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Yami Gautam was one of hundreds of young faces, who arrive every year to Mumbai carrying sanguine, but mostly farfetched, dream of making it big. Before Yami found her calling, she was a teenage civil services aspirant. From a relatively moderate celebrity profile as a drama serial actress to making a star turn for the silver screen, Yami has traversed some distance.   There are some people who radiate positivity and energy as they smile from within and Yami is indeed one of them. And she has all the reason to be. Not many actors make a successful cut from television to Bollywood and sustain it if they’re not from a film or star background, but Yami is that phoenix that has always risen from the ashes, not ashes in literal, but even when her few films didn’t do great on box office – she never felt short, rather clapped back with all the strength she could. And see where she is, celebrating her successful opening of 2019 with URI: The Surgical Strike.  But how did a girl born in Himachal Pardesh and raised in Chandigarh land up in Bollywood in the first place? Yami was pursuing a law degree when her uncle sent her pictures to a production house. An audition for a television serial landed her in Mumbai and she never returned. Post wrapping up her debut in Chand Ke Paar Chalo (2009), a drama serial on entertainment channel NDTV, Yami also did a couple of South films before landing up a substantial role in Vicky Donor (2012). The journey from television to the movies was a long and arduous one. But Yami held on and now she has completed seven years in Hindi film industry. Although her debut Hindi film Vicky Donor was a sleeper hit, vowing both the audience and critics alike and earning her many female debut awards, her few choices post Vicky, except Badlapur(2015) and Kaabil(2017) and now URI, did not work at the box office. With her feet planted firmly on the ground, she neither lets success go to her head nor allow setbacks to drag her down. She’s the ultimate insider now and knows perfectly how to get going.  Yami is a cheeky girl, and time and again it peeps through her not so conventional roles in the films that are not commercial but actually contribute significantly to the story of the film. Be it Kaabil, Sanam Re, URI: The Surgical Strike or Badlapur (2015) — she has gone grounded in the choices she makes.  Yami was recently in Doha, for a magazine shoot with picturesque landmarks of Qatar providing a breathtaking background to her ever-glowing face. Dressed in her casual travel suit, all set to take her flight back to Mumbai, Yami spoke to Community in an exclusive interview and revealed how its doubly hard for girls from non-filmy backgrounds to keep going, her URI success and why it’s okay these days to be a brand ambassador for a fairness cream. She clears her stance and she does it well.  Almost seven years in film industry, what’s changed? A lot has changed. The learning process is still going and I’m still learning with every project I do. Things have changed in the industry for good, we have more faces coming up, more genres been explored. And everything else is well on its way, just like it was before. After Vicky Donor and a couple of other films that couldn’t do huge on box office. What kept you going? That’s how the industry is: you fall down, be strong, get-up, keep moving on and grab the opportunities that come your way. Better scripts and huge projects might not happen instantly when you want, but it all takes time and falls into place eventually. This belief keeps me going. Coming from a middle-class family, and not a star background. How difficult was it to make it where you are right now? Any lessons learnt the hard way? I think the only difference, professionally if I say, is if you’re from the star background and your film doesn’t work out, you already have a backup and some sort of people or films to back you up or you can fall back to. And if you’re not from the star or film background then if your film does work great but doesn’t do well on the box office then the further options of the next one project to be chosen could not be perhaps what you immediately want to do or what you wish to do. That’s about it. Rest, there’s nothing else that I would like to trade from where I come from. I’m really happy to have the kind of family I have and I’m glad I have certain perspective which is outside film industry. I’m really happy where I come from, and where I’ve been raised. That perspective is something I always enjoy. Was acting something you always wanted to do? No, I wanted to join civil services but acting is something that just happened along the way. If I go back to my school days, my friends and I, all laugh about it that I was always that closet brand, a closet dancer, this closet singer. I used to love imitating and mimicking my teachers, whoever was around. But only my best friends knew about it. So, maybe deep down in my heart, I had a performer side in me. But I didn’t know. And never had I ever thought that from Chandigarh I’ll be leaving everything and shifting to Mumbai. I was very good in studies and was seriously preparing for civil services. But yeah it just happened. The new cinematic awakening has been a relatively recent development, triggered by periodic bouts of deep professional introspection. What kind of scripts excite you now? Anything which I’ve not done before. Something which challenges me. Something you would feel ‘Oh we’ve not seen Yami do this before or probably have imagined her doing something like this before. Anything that takes me out of my comfort zone. There’s a thin line between getting out of your comfort zone and something that is awkward for you. Even when you go out of the way to select your roles but that shouldn’t be that you’re trying too hard to prove a point or something. That shouldn’t be there. If there’s something that excites you as an actor, you feel you want to do this and feel you have a director whom you can fall back to and trust him completely and he can trust you – then you go for such roles. Any genre! I haven’t done comedy, action, costume drama. There are so many things which I want to do and will, eventually. I think slowly and steadily I’ll have it. And how would you draw a parallel between South film industry and Hindi film industry? I haven’t really been a South film actress. I did do two three films but it was just a part or phase where you’re doing work and Good work keeps coming your way. That’s it. You’re auditioning constantly, you’re trying every possibility to keep working in Mumbai. And in that auditioning spree I had Vicky Donor also. In that phase of my life I also did regional films because I didn’t see language as a barrier. Actually it’s even harder when you’re performing a language you don’t know. I saw it more as an opportunity to be a part of something that is for the big screen. Ofcourse there’s a difference in the culture, language and work atmosphere. But, it’s not that I was a very established actress out there. If I have to chalk out some difference for you, they’re very particular about their timings! They have some pretty strong technicians out there. Really interesting work is also being done there with so many remakes happening. There are some drastic beauty standards that have been set-up which are difficult for a common girl to follow? It’s considered a taboo now if an actor is promoting a fairness brand especially with the rise of social media, and you are. Your take on it? I’d say I’m doing my work. I’m working as a professional. Having said that, the kind of fairness cream ads, or any cream ads for that matter, you see now have been drastically evolved over the years. They’re not the same anymore, thankfully. Just to bring it out factually for you, there are no more four faces used in the TVCs and put out a narrative that if you’re not fair there’s something to be sad about. And I’m so glad. I’ve been associated with the brand long before Vicky Donor even, when I was exploring my work as a model. My contract became an ambassadorship post Vicky Donor. I did have a chat with the brand, did express my concerns exactly on the same line; that to promote a brand is fine as long as you’re following a legal line. But, otherwise to show that to be unhappy about not being fair is not right. And I’m so glad that it has been worked upon and those ads are not there anymore. Maybe, it’s the name Fair & Lovely, which has been there for the decades and I cannot change. Maybe that’s what gives out a different perception. All the ads that running on television right now have similar elements, but if I’m the only one being picked upon. No problem, that’s alright. I understand the concern and I’m with the concern. Now it’s just your choice that you want to buy it, buy it – if you don’t want to buy it, absolutely fine. Please be comfortable with whatever you feel is the best version of beauty is. You started 2019 with a very high note of URI. Has the feeling sunk in? Not yet! One is when your film is doing really well and people are congratulating you, you feel happy when your film has done well and the one is when people own and embrace your film. That doesn’t happen with every film. The kind of respect that has been associated with this film, I think that was phenomenal. We knew that it is going be a very good film, but we didn’t see that coming. The way it was shot, we knew it was a very very honest attempt. The way people all across the world embraced it that’s very endearing. How was your visit to Doha? This is my first visit to Doha and there is a lot of love I’ve felt here. I went to a mall and the National Museum of Qatar, and lots of people came up to me to show their love. It’s always nice to feel the love and warmth. It’s a beautiful place! And there’s so much more yet to be explored here in Doha. And I’d just love to come again and be back soon. Until next time!

Colours of Deserts, a big group exhibition, recently concluded at Building 19 of Katara on a high note as over 50 young and experienced artists took part in the show that highlighted Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030. The organisers – MAPS International, staff of Katara and all the participating artists gathered for the conclusion ceremony of the exhibition that ran from July 18 to August 1. All the artists and the organisers were excited over the successful end of the exhibition. They cut the cake and reiterated their resolve to bring more colours of Qatar to fore in their next year exhibition. Colours of Desert was the sixth in the annual series of exhibitions organised by the MAPS International.  The theme of this year’s exhibition was to portray the futuristic vision of Qatar and flamboyancy of the assorted artists. The exhibition had on display as many as 102 art pieces contributed be 51 artists. The exhibition earlier had a crowed opening ceremony as the art lovers, artists’ friends and families continued to throng the exhibition as it remained open for public from 10am to 10pm.  The exhibition provided a real attraction for the visitors who remained engrossed in the unique creativity that highlighted four aspects of QNV 2030. The show saw participating artists hailing from countries namely; Qatar, Kuwait, Russia, India, France, UK, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Korea, Pakistan, Morocco, Iran, South Africa, Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago. There were as many as 22 Qatari artists both seasoned and budding ones. Rashmi Agarwal, an Indian artist and president of MAPS International, said: “We at MAPS always give our member-artists a chance to shine before they step into the real world as practicing artists and this was very evident at the exhibition. I am happy to see the overwhelming response from the art enthusiasts and artists’ community to our sixth exhibition in the series. I am deeply thankful to the management of Katara for their extraordinary support as usual. “With this exhibition every year, we try to highlight the true colours of Qatar basing on different themes. The Colours of Desert is the exhibition that refers to the desert sand as it contains vibrant colours. The talented artists with diverse backgrounds highlighted the theme of QNV. The artists tried to highlight four pillars of the vision – economic development, human development, social development and environmental development. The artists used different techniques to highlight different features of the QNV in their own way. The artists used oil colours, coffee powder, digital photography etc. The art works include surrealism, realism and abstract techniques.” Tessema Temtime, an Ethiopian expatriate artist, said: “In my painting that I exhibited showed the map of Qatar as a door of a tunnel/cave highlighting the unjust siege of the country. From the door of the tunnel, we can see all the buildings, green trees, and high flying flag of Qatar showing the unstopped development of the country. I tried to show that despite the blockade, Qatar is going forward and making progress by leaps and bounds. I used acrylic colours to make my painting beautiful. “I have been living in Qatar for 11 years. I have been my pleasure working with people of different countries. I would like to extend my special thanks to the MAPS International for promoting and encouraging the expatriate artists. They continue to provide different platforms to the artists to express their creative talents.” Sayeeda Habib, a young Pakistani artist born and raised in Qatar, said: “I had shown two paintings. One piece showed the traditional and modern urban Souq Waqif. The other painting showed Qatari women wearing their traditional clothes at home. I used different oil colours to highlight the past and future of the country in my paintings. “I have been drawing and painting since I was in the fourth class. Later, I got registered with Qatar Art Society and learned different art techniques. The exhibition was a very good opportunity for the young artists to show their talent to the art lovers. I will continue taking part in such exhibitions in future as well.” 

