Love your language, not religion: Javed Akhtar

March 14, 2015

New Delhi, Mar 14: For noted scriptwriter, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, language has no religion and says those who cry foul over "purity of language" should know that it is non-existent.

Speaking at 'Jashn-e-Rekhta', a festival celebrating Urdu language organised by Rekhta organisation here, Akhtar hit out at those who aim to "divide people on linguistic lines".

Javed Akhtar"Those who raise questions about dying languages, should know that there is a big question mark on all the languages today. Economic benefits have become the sole criteria of keeping a language alive," he said.

The 70-year-old artist refuted notions of mixing language and religion."Urdu was the first language that was secular, anti-fundamentalist and anti-conventions since the beginning. ... we label Urdu as a language of Muslims or a particular region or country," he said.

On a recent instance of replacing Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Maanto's writings by a university in Punjab with Japanese stories in its MA syllabus, Akhtar said, "Learning a foreign tongue is applaudable. But is learning it at the cost of one's mother tongue right?"

Looking at the fate of indigenous languages in a globalised world, he noted, "People have created skewed notions about learning Indian languages. Today, if you are well versed in Hindi or Urdu, people question your upbringing, he said.Leaving the audience in splits with his witty replies, Akhtar, who has penned many successful Bollywood songs also took a dig at his industry's "badzabaan" (scurrilous).

"There is no language left in films today. Everything is a hybrid version of everything else, whether it is songs, dialogues or scripts," he said.

On a serious note, the artist who had received two Padma awards, said that languages are not just a "communication tool", they are one's "identity as well"."Love your language, not the religion," he quipped.

Akhtar also pointed out the short-comings of the Indian education system that does not allow children to "explore their mother tongue".

"Though learning a universal language is important, but a child has the right to use his mother tongue on a public platform. What is the point to learn something that can not be used? There should be provisions for him to write his examinations in his language," he opined.

The artist also shared his current pursuit with the audience."I am currently working on the writings of my grandfather. We will shortly come up with a five volume compilation of my grandfather's writings," he said.Sanjeev Saraf, founder, Rekhta talked about the "beauty, diversity and inclusiveness of Urdu" as the guiding force behind the two-day festival.

"The festival is a celebration of a beautiful language. It is aimed at bringing together a set of language lovers, especially the youth who have taken an active interest in our website, Rekhta-the largest online collection of Urdu poetry," he said.

"There is a common perception that Urdu is a dying language or it appeals to a certain section of the society. But the language appeals to all. It is very much alive, rocking and kicking," Saraf added.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Chennai, Mar 3: Makkal Needhi Maiyam president and actor Kamal Hassan on Tuesday appeared before Chennai Police on Tuesday in connection the deaths last month of three people on the set of the movie, 'Indian 2'.

Hassan appeared before Chennai Police Commissioner in Egmore to record his statement.

Three people died while around 10 suffered injuries when a crane collapsed while shooting of the film was underway in Chennai at EVP Studios on February 19.

Madhu, personal assistant to director Shankar, Krishna, assistant director, and a staffer Chandran, lost their lives in the incident.

In an open letter, "Indian 2" Director S Shankar announced Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the kin of the deceased.

'Indian 2' stars Kamal Haasan, Kajal Agarwal, Rakul Preet, Siddharth, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Delhi Ganesh and Nedumudi Venu in prominent roles.

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News Network
February 12,2020

London, Feb 12: Oscar-winning British director Steve McQueen is returning to his art roots with a series of short films at London's Tate Modern art gallery, offering a sensory exploration of black identity.

McQueen, who became the first black director to win the best picture Academy Award in 2014 for "12 Years a Slave", is now based between London and Amsterdam and is focused on championing diversity in the film industry.

Visitors to his new exhibition will be greeted by "Static", a film of New York's Statue of Liberty, scrutinising the iconic symbol from every possible angle at very close range against a deafening backdrop of the helicopter from where the footage was filmed.

"What interests Steve is our view of the world, how humans are trying to represent Liberty," said Fiontan Moran, assistant curator of the exhibition.

