Tree of life

meherabad 2010

New Release!!!

GANGOOBAI movie released on Jan 11


GANGOOBAI is the story of the unlikeliest of heroines in search of a dream sari. Set between Matheran and Mumbai, the film is about journeys and destinations, about generosity, goodness, determination and grit, and about the strength of a dream.GANGOOBAI premiered at the MAMI 2012, in the New Faces in Indian Cinema section. It then went to the South Asian Film Festival in Canada and the Hanoi International Film Festival, Vietnam, where it was in the Panorama section. It was also in the Indian Panorama at the IFFI, 2012 in Goa. The film released in PVR, BIG cinemas and INOX theaters in Mumbai and Pune on January 11, 2013. 
WATCH TRAILER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffmIUSXoB4

This time , however...

watch ‘Cinemas of India’.

Until recently you would often ask how many classic films produced by nfdc were available on DVD format ????   used to wonder why?!!!

Over the years,  nfdc has worked with critically acclaimed filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mira Nair, Shyam Benegal, Richard Attenborough and other luminaries focusing on international promotion of Indian films with original Indian stories, In addition to having produced and financed more than 300 films in 18 Indian languages, some of them having won prestigious awards at various international film festivals. It essentially focused on international promotion of some of the best Indian films;

Great! but, sadly much to the annoyance of our classic film loving Indian audience, I would submit here you only got to see them during film festivals or on some rare occasion at invited private screenings.
However, there’s some pleasant news waiting for everyone.. esp regional cinema buffs..

In-fact, the amazing strides made in world cinema, the awareness about “alternate cinema” and the emerging online shopping stores has helped nfdc to launch Home Videos (dvds) of their classic movies under the brand ‘Cinemas of India’.  In association with shemaroo and other online e-portals it has now successfully distributed a few of the most critically and commercially acclaimed films titles in Indian Cinema.

Truly said by the nfdc bosses " These critically and commercially acclaimed films are a must-watch for every generation!”

This time , however.... It sounds terrific, much as I love to hear, the Dvd's of the critically acclaimed film "The Man beyond the bridge (paltadacho munis)" is finally available in India

 Happy Deepawali!

 ( DVD's available in all major web portals like rhythm house, webmall, flipkart, induna & others)

Tender Words

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

  Tender Words
  --Rumi


  Tender words we spoke
  to one another
  are sealed
  in the secret vaults of heaven.
  One day like rain,
  they will fall to earth
  and grow green
  all over the world.

KHARGOSH

Khargosh DVD Released Today in INDIA
The film, based on a famous short story by the renowned Hindi writer Dev Kumar Jain ("Priyamvad"), describes the journey of a ten-year old boy Bantu as he stumbles into the realm of sensuousness and passion.
Directed by National Award winner Paresh Kamdar and produced by Rishi Chandra, 'Khargosh' premiered at the 11th OSIAN'S International Film Festival and won 4 out of 7 awards given, The Special Mention Award, the Audience Award and shared the NETPAC-FIPRESCI award. It also did the rounds of various festivals and had an official selection at the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival.
You can watch Khargosh on GIGAPLEX from any where in the world or order the movie from Flipkart.


http://www.flipkart.com/search-movie?query=Ved+Nair

www.igigaplex.com/movie_info.php?name=Khargosh


http://www.facebook.com/Khargosh.film?sk=wall

PAPER PLANES

VAISHALI.S’s ‘VIRUS FREE’ COLLECTION

Ystdy, when I stepped into the Grand Hyatt at Vakola, My upbeat mood was for watching my friend Vaishali S's Summer Collection in Woman's garments-wear at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week Spring/Summer Resort 2011. LFW was the buzz that drew every hungry, starry eyed bigwigs from the fashion industry to make that big fashion statement at the ramp, All designers ventured timely inside as if silently saying " I’ve got a trend and I think it’s a hit..!!!”
Well, In the hoo-ha of bollywood peppy styles and colors, drawing her inspiration from childhood games, Vaishali S showcased her ethereal delicate creations that reminded her of a few of her favourite childhood things:- Dolls, boats, paper planes and balls!!! . Draping her models like living celestial dolls she glided down the catwalk alongside the models presenting a line with some different silhouettes, Virus Free' attempted to recreate precisely those handmade paper toys via fabric. With Chanderi as her base fabric, she wove wonderful garments with folds giving the fabric a very geometrical paper- origami feel. I loved the jacket dress that Nicole carried. Infact before doing the score, I had seen some of the garments being given that final touch at her studio but, I was overwhelmed by the theme itself and the concept note churned just the right creative juices to take my musical imagination flying and then “Paper Planes” emerged . The concept note sent to me