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour,” declared Charles Dickens in his novel A Christmas Carol. Good humour not only brings laughter, it also cools down high temperatures. This is the right time to have some good comedy to laugh off the hot and humid weather in Qatar. The on-going Doha Comedy Festival is an attractive part of the Summer in Qatar campaign launched by Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC). Being the most exciting side of the campaign, the festival promises to bring top international comedians to Qatar this summer as the multicultural audience gets a chance to taste highest quality of comedy. The next event of the festival promises to bring not only huge quantity of laughter but also a rich variety comedy. Omid Djalili, Nemr Abou Nassar and Hamad al-Amari – the three talented stand-up comedians with diverse backgrounds – are all set to make the Doha audience cachinnate at Qatar National Convention Centre’s Hall 9 on August 15. According to the organisers, the comedy show will start at 8pm and will continue till 11pm. The three comedy stars will finish off the laughter season – Doha Comedy Festival – that earlier saw thrilling performances by Zakir Khan, an Indian stand-up comedian, and Trevor Noah, a celebrated South African comedian. Omid Djalili is an English stand-up comedian, actor, television producer, voice actor and writer.  Born to Iranian parents, Omid’s first significant success of in his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner’s Son, followed by The Arab and the Jew with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996. He has performed in numerous countries, including Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Canada and the United States, where he had his own HBO Special and did 22 episodes of the NBC sitcom Whoopi with Whoopi Goldberg. He did his part for Comic Relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show Top Gear as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales. In 2006, Sky Television picked him to be the face of their Saturday night film premières, and he also announced a new tour of the UK called ‘No Agenda’, from January 2007 until March 2007, covering 23 different dates. The No Agenda tour DVD was released in late 2007. On 18 March 2007, he was voted by the British public as the 60th best stand-up comedian in a Channel 4 programme The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups. On 26 October 2007, he guest-presented the BBC political quiz show Have I Got News for You. The Omid Djalili Show started on BBC1 on 17 November 2007. The series was a mix of sketches and stand-up material. A second series was recorded in late 2008 and began broadcast on BBC 1 on 20 April 2009. He performed on We Are Most Amused on ITV1 to mark Prince Charles’s 60th birthday in 2008. Nemr Abou Nassar is a Lebanese-American stand-up comic who now performs globally using only his first name, Nemr. He has always performed in English, and now performs regularly in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. On October 7, 2017 Nemr premiered his brand new hour comedy special, No Bombing in Beirut, across the United States on Showtime, and across Canada on CraveTV and The Movie Network. It is currently available on demand and streaming as well as regular play across these networks. Filmed in both Beirut and Los Angeles, No Bombing in Beirut was made to show that we are much more similar than we have been led to believe. Nemr believed that if you showed two crowds on opposite sides of the planet laughing together at the same material, and as he cut back and forth between the two, that if it felt like one show, there would be no better proof that we have so much more in common. Nemr has written and performed seven full feature shows, the latest of which was a world tour that took Nemr to many major US cities, Europe, and across the Middle East. Hamad al-Amari is a Qatari-Irish stand-up comedian. His diverse background is a rare sight in this region. Having grown up in Qatar, Southern Ireland and the US, he has had unusual exposure to many experiences and diversity, which have helped form his identity and approach to comedy.

It started off on Tumblr, as many matters pertaining to Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen do. One of her fans thought it would be nice if she had a sword, and started a viral campaign to get her one. A few months and many memes later, she was handed one onstage at Lollapalooza ‘18 (there have actually been several – Jensen’s fans are fiercely devoted, and seem to love swords for some reason). When Jepsen won the Song of the Decade lottery with Call Me Maybe in 2012, the fame that came with it, oppressive at first, settled into something breathable and nice over the course of the next few albums: Emotion (2015), and the new Dedicated, a pristine, ‘80s-dwelling pop album. In an interview, Jepsen, 33, discussed her post-Call Me Maybe life, her little-heard folk-pop debut, and what she does with all those swords. The following is an edited version of that conversation: You had almost 200 songs written for the album. How did you choose? It was a really hard. I was home for a brief stint in Canada and I went into my dad’s music room, and there were poster boards of all the many songs I had written for my first ever EP, that probably no one ever listened to. It was nice. I was like, I guess I’ve always been an overwriter. ... I usually have lots of friends and bandmates and family members involved in helping me narrow it down, by throwing these kind of chaotic listening parties at my house. That’s a really helpful tool for seeing what people are reacting to. They get invested and have debates about it. It’s kind of fun to sit back and watch. Is it true that you never have writer’s block? Yeah. I feel like I’m going to need to knock on wood if I keep saying that. It’s not that I don’t write a bad song _ if you needed me to write you a song today, I’m sure I could come up with something. I guess I’m fairly able to write if I need to write, yeah. I’m kind of even writing when I don’t mean to be. When someone says something in a certain way, I’ll find some poetry to it, kind of ignoring the conversation and writing it down quickly. My friends call me out for doing it a lot. What kind of expectations did you have when you released that first folk-pop album? Are you like, “Here we go. I’m going to be famous now”? One thing I’ve never had is a big expectation for what my career was going to look like. I just knew that I was going to keep hustling and trying to have one. Even in my PowerPoint presentation to my parents when I decided that I was going to make a run for this thing, I was like, “One’s happiness equals (less) regrets. Even if I was jazz lounge singing and waitressing six nights a week, I will be so happy giving this my all.” And they were like, “All right, go for it, kid.” When you’re at home in L.A., can you move through the world pretty easily, without showing up in the Daily Mail the next day? I do get recognized on occasion, but it’s not on the Justin Bieber level, where you can’t leave your house or go do something on your own. And when people do come up, they’re nice and friendly, it’s (not) madness or craziness, it’s just people being nice. The Call Me Maybe era was a little too intense for me, so I much prefer my privacy on some level. It seems having a big hit like that would be weirdly terrifying. You don’t know if you’re going to have another, people are constantly coming up to you. It’s funny what you think you want, and what you want. I’m really glad I got to experience it, but there was some time afterwards when you feel that adrenaline of, “What’s next? How do we (make another hit)?” And I just thought, what am I working for here, because this isn’t fun, even. I would love to have a job in music, but there’s different goals, and being honest about that was critical. It doesn’t mean we didn’t try for it. We were on the road, in the hustle, but there was a point where it was good to take some time off and get back into the studio. I spent a while before Emotion came into fruition. When I had that album, I was hoping to find a tribe of people who loved music vs. the celebrity-ness of my career, and I’ve been so lucky to have that. Do you look at now as being better than back then? I’m much happier now and I’m much more confident in who I am, and the artist that I want to be. I’m grateful for the journey of it, though. I don’t regret Call Me Maybe, or the craziness of what we got to experience, but every year has felt better and better. You do have a dedicated fanbase, but do they need a lot of tending? You always see Taylor Swift on Tumblr, liking fan posts. It’s a beast that needs feeding. Is yours more low maintenance? Wow, I didn’t know that about Taylor. I think that’s amazing, though. I don’t think that’s anything but really cool. But it’s more of an organic feeling, like, after the shows I WANT to do the meet and greets. It doesn’t feel like a pressure thing. ... “Tending” I don’t think is the right word. They wanted to give you a sword. They’ve given me a few swords now. Do you keep them? Could you get them through airport security? A: I was like, “What am I going to do with a sword? It’s so sweet, I can’t leave it here.” I gave it to my tour manager, and he cracked us up by sending us a picture of the sword wrap ped in styrofoam, going through security. — Chicago Tribune/ TNS

Walt Disney Co’s photo-realistic version of The Lion King is expected to continue to dominate the multiplex after collecting about $729 million in global receipts in its first week. But the technologically innovative film’s impact could go well beyond the box office. The Lion King’s unusual production techniques, including its use of video game technology and virtual reality headsets, could also change the way movies are made, according to the people involved in creating the big-budget blockbuster. Though the movie, directed by Jon Favreau, is entirely animated with computer graphics, the filmmakers shot the film in a 3D virtual environment using largely traditional production methods and equipment such as dollies, Steadicams, handheld cameras and cranes. The methods were used to give the remake a true-to-life feel of a nature documentary. The success of the film, a faithful remake of the 1994 animated hit, could also provide a welcome boost to the virtual reality business. While VR has long been hyped in Hollywood and Silicon Valley as the future of entertainment, the format has struggled to break through with consumers because of the costly and clunky equipment required and the lack of quality content. Investment in once all-the-rage VR and AR startups has dwindled in recent years, reflecting the lack of demand. But for Hollywood directors and digital effects experts, VR holds more promise as an advanced production tool. The ability to film scenes and scout locations in virtual reality could have benefits for multiple productions, said Lion King visual effects supervisor Adam Valdez, who works for the Technicolor-owned effects company MPC Film. The new technological advancements promise to cut down on production costs, save time and better plan the shooting of film scenes and television episodes, and not just for all-CGI undertakings like The Lion King. “We really see a future where any production creating any key virtual content would benefit from this approach, where we build a bridge between the production world and the virtual world,” said Valdez, who is based in London. “VR is quite famously trying to find its place in consumer society, but ... we’ve clearly found it has all these strengths in the filmmaking trade.” While the critical response to The Lion King was mixed, the effort has clearly paid off for Disney. The movie opened with $191.8 million in the U.S. and Canada in its first weekend, making it the biggest debut yet for Disney’s mostly successful strategy of remaking its classic animated movies for modern moviegoers. The Lion King, which features the voices of Donald Glover and Beyonce Knowles-Carter, topped the $174.8 million launch of “Beauty and the Beast” from 2017. Guy Ritchie’s reimagining of Aladdin crossed the $1 billion milestone at the global box office last week. For The Lion King, Favreau and his team, including Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Rob Legato, wanted to go beyond the techniques employed in their successful 2016 version of The Jungle Book, which similarly tried to realistically replicate the natural world. After that film’s release, the filmmakers began exploring ways they could use virtual reality and so-called game engines, the software tools developers use to design popular games such as “Fortnite.” At a meeting at Favreau’s office at the Disney lot in Burbank in October 2016, Valdez gave a video demonstration of how a virtual production might work. Favreau, who’d experimented with VR headsets at the tail end of producing The Jungle Book, was eager to try something new for The Lion King. The group teamed with downtown Los Angeles-based visual effects tech company Magnopus to develop a technique of filming in VR that would emulate a multiplayer video game. The crew set up shop in an unmarked facility in Playa Vista, complete with a roughly 20-foot dolly track, where they started shooting digitally in mid-2017. Using HTC Vive headsets, the director could drop into the 3D digital world of the African landscape they created on the computer – much like popping inside a video game – to change the position of a tree, move the sun to alter the lighting or experiment with a new camera angle. “The VR hardware was the breakthrough here because it allowed us to jump into the set together,” Favreau said. “It allows people with a live-action film background to collaborate on a virtual production. ... It allows me and (cinematographer) Caleb Deschanel to stand on Pride Rock.” The process for making The Lion King was a first for Hollywood. Like other computer-animated films, the studio started with a relatively crudely animated version of the movie, known as a pre-vizualisation. Then the camera crew, wearing VR goggles, filmed the action much in the way they would shoot in the real world. The editors could then select from multiple shots to construct each scene. Later, MPC and Favreau brought the characters to life with detailed hair, skin and facial movements. Legato, the lead VFX supervisor on The Lion King, said the process of using the real-life camera movements injected new, unexpected energy into certain scenes. For example, Legato was initially sceptical about a scene in which a young Simba practices his roar on an insect. But the team was able to experiment with different camera angles that would make the moment more intimate. For a chase scene inside a tunnel, the filmmakers grappled with how to make it look like they were actually filming inside a one-foot diameter space. They miniaturised themselves Honey, I Shrunk the Kids-style in the virtual reality set and filmed with handheld cameras to get the shaky-cam look of the action sequence. “The whole virtual filmmaking thing is infusing something that could be rather inert with this life we’ve been used to seeing in 100 years of filmmaking,” Legato said. “It really does allow art to enter these scenes.” The ambitious project presented unique challenges. Engineers had to design software so that the computer would remember where the filmmakers had moved an object, something the video game technology wasn’t originally designed to do. But now that the concept has proven successful, virtual reality and video game technology has potential to help on live-action sets, the filmmakers said. Favreau is already using a game engine developed by “Fortnite” creator Epic Games to create the digital backgrounds for Disney’s upcoming Star Wars television series The Mandalorian, a much-anticipated project he’s making for Disney+, the company’s key subscription service set to launch in November. The use of Epic’s technology allows the company to render the visual effects faster than would normally be possible for a live-action series. “The underlying technology is very flexible and robust and can be applied to a variety of challenges,” Favreau said. “It allows me to scale my involvement with the project.” Legato also has high hopes for virtual reality in film and TV production. The technology could allow cinematographers to more easily plan how they want to shoot a certain scene. It could also allow designers to preview film sets before they’re built. “You could actually walk around and see if that’s your best shot or if that’s what your best set looks like,” Legato said. “It could become part of the production process where every production house has a VR setup.” – Los Angeles Times/ TNS

