:::The Desi Flavor:::

Smoking ban to hit UK shisha clubs

Smoking ban will hit shisha clubs - The UK government has released plans for a partial smoking ban effecting clubs and pubs that serve food.

Such a ban would hit Asian club owners. In particular, shisha club owners, who took advantage of sudden demand from Asian teenagers in the past couple of years. It will hit Muslims worst of all because they use shisha as alternative to drinking alcohol which is forbidden in Islam. And it will ruin the cultural appeal of Asian and Arab areas of Britain.

The partial smoking ban is not in practice as yet, though Spain became the first EU country this year to ban smoking in public places - restaurants, community centers, shopping malls.

Ancient temple discovered after Tsunami

From Cronaca (via BBC):

Archaeologists say they have discovered the site of an ancient temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

It is the latest in a series of archaeological discoveries in the area struck by December's tsunami, which desilted large areas of the coastline.

The brick temple dates back more than 2,000 years to the late Tamil Sangam period and was discovered on the beachfront near Saluvankuppam, just north of a famous World Heritage site at Mahabalipuram. . .

"The Pallava structure was destroyed by waves some time in the 13th Century and evidence suggests that beneath it, we are looking at the remains of a brick temple that was destroyed by a tsunami approximately 2,200 years ago," said Badrinarayanan S, a retired director of the Geological Survey of India.

East Meets West, and Art Emerges

From ArtsJournal - "Natvar Bhavsar is a world-renowned painter from India whose huge, colourful canvases hang in more than 1,000 private corporate collections and museums, including the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art in New York." But it took a while for the Western world to warm up to the American educated Bhavsar's work, which lean heavily on traditional Indian techniques blended with American abstract expressionism. These days, however, Bhavsar is one of New York's most respected living artists, and his professional journey serves as a perfect allegory for the city's legendary diversity."

Related:

: Artnet profile of Natvar Bhavsar's work

Kapoor Named to Tate Board

Sculptor Anish Kapoor has been chosen to replace Chris Ofili as one of three working artists on the Tate board of directors. Kapoor, who was born in India, is one of Great Britain's leading young sculptors.

He fills a vacancy created when Ofili - whose Upper Room was controversially purchased by the Tate in March - came to the scheduled end of his reign there last month. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who is in charge of re-appointments, is believed to have chosen Kapoor from a shortlist of two given to him earlier in the year.

Related:

: Profile of Anish Kapoor on Wikipedia

: The Royal Academy of Arts profile of Anish Kapoor -

Kapoor’s first solo exhibition was held at Patrice Alexandre, Paris in 1980. His international reputation was quickly established, with a string of one-man shows being held annually in countries throughout the world, including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy and Spain. He represented Britain, along with Stephen Farthing and Bill Woodrow, in the Paris Biennale in 1982, and again in 1990 at the Venice Biennale, for which he was awarded Premio Duemila. The following year he won the Turner Prize Award. Kapoor’s work has also been included in many key international group exhibitions since 1974.

: Anish Kapoor: Drawings, forthcoming book coming out in March 06. Other recent books include - Anish Kapoor: Whiteout, Anish Kapoor: My Red Homeland.

E-Marriage in India

Thanks to Matrimony sites like Bharatmatrimony and Shaadi.com, Indian parents are using the Internet to find a bride, match horoscopes and target their requirements. Here is a scoop from The Economist:

Online marriage-broking is one of the successes of Indian e-business, used by the single looking for “love matches” as well as by their parents and siblings. So complex are the requirements of Indians seeking a partner that the internet might have been designed to meet their needs. Bharatmatrimony's boss, Janakiram Murugavel, says that language is the biggest criterion. His site is divided into 15 linguistic sections. Then comes status and caste, which divides Indians at birth into thousands of groups. About 70% of his customers want to marry within their caste. Most still also use astrology. Bharatmatrimony offers an online horoscope service.

Bollywood News

: Film Festival of India in Israel (FFII) kicks off this week in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The festival organized by the Indian Embassy and the cinematheques, runs from January 5-18 and will present eight recent Indian films, three of which have just been released. This will be a treat for Israeli’s since Indian films are a rarity for them.

: The Hindustan Times on nudity in Bollywood and India

: Bollywood music targeting India’s Generation X

: Black in Time’s Top 10 Films of 2005

: Bollywood set to embrace digital cinema – “About five local film distribution companies are in the process of converting about 1,000 movie halls or screens throughout the country say industry sources, and in the next "three to four years close to 4,000 movie halls would be converted for screening through the computer-based projection system" involving an investment of nearly $2 billion.”

: Book on “The Kapoors” of Bollywood – “The book is a comprehensive compilation of the life of legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor and his family. It begins with Prithviraj and his unyielding passion for cinema that brought him all the way from Peshawar to Mumbai in 1928 with just 100 Rs. in his pocket.”

: Promoting Bollywood film with McDonalds – “Mahesh Manjrekar has tied up with McDonalds to create a retail partnership for his forthcoming entertainer ‘Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi’. This is the first time that the world renowned food chain McDonalds has tied up with Hindi cinema in India. The tie-up lends itself naturally to the target audience of kids of all ages and their family. We are planning to have promos of the film being played out in every television sets in the McDonald outlets. Besides the film merchandise like CDs, Music Cassettes, T-shirts, Labels, School Books and paper bags will be distributed with the film branding. Additionally a Mcdelivery contest will be held with the contest form branding the film too”

: Bollywood Goes Global

: Lenovo to piggyback on Bollywood by sponsoring movies to create awareness about its brand and logo – “The company has tied up with director Madhur Bhandarkar to sponsor his forthcoming movie Corporate, where actress Bipasha Basu will be seen endorsing Lenovo's product portfolio, said Mr Rahul Agarwal, General Manager, Marketing, Lenovo (India) Pvt Ltd.”

Indian Cricket Team - Top Sports Brand?

From Guardian:

Sponsorship of the India shirt brings in $27.12million a year - outstripping even the Brazil football deal with Nike ($16million a year) and top clubs Juventus ($22.2m), Chelsea ($17.5m) and Manchester United ($16.8m). The BCCI have completed several major deals in recent weeks, with bidders clambering to be associated with their brand. The biggest is with Air Sahara for $70m over four years.

It is estimated Indian cricket generates £90m a year overall.

A Pakistani Festival Of Change

Sufi’s Choice - In Pakistan, dancing was banned for many years, and some clerics would like to do the same to music. A new festival is changing things. (via ArtsJournal)

For Lahore, the 10-day festival was a huge, at times startling cultural event. The music ranged from pop to classical but the finest show was the pure Sufi night. Festival president Faizaan Peerzada runs an event that aims to transform Pakistani life. By promoting Sufi music he hopes to 'counter the extremism of the mullahs who use the mosques to spread ill-will against the west'.

The Economist on India

Here are some interesting articles ran by The Economist on India in 2005: 

: Deepa Mehta's “Water” - An Indian film stars at the world's biggest festival of Asian film

: Saving India's tigers - Can tigers and people co-exist?

: Indian property  - Why foreigners are so keen on India's property market

: Microcredit in India - More loans for India's poor

: Vijay Mallya, India's high-flying liquor king - Can he repeat his success in the drinks market in the air?

: India's posh poachers - Police hunt an endangered species

: Ismail Merchant, film producer - As handsome as the Bollywood idols he sometimes cast in his pictures, he could sweet-talk a budget out of the hardest financial hearts

: Private equity in India - Is India big enough for the industry's heavyweights?