Nonqaba said ...

Actor Abhishek Bachchan with his daughter Aaradhya.  Mother is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Online pic.  If the Bachchan baby had been born somewhere in South Africa, it might have been given the name Nosipho, which means she is a gift, in the language isiZulu .  There are many boys and girls named Sipho or Nosipho respectively because all African languages have this concept of the baby as a gift.  Various cultures and religions have their way of explaining how this gift comes about.  What cannot be disputed, however, is that it takes place in a woman’s body. No baby girls who grow up to be women, no sons and no future generations! Visitors that used to follow this blog when I was active know that I’ve never commented on stars’ personal lives.  I was mainly interested in the story, how actors interpreted it, costumes, lighting, directors’ vision, music and editing. The life cycle Today I’m writing about Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan’s baby for two reasons.  Firstly, Aishw

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Malayalam, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Nepali, Khasi, Dogri, Garo and other languages. There are countries that celebrate ‘National Women’s Month’ which is ironic because life is about women.  No women, no life bas!  I recently came across one of my life’s greatest possession when I was cleaning up my DVD library.  It was Jodhaa Akbar, a historical story told with amazing visuals.  The story is set in India.  The director is Ashutosh Gowariker.  The producer is UTV’s Ronnie Screwvala.  The film stars are Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan. If you understand the role Cleopatra played in Egypt’s history, you ought to get a copy of Jodhaa Akbar.  You will not only understand the whole Taj Mahal love story, but Muslim and

Amitabh Bachchan film actor and producer based in Mumbai, India.   You need information about that cinema? He's the encyclopedia.  I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Malayalam, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Nepali, Khasi, Dogri, Garo and other languages. Amitabh Bachchan sits pondering somewhere, on a plane or at home.  “How can I celebrate my 2,000 blog?”  I have a crazy idea.   How about sifting through all the posts and get a publisher to publish them as item books?  Hindi cinema has item boys and girls, why not item books? 1.        From press to media That would be one item book.  Make that three books, because of his love hate relationship with the media. 2.        Film production from  1950-2010 He has enough posts for this item book because he

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.   I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.   I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Nepali, Khasi, Dogri, Garo and other languages. I had some time on my time hands, so I went looking for Tabu, the Indian actress.   I ended up buying Biwi No. 1, one of her movies.   It was a good find because it also features my favourite, Sushmita Sen, the evil model who entices the husband (Salman Khan) away from his wife (Karishma Kapoor). The saris are my favourite part of the film.   Karishma Kapoor is draped in all kinds of silks.   The film’s content is something beyond my reach.   I’ll be interested in what other people think about the institution called marriage.   Biwi No. 1 is heavy stuff.    Who exactly is responsible for making this so-called ‘wonderful ins

White Gold! Interesting South African movie about how the first people left India for South Africa and why.  Disturbing scenes on the ship, not as graphic as in Roots the television series, but disturbing none the less. Executive Director Dinesh Naidoo took the correct route and provided enough money so that the film is shot in both India and South Africa.  I bought the DVD for my film library. The film is about sugar, so is my novel Sweetness.

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Malayalam, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Nepali, Khasi, Dogri, Garo and other languages. I blame Amitabh Bachchan for breaking my movie fast and forcing me to go to the Killarney Cine Centre yesterday to screen Buddah Hoga Tera Baap (BHTP), directed by Puri Jagannath.  I follow Amitabh Bachchan’s blog religiously because I’m in awe of the man. I’m a writer, so I respect anybody who blogs every day, not re-hashing content from other sites, but breaking and entering the queen’s language and enriching me with the nuances of the Hindi language.  I follow his blog for his love of motherland India, Indian history, politics, cricket, Bengal and his in-laws but most of all, his love of cinema. I won’t say Indian cinema because Ba