Juan Karlos (JK), renowned Filipino rock band, along with Katrina Velarde, online singing sensation and recording artiste, is all set to perform in Doha on August 9 at Al Jewan Hall of Al Dana Club.  The concert ‘Summer Jam in Qatar 2019’ is expected to attract around 2,200 spectators. The two-hour show has been produced by DC Event, in partnership with July Dela Cruz. “We are delighted to bring to Qatar another quality entertainment. Both JK and Katrina are among the most sought after young performers in the Philippines today,” said Victor Magnipes, CEO and Management Director of Doha City Event Management and Services (DC Event). “We are hoping for a warm reception from our community here for event,” he added. The JK band, led by Filipino-German singer-songwriter Juan Karlos, was behind the mega hit Filipino song Buwan. Velarde have been receiving positive reviews from Youtubers and online influencers across the world for her music videos. ‘Summer Jam in Qatar 2019’ is its third major concert this year, after singer Sara Geronimo and Philippines’ concert king Martin Nievera and Asia’s Nightingale Lani Misalucha performed in Qatar. JK became popular after joining The Voice Kids Philippines in 2014, and in 2015, he released his debut album titled JK. It featured eight tracks, including a special song, Di Ka Man Lang Nagpaalam, dedicated to his late mother. In 2018, he released the song Buwan which immediately became the number one track on Spotify Philippines’ top 50 and also number one on Philippines Viral 50. Velarde, on the other hand, has been participating in numerous singing contests at age 7 before she became popular and performed in various countries, including the US. She is well known for covering the hits of international divas and local singing idols, as well as her impersonations. “This year, our focus is more on bringing some of the best talents of the Philippines to Qatar to promote our music scene, at the same time, to provide quality entertainment,” Magnipes said. “Producing a show is not an easy task but we, Filipinos, are known for our creativity, attention to details and dedication to our craft, and those qualities are what set apart DC Event from other event management company in the country,” he added. Reiterating that JK band and Velarde as two of the most sought after performers in the Philippines, Magnipes believe they are “a perfect combination on stage and we are hoping to target mainly the young crowd and other music enthusiasts.” According to DC Event, the opening salvo will feature local talents such as Beats & Bytes New Breed and Verve dance groups. Gates will open at 6.30pm and the main event will start at 8:30pm. Tickets cost QR250(VVIP), QR150 (VIP), and QR100 (Gold/general admission) and can be purchased via www.q-tickets.com. The tickets are also available at various restaurants across Doha.

Though the summer is hot and humid, the excitement and entertainment brought to the residents and visitors by Summer in Qatar campaign are cool and refreshing. Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) through Summer in Qatar campaign has introduced a wide range of exciting indoor and outdoor experiences, along with entertainment programmes featuring local, regional and international artistes, edutainment, summer and sports camps as well as special promotions on inbound travel, hospitality and shopping. One of the most anticipated and exciting aspect of the Summer in Qatar campaign is kaleidoscope of musical concerts with international singers to Doha. The latest concert is going to take place today (July 25) when the world renowned DJ and American electronic music producer Marshmello will perform live at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). The music show that is expected to be sold-out is being organised by the Social Studio, an event company, and sponsored by QNTC. The much-awaited concert is expected to start at 7pm and will last till 11pm. Christopher Comstock, known professionally as Marshmello, first gained international recognition by releasing remixes of songs by American DJ duo Jack Ü and Russian-German DJ Zedd.  He is best known for the songs Silence, Wolves, Friends, and Happier, all of which have been certified multi-platinum in several countries and appeared in the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100. His debut studio album, Joytime, was released in January 2016, which included the lead single and Marshmello’s debut single Keep It Mello. Marshmello’s second song in 2016, a platinum-certified single titled Alone, was released in May via the Canadian record label Monstercat.  Having peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 60, it became his first single to be certified platinum in the US and Canada with over a million copies of certified units. That year, he released three subsequent singles. In 2017, after releasing singles such as Chasing Colors, Twinbow and Moving On, Marshmello collaborated with American R&B singer Khalid to release Silence as a single, which was certified platinum and multi-platinum in eight countries. Succeeding another single, one of his best-selling singles, a collaboration with American singer Selena Gomez, titled Wolves was released. His second single of 2018, titled Friends, a collaboration with British singer Anne-Marie, was released. Months later, his second studio album, Joytime II, was released with singles Tell Me and Check This Out. Marshmello’s highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 and in the United Kingdom, titled Happier, a collaboration with British band Bastille, was released in August. He was named by Forbes in eighth place on their annual ranking of the world’s highest-paid DJs in 2017 as he earned $21 million in the twelve months prior June 2017. Marshmello is best known for his white bucket mask he wears during shows.  His identity was not known initially, but was confirmed to be Chris Comstock in April 2017 by Forbes. As a YouTuber, Marshmello has published gaming and cooking videos for his series Gaming with Marshmello and Cooking with Marshmello. The other upcoming music events by QNTC include, The Blueman Show and Kadim Al Saher. The Blueman Show will take place at QNCC from August 14 to 17. The wildly popular theatrical phenomenon Blue Man Group will be visiting Doha for the first time as part of their latest world tour.  According to the organisers, expect the unexpected, as Blue Man group will take the audience on a one-of-a-kind journey featuring new music, fresh stories, custom instruments and spectacular graphics.  Lovers of Arabic song are in for a real treat – Kadim Al Saher – one of the most successful singers in the history of the Arab world, will be taking Doha by storm along with his majestic orchestra on August 16 and 17. It is a chance that should not be missed to see the Caesar of Arabic Song perform his world-renowned hits, romantic ballads and classical songs. 

There is a new controversy as Kangana Ranaut has decided to take the media head-on. Kangana has, by now, made a reputation for calling a spade a spade. Mainly, she has made a reputation not to take things lying down anymore. There have been earlier instances of differences between reporters and stars, even leading to violence. But, those involved big stars, mainly men. And, all that the targeted reporters could do was the run away from the scene! The era of one-to-one interviews with stars or the personal interactions are long over. And the one thing I have observed is that in rare cases when a star consents for a personal interview nowadays, there are never any differences of opinion. For, the reporter assigned to interview is, for one, much in awe of the star he meets (first thing he does is request for a selfie, lest it may not happen after the interview!). The other thing is that the interviewer is too keen to kind of develop a rapport with the star so as to always have an access to the star as well as to be recognised by the star the next time around! The fact is, the media can neither make nor break a career. It is a fallacy they indulge in that their stand or writing against a star will affect him/her professionally. More so now when the media has spread itself so much that entertainment and film stars account for their following and circulation. One such example is that of Salman Khan. He was never kind to the media, ignored them and even misbehaved. He did not care for awards and, in return, the press was equally unkind to him. But the media could not even think of banning him. Because he was the happening thing and always newsworthy. Also, he was always involved in some controversy or the other. He was sort of bread and butter material for the media. What happened between Kangana and some of the media guys was an argument during one of her press conferences to promote a film with her co-star Rajkummar Rao. She referred to one of the reporters from a news agency for writing uncomplimentary things about her on a social network. Now, a news agency guy is not known to indulge in such activities. Even their reports are meant to be non-controversial. Also, these sort of reporters often have a misgiving that a star’s career will be handicapped if one or two reporters or media houses ‘banned’ them. Especially, in the era when publications put their content on sale in the name of advertorial! But what ensued was yelling at the star, of course, with support from a subordinate. A ban was declared on reporting on Kangana! Does one really believe it will work or find support? The biggest of media houses have tried this ban thing. This, here, was one small tiff. And, however small, they become brave when one or two voices come in support. Again, when a Sanjay Dutt or a Salman Khan or any other macho hero gets violent with a reporter or a photographer, there is no noise. As if, nothing happened. It was just a week back that Salman’s bodyguards had a scuffle with a photographer. But, when it comes to photographers and video cameramen, they are always overzealous about their job. They get too close for a star’s comfort and often poke their camera as well as the microphone in an actor’s face. These TV reporters are not quite prepared for the task. They ask standard one or two questions. A routine first question is “Kaisa lagta hai! Aapki film hit ho gayee, kaisa lagta hai (How do you feel, your film has been a hit, how do you feel)”? Similarly, when Salman Khan was granted bail after a few days in custody, a TV reporter asked Saleem Khan (Salman’s father): Salman jail se wapas aa gaye hai, aapko kaisa lagta hai? Sir, ek byte dijiye (Salman has returned from jail, how do you feel about that. Sir, please give a byte).” Saleem Khan was bored of such senseless questions and replied, tongue-in-cheek: “I am undergoing a dental treatment so can’t bite!” This film journalism, feeding on the film stars and their actions, has never been privy to any kind of unity even when it came to valid cause if ever there was one. All have their own vested interests to serve. On the other hand, even stars seem to think they can get away with anything, which they do most of the time and never repent. But, there was one exception, Anupam Kher. For whatever reason (reasons are usually something written against the actor), Anupam slapped the journalist from a glossy gossip magazine. But it is said that he felt guilty about the incident. It dawned on him that someday, somebody may slap him as well. Sunny Deol’s reputation as a muscular hero was good enough for media guys not to cross paths with him. However, a trade magazine had written something about his father, Dharmendra, and Sunny thought it was derogatory. It was while shooting in Nashik for Narsimha that the editor’s son, Komal Nahta and Sunny came face-to-face. Nahta’s standing by what his magazine had written angered Sunny who all but hit him. An ugly scene was averted as other journalists, also invited to cover the shooting, intervened and cooled Sunny down. Then, there was a case of Vidhu Vinod Chopra who is not prone to getting any sort of negative media, especially when it comes to his film. It was at a party at Hotel Sea Rock in Bandra (filmmakers were known to throw a party at the drop of a hat in those days) that Chopra was seen running around tables chasing the film critic, Khalid Mohamed! Again, third party intervention stopped the situation from turning ugly. Dharmendra may have been the pioneer of chasing journalists to vent his anger. There was not much of a media devoted to films in those days. Those which mattered were Filmfare, Star & Style, Screen and a few vernacular magazines. Dharmendra had an axe to grind with Devyani Chaubal, the queen of gossip writing and M S Krishna from Blitz weekly (though Blitz was not a film magazine, it ran a column, Off Camera, by M S Krishna, devoted to gossip). It was during a fund raising rally with stars participating that Dharmendra spotted Devyani and Krishna. While the former is said to have escaped safely, Krishna bore the brunt of Dharmendra’s anger. Soundly bashed up, he landed up in a hospital for some days! His pictures, bandaged up, appeared in the media. All these stars and all these fights and assaults, and nobody had banned anybody yet. But a star did ban the media successfully. The star was Amitabh Bachchan. He decided very early in his career that he wanted nothing to do with the film media. And he was the one who was better off with the arrangement. By this time, some glossy gossip magazines had arrived on the scene but they never had access to Bachchan. Bachchan, meanwhile, merrily went on giving a hit after another hit! He finally softened his stand to the media only after his accident on the sets of Coolie and realising how the media had stood by him. As for Kangana, the irony is that, she has been continuously appearing on TV news as well as reality shows channels giving interviews or making appearances. Because, she is the newsmaker. She is now more in the media than ever before! — IANS