VIRUS FREE
{We all remember our childhood memories as the sweetest memories of life. I think childhood experiences are the same universally. These memories hold a special place in everybody’s heart. I call that age a “VIRUS FREE” age. Because in childhood, an innocent mind works around instincts rather then already formed definitions. It always yearns for discoveries. A child’s mind is innovative, imaginative and creative to produce any art form. I think in India some of the childhood games are more or less the same across the regions.
My concept is based on the fun activities of childhood. We all have made toys from a piece of paper like plane, ball, and boat. Girls have draped their dolls with a piece of cloth many times. We all have got engrossed in folds and layers of a paper or in a piece of cloth to make a form out of it. This process really inspires me and from there came the idea of my new collection.
In this collection I have tried to recreate the feel of paper toys through different ways of draping, folding, and stitching on a fabric. I have played with the lines, fall, and geometrical forms, which emerge from the placement of the stitch. I have tried to maintain the innocence of playfulness in contrast of precision of folds and use of lines to give a neat and elegant look to the garment. I have used traditional chanderi fabric for transparency and fluidity to continue the game through layers. The garment represents the concept and maintains the qualities of high fashion garment as well.} - Vaishali.S

Born in a small town Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, Vaishali’s journey into fashion has been an inspiring tale. Her commitment to remain true to her one-of-a-kind vision of creating contemporary designs from Indian hand women textiles has borne fruit through her two stores in Mumbai and, the recent ‘Virus Free’ collection at the LFW has tickled the bubbling child inside everyone’s heart and I reckon for her this is just the impetus needed to sketch more of such elegant designs in the future.
- ved nair

The Rising Star at the far Horizon

“When all words fail…. music like a prayer evokes the spirit of invocation and creates a pleasant harmonic reassurance that all is well with the world”

In a lane full of twists and turns in Somwar Bazaar, malad, last Sunday evening, It was a personal triumph for my classical musician friend , MILIND SHEOREY, The flautist, whose CD got a graceful release through the hands of noted classical musicians Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Pt. Nityanand Haldipur along with the release of an upcoming classical vocalist Yashaswi sirpotdar’s CD at an audio launch musical function “Sandhi Prakash ” organized by "Sonic octaves" held at the Ram mandir. Later a soul-stirring performance of the two artistes marked the special occasion.

It was raining incessantly and as Milind began his performance in "Raga- miyan ki malhar" in Jhap taal ably accompanied by young Prasad Padhyae on the Tabla , I was drawn into delicious states of relaxed and heightened state of awareness imagining the expectations attached to this Tansen found monsoon Raga where Tansen is believed to have brought rain while singing it , but, drenched in the heavy downpour I was soaked in a sense of gratification instantly in milind’s rendition, like the scattered few who had gathered to hear this talented artiste’s recital whose flute often brought a distinctive meditative quality about it, one that only speaks on a spiritual level , a state where you feel you are in communion with God.

I remember just a few years back at a music academy function, milind had performed raag 'shyam kalyan' and the students after their individual performances were anxiously waiting for the slightest opportunity to disperse and slip through the back door, but, when Milind hit the first hold note, they were silenced , stunned by his imaginative freshness. infact they all stood their ground in awe for almost two hours, mesmerized at what they were hearing as it actually carried them to the gardens of Brindavan , and I could see Krishna's enchanting world coming alive on to their memories. A little kid's description sums up Milind’s performance that day as she recalled seeing her beloved krishna on the stage holding on to a bansuri. A classical musician of the highest caliber creates such metaphors and can create such profound impact on kids.

Like with pursuing any classical art form. You have to unconditionally surrender to music. It demands tremendous dedication and in what is an extremely tough profession. I often draw strength from Milind and the many classical musician's like him, who have braved taking music as a career in the face of all sorts of adversities, insecurities, distractions, constantly swallowing the feeling of hopelessness that largely looms on their heads for lack of opportunities ,and , unfortunately in modern time India there are no patrons like what Tansen had in Badshah Akbar. It’s a dilemma for artistes like milind to survive solely on classical music, on the flip side to opt as a session musician has its own challenges, everything there, is on air the next day or printed on tape forever, if you mess up with your playing no one calls you again, and of course now with so many music styles one should be able to adjust to any style, please everyone or play exactly what the modern pool of composers and producers demand from you. Its a daunting task to ignore practicing the development formation of intricacies of a Raga at home and spent hours in a studio playing a pulsating snappy filmy melody to make a living. I am delighted milind has balanced these two roles very well.

