A Minute With: Ayesha Takia

MUMBAI: She was hailed as one of Hindi cinema’s most promising faces but Ayesha Takia chose to walk away from it all and concentrate on other things in life.

The 26-year-old actor is back on the big screen for now but isn’t promising to stay on. Takia spoke to Reuters about her sabbatical, what acting means to her and her latest film “Mod”.

Q: It’s been a long time since you’ve been seen on screen and even longer since you’ve been in a Nagesh Kukunoor film.
A: “I know. For me it’s been two-and-half years. Nagesh and me wanted to do something after ‘Dor’. Of course, ‘Tasveer’ happened but that was not magical so we wanted to do something like ‘Dor’ again. We kept discussing it and one day he called me out of the blue and said ‘do you want to do a film now because I have a script’. We found someone who wanted to make it and suddenly, somehow it all worked out. It was worth it because it has turned out to be a really special film.”

Q: What have you been doing? What’s stopped you from working?
A: “(Laughs) I wanted to consciously step away from things for a year. I have been here for eleven years. I started out when I was fifteen so I definitely needed a break. Everyone needs to step away and see their life as it is. Also, I knew that I wanted to travel after marriage. That was a priority. Business is also important to me, I am still learning from Farhan (Azmi, her husband). He obviously knows this really well and we have some dream projects that we are working on. We have a ten-room boutique hotel in Goa that we are working on right now.”

Q: So what did you see when you stepped back and looked at your life.
A: “I think we evolve with each year. You cannot be in the same place doing the same thing, day after day for so many years. For me, I need to explore other areas of my life, understand myself as a person in different ways. I cannot be putting on make-up, going to my van …listening to someone say ‘action’ all the time. How many days can you do that. How can you not want to know aspects of your life?”

Q: Did you have people advising you not to go on this sabbatical?
A: “Almost everyone told me I was getting married too early, that everything would be ruined. But I was clear that I didn’t want to put everything else in my life on hold till the camera and films got tired of me. I decide when I will do a film or get into business or anything else. Films cannot decide what I do in my life. Or else, I would be concentrating on the number game or getting a PR for myself.”

Q: But does that kind of attitude work in an industry like this one?
A: “It doesn’t actually. But I have been really lucky, I have always said that. I don’t think it can continue to work like that. Even now, I keep getting offers and I consider myself fortunate, because even as an actor, I have so many dos and don’ts as an actor too. I don’t know if it can work for everyone.”

Q: What are your dos and don’ts as an actor?
A: “Well, nothing in particular. Just some things that I am not comfortable doing. It has to with my moral fibre and I not saying anyone else is right or wrong. It’s just what I want to do or not.”

Firoz Nadiadwala to set-up state of the art film studio near Pune

Firoz Nadiadwala is certainly one of the most lavish producers in tinsel town. After producing several hit films, Firoz now plans to open a state of the art film studio on the outskirts of Pune.

To be called Nadiadwala Entertainment Technology (NET), the studio will be built on a 460 acre property and would also feature other amenities like a 3 star hotel, a 5 star hotel and a convention centre. This dream project of Firoz Nadiadwala is expected to cost over Rs.1000 crores.

Must say the film industry is surely going to get a boost if producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s dream project materialises.

US Immigration-DREAM Act

US Immigration-DREAM Act , Illegal immigrants have been waiting since President Barack Obama’s take over as President to see a new immigration law passed on behalf of the estimated 10-12 million undocumented immigrants in the US. Opponents see it as a back-door amnesty, and addressing students’ immigration status while other key immigration issues remain unresolved is proving difficult. They are of the opinion that the new act would encourage more foreigners to sneak into the United States in hopes of being legalized eventually.

The bill says candidates who are under 30 and high school graduates who have lived in the US illegally and continuously for the last five years may apply for conditional non-immigrant status. They can then earn legal immigrant status after ten years as a conditional non-immigrant and either two years of military service or two years in a four-year institution of higher education. Those who did not meet the requirements after ten years would lose their conditional nonimmigrant status, revert to the status they held before applying under the DREAM Act, and would be subject to immigration action including deportation.

Obama said, this vote is not only the right thing to do for a group of talented young people who seek to serve a country they know as their own by continuing their education or serving in the military, but it is the right thing for the United States of America. He further said, we are enriched by their talents and the success of their efforts will contribute to our nation’s success and security. Administration officials of white house have been pushing hard to persuade the public that passing the bill would support not only education and the economy, but even homeland security. The Senate will now make a procedural vote, but how the vote goes will likely have major implications for the DREAM Act and the future of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. If Republicans are successful in filibustering the bill from moving to the floor, the efforts might be dead. If, however, passed by the Senate, the DREAM Act might be a dream come true for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants including thousands of Pakistanis.

There is great need of projecting our country heritage and civilization proactively. It is unfortunate that our nation could not convince the world about the strength and soft image of Pakistan. Pakistan has a very rich heritage and custodian of very old best civilization. It is the acts of our citizens abroad which will prove or disprove the strength and good image of our nation. Patriotism is not a commodity which should be stitched to the sleeve; it is obvious to any foreigner when he or she interacts with Pakistanis. While interacting with the foreigner friends, we should be patriot with your country as well as new homeland.

