The South Asian Challenge


A very quick up-date. A few days ago, while browsing Pakistani Literature on the WWW, I came across Swapna Krishna’s blog: skrishnasbooks.com. It’s definitley a blog I would recommend to any type of reader looking for a site where they can get good recommendations, with some quick and informative reviews. The range of books being reviewed here is remarkable, covering: literary, genre, and continental fiction, as well as non-fiction.

Swapna (who I’m assuming is South Asian) has been taking part in the South Asian Challenge since 2010. The South Asian Challenge, is simillar to the 50/100 books challenge (which is popular with the goodreads community), however in this case the books read must be:

1) authored by South Asians,

2) about South Asians.

The challenge runs from January 1st 2012 – December 31st 2012. There are no set amount of books you are required to read but you must state the amount of books you plan to read before you start the challenge.

So being a South Asian who is extremely interested in literature from the subcontinent I thought this would be a fun challenge to participate in. It will also help me get through more South Asian fiction which will be relatively helpful to my Uni studies.

Challeng Target: 25 South Asian novels to be completed by December 31st 2012.

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by Subat Bashir on January 30, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on January 30, 2012

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Review: George Harrison: Living in the Material World.


Documentary
Director: Martin Scorsese
Rating: 5/5

Martin Scorsese has put together a beautiful documentary tracing the life of the most underrated member of the Beatle’s, George Harrison. With a run time of over three and half hours, Scorsese is able to explore the various layers that went towards forming Harrison’s absolute identity. Through the use of personal letters, pictures, home-videos, and never-before-seen interviews, the viewer is given the rare opportunity of discovering Harrison beyond The Beatles.

The documentary is essentially divided into two parts, the first of which follows the formation and success of The Beatles. Whilst the second focuses on Harrisons spiritual journey to find meaning beyond the capitalist world he found himself trapped in.

Through the careful selection and juxtaposition of archival footage and documents, Scorsese emphasises the bittersweet realities of The Beatles rise to fame. Unfolding the story of four naïve British lads torn between childish excitement at their growing success, and apprehension towards the zealous fan-base it gained them. This clash of ideals is exemplified by Harrison in a letter to his parents: “Dear Mum and Dad – The shows have been going great with everyone going potty…everywhere we go we have about 20 police on motorbikes escorting us”.

The fervent behaviour of the fans escalated to the point that all four Beatles decided it was best to avoid any public outings. Frustrated by the confinement fame had enforced on him, Harrison became disillusioned by the material world, and seemed to experience a displacement of the self. In an interview he stated: “you see yourself in the paper but don’t actually realise it’s you”.

This displacement of identity led Harrison to pursue a spiritual path in the hopes of attaining the meaning of life through philosophy. Under Guru Ravi Shankar, Harrison learned to use Indian spiritual music to become one with a greater philosophical being. His friendship with Ravi also led Harrison to fund and organise the first ever benefit concert: The Concert for Bangladesh, which raised funds for refugees from East Pakistan following the 1970 Bhola Cyclone.

Scorsese also uses the documentary as a medium through which Harrisons song writing credentials can be measured against the Lennon/McCartney partnership. “George was a loner and had to work on his own” states George Martin (Producer of four of The Beatles original five albums).It was therefore inevitable that Harrison would get lost in the shadows of the superpower that was the Lenon/McCartney writing team. Scorsese traces the anatomy of Harrisons body of [solo] work, highlighting in particular their spiritual origins. Whilst Lennon/McCartney’s work exemplified masterful popular music, Harrison’s engaged with his spirituality, and search for meaning in life. Scorsese incorporation of Harrison’s solo work in the documentary illustrates the importance it holds to understanding his psyche.

Scorsese’s documentary excels in exposing hidden dimensions of Harrisons life and personality; from his love triangle with Pattie Boyd, and Eric Clapton, to his financial funding of Monty Python. Bringing together a multitude of Harrisons professional and personal acquaintances (including Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Terry Gilliam, and Eric Idle), and artefacts from his personal archive, Scorsese creates a colourful mosaic capturing the diversity that constructed George Harrisons life, and personality.

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by Subat Bashir on November 5, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on November 5, 2011

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“Write To prove You’re bad”, Dan Harmon.


