New directors with new touch capture the scene

Planman Technologies – An IT Hub

Kerala films: New Directions

Amid many crises in the Malayalam film industry, there are silver clouds on the “silver” screen. An energetic batch of new generation directors is busy giving Malayalam cinema a new direction. In 2010, more than 40 per cent of the films (37 out of 89) were directed by fresh, young directors, and the trend continues in 2011 also.

Vysakh, Thomson, Mamas, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Martin Prakkatt and Mohan Raghavan are some of the names to reckon with. “They try to break the ‘over-used’ pattern of the Malayalam films. They are tech savvy, have a grasp over world cinema and their approach is modern. This reflects in the content of their films,” says Rafeeq Ahamed, state award winner film lyricist and poet.

In both the commercial and the parallel cinema realms, the new entrants have embossed their mark. Mega stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal and super star Dileep are willing to work with them. The Mammotty starrer Pokkiriraja, directed by Vysakh, became a super hit in 2010. The blockbusters such as Karyasthan, Malarvadi Arts Club, Pappy Appachaa, and Best Actor were also the ventures of the new entrants. It will not be wrong to say that Dileep, after a series of flops, succeeded in re-capturing his status and market value through the films of new directors Thomson (Karyasthan) and Mamas (Pappy Appachaa).

The new directors made a drastic change in theme and the structure of the films. The old concepts of family stories gave way to new generation relationships and alienation of the city life. Chithrasoothram, the experimental film that was invited to many international film festivals, was directed by Vipin Vijay, a new face in the industry.

But the new entrants face some challenges also. It’s not easy for them to get screens since the cinema hall owners want to play safe most of the times and would go for only the so-called ‘hit makers’. “Most of the newcomers find it difficult to survive. Some commercially successful thrillers which are praised for novelty are just weak imitations of some well-known foreign movies,” says young director Varghese Antony.

Nevertheless, the commercial success of their films has convinced the theatre owners and they are now ready to accommodate their films too. The advent of multiplexes has also helped.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Planman Technologies is Leaders in educational publishing solutions
Arindam Chaudhuri bags Delhi team of i1 Super Series
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri

IIPM: What is E-PAT?
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here
IIPM Mumbai Campus
Planman Technologies - IT Solutions at your finger tips

An attempt at restoring the lost biodiversity of Delhi

Planman Technologies - IT Solutions at your finger tips

New Delhi ecology: Restoring lost glory

If you are interested in seeing how the Yamuna banks were like a few hundred years ago or what species of birds were found in Delhi, just visit Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) at Wazirabad in Delhi.

Many varieties of plants that have already become extinct from Delhi can be seen here. One such examples is Asthma Bel plant that is no longer found in the city. However, one can see it at the park. There are many varieties of plants which are found at 8000 ft, but have been brought to YBP. The seven-year-old biodiversity park now harbours a wide range of ecosystems of river basin which support more than 1200 plant species. These include finest wetlands besides a unique butterfly conservatory, a conservatory of fruit yielding plants, grasslands, tropical moist and dry deciduous forest communities, Acacia woodlands and a herbal garden.

Birds that have either become extinct from Delhi or are rare, such as Red Crested Pochard or ‘Lalsar’, can also be seen at the park. Faiyaz Khudsar, wildlife biologist and scientist-in-charge of Yamuna Biodiversity Park shares with TSI, “Coming of Lalsar at the park is not a common event. This bird indicates how effective and functional the ecosystem of the wetland is. It shows that the energy flow in the wetland is proper. This is very important for scientists like us. At present there are more than 3000 migratory birds at the park.”

The creation of wetlands serves three important purposes. Firstly, it adds to the diversity of habitats. Secondly, it performs the much-needed ecological functions of water purification, groundwater recharge, and storage of rainwater. And thirdly, it provides the soil for raising the ground level to avoid flooding in the post-monsoon period so that the development of terrestrial ecosystems and plant communities can go ahead unhindered.

Creating the park, however, has not been an easy task. The salt content in the soil was very high and it was a daunting task for the scientists to recreate the proper ecosystem of the wetland. Biologists used more than 160 varieties of grass to convert it into functional ecosystem. “When we got these 157 acres of land we understood that our task was not going to be easy,” says Khudsar.

In the second phase of the project 300 acres more land would be developed. After that it will be habitat of Sarus Crane and Pelicans. At present only one-third of the park is open for the visitors. Such kind of parks is very important from the point of view of urban biodiversity.

Long ago, the Yamuna riverbed was full of biodiversity. It ranged from the foothills of Shivalik mountain to Aravalli hills in the north. However, the biodiversity was lost due to rapid urbanisation. But a little of it has been recreated in the YBP.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Planman Technologies – An IT Hub
Arindam Chaudhuri bags Delhi team of i1 Super Series
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM: What is E-PAT?