I also applaud the efforts of the young host of the show, Rajendra Vaishampayan, Director of the music label “sonic octaves” who has reinforced faith through his silent mission in his vision to promote such true artistes who rightly deserves to be heard , appreciated and recognized . He has taken this mammoth task to spread classical music from connoisseurs palette to the masses by wiping the perceived notion that all classical and traditional art forms are of esoteric nature,restrictive or understood by the select few or meant for one’s who have special knowledge or interest or have money.

At that instant, I sensed ultimately classical music was again emerging triumphant and truly the rising star at the far horizon...

All is indeed well with the world..!!!

- Ved nair

( Milind played the Recorder in 'One crazy Ride' and 'Khargosh', Indian Bamboo flute themes in the award winning films ' Riding Solo to the top of the world' and " The Man beyond the Bridge ")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkb4558ym5w&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5JaVgff1UE

TRibute to prakash

by Milind Raikar / July 11, 2010 at 1:21pm
Re: tribute to Prakash shetty
Sad news for me too. I had a common friend Mr Sujay Bhobhade whom I met at Swiss and then whenever we met we used to speak about Prakash and our old memories of Sound Company Studio. Sujoy was touring India and I am told on April 26th or 27th 2010 Prakash went to meet him at Khar, There he had this severe attack and then Sujay admitted him at the hospital, later I came to know about this very very sad news . May his soul rest in Peace. Prakash was very supportive Apart from encouraging me to play classical violin concerts , he inspired me to play jazz fusion solos also , once I had this first opportunity to play a Fender bass which was kept at Prakash's studio. I was in heaven after playing that beautiful and the worlds best guitar.

(milind raikar is an acclaimed young violinist from goa, he has toured all across the world giving solo concerts and accompanying the legendary vocalist ganasarawati "kishori amonkar" on his violin)

PRAKASH SHETTY : Sound Company – Requiem for a Jazz Maverick & Music Mentor

BY ANANT JOSHI

Prakash was a music maverick & a mentor. He met us (Ved Nair & myself) in early ninties when we were looking for an ideal studio to record our debut Pop album "Yaron Ki Mehfil" By the band "Stormy Stars" (Ya Indi Pop was just popping its head & evolving). A new music company had signed a deal with us. Music Producers Sudhanshuji & K. Sen gave us liberty to record the album wherever we may prefer. It was a great moment when Prakash heard all our songs & remarked that it has the spark of Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding. His kind words & support reaffirmed our faith in music, lyric & creative pursuits. I still remember Milind Raikar’s heart warming violin solos, guitar riffs & melodious compositions by Ved Nair recorded by non other than Prakash. It was a soulful love song about an impossible love story “Wohh Toh Koi Bholi Bhali ”. Those were the best things of our life.

Those were the days my friend when life was a techni-colour musical dream & living was lyrical. We took Prakash’s words as a compliment & moved on. Prakash remained a mentor to many like us ,who were trying to explore a road less travelled. He hated Hindi Film Music of decadent era(80s-90s). His studio Sound company was home to Mumbai’s Jazz ,Rock, Ad & Alternative Film community. His album “Hard Notes ,Loose Change” is a living testimony of his brilliance , he worked on films, television & music scene with equal ease but his first love remained Jazz…I fondly remember his love, affection, kindness & greatness. With attitude of gratitude I sing a little prayer for Prakash with a warm guitar riff & grand piano sweep. May his soul liberate for an onward journey.

( Anant Joshi was the founder member/songwriter of the 90's indie-pop band " Stormy Stars ", After a brief stint in broadcasting and journalism he is now a writer-director for films , Ad-films and other visual-media)

Interlude to Parallax- a tribute to a dear friend "Prakash Shetty" who passed on 25th June 2010

" Prakash Shetty.....