“If you’re ever going to be a good writer, then you probably tend to be afraid you’re a bad writer. Instead of trying to prove you’re good, try to prove you’re bad. At least the ball will start MOVING on the field. I always tell young writers, “start proving to yourself how bad you are.” Make a joke out of it. Write a draft that you know you’re going to throw in the garbage, or show to your friends for a laugh, a profanely irresponsible piece of shit draft that in which you absolutely fight for the team that you REALLY believe in – the one that says you stink. Pretend your Mom keeps asking you “why don’t you just finish something,” and write the thing designed to shut her the fuck up. THIS is why I don’t just do it, Mom, because it would look like THIS, this thing that SUCKS. Show her. Don’t even waste time on it, the faster you go, the more it will suck and the more you’ll win the fight against yourself. Because the truth is, we do suck…because “we” is our ego, and our job is to get that ego to stop blocking us. I hope that helps, it’s the best I could type while listening to network notes. I think they even just busted me not listening, but this seemed more important at the time. Godspeed to you, child, and all sympathy to your parents for not having raised an air conditioning repair person.” — Dan Harmon.

Profound advice. I always put off writing because I think what I write will be horrendous and prove how ‘dumb’ I am. This includes all types of writing, from fiction to university assignments. I procrastinate and wallow to the point of depression just because I’m too scared to put pen to paper and write. It’s an unhealthy mindset, but unfortunately one I find difficult to leave behind. When I read this I felt as though I had an epiphany. Write to prove how bad you are. There’s no expectations and no fears, because when you write to prove you can’t do something, you can’t fail. It seems a morbid way to approach thing’s and some may argue you should instead focus your energies on overcoming the fear of failure. I have almost 50 quotes spread across my wall, all to do with failure and although I may agree “the fear of failure is failure itself”, it doesn’t diminish the fear. So instead I write without expectations, I write with the knowledge I am not trying to prove myself. By the time I have to write the final piece, I’ve already written so many ‘crap versions’ that I know whatever I write now can only be better.  And ‘hey presto’, mindset positive and writing articulate, at the very least.

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by Subat Bashir on October 16, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on October 16, 2011

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Pakistani Directors Call for Bollywood Ban


Certain Pakistani directors seem to be under the impression that a ban on Bollywood films is the solution to raising the profile of Pakistani films in the country. Thus filing a petition calling for said ban. India took a similar approach some years ago by banning Pakistani television (which was incredibly popular across the south-east at the time) to increase the popularity of homegrown TV. It worked.
For this reason I am tempted to endorse this ban. The influx of independent films being produced by Pakistan, at the moment, are largely ignored by its natives. Pakistani’s are so enamored by the extravegant style of Bollywood films that they fail to notice the progression of their homegrown Cinema, which takes a more subtle and realistic approach.

However to endorse such a ban would completely contradict my averision to censorship. Not withstanding the fact that I believe  Pakistani directors would do better to focus their energies on fighting against the PPP’s proposition to
 ban Facebook. After all it is one of the main and most effective means of promotion for Pakistani film.
What I do believe Pakistani directors have a right to petition for and indeed should petitition for is Preferential treatment for Pakistani films. Meaning if a Pakistani producer want’s the Eid (the main season for buisness) slot for the release of his film, he should be given it over the Bollywood film of the season. However we are then faced with the question of whether it is amoral to force people to watch a certain type of film.
Ironically the most vocal supporters of this petition are the directors behind the worst (and quite frankly embarrassing) films being produced in Pakistan.
The rise from the debris:
It seems ‘great art’ truly is ‘born of suffering’. Hot on the heals of a massive resurgernce in Pakistani Literature, a groundreaking revival of Pakistani Cinema is taking place at the moment. This year has already seen the release of the controversial Bol (Speak). An admirably bold film which deals with such taboo subjects as homosexuality, and enuchs. The short film Heal (directed
by Mian Adnan Ahmed), has been doing the rounds at major international film festivals. It has, so far, won thirteen awards, in
cluding best sci-fi/fantasy film at comic-con, and The Frank Capra Award at Fallbrook Film Festival.
The coming months will see the release of:

Kolachi - Pakistans first sci-fi film. From the trailer it is clear the film has extremely high production values. Kolachi is said to be a political commentary on what Karachi could be like in the near future if the
socio-political situation of the country are not addressed by the government.
The Dusk - Not much information out about this one yet. However the teaser trailers suggests it’s about post-9/11 Pakistan. It seems The Dusk will be dealing with the affects of terrorism and American imperialism in Pakistan. The Dusk will be shown at Film Festivals.
Kaptaan - A biographical film documenting the life of Imran Khan (former captain of the Pakistani cricket team and founder & leader of political party: Tehreek-e-Insaf) post his retirment from cricket. It will focus on Khans political career and philanthropic work (Khan built the first and only Cancer hospital in Pakistan).
                                  