"7th Nov, 2001" features a still shot of a body while McQueen's cousin Marcus tells of how he accidentally killed his brother, a particularly traumatic experience for the artist.

"Western Deep" is another visceral work, giving a sense through sights and sounds in an interactive installation of the experiences of miners in South Africa, following them to the bottom of the mine.

"Ashes", meanwhile, is a tribute to a young fisherman from Grenada, the island where McQueen's family originated.

The images of beauty and sweetness filmed from his boat are tragically reversed on the other side of the projection screen, which shows a grave commissioned by McQueen for the eponymous young fisherman, who was killed by drug traffickers.

African-American singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976) is honoured in "End Credits".

The film shows censored FBI documents detailing the agency's surveillance of Robeson, read by a voice-over artist, for five hours.

"He is... testing the limits of how people can be documented in an era of mass surveillance," said Moran.

In a similarly militant vein, the exhibition features the sculpture "Weight", which was first shown in the prison cell where the writer and playwright Oscar Wilde was imprisoned.

It depicts a golden mosquito net draped over a metal prison bed frame, addressing the theme of confinement and the power of the imagination to break free.

The show runs alongside an exhibition of McQueen's giant portraits of London school classes, many of which appeared on the streets of London last year.

"I remember my first school trip to Tate when I was an impressionable eight-year-old, which was really the moment I gained an understanding that anything is possible," said McQueen, adding it was "where in some ways my journey as an artist first began".

He recently told the Financial Times newspaper the difference between his art films and his feature films was that the former were poetry, the latter like a novel.

"Poetry is condensed, precise, fragmented," he said. "The novel is the yarn".

The exhibition opens on February 13 and runs until May 11.

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News Network
June 9,2020

New Delhi, Jun 9: Multiplex operator PVR on Monday said it has cut salary across various levels, laid off employees and deferred increments during the lockdown to mitigate adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

The company said at present it is not generating any revenue from exhibition business and related activities as cinemas across the country are shut following the directions from the regulatory authorities.

According to the company, closure of screens during the lockdown will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity.

PVR has taken measures to reduce its personnel cost, including salary cuts across various levels in the organisation during the lockdown along with "reduction in headcount by way of layoffs/retrenchment" to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

Moreover, the board of the company, in its meeting held on Monday has also approved plan to raise Rs 300 crore through rights issue.

"Since Cinema Exhibition is the only business segment, company is currently not generating any revenue from admissions, food and beverage sales or other revenue and cash flow from operations," said PVR in an update.

Beginning from March 11, PVR started closing its screens in accordance with the order passed by various regulatory authorities and within a few days most of our cinemas across the country were shut down, it added.

The company will continue to incur committed cash outflows, including employee salary pay-outs, other overheads as well as payments for older working capital.

"This has and will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity during lockdown and even thereafter till business comes to normalcy," it added.

Further, once the cinemas are re-opened, we may not be able to run our cinemas at normal capacity utilisation levels on account of social distancing measures that cinemas may be required to follow as well as health concerns that the patrons may have, the multiplex operator said.

"On account of this, our revenue and cash flow generation may be impeded even once we are allowed to restart operations," it added.

The company has also deferred decision on on increments to reduce its cost, it added.

PVR has also written to developers for waiving rental and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges for the lockdown period.

It is in discussion with developers for reducing rentals post re-opening and has invoked force majeure clause in its agreements with them.

Besides, the company has raised additional borrowings from existing bankers to shore up liquidity.

"As of March 31, 2020 the company had cash and bank balance of Rs 316 crore. As on June 7, 2020 cash and bank balance is Rs 227 crore (including undrawn bank lines)," it added.

Over reopening of theatres, PVR said that the government has come out with a phase-wise schedule.

In these guidelines cinema halls have been kept in the third phase of re-opening, where dates will be decided based on assessment of the situation.

"We are in continuous engagement with all regulatory authorities and hope to receive the necessary permissions for restarting opening in the near future," it added.

Currently PVR operates 845 screens in 176 properties in 71 cities.

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