'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here
IIPM Mumbai Campus
Planman Technologies is Leaders in educational publishing solutions

RGV’s ‘zero-budget’ film plan does not impress many

Planman Technologies - IT Solutions at your finger tips

Andhra pradesh entertainment: Much ado about nothing

Ram Gopal Varma aka RGV had been a trend setter in Tollywood with his debut film “Siva” (1989). He called the shots in the Telugu film industry— called Tollywood — before he moved to Mumbai. Some film critics had called his advent a renaissance in Tollywood which is considered to be the second biggest industry after Bollywood with annual investment of Rs. 400 crores.

Recently, Ram Gopal Varma’s announcement of making a “zero-budget” film created a little flutter among the movie buffs. “When low budget or zero budget films are referred to, Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy flashes in the mind. I thought Ram Gopal Varma is also venturing to produce a life-snap to comply with his artistic urge,” well-known film critic S.V. Challa told The Sunday Indian.

Notwithstanding the fact that of late Ram Gopal Varma has succeeded in only churning out mediocre films with little substance which have utterly failed to impress even the average movie-goers let alone the critics, Challa feels that RGV is indeed a master filmmaker and that if he pursues serious cinema, it would be an intellectual treat and visual feast to the Telugu audience.

But contrary to the expectations, Varma announced the name of his zero-budget film to be “Dhongala Mutha” (A gang of thieves). According to him, it is another (read run-of-the-mill) “highly entertaining” action thriller and it should be completed in just five days.

However, not many people are impressed with Varma’s announcement and perceive it as just RGV’s marketing trick. “RGV is making much ado about nothing and it is his another trick to create sensation. When big stars like Ravi Teja, Chaarme, Laxmi Manchu, Brahmanandam are the main cast, how can it be termed a zero-budget film?” wondered an office-bearer of the Indian Documentary Producers Association, on condition of anonymity, while talking to TSI.

Though he has weak linkage with Telugu land, noted film maker Shyam Benegal produced ‘Amaravathi Kathalu,’ famous short-stories in Telugu literature. “But how can one expect similar kind of literary depiction from mediocre and semi-literate RGV, who, for sure, has not even heard of literary giants including Gurazada Apparao, Gudipati Venkata Chalam, Viswanatha Satyanarayana,” he added.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Planman Technologies – An IT Hub
Arindam Chaudhuri bags Delhi team of i1 Super Series
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri

"Thorns to Competition" amongst the top 10 best sellers of the week.
IIPM Mumbai Campus
Planman Technologies is Leaders in educational publishing solutions

Young Tibetans in exile are educated, unemployed and fast running out of patience.

"Thorns to Competition" amongst the top 10 best sellers of the week.

Saurabh Kumar Shahi visits McLeodganj to check out the simmering powder keg that threatens the Dalai Lama's 'middle path'

The first thing that strikes you in McLeodganj is the absence of anarchy. Nattily dressed Tibetan youth go about their work. There is no apparent abject poverty, no running open drains. Why then were we looking for McLeodganj in the first place? Well, simply because it is the foremost phenomenon that defines a refugee settlement. I have seen scores of refugee camps of all types and sizes all over the world — Palestinians, Kashmiris, Bangaldeshi Biharis, Chakmas, Rohingyas and what not. There are of course a few similarities among these camps. However if there is one commonality: anarchy. But unlike them, McLeodganj does not fester. Or at least does not appear to fester. But does that mean all is well? We'll see.

Sometime in 2005, on a chilly Tibetan night, Jamyang and his best friend entered Lhasa after days of journeying from Ngari province. They were desperate to get to Dharamsala. Meeting the Dalai Lama was the only motive in their life. Jamyang and his friend covered the inhospitable terrain in 48 days and reached Nepal. A week later they were in Dharamsala to see their beloved spiritual leader. They were promptly enrolled in the classes and their spiritual and worldly studies began.

Half a decade on, sitting in a roadside tea joint near Bhagsu temple, Jamyang remembers the arduous journey that almost took his life. He has all the time in the world for me. He dropped out of school months ago and now lives by his wits. Jobs are extremely hard to come by in the absence of local language proficiency and a defined skill-set. And he can't go back to Tibet. For all practical purposes, he is stuck here.

Does he buy Dalai Lama's "middle path" solution? Yes, but only when he is sober enough. With Manali hash easy to find, chances of his being sober have diminished drastically. As it transpires, Mcleodganj too festers. You just need to scratch a tad.

A cursory survey is enough to reveal that the majority of the population here is made up of youth. With the advent of education, the birth rate has gone down drastically. But still the youth outnumber all other age segments quite easily. Literacy is close to 80 per cent and unemployment is 75 per cent. The place is a veritable powder keg. But it has not exploded. It appears that the Dalai Lama's "middle path" still has many takers. But does that mean that the movement will continue to be as it is? No. We have new voices.

Karma Yeshi, an MP in the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile who also runs the Voice of Tibet radio station, is one such voice. He abhors pity and speaks his mind too often for the comfort of others. "There is a lack of guidance as far as the job market is concerned. Only rallies won’t do." He suggests several ways to change the movement. Many of these are reasonable. "Do we have a single Tibetan expert here who has done higher studies in Chinese diplomacy or UN diplomacy? None. How do we expect to have our voices heard? Where is the intellectual capital?" he asks.