Golchakkar - A spin-off of the short film  Sole Search, a comedy about the Jinnah boys. Jinnah Boys is the name given to the lads in Islamabad who hang around Jinnah Market and can only be described as the Pakistani equivelant of [womanising] chavs.
Mudhouse and The Golden Doll - an independent film about a young girl who befriends the mentally-ill village outcast, and how society sullies, and attempts to suppress the innocent friendship. The trailers for this
 film are especially endearing.
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by Subat Bashir on October 15, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on October 15, 2011

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If I Could Save Time in a Bottle


So I’m sitting here reminiscing about my childhood. This largely entails having a 3 hour 90s session on Youtube. In between watching Moesha, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Sistser Sister, and just about every other 90s Nick/Trouble show, I managed  to get through Pink Floyds The Dark Side.

Time began and suddenly I was depressed.


Never seem to find the time

Every year is shorter

Plans that either come to naught

Or half a page of scribbled lines

Sat here in my little room at university, a pile of of books surrounding me, and a dissertation looming over of my head, I can’t help but wonder how time managed to pass me by so fast. Since I started University time has been a big blur rushing by me. Now that I’m coming to the end of my degree I find myself struggling with a burning desperation for time to just stop. There’s a part of me that can’t wait to see what the future holds. But there’s a bigger part of me that wants to hold on to the moments I am experiencing now. Graduation comes with a dawning sense of growing up, something I am not yet ready for. Suffice to say if Neverland were a real place, I’d follow Peter right there.

“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.”

-Daphne Du’Maurier.

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by Subat Bashir on October 15, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on October 15, 2011

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Fright Night Review


It’s very late, but I wrote this review a month ago for my universities paper.

The inevitability of comparissions with Hollands 1985 original juxtaposed with the current pandemic convulsion towards remakes put Fright Night at an immediate disadvantage. However a polsihed script coupled with a killer soundtrack and eccentric cast makes this a remake worth watching.

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a dweeb riding his luck having scored the high school babe after ditching his geeky childhood friend “Evil” Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) – of course his face clearing up helped. His stereotypical teenage idaho is threatened, however, when Ed insists his rougish (supposed lotahrios) new neighbour (Colin Farrell) is in fact a night-working, blood-sucking vampire. This teen paradise is set asunder only after Ed goes missing and Charley goes snooping. Discovering sinister footage of a wheelburrow pushing itself along, in the twilight, on his friends computer Charley surrenders to the absurd truth. His neighbour is a vampire.

Here the action kicks off with a majestic start as Charley, hopelessely, seeks the help of famed Vegas illusionist and ‘vampire slaying expert’ Peter Vincent (David Tennant).This of course is before Jerry blows up his house, via a natural gas leak (he doesn’t need an invitation if there’s no house).

Fright Night soars and this is largely owed to Director Craig Gillespie and Script-writer Marti Noxon’s loyalty to the franchaises 80’s origins. Noxons
script in particular expertley ballances the dark humour, bloody plot, and teen angst trademark of such 80’s classics as Heathers, and The Lost Boys. David Tennant and Colin Farrell give much needed gravitation to an otherwise weak young cast. Tennants elaborate costumes and appropriatley camp performance further retains the nostalgic atmosphere around which the film is built. It is Farrells subtle performance as Charming, viscious vampire Jerry, however, that shines through the duration of the film. A stand-out moment beeing Jerry lingering on Charleys doorstop, nose twitching in anticipation as he cranes his neck inside, enticing Charley to invite him into
the kitchen.

Fright Night is a cleverly crafted teen-movie and ironically a breath of fresh air after the exerting outpour of formulaic and underwhelming
additions to the genre so far this year.

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by Subat Bashir on October 15, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on October 15, 2011

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Birmingham for Tariq Jahan by Carol Ann Duffy


Carol Ann Duffy, the poet Laureate wrote a heartfelt poem dedicated to Tariq Jahan (father of Haroon Jahan, who was killed in the Birmingham riots). The poem was published in todays guardian, but can also be found online, if you head over to the guardian website. The actual spread in the newspaper is really quite beautiful, so if you like the poem and, like me, have a habit of collecting articles buy the guardian.

Birmingham for Tariq Jahan by Carol Ann Duffy

After the evening prayers at the mosque,

came the looters in masks,

and you three stood,

beloved in your neighbourhood,

brave, bright, brothers,

to be who you were –

a hafiz is one who has memorised

the entire Koran;

a devout man –

then the man in the speeding car

who purposefully mounted the kerb …

I think we all should kneel

on that English street,

where he widowed your pregnant wife, Shazad,

tossed your soul to the air, Abdul,

and brought your father, Haroon, to his knees,

his face masked in only your blood

on the rolling news

where nobody’s children riot and burn.

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by Subat Bashir on August 13, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by Subat Bashir on August 13, 2011

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