Oud is a very popular musical instrument in West Asia and North Africa, and the stringed instrument has a special place in the musical landscape of Qatar. The Qatari people have been showing immense love and reverence for what is dubbed as the ‘kind of instruments’ among Arabs. The love and enthusiasm for Oud’s melodies and sweet sound was witnessed during an Oud music concert at W Doha Hotel on Tuesday evening. It was a melodious treat for Oud lovers as five young and talented Qatari Oud players performed in ensemble at a serene atmosphere of the Art 29 – located at the top floor of the hotel. The music lovers and Oud appreciators were in the art gallery at the 29th floor of the hotel to enjoy the harmonious tones played by the five Oud players – Abdul Rehman al-Thani, Abdul Aziz Saleh, Jassim al-Siddiiqui, Ali al-Khalosi, and Mohammad al-Shamma. The five Oud players were led by their teacher Fawzi Khalifa al-Lanqawi, a Kuwaiti national, who has been a frequent visitor to Doha. They learnt how to play the instrument with Fawzi for about two weeks, following which they decided to exhibit their talent before those who love the sound of Oud. The concert was also attended by Khalid al-Salem, Director of the Center for Music, Ministry of Culture. The noticeably pleased and impressed Khalid appreciated the budding musicians and their teacher for presenting the beautiful Oud performance.  Talking to Community, Khalid said: “It was a kind of Oud concert. This kind of Oud concert is not very well-known in Qatar as Oud is usually played alone by a single musician. It was very good to see five Oud players performing together with different melodies and harmonies. “With maestro Fawzi, the performers managed to play five Ouds together as one piece. We witnessed a fantastic harmony of the music. It proved to be a great concert. It was very pleasing to know that the concert was organised by the self-motivated young Oud players. They have done this by themselves. They had their rehearsals with Fawzi and then they decided to perform in front of the select audience. Music is something that gets motivation from within us and I am happy to see the motivation of the young musicians.” Fawzi said: “I have been playing Oud for about 37 years now. I visit Qatar very frequently. Primarily, I came to Doha for my vacations. People know me here as an Oud player. Some interested people got together and we started teaching a course for Oud players at W Doha Hotel. “We practiced the instrument for 16 days before we decided to perform for a select gathering of people. We played international Oud music, and Mozart, Arab traditional songs, Othmani music, Khaliji music, classic lyrics and modern songs. We played almost everything. “It is right that Oud is often played alone but we got the idea of playing it in a group. Each one of my students played a different tone at the performance but in the end it was one harmonious melody. Such kinds of music groups are called furqa in Arabic. I plan to stay in Doha for some time and will offer teaching course for those who are interested in learning how to play Oud. I teach music in a university in Kuwait.” Ali al-Khalosi said: “Our training with Fawzi has been a very good experience. We would like to learn more from the master. I started playing Oud when I was barely 10-year-old. Today, this was my second performance before the people. I will get more and more training in Oud. I will continue playing Oud. It is good seeing the encouragement and support from the Ministry of Culture.” Abdul Aziz Saleh said: “I love Oud. I started following Oud when I was studying in the UK. One of my uncles also plays the instrument. I bought Oud and started playing it with the help of my uncle. For this performance, I will like to thank Fawzi. There is a lot of appreciation for Oud in Qatar. I would like to thank Katara for having the annual Oud Festival. We see many players and makers coming from different parts of the world.”

All this reporting and writing about the moon landing’s 50th anniversary got us in the mood to read and watch some science fiction. So here are our staffers’ picks for some of their favourite astronaut-themed science fiction books and movies. We narrowed it down to selections grounded in science and space travel. (Thus, the exclusion of Star Wars.) Here goes, sorted by media type in order of release year. BOOKS  Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor (DAW, February 5). When Binti becomes the first of the Himba people to join the ranks of students at the prestigious Oomza University in space, she leaves Earth behind and finds herself thrown into the centre of a generations-long war between the university and an alien race known as the Meduse. This three-book series follows Binti and her unlikely allies as she balances the culture she came from and the future she represents.  The Calculating Stars  by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books, July 3, 2018). An alternate-history novel set in the early ‘50s. The premise? A giant meteorite smashes into Washington, DC, in 1952 and accelerates the need for humans to find another planet to live on. Dr Elma York is a World War II veteran who flew planes as a WASP. She also happens to be a math genius and one of Nasa’s human computers, and she decides she wants to be an astronaut. The novel explores what might have happened if women were allowed in the astronaut corps early in the space race, and it also touches on the civil-rights movement and struggles faced by African Americans in that time period.  The Fated Sky  by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books, August 21, 2018). In this sequel to The Calculating Stars, mankind has managed to reach the moon and has now set its sights on establishing a human colony on Mars — in 1961. Dr Elma York — otherwise known as The Lady Astronaut — is hoping to get chosen for the Mars mission, but torn between her professional ambitions and her personal life. Once again, Kowal does not fail to pull in the social environment of the early ‘60s, and the tensions resulting from the civil-rights movement and South Africa’s apartheid are woven into the narrative.  The Wanderers by Meg Howrey (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, March 14, 2017). This is character-driven literary science fiction at its finest and it examines how humans will deal with the challenges of long missions of space exploration. The Wanderers follows three astronauts through a 17-month training simulation for a Mars mission and through them gets at the question of what drives humanity’s need to explore. But the narrative also pulls in the families of the astronauts and we see the strain that the long separation puts on them.  Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow, May 19, 2015). What would we do if we knew the world was about to be destroyed by “hard rain” that will fall for 5,000 years? That’s the premise of this science-fiction saga by a Seattle novelist who is one of the masters of the genre. As Seattle Times reviewer Nisi Shawl wrote in 2015, “Stephenson’s storytelling style combines the conversational and the panoramic, allowing him to turn his piercing gaze on the familiar aspects of a strange future, encompassing the barely conceivable detail by detail, striking vista by sweat-covered heroic gambit, and telling us how it might be possible to regain what we could so easily lose in so many heartbreaking ways.”  The Three-Body Problem series by Cixin Liu (Tor Books, English translation of first book published November 2014). President Barack Obama called it “just wildly imaginative, really interesting.” Amazon reportedly may spend up to $1 billion acquiring the rights to produce a three-season TV show based on the Hugo Award-winning series. There’s a reason the first instalment in this trilogy was the first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award. The series, based in China, chronicles the existential crisis that grips all of humanity when it encounters an extraterrestrial civilisation bent on taking over Earth. But the alien armada won’t arrive for another 400 years, leaving humans plenty of time to bicker over how best to prepare the eventual space battle.  The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey (Orbit, first book published June 2, 2011). This eight-novel series also inspired a TV series. First novel is Leviathan Wakes. My whole family loves both books and TV shows for realistic depictions of working and travelling in space. The summary: In a world in which humanity has colonised most of the solar system, tensions build between Earth, Mars and the outer planets, and then alien tech comes into the picture.  Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (Vintage, July 5, 2002). Stories of Your Life was adapted to the big screen as the movie Arrival, featuring a fearless Amy Adams as Dr Louise Banks, a linguist charged with finding a way to communicate with Earth’s new alien arrivals. But this isn’t your everyday alien encounter story. It incorporates sophisticated concepts of physics, language and time, and wrestles with the idea of free will.  MOVIES   Apollo 11 (2019). It is one of the best documentaries about the space programme I’ve ever seen. Released in 2019, it consists solely of archival footage — on 70mm no less — of the mission’s various stages from launch to touchdown, plus on-the-ground video of the folks camped out to see the rocket blaze into the sky. With a subtly thrilling score, masterful editing and no talking heads or hand-holding narration, it unfolds more like an exciting feature film than a dry historical account, and short of sitting in front of a living-room TV on July 16, 1969, it may be the closest thing we have to a real-time look at the moon landing.  Hidden Figures (2016). A rousing, inspiring crowd-pleaser, this fact-based 2016 Oscar nominee shone a light on a trio of heroines: three brilliant black women who worked as “computers” in the early days of the space program, a workplace dominated by white men.  The Martian (2015). Whip-smart astronaut played by Matt Damon uses his science-based skills to save his life on the Red Planet after being accidentally stranded there.  Interstellar (2014). A Christopher Nolan masterpiece featuring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain as astronauts who travel through a wormhole to search for a home for humanity. It’s weird, complex and all about relativity. And I loved every second of it.  Afronauts (2014). True story: In 1964, Zambian science teacher Edward Makuka launched his own space programme to try to beat the US to the moon. He formulated a dubious plan to launch 16-year-old Matha Mwambwa into space using an aluminium rocket and a catapult system. The rocket never took off, but decades later director Frances Bodomo’s short film takes a look at what the Zambian space program might have looked like.  Gravity (2013). Astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) try to rescue themselves after their space shuttle suffers catastrophic damage.  Another Earth (2011). A thought-provoking film on second chances and forgiveness that follows a young and intelligent woman whose one mistake leads her to deal with the consequences of her choice and the choices she continues to make afterwards. While the film largely ignores the scientific and physical impacts of having another Earth — such as gravity and the atmosphere — the second Earth in the film adds a layer of mystery and uneasiness to the story.  Sunshine (2007). Director Danny Boyle’s visually gorgeous, contemplative drama about a crew of astronauts dispatched on a mission to try to reignite the dying sun.  Space Cowboys (2000). Senior-citizen astronauts (Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones) prove to Nasa that age is no barrier when it comes to space travel.  Contact (1997). Robert Zemeckis is a hit-or-miss director if there ever was one, but his adaptation of the Carl Sagan novel Contact is one of his triumphs. Starring Jodie Foster as a woman of science and Matthew McConaughey as a man of faith, Contact is the kind of space-travel movie that’s about so much more: love, death, science, religion and the nature of reality, all in a warmly cerebral movie that privileges character development over spectacle.  Gattaca (1997). Featuring one of Ethan Hawke’s most underrated performances and prescient details about DNA testing, 1997’s Gattaca is more than just a movie you probably saw in your high-school biology class during senior week. With coolly minimalist design and cinematography and Uma Thurman and Jude Law doing the most in key supporting roles, it’s a story of thwarted ambition and the planetary loneliness of space travel, sibling rivalry and conformity, with old Hollywood-style glamour, Patricia Highsmith-esque intrigue, and a wonderfully ’90s vision of a dystopian future.  Apollo 13 (1995). In all the celebration this year over Apollo 11’s successful moon landing, we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention this classic space movie starring Tom Hanks, that immortalised the words, “Houston, we have a problem” and tells the story of Apollo 13’s ill-fated mission to the moon in April 1970.  The Right Stuff (1984). It doesn’t get better than Sam Shepard as Chuck Yeager — that’s a man’s man. Mr Cool. It’s three hours long, but so well done.  Outland (1981). A space Western retelling of High Noon with Sean Connery in the Gary Cooper role. — David Miller Silent Running (1972). About a post-apocalyptic space station (a floating garden in space — like a biodome) run by the last remaining (and injured) crew member (Bruce Dern) and his cadre of little robots.  2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece about astronauts imperilled by the rogue robot HAL 9000 on a mission to Jupiter.  — The Seattle Times/TNS

