Ka Bodyscapes Denied Certification on Grounds of Glorifying the Gay Community

Director Jayan Cherian’s Ka Bodyscapes which has been in the news over certification by the Central Board of film Certification, was recently refused certification as it felt that the film glorified the subject of gay and homosexual relationship, nudity and showed Hanuman in a derogatory manner as gay. And this may create law and order problem in society. The Board also seem to have objection in showing a Muslim woman to be masturbating.

The film was reviewed by the board for the second time, as an earlier rejection was challenged by the makers via a writ petition. In the judgement passed in December last year by the High Court, Justice PB Sureshkumar had said that mere references to homosexuality and masturbation of women may not amount to obscenity or vulgarity.

Incidents like these make us think about the provisions in the constitution to think and act freely. Doesn’t creative freedom entail freedom of expression? That said, the society is bound to have different opinion on works of artists. But does that mean that a piece of art, in this case a film be denied certification. Why not give A or adult certification to films with objectionable content and make sure that minors aren’t allowed to enter the cinema hall projecting it?

Culture, Film

February 23, 2017

HC asks Aluva Municipality to Ensure Safety Measures of Temporary Amusement Rides

Just as Aluva town gears up of Sivarathri, its biggest festival, a petition has been filed before the High Court seeking a ban on operation of temporary amusement park with dangerous rides.

Filed by a social activist and political leader, Gireesh MM of Thottumugham, it questions Aluva Municipality’s move to give tender for the mentioned rides on the vast extent of property lying adjacent to Siva Temple.

The order passed by the High Court dated 21 February, 2017 states, ‘Respondents 1 to 3 (State of Kerala represented by Chief Secretary, District Collector Ernakulam, Civil Station, Kakkanad and Aluva Municipality represented by its Secretary) are directed to ensure that the activities mentioned in the writ petition regarding the operation of temporary Amusement Park is not permitted to carry out by operating of equipments, unless all due clearances are issued in terms of laws governing such amusement establishments.

Culture, Religion

February 21, 2017

Manju Sara Rajan on the Biennale Foundation and Art Awareness

Those who have made rounds of the Kochi Muziris Biennale this year might have noticed some of the interesting initiatives they’ve had with women and children. In an interview with The Kochi Post, CEO of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, Manju Sara Rajan tells us how the Foundation aims at making art more accessible and how work of the foundation goes on through the year.

“Most people don’t know much about the Kochi Biennale Foundation. They assume that there isn’t much work to be done once Biennale season is over. This is far from the truth. In fact, the Foundation works through the year, attempting to make contemporary art more accessible,” says the Manju who worked as a journalist close to 12 years. The aim of the foundation is according to her, keep conversations and discussions about art alive.

“There needs to be continuous awareness of national and international art. And we try to do this on different levels like the Student’s Biennale, which is a curated collection of art work by students who are studying art through the country. Also, Art by Children, an initiative that conducts various art-related workshops for children,” she explains.

Culture, People

February 17, 2017

Laughing out Loud with Aravind

Get ready to roll with laughter at ChaiCofi tomorrow, 18th February with Aravind Subramanium a stand-up comedian from Chennai who takes a jab at the middle class life, women and other things ordinary or not. A part-time filmmaker, Aravind talks about the comedy scene in India, poking around ‘real’ topics and more.

Aravind SA, as he is known as in the comedy circuit, studied film making at the LV Prasad film academy and went on to assist director Jayendra Panchapakesa in the film 180 and Vishnuvardhan in Aarambam starring Ajith. “Stand-up started out as a part-time thing. More like a hobby,” Aravind says. He felt like the relatable middleclass urban stories weren’t being told enough. And that’s when he decided to give into his story-telling instinct and turned into stand-up.

Write Timing
“While doing stand-up, you cannot be moaning or nagging on about a small event. But the flair lies in creating enough drama around it,” Aravind reveals. He feels comedians need to be articulate and deliver the point home in a short time, say, 4-5 minutes. “One needs to make sure that your key points or thoughts are funny,” he adds. And while that may come from trained writing, Aravind says would try out new material for weeks or even months on friends and family to get it right. “Now that open mic nights have picked up, my friends don’t have to be scape goats to my material,” he laughs.

Culture, People

February 11, 2017

Shobhana to Enthrall Kochi’s Audience

If you are looking forward to an evening of colour, music, dance and most of all entertainment, then Kochi is where you ought to be this weekend.

Gear up for another unique fusion production by renowned actress and danseuse Shobhana Chandrakumar Pillai. It is in indeed to time to explore space and time in a most unique format.

Trance, a fusion musical production, by Shobhana and her team at Kalarpana presents some of the most popular tales of Indian mythology and from The Bible by means of various artistic elements.

