Desiwood: Hollywood Pakistanis

Desiwood

By Laaleen Khan

 http://tribune.com.pk/story/208831/pakistani-actors-are-now-appearing-in-hollywood-films/

There was a time when Hollywood industry types could barely point out Pakistan on a map. Recalls screenwriter, Kamran Pasha, “most of the Muslim roles went to the Greek guys.”  The need for authenticity became apparent after 9/11, leading to the creation of a Hollywood Bureau for the MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council) in 2007.

“There’s a curiosity about Islam and a curiosity about who Muslims are—and a lot of the fear that we’re seeing comes from only hearing one story or these constant negative stories,” said Deana Nassar, Hollywood liaison. “Most of the time it’s innocent oversight, and they’re very happy to get our take on what they’re doing, to get our feedback.”  Aspiring writers were recently invited to attend a Screenwriting Workshop for Film and Television “to really give Muslims an avenue to tell our stories.”

The good news for Muslims, for Pakistanis, and even for people who happen to be both, is that Hollywood now seems to be an attainable goal, as demonstrated by the following success stories (none of whom are Greek!):

1. The Dramatic Actor: Faran Haroon Tahir, 48.

Tahir was born in LA to Pakistani UCLA alumni and brought up in Lahore. He studied theater at UC Berkeley and Harvard, leading to an impressive career on Star Trek, Iron Man, Charlie Wilson’s War, Grey’s Anatomy, and Blue Bloods. He can next be seen in Jinn (written/directed by Pakistani Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad), Two Mothers (with Mahnoor Baloch as the parents of a boy blown up in a US shopping mall), Ashes (set in inner-city NY), and the sci-fi TV series, Warehouse 13. “There are scripts that are written with a certain stereotypical angle, but I think it's not for nefarious reasons, and maybe I can go in, create a dialogue and change a few things on it,” he said in 2009. Tahir lives in San Diego with his wife and two children.

2. The Rom-Com Starlet: Dilshad Vadsaria, 33.

Karachi-born Vadsaria is ethnically Pakistani, Indian and Portuguese. She plays Rebecca Logan, daughter of a US senator, on the hit TV series Greek. Vadsaria grew up in Chicago, Virginia, and Philadelphia and attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. “Even though I moved around a lot in the States, every state is very different, people are different, the cultures different. So I became very sensitive to all of that,” she said in 2009. Vadsaria currently appears in the comedy caper, 30 Minutes or Less, with Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari.

3. The Screenwriter: Kamran Pasha, 39.

Pasha was born in Karachi and grew up in New York.  He has JD, MBA and MFA degrees from Cornell, Dartmouth and UCLA respectively and worked for The Wall Street Journal and a law firm before his Hollywood career. A writer and co-producer of Sleeper Cell and other TV dramas, Pasha’s interest in retelling history from the Muslim perspective led to the novels, Mother of the Believers (the rise of Islam from Hazrat Aisha’s viewpoint) and Shadow of the Swords (a Crusades-era saga about Saladin the Great and Richard the Lionheart tussle over Jerusalem as well as Miriam, a beautiful Jewess). Pasha’s next project is an epic film, The Voyage of Ibn Battuta.

4. The Sitcom Star: Iqbal Theba, 47.

This Karachi native has had memorable roles on Married With Children, Friends, Nip/Tuck and ER, but it’s his iconic characterization of Principal Figgins on the hit musical Glee that’s made him a household name. Theba studied engineering and acting at Oklahoma U and struggled as a waiter while auditioning for acting gigs. He can currently be seen playing a UN Secretary General on Transformers 2—Dark of the Moon, a far cry from his first on-screen stint as a cab driver on Seinfeld. “As ‘brown people,’…we also have a responsibility to get up and be counted,” he said in an interview. “You cannot underestimate the positive impact a friendly brown face can have by appearing in people’s living rooms all across the country.”

