environmentalist,who advances a different approach to handle the global warming issue. In his documentary Cool It (2010) Lomborg travels to different parts of the world and highlights the challenges faced by different societies. Lomborg is a Danish political scientist and a former member of the Green Peace movement, who has written, [...]

Walter Luh on Corona & Building Cross-Platform Mobile Apps

kamla bhatt — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:50:41 +0000

2010 will go down as the year of apps. There are thousands of apps available for different handsets that use different operating systems (OS), which creates a challenge for app developers. Developers have to tweak and test their code for different handsets and OS. Sensing an opportunity in the nascent and burgeoning apps marketplace Walter Luh and Carlos [...]

Anglo-Indians Of India:Glenda Michelle Singh

kamla bhatt — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:26:37 +0000

You probably have heard of Russell Peters, the Canadian comedian. But, did you know he is an Anglo-Indian? He is perhaps the best known Anglo-Indian in the world today. Famous Anglo-Indians include Hollywood actress Merle Oberon and singer Engelbert Humperdinck The Anglo-Indians are a diminishing minority of India. Glenda Michelle Singh, who grew up in Lucknow, India, shares [...]

Bollywood’s Akshay Kumar

kamla bhatt — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 03:31:08 +0000

Bollywood’s Akshay Kumar talks about his new movie Tees Maar Khan, directed by Farah Khan. The film stars Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna and others. Akshay talks about his new film Tees Maar Khan, and his next film Breakaway, where he has a cameo appearance in the form of a music video with Ludacris, an American [...]

YouTube Instant’s Feross Aboukhadijeh

kamla bhatt — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:48:22 +0000

This can only happen in Silicon Valley.You create an app, post it and the next thing you know everybody is talking about it, and you get a call from YouTube’s CEO. That is exactly what happened to the creator of YouTube Instant’s Feross Aboukhadijeh, a junior at Stanford University and an intern at Facebook. YouTube Instant was [...]

In Conversation with Gurcharan Das Part-2

kamla bhatt — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:18:31 +0000

In Part-2 of our conversation Gurcharan Das talks about his new book “The Difficulty of Being Good: On The Subtle Art of Dharma.” He turned to the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata to study the concepts of dharma or doing the right thing. He writes that the Mahabharata “is unique in engaging with the world of politics.” [...]

In Conversation With Gurcharan Das Part-1

kamla bhatt — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:40:49 +0000

When Gurcharan Das took an early retirement from his corporate job and decided to pursue a “full-time career as a writer” that was greeted with a fair amount of surprise. How could this be? He was a “box-wallah“ or a corporate executive. Mr. Das was the CEO of Proctor and Gamble, India who later became the [...]

In Conversation With Edward Norton

kamla bhatt — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 02:52:07 +0000

Edward Norton is an actor, director, filmmaker and conservationist. Recently he was appointed as the UN envoy for biodiversity. Norton has won critical acclaim and recognition for his roles in films like Primal Fear, American History X, Fight Club and Painted Veil. In mid-October Norton’s new film Stone directed by John Curran is set to [...]

In Conversation With Filmmaker Shyam Benegal Part-V

kamla bhatt — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:59:00 +0000

In our final segment Indian filmmaker, director and writer Mr. Shyam Benegal talks about his cousin the legendary filmaker Guru Dutt and Satyajit Ray, and how they influenced and inspired him. A prolific filmmaker he continues to make feature films and talks abou the changes in Indian films. Mr. Benegal talks about the changing India and how [...]

In Conversation With Filmmaker Shyam Benegal Part-IV

kamla bhatt — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:54:05 +0000

In our fourth segment Indian filmamker, director and writer Mr. Shyam Benegal talks about his last film: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero. This one-on-one conversation was recorded in 2006 at Mr. Benegal’s office in Mumbai, India. Since then Mr. Benegal has directed films like Welcome to Sajjanpur and Well Done Abba. Mr. Benegal [...]

In Conversation With Filmmaker Shyam Benegal Part-III

kamla bhatt — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:53:44 +0000

In our third segment Hindi filmmaker and director Mr. Shyam Benegal talks about his career in advertising, and how he got into feature films. Mr. Benegal took a circuitous route before he started making feature films. He spent 14 years in the advertising world, and produced about 150 films per year. He made ad films [...]

Filmmaker Shyam Benegal Part-II

kamla bhatt — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:40:50 +0000

Mr. Shyam Benegal is one of India’s best known film directors, and was part of the Hindi parallel or art cinema of India during the 1970s and 1980s. A prolific filmmaker he has made feature and TV films and documentaries along with hundreds of advertisement films in India. In part 2 of our conversation Mr. Benegal [...]

Filmmaker Shyam Benegal Part-I

kamla bhatt — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:31:14 +0000

Mr. Shyam Benegal is one of India’s best known film director, who prefers to use the term Hindi cinema rather than Bollywood. A prolific filmmaker he has made feature films, TV films and documentaries and hundreds of advertisement films in India. He was part of the creative team that designed the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2010 [...]

In Conversation With Bollywood Director Abhishek Sharma

kamla bhatt — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:15:43 +0000

Abhishek Sharma’s Bollywood film Tere Bin Laden (Without You Bin Laden) came from the left field & became an instant hit when it was released in July 2010 in India. Since then the film has had limited releases in USA and other countries. Tere Bin Laden is probably the first Bollywood film that has a [...]