Magical tango dancers are coming back to Doha. They are known around the world for their fantastic rendition of tango, dances, mimes and acts. ‘Los Guardiola – The Comedy of Tango’ is being organised by Doha Tango Passion, a group of tango lovers, with support of Katara Cultural Village and the Embassy of Argentina in Doha. The 75-minute-long show will take place at Katara Drama Theatre on August 28. The performance consists of seven scenes inspired by famous tango routines. Dancers, mimes and actors – Marcelo Guardiola and Giorgia Marchiori – known artistically as ‘Los Guardiola’, will project the audience into the fantastic world of their danced pantomime where comedy and tragedy merge into the rhythm of tango. Los Guardiola tango show is a spectacle of mime and dance made up of numbers inspired by the lyrics of celebrated tangos. Beginning with resources from the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, French pantomime and Argentine tango, the performers, unique in their ability to stage the work, immerse the public in a tragicomic atmosphere replete with poetry. The tango performers are visiting Doha for the third time. They will perform in Katara for the first time. Talking to Community, Anil Kumar from Doha Tango Paasion, said: “On leaving a show by Marcelo and Giorgia, one leaves with the mind expanded and the heart compressed. The extraordinary sensitivity and talent of the two performers allow you to get direct to the root of the matter and the heart of the spectator, through a purity of styles all the fruit of informed and rigorous elaboration: unique in being able to stage their work, Marcelo and Giorgia are two performers with the precision of mime artistes, the bearing of dancers and the enchantment of marionettes, to express with their bodies what is not allowed to be said in words, in harmony with the whole, result of daily work on a life-long path of research and experimentation.” He added: “Among the most contemporary tango artistes, the couple Marcelo and Giorgia are one of the most loved and admired couples. Their shows have run in theatres and festivals all over the world. Marcelo is an actor, dancer, musician and stage director. Born in Buenos Aires, in 1999 he created a form of theatrical research called ‘TangoTeatro’, which proposes a new typology of entertainment which stages poetry through mime and dance. Giorgia, born in Rome, is a dancer, an actress, choreographer and doctor of philosophy. In 2003, she began her artistic collaboration with Marcelo establishing the duo, ‘Los Guardiola’ whose originality consists of telling stories through the marriage of mime and dance. “In 2004, for their work as tango dancers par excellence, they received the Diploma of Honour New Generation (Nueva Generación) after being declared as Cultural Interest by the Secretary of Culture, of the Argentine Presidency (Secretaría de la Cultura, Presidencia de la Nación). In 2011, for the original and distinctive use of tango in theatre, they were part of the VIII Holstebro Festuge, Denmark, organised by the Odin Teatret, directed by Eugenio Barba. In 2016, the Argentine National Academy of Tango (Academia Nacional del Tango de la República Argentina) awarded them institutional auspices as ‘Artist of Tango’, who advances tango-culture. Los Guardiola Tango Show premiered in the celebrated theatre – Teatro Maipo in Buenos Aires in 2016. They have also carried their wordless art to the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Italy, Qatar, Russia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.” The organiser further said: “The show is open for all groups who enjoy the art as a cultural activity. I, as an organiser of tango activities in Doha, have been bringing the best of Argentine tango to Doha for several years creating awareness about traditional tango of Argentina in Doha. For our group members who love to explore the art of tango we also conduct the weekly gathering and workshops at BAttitude spa every Sunday. We also welcome new members who are interested in learning tango organised by Doha Tango Passion group. I would also like to thank our community members and Argentine embassy in Doha for their continues support for Tango Pasion group.” 

Qatar Cultural and Literature Festival (QCLF) was a deeply engaging, thought-provoking and entertaining event. It proved to be a two-day fiesta highlighting some searching questions and sharing wise and sane opinions. Organised by Question Associates Pvt Ltd, QCLF was held at Drama Theatre in Katara on Thursday and Friday evenings. A number of celebrated writers, poets, artists, motivational speakers, classical dancers and singers from India took over the Doha audience. Some of the key names included: Mika Singh, Indian singer; Piyush Mishra, actor/poet; Chetan Bhagat, Indian author; Vindu Dara Singh, Indian actor; and Laxmi Agarwal, acid attack survivor, motivational speaker, and TV anchor. From Doha, the event had Zunira Malik, founder/editor Whatsup Doha; Amal al-Aathem, Consultant of fine arts, Ministry of Culture and Sports; Rashmi Agarwal, Qatar-based Indian artist; and Mervat Ibrhaim, Qatari writer; to name a few. The two-day event that successfully brought the two countries closer through art and culture was attended by Hemant Kumar Dwivedi, First Secretary (Information, Culture & Education) Embassy of India to Qatar, as the chief guest. During the opening ceremony, the organisers felicitated all the noted guests from India. It was started with a beautiful act of dance by Arupa Lahiry, classical dancer. The real entertainment of the opening ceremony was enthralling and heart-throbbing show by singer Mika Singh. The singer, mostly known for his Punjabi songs, entertained the audience with his fast and loud music. It was a music performance that the audience would cherish and remember for long. Apart from the concert, the first day of the festival was lined with book launches as well, giving a sneak peek into the literature and creative work by the authors. The second day included an opening session by Chetan Bhagat on the title of ‘Making a nation read’, followed by poetry performance by Piyush Mishra, and various cultural performances and panel discussions. It also had a panel discussion on women empowerment titled as ‘Empower Women, Empower Society’. There were two more panel discussions on ‘Impact on Culture on Writing Books’ and on ‘Cinema & Cultural Difference’. Talking to Community, Ruhi Ganguly, festival producer and CEO of Question Associates, said ‘I am very excited to see this combination of two such rich cultures on the same platform. We did not just have speakers from India but we also had speakers from Doha. Seeing them having a conversation on various important issues was very interesting. We all are one at heart and with this festival we have shared our feelings and about our rich cultures with each other and got to know each other in a better way.’ Ruhi added: “The core team at Q&A is very much excited for the successful completion of the event, and has plans for more of such events in the middle-east in the following months. Events such as these prove crucial and vital for developing cordial relationship between the countries involved through such exchange of art and literature. Such cross-boundary events should be given maximum support and recognition owing to the deep impact it has on the native people, bringing everyone closer.” Anamika Mishra, festival director and award-winning author, said: “This was my first time in Doha and I have already fallen for the city. I felt privileged to direct this festival as we got to see an interesting amalgamation of the two different cultures on our platform. It also feels great to see such a positive response from the people of Qatar for our show. We had an amazing event with a lovely audience from Doha”. Deepali Verma, festival coordinator, said: “Being the coordinator of the festival, at first I thought I would have a hard time in coordinating because we were working from India but I was surprised to see the level of support that we got from Doha. People who connected with us from Doha have made it easier for me to work for the event. I am humbled to see the response and excitement.” Rashmi Agarwal said: “It was a wonderful literary festival. Seasoned writers, poets, actors, singers, dancers, and artists shared their valued opinions for the audience. It was really amazing for me to be a part of the extraordinary event. I would like to see more and more such literary programmes in Qatar.” Other participants of the festival were namely: Anurag Punetha, author and senior news anchor, Loksabha TV; Anuj Tiwari, Indian romance novelist; Aparna Sharma, award winning author, orator, leadership expert; Adite Banerjee, bestselling romance novelist; Arupa Lahiry, national award winning classical dancer; Nitin Soni; poet; Anurag Chauhan, social worker; Raaj Shaandilya, film writer; Sushant Singh, film actor and honorary secretary of CINTAA; Kulpreet Yadav, author and motivational speaker; Sandeep Soparkar, ballroom dancer and film choreographer; Manjeet Negi, bestseller author and journalist; Erika Ralaine, creative writer and blogger; Sddhartha Jain, motivational speaker/entrepreneur; Shereen DSouza, editor, TimeOut Doha; Poornima Chauhan, secretary Administrative Reforms, Language, Art and Culture, Govt of Himanch Pradesh, India. 

Though the all-popular Summer Entertainment City (SEC) is going to end soon, the excitement for entertainment and edutainment activities is still very high. Dubbed as Qatar’s biggest family entertainment event in summer, the SEC is being organised by QSports in collaboration with the Qatar National Tourism Council at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre as a part of the Summer in Qatar campaign. The fun-filled family gala will end on July 13 (tomorrow). It has, however, proved to be a crowd puller and for the last few days the organisers added new attractions particularly for the kids. Keeping in view the excitement and repeated visits by the families, the organisers recently decided to add on some new rides. The major attraction is going to be the giant slide. It is one of the highest inflatable slide-down in the region. It is as high as 10 metre. The other major new attraction is pirate ship. It is an inflatable depot pirate themed slide that features the look of a giant wooden pirate ship. This incredible game will keep children jumping, bouncing, and sliding down all the day long. Yet another attraction that will be an exciting experience for the kids is the princess castle. It will offer children the opportunity to bounce, climb, slide, and play. It is a dreamland inflatable bounce castle. The fourth major attraction is inflatable ocean ball. The organisers welcome kids to Qatar’s soft play and ocean ball pit. They let the kids be free to feel the unique experience. The main areas of the SEC that started on June 5 include amusement rides, skills games with prizes, bespoke trampoline park, a kids driving school setup, giant blocks park for kids to play and build with large lego-type blocks, a 1,000sqm ocean ball soft play area, Qatar’s first Inflata Park spread over 1,200sqm, world’s largest bounce castle, a 1,200sqm skate park, synthetic ice skating, Spider Climbing tower and over 45 food options and 100 retail outlets. Talking to Community, Qazi Yousri, Media Manager of QSports, said: “We have replaced some of the attractions with new excitements. It has been done to provide novel and fresh experiences to the visitors and especially those kids who have been regular or frequent visitors at the SEC. We have observed that there are families in large numbers have been frequent visitors to the facility. “The visitors have been getting a variety of entertainment at the entertainment city such as live musical and cultural shows done by different embassies, fire shows, and dance performances. Both the last and this weekend, we are having a splendid clown show for the kids. Yet, we felt the need to introduce new and exciting rides as the frequently visiting children were getting done with the available inflatable park and castle. The new amusements are equally popular among the kids and the adults as we allow parents as well to enjoy the high rides with their kids.” Sharing some details about how successful this year’s entertainment city has been, Qazi said: “So far, we have noticed that over 54,000 people have visit the city. The majority of the visitors were families with the number of children dominating the adults. This year we have also witnessed that the number of repeat-visitors was higher than what we had last year. Among all the visitors, about 70 percent were Qataris. The rest of the 30 percent was different expatriate communities mainly South Asians.” The organiser further said: “We have also noticed that the number of the visitors staying at the city for a long time remained higher than that of the last year. This year the trend has been that the visitors tend to stay for a longer time with their kids. They spent more on having food and buying clothes, handicrafts and other daily use items.” 

This summer is full of fun and entertainment in Qatar. Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) through Summer in Qatar campaign introduces a wide range of exciting indoor and outdoor experiences, along with entertainment programmes featuring local, regional and international artistes, edutainment, summer and sports camps as well as special promotions on inbound travel, hospitality and shopping. One of the most exciting aspects of the Sumer in Qatar campaign is Doha Comedy Festival that promises to bring top international comedians to Qatar this summer. It is time to laugh off the hot days as the multicultural audience gets a chance to taste international comedy. Trevor Noah, a world-renowned South African comedian, is all set to have Doha audiences in stitches tomorrow (Friday) at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC). Noah’s show is a part of ongoing Doha Comedy Festival organised by the Social Studio, and supported by QNTC. According to the organisers, the gates for the audience will open at 7pm and the show will start at 8pm and will last until 11pm. Noah is returning to Doha’s stage after a sold-out performance in 2017. The comedy festival also includes performances by other international comedians in August. Combining the east and west are; Omid Djalili, a British-Iranian comedian; Nemr, a Lebanese-American performer; and Qatar’s own Hamad al-Amari. The artistes will perform at QNCC on 15th of the next month. The 35-year-old Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host.  He is known for hosting The Daily Show, an American satirical news programme on Comedy Central TV channel. Born in Johannesburg, Noah began his career as a comedian, presenter, and actor in South Africa in 2002 when he was only 18. He held several television hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and was the runner-up in their fourth season of Strictly Come Dancing show in 2008. From 2010 to 2011, he was the creator and host of Tonight with Trevor Noah on M-Net and DStv. His stand-up comedy career attained international success, leading to appearances on American late-night talk shows and British panel shows. In 2014, Noah became the senior international correspondent for The Daily Show, and the following year, he succeeded long-time host Jon Stewart and is set to remain in the position until 2022. Noah’s autobiographical comedy book Born a Crime was published in 2016 and garnered critical acclaim. He was named one of ‘The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media’ by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Though Noah will perform in English and will share his jokes, comments and satire covering international social and political issues, the South African expatriate community is very excited to have one of their compatriots – a celebrity – coming to Doha. Sharing his views on the upcoming show, Faizel Moosa, ambassador of South Africa to Qatar said: “Trevor Noah is a true son of the African soil. He represents what our founding father Nelson Mandela termed the ‘Rainbow Nation’. As you are aware that Noah’s show is sold out and South Africans in Doha are still looking for tickets to his show. It’s because Noah is now an international superstar and the whole world knows him and wants to hear his comedy and satire about real world politics. He makes us see the funny side and also at times how ridiculous and obscure real world politics are. This allows us to have a good laugh about ourselves. “Many South African community members in Doha have asked me if I am hosting him because they want to meet him and that’s how much South Africa revers him. “My wife and I are looking forward to attending this comedy show of Noah and to meet him for the first time. He is a proud South African legend and amongst the best in the world.” 