5. The News Anchor: Syma Chowdhry, 30.

This well-groomed New Jersey native and Telly award winner has a Pakistani father and an Indian mother. Chowdhry studied broadcasting at Temple and won top three positions on Miss Pennsylvania, Miss New Jersey and Miss Central Coast pageants. After appearing on MTV, The Rachael Ray Show and Law & Order, she scored local news anchoring positions and got her big break from CBS (a major TV network) as their Detroit anchor, where she currently hosts First Forecast Mornings.

6. The Comedian: Kumail Nanjiani, 33.

A KGS alum, Nanjiani grew up in Karachi and developed a taste for stand-up comedy while an undergrad at Grinnell. His success in the indie comedy scene led to a multi-city ‘Unpronouncable’ tour (sample joke: "Shave the mustache. There's a fine line between Tom Selleck and Saddam Hussein”). Coveted appearances on shows hosted by David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon, and parts on The Colbert Report, Michael & Michael Have Issues and Life As We Know It contributed to his fan base. He once said, “There are a lot of roles out there that are stereotypical…I made the decision that I wouldn’t do a part where I had to put on a thicker accent. It just gets hard for me to distinguish whether something is funny because it’s funny or because it’s a stereotype.” Ironically, his big break came in the form of Pindar Singh, a computer geek with a strong Indian accent, starring on the new legal drama, Franklin & Bash. Nanjiani lives in LA with his wife.

7. The Playwright: Ayad Akhtar, 40.

The son of Pakistani parents, Akhtar grew up in Wisconsin and studied film at Brown and Columbia. His writing/acting credits include The War Within (nominated for an Independent Spirit Award) and Too Big To Fall (about a crisis at the US Treasury Department). Akhtar addresses Pakistani-American identities in his stage plays, The Invisible Hand and Disgraced, and his soon-to-be-released debut novel, American Dervish.

8. The Character Actor: Geoffrey Arend, 33

The product of a Pakistani mother and Caucasian (possibly Jewish) father, Arend attended performing arts schools—high school at LaGuardia, Tisch at NYU, and London’s Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art. After small parts on Super Troopers, Bubble Boy and 500 Days of Summer, the New Yorker got his big break starring as Dr. Elliot Gross in the new medical drama series, Body of Proof. "He's amazing," said his wife, Christina Hendricks of Mad Men, in an interview. "He's half Pakistani, and he has these thick, gorgeous curls that drive me crazy.” 

9. The Soap Star: Christel Adnana Mina Khalil, 23

This LA native is famous for her Daytime Emmy award-nominated career as Lily Winters in the long-running Young and the Restless (Y&R). Khalil has a Pakistani father and is a blend of African American, Native American and Caucasian from her mother’s side. Childhood acting classes led to parts on That’s So Raven, Malcolm In The Middle, W.I.T.C.H., and Y&R. “There are a lot of parts I haven't got because they couldn't define my look. ‘Oh, you're not black enough, you're not Hispanic enough,’” she once said in an interview. “If it's a role within a family, I wouldn't get it because I didn't look enough like the rest of the family. It definitely has affected my career, but not in a good way.” Khalil is married to singer Stephen Hensley and has a son.

The Muslim experience in Hollywood:

“I don’t know if, ironically, it was because I was raised as a Muslim in the (American) South, but I realized the value in being true to who you really are. I’m used to always being different, in any context…Two Muslim girls can write me two extremely different letters—and they do. Some are very supportive, and some question what I do.”
Noureen DeWulf, actor (The Back-up Plan)

“Growing up in the ‘heartland,’ I became acutely aware that my peers didn’t know what to make of Islam. It wasn’t ignorance; they were good, smart people.”
Ayad Akhtar, writer/actor (American Dervish)

"There aren't many Muslims in Hollywood, but there are stories that need to be heard, and Muslims like me should be the ones telling those stories."
Kamran Pasha, screenwriter (Sleeper Cell)

“When [Muslim youth] turn on the television and hear someone else's interpretation of their religion and way of life and hear it associated with violence and hate, that's tough.”
Qasim ‘Q’ Basir, director (Mooz-lum)

Aisam’s love match!