Sam Rizvi On Race Across America

kamla bhatt — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:26:56 +0000

This week Samim or "Sam Rizvi" became the first Indian to participate in the grueling bicycle event Race Across America. The race is flagged off in Oceanside in Southern California and ends in Maryland on the east coast.

Yogen Dalal on Innovation, Mentors & Investments Part-2

kamla bhatt — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:53:40 +0000

A few of the magical ingredients of what makes Silicon Valley unique is the easy access to mentors and investors. I turned to Yogen Dalal an engineer-turned entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist to find out the answers to many unanswered questions. Yogen came to Silicon Valley in the early 1970s to study at Stanford University. He is the Managing [...]

Yogen Dalal On Magic of Silicon Valley Part-1

kamla bhatt — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:52:23 +0000

What is the magic of Silicon Valley? What is the magic that pulls people from all around the world to come and work here and make their dreams come true? I turned to Yogen Dalal an engineer-turned entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist, who came to Silicon Valley in the early 1970s to study at Stanford University. Yogen is the [...]

AR Rahman’s Musical Journey To Oscars Part-2

kamla bhatt — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:41:24 +0000

Slumdog Millionaire music composer AR Rahman has been nominated for 3 Oscars and went to to win 2 Oscars for best original score and best original song Jai Ho. AR is a private person, who likes to sit huddled in his music studio rather than talk to the media. But, with the sudden and unexpected [...]

Oscar Winner AR Rahman On Slumdog Millionaire, Golden Globes & Oscars Part-1

kamla bhatt — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:15:21 +0000

AR Rahman’s music in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire has become a runaway hit. The films has won 10 Oscar nominations out of which 3 are for AR Rahman’s music. AR went to to win 2 Oscars and became the first music composer from the Indian film industry to win 2 Oscars. In early February 2009 [...]

Oscar Winner Director Danny Boyle on Slumdog Millionaire and Mumbai

kamla bhatt — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:53:12 +0000

In this exclusive interview Oscar winner director Danny Boyle talks about the making of Slumdog Millionaire in Mumbai, whether this is an Indian or a British film or a hybrid film, AR Rahman, Loveleen Tandan, Mira Nair and about the future of the young kids that acted in the film. I also asked Danny if [...]

Using Bollywood To Spread Literacy

kamla bhatt — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:04:22 +0000

Using Bollywood songs to promote literacy is an innovative and powerful idea, and is the brainchild of Brij Kothari. The hallmark of every Hindi or Bollywood film are the popular song and dance sequences, which most people can either recognize, sing or hum regardless of their level of education. Brij hit upon this novel idea [...]

Adam Greenfield on Everyware: Dawn of Ubiquitous Computing

kamla bhatt — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:31:42 +0000

Privacy online is a big hot button issue these days. Much before it went mainstream, Adam Greenfield has been talking about and wrote a fascinating book called, “Everyware.” Currently he is head of design direction for service and user-interface design at Nokia, Finland. Adam says everyware is “information processing embedded in the objects and surfaces [...]

Madhur Jaffrey On Taste Memories of Delhi

kamla bhatt — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:10:00 +0000

Madhur Jaffrey , a well-known actress & author of several cooks books & TV shows talks about her autobirograhy: Climbing The Mango Trees. In this autobiography she paints a wonderful picture of her childhood in India. Madhur grew up in a large “joint family,” in Delhi during the 1930s and 1940s. So in the book [...]

Remembering India’s Tigerman: Billy Arjan Singh Part-2

kamla bhatt — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:42:05 +0000

India’s ‘tiger man” and wildlife conservationist Billy Arjan Singh passed away on Jan 1, 2010, which is also the year of the tiger according to the Chinese calendar. He was 92 years old. In Part-2 of our conversation Priya Commander, Billy’s youngest niece fondly shares some private moments of her intensely private uncle. Often perceived as [...]

Remembering India’s Tigerman: Billy Arjan Singh Part-1

kamla bhatt — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:14:44 +0000

India’s ‘tiger man” and wildlife conservationist Billy Arjan Singh passed away on Jan 1, 2010, which is also the year of the tiger according to the Chinese calendar. Billy’s story underscores the power of what a single person can achieve if they put their mind and body to it. For over 50 years Billy worked [...]

Rudresh Mahanthappa: Do You Speak Indian?

kamla bhatt — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:02:04 +0000

Rudresh Mahanthappa is a New York-based jazz musician and alto saxophonist. Rudresh often collaborates with fellow musician and New Yorker Vijay Iyer. In this interview we get to hear a rare behind-the-scene story on how Rudresh conceived and worked on his jazz album titled Mother Tongue: Do You Speak Indian? Mother Tongue was released by Pi Recordings [...]

Yahoo’s David Filo on Frugality, Early Days of Yahoo! & Bangalore

kamla bhatt — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:57:44 +0000

David Filo and his classmate Jerry Yang started Yahoo! in the mid-1990s, when the Internet was just taking off. Their initial website was a collection of interesting links, a list of sorts, which eventually morphed and became a major Internet company. In this interview David talks about the early days of Yahoo!, frugality and Bangalore, [...]