This blog is suspended indefinitely.  We are going to direct all our energies to marketing Sweetness the novel, one of the few books by black South African writers.  Thanks for your patronage. Ngiyabonga.   (Thank You). www.sweetnessthenovel.com

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Aaja Nachile, director Anil Mehta My apologies for not reviewing Aaaja Nachile earlier!  You know how I admire Madhuri Dixit for her contribution to indian cinema.  I love her in Devdas, Saajan, Sahibaan, Yaraana, Prem Granth, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam and many more. I love Indian dancing because it is almost similar to Zulu dancing, where the whole body is active, eyes, hips etc.  It also imitates animals. Indian cinema is not about song and dance.  It should be seen in the context of the stories.  Aishwarya Rai explained this very well in her David Letterman interview some years ago, where she said dancing represents certain social occasions be it

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.   I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.   I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Word is out on the street that I don’t know anything about cricket.   True dat, as brothas in upstate New York would say.   What is obvious to me is that a batsman has a bat in his hand.   He is trying to hit a ball that a bowler is spinning towards him.   Right? Cricket fans are glued to their television sets in March 2011, catching the Cricket World Cup action.   It is also time to re-visit the film Iqbal played brilliantly by Shreyas Talpade.   Iqbal and his tough little sister Khadija (Shweta Prasad) love cricket because of their mother, played by Prateeksha Londkar.   She’s a great fan of the Indian cricket team.   Her husband hates it. Iqbal the

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Mumbai producers like financing films about evil characters.  I don’t care for them myself but enjoyed the 9 Dalmatians, starring Glen Close as Cruella Devil.  I only saw the film on television because I don’t screen Hollywood movies, since I know what is going to happen based on the title. Cruella wanted to kill puppies in order to make herself a beautiful coat.  I found myself rooting for them.  I also enjoyed the animal solidarity in saving the black and white puppies.  There are many evil characters in Mumbai movies, and I have a few favourites. Dhadkan, director Dharmesh Darshan Sunil Chetty plays Dev, a poor man in love with the beautiful

What is the novel Sweetness all about? 1.        It is about mothers-in-law. 2.        It is about Phillip and Zaba Zimbi who lived in two glass houses joined by a bridge. 3.        It is about how people laughed at them because of that. 4.        It is about Zaba’s relief that Phillip did not marry other wives after her. 5.        It is about their sugar cane farms near Durban called Sweetness. 6.        It is about their three sons who did not want to be in sugarcane production. 7.        It is about the treatment of workers in sugar cane fields. 8.        It is about how sugar production is losing money because people on diet don’t want to eat sugar. 9.        It is about townhouse development taking more and more agricultural land. 10.    It is about choices children make about their lives despite expensive education. 11.    It is about one of the sons who left home and changed himself into a Coloured man. 12.    It is about Phillip’s illegitimate child w

Photo Credit: online pic. I am in this impossible quest to find just one million original films in our lifetime.  How many people are out there in the world?  India and China have more than one billion people.  Asia as a whole has more.  There’s massive Africa.  We can never have the correct figures because a child is born every minute.  In short, there are billions of people in the world and we still don’t have just a million original films.  I have some ideas. Flesh and Not Blood, and written by Nonqaba waka Msimang Davina lives in the country where she manages the family’s rose-growing business.  Their main source of income is Valentine’s Day.  They ship tons of red roses to mainly to North America and Europe.  Her husband Zola is the local mayor and does not have time for the business. She has one son Neville who is a computer genius.  The United States is his main career destination to work for Steve Jobs.  Neville’s wife Sasa, is a social worker and runs an old age home.  Whe

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Great jubilation!  You’ll never guess what I found  in a Killarney video and music store that stocks mainly Hollywood titles.  I found Raavan!  I couldn’t believe it.  Yes.  It was an original DVD, complete with the segment called, ‘making of.’  Pirate copies never have that. Amazing!  It is an open secret that I love Mani Ratnam’s work.  It is even a bigger open secret that I love Raavan, because of its South African connection and outstanding cinematography.  The film’s beginning also has a song in my language, Zulu. The joy of a DVD is that it reveals certain nuances you missed in the theatre.  I’ve written about the film’s subtle sensuality.  What I