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/6956/aisams-love-match/

(Above: This Wimbledon photo of Faha, at right, with prospective sister-in-law, made the rounds on Facebook & Twitter)

It seems that golden boy Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi will be married to more than just tennis soon. The 31-year-old athlete, peacemaker and teen-girls’ pin-up of choice has reportedly cemented a rishta with long-time love, Faha Akmal Makhdum, a British-Pakistani native of Suffolk.

Haq and Makhdum will be officially engaged next week and reports indicate that no fans are invited (no, that wasn’t a wind storm, it was a collection of sighs).

The betrothal announcement caused a viral explosion hailing from the blogosphere and torpedoing its way to the twittersphere, to the simultaneous clickety-clicks of text messagers and facebookers across Pakistan and even India. Although most people wish Aisfaha well, there are many broken hearts (average age: 18) seeking solace in a couple of scoops at The Hot Spot.

Fan reactions:

Facebook

Bhabiii ;) – Athar Ahmed, a fan of the Aisam & Rohan page

Naiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii – Asia Batool, a fan of theAisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (official) page

Twitter

@nooransarii: Aisam ul Haq getting engaged?? Wtf!? Oh well I’m taken too so its ok I guess.. :(

@mahobili: I wonder what it would have felt like if I were Aisam’s fiancée? Or wasim akram’s wife? Or imran khan’s girl friend?

@sanakazmi: ay hai. RT @kalsoom82 Aisam Qureshi getting hitched! I can just hear the collective female disappointment

@SundusRasheed: bad news everyone – aisam-ul-haq is getting married…..

@yumnna: Aisam-ul-Haq getting married. As long as he is not getting married to Bopanna.

@Hafsa_Khawaja: just got introduced to Aisam’s uncle by Abu right now. Leh, hun kee faida? Aisam’s getting married next year -_- #FAIL

The soon-to-be First Lady of Pakistani Tennis has impressive educational credentials, which will help her carve a place above the typical Wife and Girlfriend (WAG) spendthrift-hottie category. A career of her own ensures that she does not simply bask in her husband’s glory or sulk in his shadow, like many current WAGs in the worlds of ootball, Basketball and Cricket.

WAGs who are equally or more famous than their athlete hubbies/boyfriends, and not worthy of this derogatory title, include the following:

1. Giselle Bundchen (married to US American-football player Tom Brady)

2. Victoria Beckham (married to British footballer David Beckham)

3. Sania Mirza (married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik)

4. Steffi Graf (married to American tennis player Andre Agassi)

5. Hilary Duff (married to Canadian hockey player Mike Comrie)

6. Khloe Kardashian (married to American basketball player Lamar Odom)

7. Kim Kardashian (engaged to American basketball player Kris Humphries)

8. Elizabeth Hurley (current girlfriend of Australian cricketer Shane Warne)

9. Irina Shayk (current girlfriend of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo)

10. Jemima Goldsmith (was married to Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan)

11. Reena Roy (was married to Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan)

12. Sangeeta Bijlani (was married to Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin)

13. Sushmita Sen (romantically linked to cricketer Wasim Akram)

Brown is the New Black: South Asians breaking into mainstream Hollywood

South Asians in Hollywood: From fringe to mainstream

By Laaleen Khan

Published: July 6, 2011

http://tribune.com.pk/story/203704/south-asians-in-hollywood-from-fringe-to-mainstream/

ISLAMABAD: 

It seems that brown is the new black, and there’s no going back! The fast-growing South Asian-American demographic has led to some major changes in Hollywood studios. Motion pictures, sitcoms and TV dramas that started off featuring requisite African American, Hispanic and Asia-Pacific characters to represent diversity now also feature desis as bit part extras, token sidekicks, or prominent protagonists, not counting the production crew behind the scenes.