It is now 25 years to one of the biggest hits and an all-time classic, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! In those days, there were factors due to which films had, what was called, repeat value.  In Sholay, the special effects and stereophonic sound as well as the film’s dialogue drew repeat footfalls; Deewaar because of Amitabh Bachchan’s fiery performance as well as dialogue. In the Rajesh Khanna starrer Dushman, one song, Vaada tera vaada, was enough the get the audience back again and again. There have been many such examples. In fact, this surging popularity of filmy dialogue prompted the music company, Polydor India, to start a new trend of releasing dialogue tracks on cassettes and in the case of Sholay, which had weak music, dialogue cassettes sold many times more than the music album! All this glory of repeat audience was lost to piracy when the films were overnight copied on pirated video cassettes and released into the market on the very day of a film’s release. There was also no stopping as the piracy moved from video cassettes to cable networks and fresh films were beamed right into the households. However, the Rajshris had the advantage of an all-India distribution network as well as sub-offices in distant parts. Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was inspired from Rajshri Productions’ earlier small budget home production, Nadiya Ke Paar (1982), a rural love story. Though the film went generally unnoticed in the rest of the country, it was a major hit in parts of UP, especially Eastern UP and Bihar. Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was modernised to suit the prevailing tastes. Piracy did not affect Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! The company made sure that each print of the film was in the possession of a company appointed security man and the print remained in his possession when not being screened. Also, by that time, the film’s accolades had reached a pinnacle and every film lover wanted to catch it at a cinema hall. 1980s and 90s films offered a varied fare. While Amitabh Bachchan films dominated till the mid-1980s, the field was also open to films with other stars. However, a new lot of actors made inroads in the 90s with Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and so on. Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol and Jackie Shroff continued to have their following. Among all these, it was in 1994 that Rajshris’ Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! released. It was like no other film seen so far. The film ran through three-and-a-half hours and contained as many as 14 songs! And, there was no solid script, so to say, to hold either the duration or the 14 songs. If at all the film had a story to tell, it was during the penultimate 40 minutes or so before it came up with a happy ending sending out a delighted and contented audience. (Most wanted to see the film again!) The mainstay of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was its music and the way it was used in the film. After all, it was not easy to find slots for 14 songs in a film and, then, to justify them. Yet, the music set the tone for the film from the very onset with the title song Hum Aapke Hain Koun — a slow but melodiously soothing number. When it comes to the film fraternity, every other producer seems to know better than the one who made a film. So, there was criticism for the length of the film as well as the number of songs. A verdict of flop was passed even before the film could release! Going by various suggestions, the producers went on to reduce the length by one and a half songs from the 14 numbers. The film belied all predictions and went on to become a blockbuster like no other film so far. The deleted songs were added back and that did not deter the audience from coming again, and again. Music played a very vital role in all Rajshri Productions yet, surprisingly, they never went after big named, established composers. When Rajshri Productions founder, Tarachand Barjatya, made his first film, Aarti in 1962, he assigned music composing to Roshan. But, thereafter, the production house signed budding composer duo, Laxmikant Pyarelal, for their next five films. Starting with Dosti, the music for all five films, Taqdeer, Jeevan Mrityu, Piya Ka Ghar and Uphaar, was hit, whatever the fate of the films. The Rajshris continued to work with new or lesser known composers and, for Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! they repeated Raalaxman, who gave the hit music for director Sooraj Barjatya’s debut directorial venture, Maine Pyar Kiya (1989). Now, that was a gutsy move since, till then, Raamlaxman were known for composing music for mainly Marathi films! The result, the film boasted of a variety of songs, from melody to fun to the foot tapping kind. No song drove a viewer to a loo break (as was the norm in those days with boring songs). Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was way different from the kind of films being made around the time. During its 210-minute duration and 14 songs, most of the film was about a family gathered to prepare and celebrate a forthcoming wedding in the family. Mostly, the screen was kept full of characters generally having fun, singing and dancing. The story comes with a twist in the proceedings only much later. But, what still made the film tick was its very Indian-ness, the values, traditions and spirit of sacrifice for the family; feelings lying deep down in all Indians, still. Rajshri Productions, which also had its in-house distribution network, Rajshri Pictures Private Limited, always experimented with their release strategy. Though a high-end production, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was given a limited screen with just a single screen to start with. As the film kept on generating more footfalls, the screens were increased. The film went onto celebrate 25 to 100 week run in almost all major cities. At about Rs31 crore real time box office collection figures, it was the biggest hit of its time (not adjusted for inflation etc. since the take home of that time is what matters). And, that was the era of lakh and, only a few films, if at all, crossed the Rs1crore mark!  What is more, it inspired many big production houses to take to similar film themes appealing to universal audiences, as in family included. No action, no negative characters as in villains. l Vinod Mirani is a veteran film writer and box office analyst

Performances at the Lux Style Awards (LSA) serve as dramatic punctuation in between ogling designer dresses and tuxedos, listening to nervous gratitude aimed at parents, spouses and project crew after a win, and the generally not so great scripted dialogue of presenters. As usual, music uplifts and 2019’s performances shouldn’t disappoint.  The recently held Lux Style Awards 2019 in Karachi, Pakistan, was all high and low lows and it marked an occasion where Pakistan is heading to grasp the importance of stardust all too well and is happy to put out there, spending millions and showcase what talent Pakistan Entertainment industry holds; a celebration of films, music, drama and fashion.  Meanwhile where the jury was out, the judges were in and LSA was besieged under controversies. LSA jury received backlash for snubbing some of the most prominent projects of 2018 and celebrities including actors, producers and influencers took over social media to express their concern without any curtailment.  The Lux Style Awards (LSA) collaborated with Frieha Altaf’s Catwalk for production, Nabila for Makeup and Farishteh Aslam of Talking Point for PR. The Lux Style Awards 2019 was a finale of not so rehearsed scripts. The LSA you see on television is not the LSA on ground. From Yasir Hussain’s flawless act to Saba Qamar’s not-so-perfect stint with constantly repeating most of her script to get it right, and Ahmed Ali Butt’s witty sense of humour along with power packed performances — it was nice to see all coming together though.  It was a fantastic night of racy performers, some of them a lot of fun — Maya Ali’s performance was by far the most rousing stage performance witnessed that evening. However, the most “dhuaandaar” (steamy) performance belonged to Saba Qamar who set the stage on fire as she arrived to move on Mera Babu Chail Chabeela; all those jhatkas and thumkas! Maya and Saba both performed on the remixed songs of Pakistani veteran actress, Shabnam, as a tribute to her, who also received the Unilever Chairman’s Award. Watching Meera shake a leg with all the energy of a diva was equally gorgeous. Meera’s 100-watt smile was enough to tell us how happy she is with her recent hit Baaji and now the LSAs being her celebratory premise. Talking of performances, let’s just ignore what Momina Mustehsan did and let’s pretend that her dance performance never happened, although as an opening act it set the bar quite low for the night.  The award ceremony subtly touched upon the topic of cyber bullying as well. We couldn’t thank enough for subtlety – because an award show is an all masala and entertainment and if a certain issue is rubbed in the face or overdosed, people yawn and leave. Mehwish Hayat got on stage to express the bravery with which not only her but public figures have to face negative criticism, mockery, cyber bullying and hate. The highlight of the event was Yasir Hussain proposing to his rumoured girlfriend Iqra Aziz, making their relationship official. He put a ring on her finger as the stunned actress smiled tearfully and the couple indulged in PDA. Where the rumour has it that the couple has been engaged before the show and it was just a re-enactment, too much intimacy followed by the proposal between the two is to be noticed! Kids and families watch this show, for God’s sake! Unfortunately, despite having so many stars in the house, there were flaws that left much to be desired throughout the evening. A poor script and weak direction made some segments very dull and they were unable to hold the audience’s attention. While the show lacked the presence of some major stars of the Pakistani entertainment industry –Fawad Khan, Sajal Aly, and Adnan Siddiqui to name a few – Lux has patently raised the bar for acknowledging the fashion and entertainment of Pakistani industry. Well here’s Kudus to Frieha Altaf and her team for putting up glamorous show and a fabulous line-up of red-carpet appearances.

