Kolkata vexations travel to Toronto

Samrat Chakrabarti who plays Krishna in The Waiting City is centre stage at the Toronto International Film Festival

On September 17, at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, Samrat Chakrabarti will walk the red carpet for the gala premiere of ‘The Waiting City’. A charming and multi-faceted actor, in the movie, Samrat portrays the character of Krishna, a hotel-worker who befriends an Australian couple who have traveled to Kolkata to collect their adopted baby.

As part of this latest offering by Australian director Claire Mc Carthy, starring Radha Mitchell, Joel Edgerton and Isabel Lucas, Samrat said, “I am proud of my work in the movie, and look forward to the premiere show.” ‘The Waiting City’ will have its world premiere screening at the Special Presentations line-up.

The Toronto International Film Festivalis arguably the world's biggest public film festival which drew more than 300,000 film-goers to the theatres last year, apart from 300 critics, and filmmakers from Hollywood and more than 50 other countries.

“Kolkata as a city in West Bengal, India is chaotic and crowded. Set against this exhilarating, epic background, it was impossible not to be affected by the place. As characters of ‘The Waiting City’, we were transformed by the people of the city and their powerful milieu,” confirms Samrat, who parenthetically has strong Bengal descent.

Born in London to immigrant parents from India, Samrat grew up in Boston. His métier as an actor began early, with his first big success as Ahmad in Spike Lee’s ‘She Hate Me’ with Jonh Turturro. This was followed by a string of projects which established him as a notable actor of South Asian Indian heritage.

- Samrat is best known for his role as Amir in Amyn Kaderali’s ‘Kissing Cousins’
- He has acted in diverse movies depicting the Indian experience in the American Diaspora such as Manish Acharya’s ‘Loins of Punjab Presents’ with Shabana Azmi where he plays Trance Sen
- In Sarba Das’s ‘Karma Calling’ which was screened at the Asian American International Film Festival in New York, Samrat played the role of a charming call centre employee in India – Rohit Rao – alias Rob Roy when calling Americans, who dreams of visiting New York.

- His international cinematic roles include ‘Sing Now or Forever Hold Your Peace’ with Molly Shannon and as Rakesh in The Bong Connection with Victor Banerjee.
- Samrat has also done cameo in Yash Raj and Kabir Khan’s ‘New York’ with Bollywood stars John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh.

Samrat is a Masters of Fine Arts for Advanced Theatre Training from Harvard University and has Honors Degree in Theatre from Brandeis University. He has made girriuest appearances on Television in Law & Order, Sopranos and Love Monkey to list a few. Samrat has also been active in stagecraft. His theatre credits include

- Nirad Das in Tom Stoppard ‘Indian Ink’ at The Missouri Repertory Theatre
- Arun in Saman Shad's ‘Lingering Voices’ at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- Desipina 7-11 Convenience Theatre in NYC

A multi-faceted artist, Samrat derives inspiration his from motion art, coupling music with theater. Working in various film industries, international cinema, television and theatre, Samrat's career spanning over 15 years, also has to his credit various national awards for his arrangements and compositions including a US Cara for best original pop/rock song, for his composition, ‘What's It all About’. He is a former member of the a capella group Five O' Clock Shadow. He was also a part of the group The Hyannis Sound. In 1998, he was in the group JYDE, which contained an original song ‘Starving’, written and arranged by Samrat. Most recently, he wrote, composed, performed, and produced the theme song, ‘Dhol Beat’, for the Indian hit film, ‘Loins of Punjab Presents’. He has produced and performed with various international acts (from Boston to Bollywood) and continues to do so.

Clipping of movie

Screening Schedule
- Thursday September 17 6:00PM Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
- Friday September 18 1:45PM Scotiabank Theatre 1
- Saturday September 19 6:15PM Varsity 8

Becoming a celebrity in 30 days

In the era bygone, publicists were primarily responsible for the success of newly-discovered movie artists and pop stars. After pumping in millions of dollars for promotion, the success most of them had can hardly be described as well-deserved.
But in this age of new media, you neither have to put up the glitz, nor dole out the moolah for a personal manager to help you gain stardom. All you need is to invest an hour of your time each day. These 60 minutes of your time will pave your path to stardom 30 days in the online media circuit. If you think I’m about to dole out some earth-shattering theory, you’ll be surprised to learn that most of you already use these tools. All you need to do now is to make a dedicated effort to direct these tools for a singular goal - to transform you into an online celeb.