This is a significant leap for the Indo-Pak talent pool that’s been trying to break into the mainstream entertainment world, struggling to pay the bills while working in indie (independent) films on a shoestring budget.

Although there are several Hollywood heavyweights of South Asian ancestry working behind the scenes (M Night Shyamalan — born Manoj Nelliyatu Shyamalan, Tariq Anwar, Shekhar Kapur and Mira Nair), casting South Asians in mainstream Anglo-Hollywood projects has traditionally been limi-ted to projects set in the British Raj (Art Malik and Zia Mohyeddin), or with a backdrop of Third World squalor (Shabana Azmi and Om Puri), and even in soap operas, cast as randy Arab sheikhs (Kabir Bedi). Things have now changed, however; while actor Kal Penn (born Kalpen Suresh Modi) played teenaged Iranian-American terrorist Amer Ahmed on “24”, he also had the plum comedic role of Kumar in the Harold & Kumar films (the third instalment is out next Christmas).

It’s also likely that more and more desis are choosing film and theatre degrees as an alternative to traditional academic choices like medical, business, IT and law degrees. As a result, Hollywood’s new Indo-Pak breed is an eclectic group of trained, talented professionals whose craft humanises otherwise one-dimensional portrayals of South Asians as either insane terrorists in dram-atic features or goofy con-venience store clerks with an appalling accent in ensemble comedies (like Apu Nahasapeemapetilan on “The Simpsons”, as voiced by Hank Azaria). Although there are still plenty of computer geek and doctor parts for mocha-hued actors in mainstream Hollywood, they are now part of a wider spectrum of characterisations that include: The lovelorn co-worker (Kelly Kapoor, as played by Mindy Kaling, born Vera Chokalingam, in “The Office”); the geeky friend/colleague (Kunal Nayyar plays Raj Koothrappali on “Big Bang Theory” and Vik Sahey plays Lester Patel on “Chuck”); the boisterous college student (Kal Penn as Taj in Van Wilder 1 and 2); the rich playboy (Anil Kapoor as Brij Nath in Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol); the cancer-stricken surfer dude (Manish Dayal is Raj Kher on “90210”); the savvy British Asian doctor (Parminder Nagra as Dr Neela Rasgotra on “ER” and Reshma Shetty as Divya Katdare on “Royal Pains”); the pendu-but-likable Pakistani exchange student (Adhir Kalyan plays Raja on “Aliens in America”); the thwarted ex (Noureen DeWulf plays Melanie in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past); the attractive mathematician (Navi Rawat plays Amita Ramanujan on “Numb3rs”); the forbidden love interest (Bipasha Bashu is Tulaja Naik inSingularity); and the refreshingly non-Muslim comic-book villain (Irrfan Khan as Nels van Adder/Proto-Goblin in the upcoming The Amazing Spider Man).

In fact, actors with South Asian ancestry, including biracial ethnicities, are even getting cast for parts that could have been written for Caucasians, Hispanics or Italians: Aasif Mandwi played neurotic literary editor Bob Spaulding in Sandra Bullock’s The Proposal; Kal Penn was Dr Lawrence Kutner on “House MD”; Aziz Ansari  played Eugene in I Love You Man, Matty in Get Him to the Greek, and the hilarious Tom Haverford in “Parks and Recreation”; Aishwariya Rai Bachchan was cast as the feisty Mira in The Last Legion and Sonia Solandres in Pink Panther 2; Rhona Mitra’s savvy lawyer Tara Wilson moved from “The Practice” to “Boston Legal”; and Janina Gavankar, who played the Eva Torres in “The L Word”, is “True Blood’s” latest shape shifter in the form of Luna Garza.

International crossovers, between commercial Bollywood, the indie film festival circuit and mainstream Hollywood, create a more sophisticated global audience which appreciates — and expects — multiculturalism on screen as well as behind the camera.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2011.