People like Yeshi and others worry about the future of the movement. While Tibetans idolise and revere the Dalai Lama, many worry that they have come to bank far too intemperately on the 75-year-old leader. They fear that his eventual death would profoundly hurt the cause of the Tibetans in exile. "The institution of the Dalai Lama is one of Tibet's big strengths," says monk Lobsang Chonzin. "At the same time, it's our weakness because all of us are dependent on him." What would happen to the movement when the Dalai Lama passes away?

Tibetans in exile widely anticipate that when the fourteenth Dalai Lama dies, the Chinese will push their own reincarnation. They see the instance of the Panchen Lama, Tibet's second highest-ranking religious name, as a prologue. In 1995, the Dalai Lama accepted a six-year-old boy in Tibet as the successor to the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989. China confined the boy and chose another in his place. The Dalai Lama's choice and his family have not been seen since. The Dalai Lama's death will thus lead to two centres of power. The movement in its present form will end up losing its meaning.

When the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, he was accompanied by about 100,000 of Tibetans, most of whom did not doubt his determination to engage in a non-violent crusade. A few Tibetans took part in a guerrilla operation backed by the CIA until financial support dried up and they were booted out of Nepal in 1974.

Most Tibetan exiles today still revere the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader but a section wants a more radical approach to be adopted. The latter group is turning increasingly vocal. Young Tibetan exiles — most of whom were born outside their homeland — openly vent their impatience with the Dalai Lama’s "middle way".

But this movement will need much more than enthusiasm to sustain it. And that is where Tsewang Rigzin and his Tibetan Youth Congress come in. The Tibetan Youth Congress, which was started in the early 1970s and claims close to 40,000 active members today, has suggested violence in the past, argues for hunger strikes and other forms of protestation not condoned by the Dalai Lama and reserves the right to use force in the future.

"We want to look at things that his Holiness has enforced, his policy called the Middle Way, and it's been in place for the last almost three decades now. There has been little interaction. We had dialogues with Chinese officials. But the bottomline is that nothing has come out of all this. We need to change that," says Rigzin, dressed in a primly cut suit. He advocates outright independence for Tibet.

Critics maintain that these groups play into the hands of the Chinese government but the radicals respond that Tibetans have little to lose. But how has it affected the relationship with the locals with whom they had little or no interaction for fear of getting assimilated? The Tibetan refugees live in relative isolation to conserve their distinct religion and culture.

Lately, they have been facing a degree of subterranean hostility, because local people have developed a certain antipathy. The demographic and cultural wallop of refugees has led to a sense of vulnerability among the indigenous populace here.

The strain could be seen everywhere. As one local restaurateur told me on seeing my camera and Dictaphone, "Purane log sab wadiya thhey. Ab nawe munde to kattar hain..." (The oldies were gentlemen, these new kids are fundamentalists.)

But the question is, are the Chinese feeling the heat? Oh yes. The Tibet protest prior to the Beijing Olympics caught them by surprise. Also, the global support that the movement got rattled them to the core. They came back with the iron hand, something they cannot afford to employ for too long in a globalised world.

"We have used Facebook and Twitter as our weapon. The potential of these sites is unlimited. It is so easy to connect with Tibetans these days. Our call for protest suddenly has a world audience," beams Rigzin. But will the ministry of external affairs like their involvement. It has tolerated the Dalai Lama because some way or other he has toed its official position of 'One China'. A reckless youth movement can slip out of its hands and might prove to be a headache. But Rigzin is not concerned. "Our slogan is 'Free Tibet, Safe India'. After all it was after the annexation of Tibet that the Chinese managed to invade India," argues Rigzin. Clearly, he knows how to play. If you believe him, he has had his share of successes too.

Rigzin and his group have started interacting with Non Resident Chinese and indulge in healthy debates. "Initially it is very difficult to break them. But slowly, they have started to see reason," he quips. This has helped enhance his optimism. Quiz him about taking on an emerging superpower and Rigzin comes across as an eternal optimist. He believes that China will get democratised one day and a democratic China will be more accommodating of Tibetan aspirations.

But difficult times lie ahead. After the Dalai Lama, the unanimous world support will waver. Many organisations and individuals who support the Dalai Lama's peaceful struggle might find Rigzin's methods too unorthodox. And, as it happens with many causes, the two wings of the movement — fundamentalist and pacifist — will begin to work at cross-purposes. It would be interesting to see how Rigzin takes his movement out of this dichotomy.

He also needs to take the movement out of the hands of the foreign flock that who merely pays lip service to the cause. People who really care are quietly doing their bit. There is no sight as revolting as an Israeli army conscript fresh from his barracks and high on Manali hashish, speaking about "oppression" and "human rights violations". Trust me.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri
Kapil Sibal’s voters want Jan Lokpal, not Government-proposed Lokpal Bill
IIPM: What is E-PAT?

IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here
IIPM ranks No 1 in International Exposure in the 'Third Mail Today B-School Survey'
IIPM, GURGAON