 Upamanyu Chatterjee is an Indian author and administrator, notable for his work set in the milieu of the Indian Administrative Service, especially his novel English August.
Born in 1959, at Patna, Bihar, Chatterjee was educated at St. Xavier's School and St. Stephen's College, in Delhi. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1983.
Following the success of his first novel, he lived as Writer in Residence at the University of Kent for the academic year that started in 1990. In 1998, he was appointed Director (Languages) in the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India.
Chatterjee has written a handful of short stories of which "The Assassination of Indira Gandhi" and "Watching Them" are particularly noteworthy. His best-selling novel, English, August : An Indian story (subsequently made into a major film), was published in 1988 and has since been reprinted several times. A review in Punch described the book as "Beautifully written … English, August is a marvelously intelligent and entertaining novel, and especially for anyone curious about modern India". The novel follows Agastya Sen - a young westernized Indian civil servant whose imagination is dominated by women, literature and soft drugs. This vivid account of "real India" by the young officer posted to the small provincial town of Madna is "a funny, wryly observed account of Agastya Sen's year in the sticks", as described by a reviewer in the Observer.
His second novel, The Last Burden, appeared in 1993. This novel recreates life in an Indian family at the end of the twentieth century. The Mammaries of the Welfare State was published at the end of 2000 as a sequel to English, August. His latest novel, Weight Loss, a dark comedy, was published in 2006. |
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 I have been making films professionally since 1991. Small budgets but no compromise on quality. For our previous films, I have worked with very limited budgets, yet have competed with the best in the world and have managed to win awards regularly.
Documentaries on architecture and urbanism
An architectural film requires not only a good film culture but also a solid architectural culture. This is why one doesn't film architecture in the same way as one films art or people. I believe one has to understand but also feel it, in order to find the appropriate cinematic devices to do justice to it.
Fiction
Working on fiction has been my aim from the beginning. During my student days in Paris, I attended a famous theater workshop directed by members of the Actor's Studio for 5 years, while completing my film making course at the Sorbonne University. I wrote and directed a short tele-film Priya (55 minutes) in 1993 when I first came back to India from New York University. I have been using fiction elements whenever possible in my documentaries ( see Mandu ) Hollywood ki Pukar ( 12 minutes) was presented at the Cannes film festival 2002, in the “ Global Eyes ” section.
Chai Pani etc... ( 92 minutes) which was completed in March 2004 is my first feature film.
My films are finally available on DVD at: http://www.neoflix.com/store/DUN21/ To learn more about Chai pani etc. " satire on India contemporary, its bureaucracy and corruption, see www.chaipanietc.com To see my 12 films about architecture in India, see www.duniyavision.com (All these films are in English, except "Le Corbusier in India", which exists also in French) Thank you for getting this message to all those interested in India, to architecture, and film! |
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 (text from www.wikipedia.com, image form www.sepiamutiny.com)Anjolie Ela was born in West Bengal of a mixed Bengal and American parentage. She went to Lawrence School, Lovedale (near Ootacamund), in the Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu. By the age of 15, when she left school, she had already sold a few paintings. Thereafter, she briefly studied at the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai and later earned a degree in English Literature from Delhi University, where she studied at the famous women's college, Miranda House. During this time, she was drawn to the works of Modigliani, and Indian painters, M F Husain and Amrita Shergil. At 18, she held a solo exhibition with fifty-three paintings of a variety of styles. Her creative brilliance got her a French Government scholarship to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Before returning home, she travelled extensively in Europe and West Asia studying Romanesque and Byzantine art.
After returning, she married her childhood love, Raja Menon, a Indian Navy officer, who later retired as an Admiral. Since marriage she has lived and worked in India, the U.S.A., several countries in Europe, Japan and the erstwhile USSR, and had over thirty solo shows in these countries. She is also a well known muralist and has represented India at several shows.
"I was very happy my two year 1960/61 in France studying Fresque at Ecole Des Beaux Arts and staying at the Cite' Universitaire. I visited France as a guest of the government in 1980 re-visiting all my favourite museums.I was also the curator for a French exhibition at the NGMA Delhi, brining great French artists like Sarkis, Boltanski and Baudrillard to India. I am on the Governing Body of the Alliance Francais Delhi." |
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 (text and image from www.darpana.com)Mallika Sarabhai is a performer and creator of many talents. Her career has developed from being a young, internationally acclaimed, classical dancer and film personality, to being an activist and commentator on social issues.
Now an established artist she celebrates positive reaffirmation of images of womanhood through dance, theatre and writing. Following the rich and inspiring model of her mother Mrinalini, Mallika has placed herself firmly at the cutting edge of Indian dance and dance theatre.
In a culture which favours conservatism she wields the vocabularies of Indian traditions as trenchant tools to sculpt new reactions in her audiences. As dancer, actress, choreographer, writer, or instigator of community projects she challenges audiences to sit up and think, realign themselves to questions of ecology, women’s place in society, gender awareness, cultural atrophy, the very place of the arts in our society.
Deeply rooted in Indian cultures, but open to the influences of her collaborations around the world she has synthesized her experiences to become one of the most exciting creative influences in India today. Dynamic, charming and dry-witted, she is a rare creature in the arts.
Mallika is co-director of Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad, a unique centre for the arts which has performed all over India and all around the world. Here she directs the Darpana Performance Group; the Janavak Folk and Tribal Dance Company; Darpana for Development; Darpana Communications; and the Darpana Conservatoire.
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