The Times’ film critics, Kenneth Turan and Justin Chang, sat down for a midyear conversation on the state of movies and moviegoing, and to list their favourite films of 2019 so far. Their conversation ranged from worthy studio hits (Us, Toy Story 4) and pictures that deserved wider audiences (Late Night) to exceptional documentaries (Apollo 11, Black Mother). Kenneth Turan: The calendar may say we’re halfway through 2019, but in terms of the film year it doesn’t quite feel that way. Rather, the vibe is more like “Is that all there is?,” a lyric that Peggy Lee made famous. There’ve been good films, that’s for sure. But so much has been unsettlinag, from the agents-writers imbroglio to the eternal concern about the threat streaming services pose to the theatrical experience, that despite some big numbers for select films a malaise seems to have settled over everything. Or is that just me? Justin Chang: Not just you. That malaise has many different faces, which is why it’s hard to pin down. You could sense it in some of the grim box-office reporting from this summer alone, which has seen one overextended blockbuster series after another (X-Men, Godzilla, Men in Black) fall short of commercial expectations — with the record-shattering Avengers: Endgame, of course, being the exception that proves the rule. Perhaps, some good will come of this if Hollywood learns (there’s a first time for everything) that audiences are not immune to franchise fatigue. But it’s an expensive lesson. You could also feel the pinch at this year’s Sundance and Cannes film festivals, where we both saw many strong movies but emerged feeling perhaps less certain than ever that enough of them would find the wider audiences they deserve. The biggest crowd-pleaser at Sundance this year was the very enjoyable comedy Late Night, but despite its star names, strong reviews and considerable topical value, it recently became the latest in a string of theatrical disappointments for Amazon Studios, which, unlike its streaming rival Netflix, has maintained an admirably dogged commitment to theatrical distribution. As you say, good movies are plentiful — they always are, provided that you’re willing to seek them out, which sometimes means going to the multiplex and more often means looking beyond it. Either way, I fear that audiences are less and less willing to put in the effort and that they are in some ways reflecting the industry’s own confusion and fatigue. Turan: Glad you mentioned Late Night, a smart entertainment written by and co-starring Mindy Kaling that touches on serious issues but never forgets to be really funny. The fact that theatregoers stayed away makes me worry that the middle has dropped out of the moviegoing market, that the mainstream adult audience for films like this has been neglected for so long they don’t recognise that something is for them even when it’s on a nearby theatrical screen. But enough with the negativity, as they used to say. I have to admit that even the biggest of films provided palpable satisfactions this year. Yes, I am thinking of Captain Marvel, which I quite enjoyed, but most of all of Toy Story 4, which had the brilliant notion of bringing back Bo Peep and made the most of it. Chang: I wasn’t as high on Toy Story 4 as I was on its three predecessors, but it’s undoubtedly, the creative standout of the many sequels that have proliferated this year, and perhaps the only one that feels even remotely vital. And in the characters of Bo Peep and Gabby Gabby, it beautifully integrated two smartly written and acted female characters into a flagship Pixar franchise that, over a quarter-century, has tended to put its (ahem) boy-toys front and centre. Toy Story 4 managed this rather more effectively than, say, Dark Phoenix, Men in Black: International, Disney’s live-action Aladdin remake and even the viciously entertaining John Wick — Chapter 3: Parabellum, all of which attempted to broaden their female audience with halfhearted gestures that seemed more pandering and performative than fully felt. Does anyone really feel “seen” or “empowered” (words that have themselves become trite from overuse) by the addition of tokenistic female characters and strained “you go, girl” shout-outs? As we’ve seen, meaningful change — and meaningful storytelling — happens when the industry foregrounds women in fresh roles and stories that haven’t been done to death. The Brie Larson-starring Captain Marvel, which you cited, is an example. Lupita Nyong’o gives one of the year’s great performances in Jordan Peele’s Us, which itself is one of the few studio releases this year to offer a surfeit of intellectual and political ideas. And as usual, the independent realm has brought us no shortage of superb roles for women: If you haven’t yet seen Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir, Mary Kay Place in Diane, Julianne Moore in Gloria Bell or Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell — well, there’s a knockout quadruple bill that awaits you. Turan: Though it is a hoary lament, I continue to wish the studios would stop ghettoising their best films in the fall and that audiences would take more risks on films when they are on offer. I enjoyed The Sun Is Also a Star, a sweet-natured YA romance released by Warners and directed by independent veteran Ry Russo-Young, but moviegoers chose not to get involved. As always, there were some really strong and compelling independent features like Julia Hart’s Fast Color, a superhero movie with the ability — and nerve — to do things differently, that audiences did not flock to. I’ve been worried for years that we are headed toward a two-tiered system where smaller films will not have theatrical releases, and the fact that High Flying Bird, Steven Soderbergh’s excellent basketball melodrama, debuted on Netflix made it something of a harbinger. Chang: That Fast Color was the freshest and most original superhero picture released this year remains sadly lost on most of the moviegoing public. And while I certainly hope they take the time to catch up with Hart’s movie at home, it won’t be the same experience it was in theatres, even if the Netflix allegiant would have us believe that these distinctions don’t matter. Or — and I’m not unaware of the nuances of the argument — that one’s access to theatres is dependent on a measure of economic privilege. Of course it is. But is there a way to democratise this movie medium we love without, y’know, throwing aesthetics completely out the rapidly shrinking theatrical window? How are you supposed to fully appreciate one of the year’s great visual experiences, Bi Gan’s rapturous Long Day’s Journey Into Night, with its staggeringly choreographed hour-long 3D tracking shot, if not in a theatre? Surely more people should have bought tickets to Claire Denis’ High Life and Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja’s Aniara, two beautifully made outer-space thrillers that ingeniously expand the parameters of what science fiction can do on the big screen. And, Kenny, I know you’ll share my frustration that more moviegoers didn’t show up for Peterloo. Not just because a new Mike Leigh movie is always an event, but because this brilliant re-creation of a 19th century English massacre has so much to say — about the language of protest and the violence that awaits an inherently disordered society — and demands to be seen and heard by anyone with a stake in our present political moment. Which is to say, everyone. Turan: Frustration shared about Peterloo, that’s for sure, and about films from overseas in general. The difficult time they’re having is a shame not because it would be good for people in some abstract sense to experience them, but because I’m convinced audiences would be as swept away as I am if they gave them a chance. Just the most successful from the past six months are a remarkable group: Birds of Passage from Colombia, Non-Fiction from France, Woman at War from Iceland, The Reports on Sarah and Saleem from Palestine and the galvanising Working Woman from Israel. Even film people don’t necessarily make the time to see them all, and everyone is the poorer for that. Plus, I want to put in a good word for an Italian film I saw and loved at Cannes, a delightful animated work with the most straightforward of titles: The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily. Crossing my fingers that a US distributor is as enchanted as I was. Chang: My own non-English-language picks would have to include Transit, a taut but richly ambiguous wartime thriller from the great German director Christian Petzold, and Ash Is Purest White, Jia Zhangke’s deeply moving gangster melodrama starring a never-better Zhao Tao. Between Ash Is Purest White and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, plus Zhang Yimou’s ravishing martial-arts drama Shadow and the late Hu Bo’s hauntingly bleak An Elephant Sitting Still, it’s worth noting that 2019 has brought with it an astonishing renaissance for Chinese art-house cinema. The sheer number of reductive headlines we hear about China at present — as a formidable economic and technological rival, as an oppressive regime, as a human-rights nightmare — is all the more reason to seek out and reflect on this vital, expansive work from some of the nation’s great cinema artists. Speaking of headlines: What have been some of your favourite 2019 documentaries so far? Turan: Documentaries, as always, have been a great source of joy and frustration this year. So many of them are so good, so dramatically satisfying, and so few of them perform at the box office. Just to mention some of the more recent: the operatic Pavarotti; The Spy Behind Home Plate, about catcher/spy Moe Berg; a theatrical reprise for Apollo 11 and its unexpected examination of the moon voyage; and The Edge of Democracy and its surprisingly compelling look at Brazil’s political turmoil. And, of course, there is the documentary of the moment, Maiden, which relates the thrilling story of the first all-women crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World yachting race. Forget what you think about yachting, about sports or sexual politics. Just go to this film and make your day. Chang: One of my favourite documentaries this year is one that ingeniously blurs the boundaries of the form, as its very title, Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, bears out. This glorious tribute to that 1975 concert tour would be a treasure for its performance footage alone, but it’s the movie’s sense of mischief — its mock-doc inserts, its structural sleight-of-hand — that elevates it to a new level of Dylanesque showmanship. It also made quite a few people angry, which is wonderful. Another standout is Black Mother, a visually and sensually overpowering 77-minute portrait of Jamaica from the director and cinematographer Khalik Allah. Shooting on 16-millimetre and 8-millimetre film, Khalik has made a fleeting, fragmentary poetic collage that is also strangely complete. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

This time, the target of Taylor Swift’s ire isn’t an ex-boyfriend or another musician with whom she has clashed, but super-manager Scooter Braun. Braun has assembled an investment group that’s entered into a deal, announced over the weekend, to pony up $300 million to buy her former record label and with it, the master recordings to all her existing studio albums. Swift is incensed, as millions of her social media followers learned from her angry Tumblr post last weekend, that Big Machine Label Group chief Scott Borchetta chose to sell his company to Braun, who once represented Swift’s arch-nemesis, Kanye West. Describing the deal as “my worst nightmare,” Swift wrote that she is “sad and grossed out” that Braun will take over the indie company that launched in tandem with Swift’s debut album in 2006. “Essentially,” she wrote last Sunday, “my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.” Once again, the public has responded vociferously, with the pro-Swift faction rallying to her defence and lauding her as a fierce advocate for artists’ rights, while the anti-Swift contingent painted her as a super-rich celebrity socialite bemoaning her latest perceived injustice. The battle with Braun and Borchetta, however, aligns with her track record over the last dozen years of targeting a succession of foes of increasingly potent stature, from tech giant Apple to the coalition of Braun and Borchetta. In the dozen years since she emerged from Nashville as this generation’s most successful singer-songwriter, Swift has consistently spoken out in support of the economic rights of her fellow creatives. “Hopefully,” she wrote on Tumblr, “young artists or kids with musical dreams will read this and learn about how to better protect themselves in a negotiation. You deserve to own the art you make.” Swift could hardly have chosen a more imposing opponent to step into the ring with: In addition to West, Braun’s powerhouse client list includes or has included pop stars Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Carly Rae Jepsen, country duo Dan + Shay, DJ-producer-songwriter David Guetta, R&B singer Usher and even onetime Taylor Swift posse member, supermodel Karlie Kloss. In the social media scrum that followed Swift’s Tumblr post, sides were sharply drawn. Lovato; Bieber, Bieber’s wife, Hailey Baldwin, and his mother, Pattie Mallette; Braun’s wife, Yael Cohen Braun; and singer-songwriter Sia all defended Braun and Borchetta. Meanwhile, Swift’s supporters included Cher, Iggy Azalea, Alessia Cara, Haim, Halsey, Gretchen Peters, Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie, supermodels Cara Delevingne and Martha Hunt, American Idol alumnus Todrick Hall and reality TV star Spencer Pratt. Swift expressed in no uncertain terms that she felt bullied by Braun during her public clash with West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, part of the aftermath of the infamous 2009 incident at the MTV Video Music Awards, when West grabbed the microphone from her hand as she was accepting an award and went on a rant supporting Beyonce. Swift also informed her followers that a deal Borchetta offered for her to re-sign with Big Machine was ultimately untenable because the terms would have required her to “earn” back the master recordings for her older albums one at a time, in conjunction with the delivery of each new album she would owe the label. Borchetta pushed back, posting an open letter of his own. “We are an independent record company,” he wrote. “We do not have tens of thousands of artists and recordings. My offer to Taylor, for the size of our company, was extraordinary.” “Scott Borchetta never gave Taylor Swift an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a check in the way he is now apparently doing for others,” Swift’s lawyer, Donald Passman, said in a statement issued on Tuesday. Representatives for Swift and Borchetta declined further comment for this article. All this plays out just a few weeks before Swift releases her new album, Lover, on August 23 for the Universal Music Group, with whom she signed a new deal last fall after declining to re-up with Borchetta and Big Machine. On one level, Swift’s latest fight is emblematic of her career. Over time she’s stepped up to challenge adversaries of progressively greater power and influence. Early resolve Even before she signed with Big Machine, she (and her parents) held out from among a number of offers she had received to sign a recording contract that both allowed her to use her own songs and to have a hand in producing her records — hardly standard procedure in Nashville, and certainly not for an act still too young to vote. By the time of her third album, Speak Now, released in 2010, Swift decided to take on sceptics who ascribed her success to others — whether her songwriting collaborators, co-producer or record company execs. For that album, she pointedly wrote all the songs on her own, including Mean, her response to those who’d thrown barbs her way. (You have pointed out my flaws again, she sang then, as if I don’t already see them.) In 2015, with her pop stardom at its zenith, she decided to go head-to-head with the most successful company in the world, Apple, withholding her 1989 album from Apple’s streaming service and challenging the company to revamp its policy that required artists to give up their royalties during a three-month introductory trial period when the tech behemoth was trying to lure new subscribers with a no-cost tryout. “I respect the company and the truly ingenious minds that have created a legacy based on innovation and pushing the right boundaries,” she wrote in an open letter to consumers, adding, “I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.” Apple relented, after which Swift authorised it to stream her album. Then, as the #MeToo movement began to reach critical mass in 2017, Swift prevailed in a lawsuit she had filed against a Denver disc jockey who had sued her for wrongful termination after she complained to his employer that he had grabbed her bottom during a 2013 post-concert meet-and-greet. The DJ was fired, and then sued Swift. She countersued, asking the jury for a token $1 judgment on behalf of “anyone who feels silenced by sexual assault.” “I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this,” she said at the time. “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard.” The jury sided with Swift. More recently, as her original contract with Borchetta and Big Machine expired, she decided to sign with the UMG-owned label Republic Records. In negotiating that deal, Swift went to bat not only for herself but all other UMG artists. “There was one condition that meant more to me than any other deal point,” she wrote in an Instagram post last November announcing the deal.         “As part of my new contract with Universal Music Group, I asked that any sale of their Spotify shares result in a distribution of money to their artists, non-recoupable.”        Billboard estimated that the Spotify payout could be worth an estimated $300 million to UMG acts. A vocal evolution Swift, who was roundly criticised for declining to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump in 2016, has, at least publicly, become a more politically engaged citizen of late. Her most recent song and video, You Need to Calm Down, featured a dizzying cavalcade of LGBTQ personalities, and was preceded by a letter she posted on Instagram addressed to Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, urging passage of the Equality Act and criticising President Trump. In 2018, she endorsed Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, who ultimately lost to Republican Marsha Blackburn. On Sunday, Swift asserted that her beef with Braun and Borchetta has ramifications beyond the personal, and she hoped to empower young artists to forge better deals than the one she signed when she was a young teenager. That goal, however, may be beyond even Swift’s superpowers. Historically, musicians enter their first recording contracts as unknowns, and record companies gamble on whether they will defy the odds and find breakout success. “It’s the way the business has been and always will be,” longtime music industry executive and talent manager Jim Guerinot said on Tuesday. “You don’t have leverage when you start out. You mess on your first deal, you get it right on your second.” “The golden ticket,” he said, “is getting the reversion” of ownership of master recordings. “What you have to exchange for that? That’s how you decide whether or not it’s worth it.” — Los Angeles Times/TNS