Find a niche – This is the first and most important item on the checklist. You have honed skills, probably dabbled in lots of areas; find an area of expertise you enjoy the most.

Create your spot in the virtual world – Now that you have identified what your expertise are, go full steam to advertise them. Just the way advertisers promote products, use all your energies to expound on your skills. The easiest way to do this is by using a combination of new media tools viz. FaceBook, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, Wordpress, etc. You may be familiar with most of these online platforms, and may have used them to build your network, but now its time to use these contacts to position you as the most buzzing persona on the web. Let’s explore the plan of action.

The party begins – Put up posts, share links, videos, give advice, start conversations, ask questions, make comments, participate in webinars. You may already be doing all of this during your leisure period of Internet surfing, but now that you have clearly identified yourself as an expert with a niche, your responses, and shared information will be focussed sharply to further building your reputation, and establishing you as the authority in that area.

There are a bagful of people, who’d remain unknown for their work, if it wasn’t for the fame and fortune which shone upon them because of their smartly utilising the online medium. Some of the celebs you may have heard of are: Gary Vaynerchuk, Darren Rowse, Mari Smith and Jason Alba. Besides the fan-following, they are also earning bagfuls of money while the world sits back and reads in awe each time they present their views.

Now that isn’t all that hard for you, is it?

UAE lacks psychiatric care systems

Mental health issues are one of the main causes of suicide in the productive youth of UAE. According to Dr Ian Smith, President of mental health affairs in UAE, “One in four will get a mental illness at some point in their lifetime”.
Development of primary care system in psychiatry has been extremely slow in UAE. Patients cannot access medication as all drugs are classified under the same umbrella. However, the situation has slightly improved over a couple of years ago when psychiatrists couldn’t even prescribe a simple anti-depressant – now they can write two or three.
“Sedatives are dangerous drugs and need to be controlled, but anti-depressants are among the safest drugs,” vouches Dr Ian. “I am trying to get the restrictions lifted,” he added. Presently, Rashid Hospital, meant for secondary care services caters to most of the primary care cases.Also, there is no involvement of the private sector in mental health services. There is untapped potential in the private sector for psychiatric units. Unlike medical patients, psychiatric patients will stay for a month, and there will be hundreds queuing up. “I am not a businessman, but if I was, this is an opportunity of a lifetime,” he concluded.

Ticketless air travel in Middle East

Arab Airlines’ provides the lowest prices for air tickets in Middle East. Based on a low cost model of per single flight, customers can conveniently book tickets online, getting the lowest price even during peak season.
“Every airline controls their airfare and not the taxes,” said David Jones, CEO, Arab Airlines explaining on how this model works, “As demand increases, so does the price.” Prices can increase from 10-40% depending on the season.
Arab Airlines can maintain low prices by being totally ticketless. Tickets have printing and distribution costs, along with manpower for maintenance. “With today’s technology, you don’t need that,” adds David, “When you book a ticket, you get a code number. That’s all you need.”
They are educating customers to book online through collaterals, including in-flight magazines. Ticket sales online have grown to 23%, from 2% when they started two years.
Reflecting on the Middle East airlines industry, David said, “It was a profitable year. We are particularly chuffed with 2005 and did better than we had forecast.” Presently, they operate to some basic airports, but the concept is working and results are encouraging. Arab Airlines has set themselves bullish targets and are looking to outdo their business in 2006.

Go Gizmo

Boys have always loved toys, but girls aren’t behind in the game either. And they do it with panache. Here is a low-down on the must-have gadgets which will enhance your style-quotient instantly.
A book which doesn't run out of paper and a pen out of ink. No wizardry required for modern-day iball Digital Notepad on which you can draw or make notes. It holds up to 150 pages of handwritten notes which can be transferred to computer. Email the tailor to have your dress tailored, or send handwritten emails to friends…computer can be made truly ‘personal’ again.
OSIM helps you rid(e) away your fat. And this does not need heading for the closest race track; the ride comes home for you. iGallop is a mechanical saddle which moves the body in multiple directions giving a full body workout and melts away the fat.
Want to spice up the ride with music? Then you will love the techni-colour iPod Shuffle which can hold up to 240 songs. Tall as your little finger, this mp3 player is now available in vibrant tints - fuchsia pink, electric blue and lime green. Clip it on your collar or belt and rock on for 12 hours, non-stop.
Lost your way in the Ghats? Look up your camera! Exilim EX-S770, the digital camera from Casio can take maps you found on the internet, emails, even business documents. This is besides the 1739 pictures or 43 minutes of video you can take. A slim card camera in funky colours, slip it in your handbag and make any moment a best-shot.
Your nail chips in office or the keys fall in the dark at the doorstep? Hit SOS, or keep Miss Army Kit alongside. This pocket-sized pink kit fits in 16 disarming tools including knife and flashlight; needle, thread, and safety pin for wardrobe malfunctions; mirror, nail fileand perfume bottle for an unplanned date.
Shopping alone and can’t trust the sales woman’s advise? Snap a picture and ask your girlfriend for advice. With Intel UMPC aka Ultra Mobile PC access media and online content on the go. Chat, watch videos, go through presentation on your drive back home…everything you would do on your PC, scrunched in a handheld device.
Word of warning – these gizmos can get very addictive.