Culture, Entertainment

February 11, 2017

Festival Coordination Committee to Protest Fearing Ban on Festivals

Kerala Festival Coordination Committee is planning a protest march, fearing that the Government may ban temple festival celebrations. Organisers and festival enthusiasts are planning to march to the Thrissur District Collectorate on 15 February.

Valsan Chembakkara, General Secretary, Kerala Festival Coordination Committee confirmed the same. “Ministers have previously convened to remove unnecessary restrictions and iron out measures and protocol to conduct festivals in a smooth manner. Even then, there hasn’t been an absolute solution,” he says. “All the mandates stated by the Forest Department in Kerala Captive Elephant (Management & Maintenance) Rules 2012 circular are being followed. Then, why shouldn’t festivals be allowed to continue,” he asks.

As for vedikettu or fireworks at festivals, local firecrackers like kizhiminu, amitti and ola padakkam aren’t allowed. And to burst Chinese fire crackers, one needs to get permission. “There needs to be a clear explanation with regards to this. It is the responsibility of the officers in charge to bring clarity to the matter,” Valsan Chembakkara says.

Culture, Politics, Religion

February 9, 2017

Ashwin Sanghi on Writing History Fiction and Collaborating with James Patterson

Often referred to as India’s Dan Brown Ashwin Sanghi is known for books like Chanakya’s Chant, The Rozbal Line and The Krishna Key. The author known for mythological and history fiction is set to collaborate with thriller writer James Patterson after their novel Private India: City on Fire in 2014. In this conversation with The Kochi Post, the author tells us more about the collaboration, writers on social media and challenges in writing about characters from history.

Please tell a little more about your collaboration with James Patterson this time around, what can we expect?

I think that our second outing together has been more challenging than the first. The first book, Private India, had elements of mythology in it. This fascinated James Patterson tremendously. Private Delhi has none of that. It is much more like the other books in the Private series. Hence the contribution of James Patterson to quickening the pace and magnifying the suspense has been tremendous. The one area that both of us were fascinated by was the interplay between business, politics and media. That comes across very clearly in the plot.

Culture, People, Uncategorized

February 7, 2017

Making Malayalam Books more Accessible

Book lovers have a reason to be happy- Read Me Books an initiative by a few book lovers will get your books to your doorstep. The publication will launch the first book ‘Nammuku Parayam Kathakal’ on the 12^th February at YMCA, Trivandrum.

The book written by Ashitha, will be launched by actor Alencier presenting a copy to writer Priya AS. “It is a collection of short stories for children under the age of 10. Ashitha wrote them around the time her grandchild was born. There are 31 short stories- one for each day of the month,” says director Sreebala Menon, one of the brains behind read me books.

“The idea is to make books accessible to everyone. Malayalam books are tough to access, especially for those living outside Kerala. Also, people who live in remote villages like Wayanad and Idukki have to go to bookstores in the city. And this is where an audio book or an e-book becomes useful,” she explains.

Culture, Entertainment

February 6, 2017

Reviving Kerala’s ‘Thorthu’: Meet the women behind Kara Weaves

As I walked through the quiet and serene street, bordered with palatial houses and large rubber estates, it was mind-boggling to imagine how such a peaceful environment could house one of the popular clothing enterprises.

Approximately 10 meters from a fork on the road, I could see a house that hid two giant shipping containers. Believe me; it was unique in every sense. At first, it looked like a load of unnecessary junk. But a glimpse of the interiors had me bowled. With tables, chair and air-conditioning in one, and boxes of the Kurtas made of ‘mundu’ (also known as ‘Dhoti’), I was convinced that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Culture, Fashion

January 28, 2017

Clowning around in Kochi with Rajat Kapoor

Clowning this weekend, well, coming this weekend is Rajat Kapoor with a band of talented actors to present us with adaptations of Shakespeare’s works. The brilliant actor-director known his mainstream roles in movies like Corporate and Bheja Fry will be accompanied by actors like Kalki Koechlin, Neil Bhoopalam, Vinay Phatak and Ranvir Shorey. The group will be entertaining us with English plays like Nothing like Lear and Hamlet at JTPAC (Jose Thomas Performing Arts Center), Thrippunithura on 29th January.

“Both the plays will have clowns as main characters. Using clowns to me is a classical way of bringing something new to what can otherwise be boring,” Rajat Kapoor says. Kapoor says his love for clowns and comedy came from Charlie Chaplin and all his works. Admitting comedy to be a tough genre to write, he says, it is all about identifying limitations and finding a way to work around them.