When you hear this name what comes thick and fast to your mind is a
South Indian restaurant owner hurriedly counting his 100, 500 rupee
hard notes while speedily exchanging the loose change from his galla in the
station roads of Mumbai. Some of us may even think of the cartoonist
illustrator namesake from the Kannada publications, But, this "Prakash Shetty",
whom the world largely ignored lived uniquely different from the rest, as
what mattered to him the most was eliminating the 'hard notes' that wouldn't
count while playing a non-restrained free flow jazz solo- one that made an
everlasting melodious expression on his piano. Prakash, was one of the finest
jazz pianists from Mumbai, India and an exceptional sound engineer .
On top of it was his never ending fascination for high end world class synthesizers,
and, to my mind he had the best collection of analog synthesizers in Asia.
With deep sadness I extend my tribute to this genius who passed away
on 25th june 2010 fighting Parkinson and a heart condition.
{ He also owned a famous A grade eatery at fort- " Ankur Restaurant ";
a rare specialty, the restaurant served drinks only with vegetarian food in the 90's}
Prakash is best remembered for his jazz fusion / new age crescendo release album:-" Hard notes loose change ", though quite unheard off in the mainstream industry, It offered a touch glimpse of his virtuoso in aural designing with elements of fusion.
Jazz Harmonic Voicings was Prakash's greatest strength and the amazing depth
of content clubbed with an unmatched understanding of the mechanics of
sound took him to the highest level in sound production. and, equally
stunning was his top notch studio, ' Sound Company ' at Fort which was
an Analog haven for turning any sonic dreams into infinite layers of
sound scape possibilities.
I first met Prakash at his studio, " Sound Company" , during early 90's
while attempting to record our first album. My songwriter friend, Anant Joshi
had managed an opportunity through a music company and the company
had kept a month's booking for us at Prakash's state of art studio, but ,
he was introduced to us as our sound mixing engineer. When we stepped in
to get a sneak peek into his studio we were bowled-over at the display of
equipments offered :- a live kurzweil sampler, a Rhodes electric piano,
Prophet analog synth, MiniMoog Arp analog synthesizer, 1-inch analog spool recorder !!!
sound editing on to computers when pro-tools was not even built in the production line...
The first day of our recording, our keyboard player was struggling to mute
a noisy patch from his Roland w-30 and Prakash had sternly refused to
record the sound until we got rid of the glitch, Infact, he had stepped out
calling for a smoke break.. screaming, "give me a clean sound, guys....."
He used high end gears and gold plated cables to cut on circuitry noise..
I had no previous knowledge of sound recording then and synthesizers
were mere alien flashy instruments that created delightful lushful sounds,
nothing more..!!! like the share brokers fluctuating pulses at the nearby
wall street, the situation got worse as the clock ticked fast and all my
excitement of quickly recording the first song had evaporated and the day
got almost wasted with not even a single take printed on to the tape...
late in the evening just when we ran short of patience and ideas,
Prakash walked in like a messiah and ordered the keyboardist to step aside,
with a witty sparkling smile he fidgeted with the same buttons and .. phew!
there it was... we were hearing the majestic rootless parallel moving voicings
from his left hand and an unusual improvised funky whole tone magic
phrase from his visceral right hand... I was too impressed and from then
on my first lessons in recording and jazz improvisations had begun ,
soon.. a three year long association followed as I joined him as an
apprentice to learn trades of recording, and, later collaborated with
him in the making of " hard notes loose change" by doing the Indian
classical music structuring and the percussion parts,
several top grade musicians , flautist Milind Sheorey, sarodia Pradeep Barot,
guitarists Amit roy, Derek Julian,Violinist milind raikar, young tabla player
Satyajit Talwalkar , french gypsy guitarist Marco Salaun, classical singer
Geeta javdekar, veena player Narayan Mani and several other artists of repute
had spent hours together coming out of their traditional systems playing
high energy solos outside the parent scale to achieve that aural magical piece
of excellence, not that his music forced us thinking on scales or modes only,
It had a profound structure too like his imposing personality and left a lasting impression...
prakash was very moody, intimidating and wildly erratic at times......
He never compromised on quality and had an eagle eye, wouldn't let anyone
step into the studio... even if it meant loss of business or hurting a
close friend of your's... He called his space the sanctum of sound.
His music though was largely influenced by the legendary Miles Davis,
Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock , Jean luc Ponty.. but, he always desired to
call himself a jazz rock\new age pianist, one who desperately
seeked new directions. The "interlude' in side A of the album is a
master piece, ''parallel bars" 'and 'parallax" is insightful and very well
thought out, a must hear. sadly , not much of his works were allowed
to be released by producers, music labels, as he didn't bend to their
commercial flimsy tunes.
He was also associated in the music scoring and sound-designing
of the popular children's audio book series " Karadi Tales "

During my formative years he was a big support and encouragement,
He taught me to keep an open mind and open ears while recording music ,
and , to me he also appeared as the foremost computer expert on music

I will cherish his music and the times we spend together at 'sound company'
will stay forever in my memory, and last, but far from least, I would take this
opportunity to thank him as he showed me the right path,

while , I had a 'sound company" in him...

I m sure he is in sound company too..

May God bless his soul!

- ved nair