Marine Drive

Ariel acrobats. The Naval Parade. Mumbai Marathon. The Marine Drive has enchanted Mumbaikars and tourists alike. Proudly flaunted as the Queens Necklace, innumerable people head towards it after a back-breaking day at work to enjoy the steaming sun sizzle off into the depths of the Arabian Sea.

The panoramic view of the Marine Drive has fascinated me as long as I can remember. Awaking each morning, rushing to college was worth every bit for the sheer pleasure of a blissful drive across the Drive. But my fascination ran me into trouble one morning. As I gazed into the depths of the sea and rolling clouds above it, I failed to pay heed to the signal turning amber in time.

Brakes screeched. Rubber burnt. Managed to get a dent on the bumper and a swollen ankle. The driver right ahead of me had found a vent for his morning blues. I received a sound socking from him, though only verbal. Once he paused for a breath, I deftly pointed out that his vehicle hadn't received any blemishes. Speechless, he turned and drove away as I turned once again to soak in the sweet murmur of the rising tide.

Numerous memories have been etched at the Marine Drive. But this one never fails to amuse me.

Journalistic Disposition

These are some of my views on current media

Best aspect of being a journalist

A journalist holds the privilege of receiving information as a first-hand account, without any tint of judgment. He shoulders the responsibility of interpreting and analysing this information before dispensing the relevant news to the reading-audience. A journalist also possesses the authority to probe and question power-players, who are stakeholders of the society.

He secernates and reports about how their lives are being influenced each day through their surroundings. He thus has the power to shape their opinions basis his own interpretation; and grasp the undisputed faith of the reader.

Something interesting that happened recently

One afternoon, I was walking down Linking Road engrossed in typing a SMS to a friend. I saw a girl in a flowing skirt walking towards me, she too noticed me. We both gave a knowing smile and greeted each other as we reached earshot distance. A silent moment passed; neither of us could place each other, although both admitted that the other was a very familiar face.

She mumbled, "I'm sorry, I thought I knew you from school." "Oh! I thought we'd worked together in Crosswords," I replied sheepishly.

A quick apology was exchanged, after which we began to walk away. Just then something struck me! I ran back to her, "This is more than a mere coincidence! How can both us think we know each other?"

Her reaction was hesitation. I began to regret my hasty action. She held her hand forward and grinned, "Hi! I'm Shruti." Astonished, I grabbed her hand and introduced myself, and parted after exchanging mobile numbers.

I've been in touch with Shruti, mostly on chat. We are still trying to figure where we could have possibly met each other before. But can't locate that link...

Favourite publication

Mid-day is my favourite publication. I used to religiously pick it every afternoon while returning home from college; and have been hooked onto it ever since. The simple language, minus any jargon of this tabloid appeals to me which makes it reader-friendly.

Their journalists take up innovative assignments, such as spend the day in the shoes of people from different walks of life; eye-openers where officers are caught on camera taking bribe or lazing on duty. This captures the nuances which make the fabric of our city and captures its pulse in an innovative fashion.

These ground-breaking stories make the reader feel more involved.

A recent TV commercial that you thought was really effective.

The Pepsi bubbly ad is catchy and has worked effectively with the masses.

When the ad was first aired, it did not seem very appealing. But the jingle stuck in the head. And the ad has slowly grown on the public's mind.

Just as 'Thanda' became synonymous with Coke, Pepsi has now become synonymous with Bubbly. And this catch-line is not just targeting the rural-market.

Colleagues at work are overheard calling into the canteen to order a Bubbly, unlike the Thanda, which none of us would be caught dead asking for.