On being South Asian in Hollywood:

“People who aren’t ethnic are just actors. There are not ‘white actors.’ Why do we have to be Indian actors? Why do we have to be Asian actors? Why do we have to be black actors? Why can’t we all just be actors? I’m just trying to be good at what I do, and it should be good enough...We are the generation who has been living a double-life — we’re doctors, lawyers, engineers, but we’re also artists. I think the next generation is going to be able to show their parents that this is an honorable profession and you can actually make a living. It’s really, really hard, but it is still worthy of a life, if you are dedicated to it.” Janina Gavankar (True Blood)

“The Indian parts that I’ve played, like in ‘The English Patient’ or ‘Kama Sutra,’ are parts that white people would have given their left arm to be able to play. That said, it’s always refreshing when something like “Easy” comes up where how it’s written in the script has nothing to do with India or race or color or any of that s**t...I think one of the reasons why I was pleased to do it (Bride and Prejudice) is because it’s one of those rare times where things aren’t defined by race or anything as boring as that…And obviously I’m talking to you now…not like the geezer on ‘The Simpsons.’” Naveen Andrews (Lost)

“There’s always been opportunity for me. If the role calls for a forty-something cabbie that doesn’t speak English, I’ll probably get a call, you know? But I get to make a living doing what I love, so it’s great.”  Iqbal Theba (Glee)

“It’s always difficult for any actor to break out of ‘type’ and ‘typecasting,’ and especially when you first start out, the first few years are particularly rough. I have been fortunate in my opportunities, and have now in the last 2 years, finally been able to work with amazing directors, writers, and producers who truly think outside the box. But it’s always an uphill battle trying to convince someone that you’re right for a role that they may have envisioned differently. Hopefully that continues to change for the better -- I think it’ll ultimately provide more equal opportunities, and better products for audiences.” Kal Penn (House)

Mon Dieu! A 'beta' (son) for Bruni-Sarkozy

Mon Dieu! A ‘beta’ (boy) for Bruni?

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/6767/a-beta-for-bruni/

Life in the upper echelons of European society can sometimes be as gender biased as it is on our side of the globe. On the one hand, there’s Drottningholm Palace of Sweden, that has followed equal primogeniture in their law of succession since 1980, while Buckingham Palace that plans to do the same to enable William and Kate’s firstborn boy or girl to succeed to the throne after the future King William. Then, on the other hand, there’s Èlysée Palace, home to President Sarkozy of the Republic of France, where (as reports suggest) the First Lady, Ms. Carla Bruni, is desirous of producing a mini-Sarkozy to uplift their public image and help her husband win another presidential term.

According to various sources, the glamorous, 44-year-old Carla Bruni prayed to specifically conceive a baby boy when visiting the shrine of Hazrat Salim Chisti in Fatehpur Sikhri, India, with her 56-year-old husband last winter. Why would an accomplished, wealthy celebrity, one-half of progressive France’s power couple who already have a total of 4 sons and 1 grandson between them, be so interested in producing yet another male child?

After all, the celebrity world does not reflect a partiality toward little boys in its obsession with celeb baby bumps. In fact, the paparazzi seem more ‘focused’ on female celebrity offspring: the media’s darling is little Suri Cruise and her million dollar wardrobe and antics and, probably, Baby Beckham #4 (David and Victoria Beckham are ecstatically expecting a baby girl this week after producing their mini-football team of three sons, and we can expect her to be photographed a lot more than her brothers).  

On the global political arena, there are no less than twenty female heads of state in office at the time of this article (twenty eight if you count monarchs). In many Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries with an inherent machismo culture, an infant phallus is often preferred to little female bundles of joy. One can even assume this to be the case in some traditional Italian families, where men continue to live with their mothers well into their middle age so there is a strong maternal longing for producing sons. However, this is hardly expected in très libéral, unconventional France, where hejab is illegal, extramarital affairs are an acceptable mode of society, and where women are certainly not pressured to produce sons. So it’s flabbergasting that the country’s First Lady inexplicably prayed for another son at a Sufi mazar.