This is the summer to be in Qatar. Though the weather is hot as usual, the fun and crazy indoor activities are cool enough to keep the people refreshed and energetic. There are manifold fun attractions offered by major shopping malls around Qatar under the ongoing campaign of ‘Summer in Qatar.’ The campaign is organised by Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC). It aims at encouraging different organisations and malls to have special recreational and edutainment activities, particularly for children, because it is the school-going kids who want to enjoy during their summer vacations the most. Ezdan Mall Summer Festival kicks off today (July 4) both in Al Gharaffa and Al Wakrah. Running through Thursdays and Fridays until mid-August, the summer festival comprises entertainment events and family competitions on the given days. The activities will last for three hours everyday starting from 6pm and ending at 9pm. The festival will end by August 16. Both malls will be hosting an array of new and distinguished family celebrations, and will welcome shoppers and visitors in a unique and imaginative way. Surprising activities will be held including the ‘sweet factory’ characters part-clad in bright and colourful costumes, and will be waiting for visitors inside the mall. The characters will bring with them a giant ice cream cone to celebrate at the festival. Shoppers and visitors at Al Wakra Mall will travel also to outer space through alien invasion part accompanied by aliens that will welcome them to relate their stories beyond the galaxy world.  Aliens will also take them around the flying saucer and children will receive their gifts. Talking to Community, Mai Khorshid, marketing executive at Ezdan Mall, said: “We are bringing exclusive activities at both the malls for every family in Qatar. In Gharafa, we have a sweet factory. The main element there is an ice cream cone. In Al Wakrah, we will have alien invasion. We will also have UFOs [unidentified flying objects]. “In both malls, we will have kid’s activities and give-away competitions to engage everyone. We will entertain the children ages three to 12. We will also be having different roaming shows. The competitions will include questionnaires and digging into marshmallow pools. The kids will jump in there and will try and find their prizes.” In response to a question about whether have they done such activities earlier, Mai said: “We used to have such activities before during summer times. Now, we started these activities from January by having different ongoing activities during weekends, trying to attract new and existing customers. “This summer festival is unique in the sense that it is going to have unique elements. The activities we are going to do have not been done in Doha so far. No other mall has aliens or sweet factory. It is going to be a surprise for everyone actually – the idea, the items, the setup, and the way we will execute the activities.” About a question on what kind of response the organisers are expecting, Mai said: “For our previous event, we had very good response. People are getting engaged with us. They ask about what we are going to have next. They are just waiting for something new. I am expecting the summer festival to succeed. Yehia Zakaria, lease manager at Ezdan Mall, an Ezdan Holding Group company, assured that the events of Ezdan Summer Festival were carefully picked with the families in mind and to be presented in a way that suits the varying age groups. He added that “we do focus on kids in this type of activity but we still do our best to present different shoppers with suitable entertaining activities.  Our shows and mobile performances are especially meant to spread an atmosphere of joy and merry. This benefits both domestic tourism in general and the commercial market in particular.” He thanked all the shop and restaurants owners in Ezdan al-Gharafa and Al Wakrah for their support and contribution to the success of the events. “They helped in the shows and contributed gifts to be given to shoppers during events, competitions.” Yehia added that they had a comprehensive events plan for the entire year. “The events plan will be advertised on time. They include festivals and celebrations, in addition to various entertainment and shopping campaigns that are both new and unique.”

It’s nearly impossible to find a holiday more American than Independence Day. What’s not to like? The Fourth of July often falls in the middle of the week, and it gives many Americans a day off from work. There are fireworks, gatherings of family and friends, copious amounts of eating and drinking and just a general, all-around celebration of everything that’s good about America. For some, only Thanksgiving Day comes anywhere close. But, like most things, July 4 has its drawbacks. Sometimes the weather can be hot enough to make you feel like you will burst into flames when you step outside. And in spite of many city ordinances, it seems like there is always someone who wants to celebrate America’s birth by blowing up some M-80s in their backyard. Or the middle of the street. Try explaining that to a frightened house pet. Because of that, you might want to just stay indoors, crank up the air conditioner, and spend part of the holiday watching a movie. That’s great — this is America, after all. But on Independence Day, if you’re going to watch a movie, you should watch something that says “America.” That could include something from one of the numerous streaming options at your disposal. There’s no shortage of options out there, so, in honour of the original 13 American Colonies, allow us to help you find 13 Oh-So-American Movies to watch on the Fourth of July. The Godfather (1972) In a movie loaded with no shortage of classic lines (“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”) The Godfather states its purpose from it very first words of dialogue: Bonasera the undertaker tells Don Vito Corleone, “I believe in America.” From there, and along with its sequel The Godfather: Part II, the American immigrant experience of much of the early 20th century is told in a story of hope, pride, success, revenge and regret. (We’ll leave it up to you to decide if The Godfather: Part III is worth missing a July 4 barbecue.) How to watch: Available to rent and stream on services such as iTunes, Amazon home video and Redbox On Demand. Lincoln (2012) If there is any American president worthy of deification, it is Abraham Lincoln. But in his Oscar-winning role, Daniel Day-Lewis emphasises Lincoln’s humanity; and for every minute of the film you feel the 16th president’s kindness, sorrow and determination as he strives to end the Civil War, ensure the abolition of slavery and rebuild the nation. How to watch: Lincoln is currently streaming on Netflix. Red Dawn (1984) Midwest high school kids watch their school get invaded by Russian paratroopers. Patrick Swayze gets in his truck, gathers up some of the local teens, and becomes a resistance leader. Harry Dean Stanton and Powers Boothe? “WOLVERINES!” For a kid growing up worshipping Ronald Reagan, few things made me despise the communists more than Red Dawn. How to watch: Use your Amazon Prime Video membership and start shouting “USA! USA USA!” Miracle (2004) Speaking of the “USA! USA! USA!” chant: The sporting event that chant originated from was “Miracle On Ice” — Team USA’s Olympic hockey win over the Soviet Union in 1980. Watching this version of how coach Herb Brooks brought together a team of college kids and pulled off the greatest sporting victory in US history could have you wanting to tattoo the Stars and Stripes across your back. It also remains a crime of cinematic history that Kurt Russell (sporting an awesome hairdo) wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for his gold medal-winning turn as Brooks. How to watch: Miracle currently is streaming on Netflix, and it can be rented through other online video services. 1776 (1972) By now you’ve surely heard of Hamilton. The wildly popular musical is playing in San Francisco until January, but two tickets could set you back more than the price of a car payment. So if you’re looking for a less expensive way to experience the Founding Fathers singing and dancing their way through some of America’s earliest days, 1776 might be the movie for you. How to watch: 1776 is available to rent and stream on iTunes. Independence Day (1996) Sure, it’s full of scenery chewing, corny lines (Will Smith’s “Now, that’s what I call a close encounter” is a standout) and more explosions than a July 4 fireworks show. But when the bad-guy aliens attack, we do what we do best and come together to triumph over evil. It’s the American Way. Besides, it’s called Independence Day — we couldn’t leave it off this list. How to watch: Get inspired by President Bill Pullman by streaming Independence Day on Hulu. Hidden Figures (2016) This marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, in which the inimitable Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon. But the Apollo programme would have never happened without the work of the first Mercury astronauts. And Mercury wouldn’t have gone anywhere were it not for the mathematical brilliance of several African-American women who had the right stuff that helped get Alan Shepherd, John Glenn and the rest of the Mercury 7 off the launchpad. How to watch: Rent and stream Hidden Figures through iTunes and Redbox On Demand; if you don’t mind a few commercial breaks, it can be streamed for free on the FXNOW app. Apollo 13 (1995) When Jim Lovell — as wonderfully portrayed by Tom Hanks — says, “Houston, we have a problem,” you know he’s not messing around. Thus begins the tale of the greatest rescue mission in the history of mankind.  Apollo 13 happened almost 50 years ago; Apollo 13 came out almost 25 years ago. You know the story. You know how it ends. And yet, until that spacecraft splashes down … How to watch: Stream Apollo 13 with a subscription to the Starz app, or rent it through iTunes and other services. The Natural (1984) This is greatest sports movie ever made: the story of a young man who falls victim to temptation, spends years seeking redemption, finds it, nearly blows it all again, and, in the end, becomes a hero for the ages. And it’s all set against the background of baseball, the most American of all sports.  When Roy Hobbs, as portrayed by Robert Redford, hits a home run that knocks the lights out at the ballpark, it’s the ultimate “I’m not crying, you’re crying!” movie moment. How to watch: The Natural is available to rent and stream on services like iTunes, Amazon home video and Redbox On Demand. A League of Their Own (1992) Hanks makes his second appearance here as a drunken former baseball player who takes on managing a women’s baseball team during World War II. How “All-American” is this movie? The team Hanks manages, the Rockford Peaches, played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Hanks gets to utter another all-time classic line when he tells his players in no uncertain terms, “THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!” (Try telling that to a Seattle Mariners fan like myself.) How to watch: You can rent and stream A League of Their Own through iTunes, Amazon home video and Redbox On Demand. Rocky (1976) How much more American can Rocky get? More than 40 years ago, Sylvester Stallone was the ultimate underdog and pretty much unknown as an actor. He then wrote and starred in Rocky and became an overnight sensation. And he remains a sensation to this day. If the Rocky story isn’t enough, in the movie’s climatic fight, Rocky’s opponent, Apollo Creed shows up dressed first like George Washington, then like Uncle Sam. How to watch: Rocky is currently streaming on Hulu. The Dirty Dozen (1967) Did you know that in addition to leading Jim Brown, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland and nine other American military convicts on a crazy raid against the Nazis, Lee Marvin actually fought in World War II and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery? If that doesn’t just scream “AMERICA!” then nothing does. How to watch: Invest $2.99 and stream The Dirty Dozen on iTunes. You’ll be glad you did. Stripes (1981) I like to think that what National Lampoon’s Animal House did for kids (me) wanting join college fraternities, Stripes did the same for anyone wanting to join the US Army (I also didn’t enlist). It’s hard to go wrong with Bill Murray leading a gaggle of misfit troops at his early post-Saturday Night Live peak. How to watch: If you have Showtime, you can stream Stripes through the company’s different apps. —The Mercury News (San Jose, California)