I am in this impossible quest to find just one million original films in our lifetime.   How many people are there in the world?   India and China have more than one billion people a piece.   Asia as a whole has more.   There’s massive Africa and South America.   We can never have the correct figures because a child is born every minute.   In short, there are billions of people in the world and we still don’t have just a million original films.   My search reminded me of the popularity of the weekly Cosby show when I lived in Canada.   It had many original story lines.   There was one where Dr. Huxtable (Bill Cosby) wanted to read his Saturday newspaper.   He went to the kitchen.   There were children.   He went to the living room.   There were children.   He could not find one quiet spot because of his kids.   Parents around the world loved it.   It was their reality. One day Dr. Huxtable fetches kids from school.   They are all covered in snow suits, scarves and boots. His wife s

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Defiant widows I don’t know about other cultures but in mine, culture and tradition go such a long way back, sometimes it is not clear why certain norms were created.  Neel Kamal, directed by Ram Maheshwary is about re-incarnation but the film has a part where the character Girhar says, “They used to burn widows on the pyres of their dead husbands.” Not anymore.  They are spared but wear white.  Binodini, a young attractive widow (Aishwarya Rai) challenges some cultural norms in Choker Bali, directed by Rituparno Ghosh.  She questions why she should not wear jewellery and eat fish when her husband died a year after their marriage.  She also doesn’t accep

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada and other languages.  I think we should add Salaam-e-Ishq in the original stories we are looking for.  Why?  It is original because there are six stories in one screenplay.  I pulled it out of my DVD collection as a breath of fresh air.  My head is spinning with repetitive stories about four guys sharing a house or a life.  Mumbai seems to love such films. Nikhil Advani, the director of Salaam-e-Ishq had a very difficult task of making one quilt from six stories.  I wanted to say that everything revolves around Kamini (Priyanka Chopra), an egocentric item queen who wants to be a tragedy in a Karan Johar film.  I changed my mind when I realised that some stories dovetail into her, others don’t.

  http://bonda.hubpages.com/hub/Kitchen-Parties I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. The 27 January 2011 post is about ghee films.  This is what i found in a supermarket in Killarney, South Africa.  It must be dramatically different from the real ghee in Punjab or any part of India. http://sweetnessthenovel.com

I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Films such as Dhoom 2 and Krrish make a pretty penny for producers, but they also widen the bridge we have to cross before reaching the goal of just one million original stories.  Producers are businessmen and will use any ploy to earn a fast buck, including capitalising on our weaknesses.   Dhoom 2 is a case in point.  I bought the DVD despite the fact that I’m not a fan of special effects films.  I blame Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, whom I liked in Jodhaa Akbar. What do Dhoom 2 and Pink Panther 2 have in common?  Aishwarya Rai. She is a thief in both movies but what is important is that Mumbai likes resurrecting Hollywood spy t

One of the 'ghee' films, SRK and Sushmita Sen. I am an NRI, translated into: no-real Indian.  I follow Indian cinema in my quest to find only one million original films before humanity as we know it disappears.  I will use the term Indian cinema sparingly because I only have access to Hindi films, not Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and other languages. Following Indian cinema has enabled me to recognise some ingredients used in Indian food.  That is where I learnt about ghee, also known as clarified butter.  This article was prompted by a tub of ghee I saw at a supermarket in Killarney, Johannesburg the other day.  Next to it was salted butter.  It seems as if butter and other substances we shunned some years ago as being fattening and bad for your heart are sneaking back in.  I have a few films that remind me of ghee. Namaste London, director Vipul Amrutlal Shah Manmohan Malhotra, played by Rishi Kapoor goes back to Punjab to find a husband for Ja