Coup de coeur : My brother...Nikhil by Onir with Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla

This film is set in Goa, a small costal state in India in between 1989 and 1994. Nikhil Kapoor is the state all round swimming champion. His father Navin Kapoor has raised his son to be a sports man... a dream that he never achieved for himself. His elder sister Anamika teaches in a primary school and loves him dearly. His mother Anita Rosario Kapoor adores him and from her he inherited his artistic side to his personality.

One fine day he is arrested. The reason being…. that he is HIV positive. He is kept in forced isolation by law. The Goa public health act allowed the government to isolate HIV positive people. His Parents desert him and his friends move away. The only two people who stand by him are his sister Anamika and boyfriend Nigel.

This film would probably be the first main stream Indian film where the main protagonist is Homosexual. This film deals with the trauma of this man and his fight for dignity; A film about how a closely knit family falls apart when faced with a crisis; about a sisters unconditional love for her brother; about a love that withstood social disapproval; a film about a man's desire to achieve something in life and finally it’s a film about acceptance.

This summary is taken from the official site of the movie My Brother Nikhil :

www.mybrothernikhil.com

(http://www.mybrothernikhil.com/my_brother_nikhil.html)

• Also see trailer at :
  

www.mybrothernikhil.com/multimedia.html

• This movie received several prestigious awards and acclaimed in many international festivals

http://www.mybrothernikhil.com/mbn_festivals.html

• A very interesting article on the movie from WWW.ALTERNET.ORG « Ripples of Change in Indian Film » by Sandip Roy (Pacific News Service) June 30, 2005 :
  

http://www.alternet.org/story/23257

• An interveiw by Sanjay Suri (BNEWS Magazine 23 February 2006) :

http://www.mybrothernikhil.com/09.pdf

• Interesting comments and summaries on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) :
  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419992/usercomments

The current President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, being given the DVD of the movie My Brother Nikhil

My brother…NIKHIL is one of the rare films which is being used by more than one way to combat HIV / Aids in our country. The film has been screened many times for charitable causes and most twice by the Army (Assam Rifles) in Shillong once in April 2005 and now at the Conlave HIV / Aids : A Uniformed Intervention.

His Excellency Hon’ble Dr A P J ABDUL KALAM inaugurated the programme and a dvd of the film was gifted to The President.

The film is being used to spread awareness and talk about stigmatization related to HIV/Aids.

The spirit of Nikhil lives on.

(commentary and picture taken from the official site of the movie http://www.mybrothernikhil.com)

Conférence sur les Indiens de Madagascar

"L’ethnologue et son terrain, regard rétrospectif sur les Indiens de Madagascar" par Sophie Blanchy, CNRS, Ethnologue au Laboratoire d'ethnologie et de sociologie comparative, Paris X-Nanterre.

Mercredi 7 mars 2007 (de 18 à 20h)

École Française d’Extrême-Orient
22, avenue du Président Wilson
75016 Paris

Grand Salon (1er étage)

Métro / RER : Trocadéro ou Iéna

Une recherche entreprise au début des années 1990 auprès des communautés d'origine indienne gujarati à Madagascar montrait l'existence de cinq groupes assez différents dans leur organisation et leurs problématiques, mais perçus globalement par la société malgache comme un seul groupe social fermé : Daudis Bohras, Khodja ithnashri, Khodja agakhanistes, Banyans hindouistes et musulmans sunnites. J'évoquerai les méthodes de recherche, les types de rencontres et les sujets abordés, les lieux visités, les réactions de la société malgache et des Français présents à Madagascar, pour retracer les changements importants qui ont affecté ces communautés à chaque génération, dans les différents lieux, au gré d'événements internes aux communautés ou externes, et les tensions dans la composition des identités individuelles et collectives.

Cette conférence a été rendue possible grâce à Pierre LACHAIER, responsable du groupe de travail "Etudes gujarati : société, langue et culture" ("Club-Gujarat"), tél : 01 46 83 95 73

http://www.efeo.fr/recherche/gujarati.shtml

Listen to Gujarati on the BBC !

Gujarati Show by Dev Parmar :

Mercredi / Wednesday 20:00 -22:00 (London time)

Weekend Gujarati by Dev Parmar :

Dimanche / Sunday 19:00 - 21:00 (London time)

On peut aussi écouter ces émissions à tout moment en cliquant sur les liens suivants :

You can listen to these programs any time at the following links :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/weekend_gujarati/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/asiannetwork_aod.shtml?asiannet/asiangujarati_wed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/asiannetwork_aod.shtml?asiannet/asiangujarati_sun

BBC : INDIA RISING !