Choosing favourites
Having worked on the Bard’s plays before, he confesses that it is difficult to choose a favourite. But from among his latest productions, he says it would be. “I also like Habib Tanveer’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Sleep No More by Punchdrunk, an adaptation of Macbeth.” As for the actors he has chosen to play the various characters, he feels, “It is up to them to interpret it the best way they want to.”

Culture, Entertainment

November 11, 2016

Luxury Car Owners in Kerala Are Unhappy with Callous Attitude of Dealerships

Malayalees have always been known for their affinity towards gold. People here consider it as an asset, the value of which never depreciates. This is probably the reason why people still prefer spending a lot of money on gold. It seems as though Malayalees are now spending their money not only on gold. The has been a growth in demand for luxury cars in the State.

Recently, Kochi beat all the metros and other cities to emerge as India’s strongest growing market for the sale of luxury cars like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Land Rover. The presence of the showrooms of these luxury cars as well as motorcycles like Harley Davidson and Triumph reaffirm this fact. All thanks to the ever-increasing cash inflow from non-resident Malayalees and the willingness of people to spend money and own a car that reflects their status in society. Luxury carmakers say Kochi has been recording a 40 per cent year-on-year growth for the last three years, which is much higher than rest of India, and it now sells more luxury cars than Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

However, the picture is not all glossy. Recently, many luxury car owners are complaning of unsatisfactory service from the dealerships. Despite the huge amount of business being generated in Kochi, as the showrooms for a majority of these cars are not located anywhere else in the State, instances of after sale services being not-up-to-the-mark are increasing.

Culture

November 3, 2016

Anjappam Is a Novel Initiative That Provides Food to the Poor in Kerala Through Restaurants

Most of us who have grandparents at home might be familiar with them comparing the era they were born in to the present one. The major changes they talk of are how violent people have become nowadays, the feeling of hatred towards each other, selfishness, corruption, and so on. However, there are people who think out of the box. They have feelings for mankind and humanity.

In a scenario where most people are concerned only about their own wellbeing and charity is just a part of pomp and show, there are some people in our society who still wholeheartedly take the initiative to help and serve others, despite having no relations with them.

Anjappam is one such initiative that upholds the value that food and knowledge must be given to a person not with sympathy but with respect. The brainchild of father Bobby Jose Kattikad, a priest, writer, and a human being of substance, Anjappam is a food aid project in Kerala that aims to benefit the economically backward and often forgotten sections of Kerala’s society.

The primary offering of Anjappam is a chain of economical restaurants that are currently located within Pathanamthitta. The restaurants do not serve food free of cost, keeping in mind that eating for free might not be acceptable for many.

Explaining more about its functioning, the Treasurer of the project, who prefers to stay anonymous, said, “We serve food at a nominal cost of Rs. 25 per meal, but never compel anyone to pay that either. People who do not have the financial status to pay that are more than welcome to have the food without paying anything. They are also welcome to pay whatever they can. Even if it is less than Rs. 25, the money is accepted wholeheartedly.”

The restaurants serve only vegetarian food. The members of the trust take care to ensure that a majority of the vegetables are acquired locally so that they can provide tasty as well as environment friendly food, which is good for both the body and mind. As of now, the restaurants only serve lunch and will provide breakfast also once they have settled down.

During the day, the restaurants act as places where good, healthy meals are available at affordable prices and in the evenings, they are transformed into reading spaces with libraries. The restaurants now have a wonderful collection of books and is popular among college students, who visit in large numbers.

The Treasurer says that it is heartwarming to see that the restaurants, which were formally inuagurated on October 9, have gained acclamation in such a small span. Sharing her experience about the attitude of people visiting the restaurants on daily basis, she says that there are people who eat a meal and pay Rs. 25, even if they are financially sound.

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“On the other hand, there are people who give whatever they have, even Rs. 50 and tell us that this humble donation will at least provide free food for one hungry stomach. Some also give us Rs. 1,000 or Rs. 2,000 after they get to know about the real aim behind this initiative,” she added.

Anjappam is much more than this. Anyone who intends to help the poor and needy always have an option available here. This need not be in terms of money, but also as spending one’s time at the restaurants, serving food and helping with cleaning activities. Volunteers can also teach basic skills to the illiterate who come here during evenings. They uphold the thought that donations need not be in terms of money only and that a person who is ready to help the downtrodden can do it in whichever manner he feels it right.

The organisation intends to be a self-sustainable one and thus has another initiative called ‘Appakootu’, wherein a person who is financially sound and is ready to donate money can give Rs. 1,000 per month. ‘Appakootu’ now has around 500 members. Though Anjappam was started by Fr. Bobby Jose, the working of the trust is being looked after by a team, which is headed by president Baby Sam and supervised by secretary A.J. Sebastian. It is, therefore, a project put together and managed by a group of diverse people with a common goal of betterment.

Culture