Pregnancy rumours:

“I would love to have children with Nicolas. I hope to, if I am young enough. It would be a dream.” (Carla Bruni, Vanity Fair magazine, 2008).

Gala magazine reported Bruni’s desire in 2009 to have a male child with Sarkozy in 2012 and, failing to do so, planned to adopt one. This year, Bruni fuelled rumours by replacing her slinky gowns and stilettos with looser silhouettes and ballet flats.  She also declined to attend the premiere of her Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which led to further speculation in the French media. The June cover for Elle magazine (French edition) only served to confirm the pregnancy, depicting Bruni with a generous abdomen and a glowing complexion.

A brood of boys:

From their previous relationships, Bruni has eight-year old Aurelian, and Sarkozy has 25-year-old Pierre, 23-year-old Jean (whose wife Jessica has had a baby boy), and 12-year-old Louis—a considerable amount of testosterone as it is! The President’s father, Pal Sarkozy, expressed the hope that couple’s future child would be “a girl as beautiful” as his daughter-in-law even though the couple reportedly seems disinterested in having a daughter.  Carla herself was born from a love affair between her mother, concert pianist Marisa Borini, with a young Brazillian classical guitarist, Maurizio Remmert. Carla grew up thinking that her step father, the late Italian billionaire Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, was her biological father. An heiress, model and pop star, Bruni has had several high profile romances with celebrities including Mick Jagger, and her son Aurelian was the result of a relationship with then-married philosopher Raphael Enthoven.  After being introduced to Nicolas Sarkozy at a dinner party by advertising executive Jacques Seguela, the divorced President Sarkozy said to her, “You’ll be my Marilyn to my JFK” (as described in Seguela’s biography). Eighty days later, they were husband and wife.

Mujhe larka de ('give me a son'):

Last winter, the Sarkozys made an official trip to India and paid a visit to the mazar of Hazrat Shaikh Salim Chisti in Fatehpur Sikhri, famed for assisting childless people with conceiving male children including Emperor Akbar, whose wife Jodha conceived Prince Salim (later Emperor Jehangir) soon after visiting Salim Chisti and built the shrine afterwards. With Bruni wearing a shawl atop her head, the couple wore soft soled socks and carried a blanket of roses as an offering and tied a kalava at the latticed marble windows of the dargah before requesting a qawwali from Aziz Chisti. The Sarkozys also spoke with the mazar’s ancestral guardian, Peerzada Rais Mian Chisti:

“I told them this (shrine) grants wishes to (the) jobless, unmarried and childless. He (Sarkozy) asked me to pray for him and wish him success ... Carla said ‘Pray for me, I want a son’ and I prayed for them…They followed the customs and seemed very happy...Begum Sarkozy (is an) extremely family oriented lady” (Sources: PTI, The Telegraph and Sufitimes.com).

Un petit garçon:

In recent months, Bruni’s mother mentioned that she was expecting a grandchild, while the couple’s matchmaking friend, Jacques Seguela, confirmed that it was a boy in an interview with Le Soir magazine.

A political tool?

The Sarkozys aren’t exactly the most popular couple in France at the moment; last year, Carla Bruni was voted France’s most irritating celebrity in a poll, while Sarkozy came in fourth in France’s most irritating politicians. European media mostly agrees that the birth is ideally timed before Sarkozy begins campaigning for the presidential elections in May 2012:

·      Le Post mocked the pregnancy with, “Is this child going to appear at birth with a press release aimed at disproving everything ever said about its parents?”

·      Gala magazine reported, “The child would also be a way of silencing everything that has been said and written about their relationship in the French media.”

·      Le Parisien newspaper stated, “Carla Bruni's constant presence in the media clearly gets on a lot of people's nerves.”  

·      In a biography on Carla Bruni, author Besma Lahouri described her as being one of her husband's biggest handicaps to getting re-elected.

Can a Bruni-Sarkozy beta change all that? We’ll have to wait and see.