Here are some links on a special edition by the BBC World Service on India today : lots of very interesting articles, audio and video reports, interviews and discussions-debates on what is currently going on in India : not only its strength and its growing power but also its numerous and sometimes appalling weaknesses.
Mounir

PROGRAM

India Rising / Debate / News / Business / Science / Culture / Outlook / Religion / Sport / Drama :

www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1620_india/

News India Rising : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/south_asia/2007/india_rising/default.stm

Business in India : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1620_india/page5.shtml

Science in India : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1620_india/page6.shtml

Culture in India : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1620_india/page7.shtml

Religion in India : http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1620_india/page9.shtml

Le grand (très grand) Naseeruddin Shah dans La Vallée des Fleurs / The Valley of Flowers

La Vallée des Fleurs ou La Vallée des Immortels ?
Film réalisé par Pan Nalin (réalisateur de Ayurveda) avec Mylène Jampanoi, Milind Soman, Naseeruddin Shah

Drame d'amour himalayen

L’action débute au XIXe siècle, au Ladakh, dans les vallées escarpées et désertiques de l’Himalaya. Jalan (Milind Soman), un chef de bandits indo-tibétains, dévalise les caravanes empruntant la route du sel et de la soie. Et voilà qu’il tombe amoureux de Ushna (Mylène Jampanoï), un démon incarné sous les traits d’une belle Amazone. Du coup, le Yéti (Naseeruddin Shah), personnage mythologique, s’en mêle car l’équilibre de la nature s’en trouve menacé. Deux siècles plus tard, les amants maudits, devenus immortels, se retrouvent à Tokyo pour une aventure ultime...

CRITIQUE. Après Samsara et Ayurveda, le cinéaste d’origine indienne Pan Nalin réalise une superbe épopée mystique, une histoire d’amour passionnée et impossible sur les contreforts de l’Himalaya et au Japon. Inspirée de Magie d’amour et Magie noire, le roman d’Alexandra David Neel, cette belle légende himalayenne entraîne le spectateur dans un voyage sensuel, mystique, envoûtant. Des décors grandioses, des images à couper le souffle, de l’action, du suspense, de l’émotion... Pan Nalin a réussi son pari. Son film est magnifique et remarquablement interprété par Milind Soman, Mylène Jampanoï et Naseeruddin Shah.

par Brigitte Baudin (figaroscope.fr / http://www.figaroscope.fr/cinema/2007012300023104.html )

The Valley of Flowers

Along the highest mountain passes of the Himalayas, tough, intrepid Jalan (Milind Soman) and his gang earn their living by stealing from unsuspecting travelers. Abiding by their own, unique codes of honor and dividing the spoils equally, all is routine until the arrival of the mystifying, beautiful Ushna (Mylene Jampanoi). Appearing mysteriously after the raid of a pilgrim caravan, Ushna adheres to Jalan, claiming to have seen him in her dreams, and refusing to leave his side. Sensing the unease of the rest of the men, Ushna offers to help them in their endeavors, under condition that they not ask why or how she is able to guide them to success. In the time that follows, Ushna leads the gang to tremendous exploits, gaining the respect of the men, and the admiration of Jalan, who begins to fall passionately in love with this mysterious woman. As their success increases, seemingly unstoppable, so the love between Jalan and Ushna mounts in intensity, until they seem to have entered a world of their own. No longer heeding of the world around them, Jalan and Ushna venture too far in their exploits, progressing from the theft of material objects to tampering with elements that should never be tampered with; stealing energy, luck and even the powers of levitation, the two cross over into the bounds of the supernatural. Word of the duo and their strange exploits reaches the shrewd, robust Yeti (Naseeruddin Shah), who takes after them with his three experienced bounty hunters. In the confusion of pursuit, Jalan and Ushna face a temporary separation, the shock of which drives each to desperation. Having lost luck, wealth and friends, the fated two are nevertheless fortuitously reunited. Their passion running higher than ever, they vow never to be separated again, even if this entails deceiving fate and cheating mortality. But life always reserves surprises.

summary written by Monsoon Films (IMDB / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392883/plotsummary )