We should remember that we are Muslims and our country’s birth is based on religious identity. Our religious enjoins upon every Muslim to abide by the laws of his own and his host country. All negative forces such as terrorism, sectarianism, fanaticism, violence and injustice must be discouraged and curbed everywhere.The world is the witness to this; just look around not only in Pakistan but all around the world. Just do whatever you do, but in an honest way. There is a tendency in our fellow Pakistanis to always come up with “new” remedies for old problems driven by quite real but often misdirected passion. Just try the boring old methods of honesty, hard work, empathy, ambition, etc.–you will be surprised with the results. We must continuously and forcefully spread the message of Islam, which is that of peace, tolerance and enlightenment. Islam enjoins upon us to be kind to all and tolerate way of life of others. It was the soft image of Islam, which helped in spreading Islam in the world. For Pakistan our founder Quaid-e-Azam also pleaded for peace within and peace without. This image building exercise cannot be undertaken overnight. It has to be a sustained projection over a prolonged period. The most important thing about the Pakistanis living abroad is that they should also retain their emotional, cultural and spiritual links with the country of their origin.

DREAM Act: US House votes to integrate young immigrants

The Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives narrowly passed a law seeking to offer a path to citizenship to young illegal immigrants who attend college or enroll in the military.

The so-called DREAM Act — Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010 — cleared the House 216 to 198. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a rights group, called the vote a major victory for equality.

But the bill now awaits action Thursday in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid is not expected to garner the 60 votes needed.
After repeated efforts failed to secure a comprehensive overhaul of the tattered immigration system in the United States — where some 11 million undocumented people are estimated to currently live — the bipartisan bill sought to better integrate children brought illegally to the country by their parents.

The measure narrowly applies to immigrants younger than 30 years old who arrived in the US illegally before they were 16, spent at least five years on US soil and have not had run-ins with the law. Candidates must also have earned a high-school degree, attend at least two years of college or serve in the military. President Barack Obama welcomed the vote, noting the Congressional Budget Office found the bill would cut the massive US deficit by 2.2 billion dollars over the next 10 years. This vote is not only the right thing to do for a group of talented young people who seek to serve a country they know as their own by continuing their education or serving in the military, but it is the right thing for the United States of America, he said in a statement urging the Senate to follow suit.He said the DREAM Act corrects one of the most egregious flaws of a badly broken immigration system. A flaw that forces children who have grown up in America, who speak English, who have excelled in our communities as academics, athletes or volunteers to put their lives and talent on hold at a great cost to themselves and our nation.Supporters say the move could help legalize the status of hundreds of thousands of youths who have been brought to the country illegally at no fault of their own.But Republicans criticized the bill as amnesty for illegal immigrants.About 40 House Democrats voted against the measure.In passing the DREAM Act, the House has taken an historic step forward to help motivated, bright young people fulfill their goals and aspirations, said ACLU Legislative Counsel Joanne Lin.This bill will help young people achieve their dreams and pursue a better future for themselves and for their families.Under current US immigration law, illegal immigrant youngsters cannot attend university even if they completed elementary, middle and high school in the United States and have been offered college scholarships.

KOHAT: Explosion rocks Khawasi Banda

KOHAT: Several persons feared killed in an explosion in Khawasi Banda near here.

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KOHAT: Explosion rocks Khawasi Banda

Despicable Me leads North American box office

LOS ANGELES: Despicable Me, a new 3D cartoon featuring the voice of Steve Carell as a bumbling super-villain, stole the top spot at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, signaling the entry of a pair of new rivals for Pixar and DreamWorks Animation.

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Despicable Me leads North American box office

Mark Twain tribute to daughter sells for $242,500

NEW YORK: A tribute written by American novelist and satirist Mark Twain to his daughter, who died of spinal meningitis at the age of 24, sold at auction on Thursday for $242,500, almost doubling pre-sale estimates.

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Mark Twain tribute to daughter sells for $242,500

Edinburgh book festival welcomes 750 authors

EDINBURGH, Scotland: Under new management, the Edinburgh International Book Festival will play host to at least 750 authors from 50 countries in August as it takes a philosophical look at where the world is headed.

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Edinburgh book festival welcomes 750 authors

Dreamworks says weak Shrek hurt Q2 earning

LOS ANGELES: Shares in DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc sank on Thursday after a senior executive warned that Shrek’s disappointing box office and a barren home video pipeline had hurt second-quarter profit.

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Dreamworks says weak Shrek hurt Q2 earning

star spangled banner lyrics

The Star Spangled Banner lyrics have been written by Dana Key’s ancestor
Banner” is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from “Defence of Fort McHenry”, a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men’s social club in London. 1″ />“The Anacreontic Song” (or “To Anacreon in Heaven”), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key’s poem and renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner”, it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth (“O thus be it ever when free men shall stand…”) added on more formal occasions. In the fourth stanza, Key urged the adoption of “In God is our Trust” as the national motto (“And this be our motto: In God is our Trust”). The United States adopted the motto “In God We Trust” by law in 1956.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

On September 3, 1814, Francis Scott Key and John Stuart Skinner set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS Minden, flying a flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their objective was to secure the exchange of prisoners, one of whom was Dr. William Beanes, the elderly and popular town physician of Upper Marlboro and a friend of Key’s who had been captured in his home. Beanes was accused of aiding the arrest of British soldiers. Key and Skinner boarded the British flagship HMS Tonnant on September 7 and spoke with Major General Robert Ross and then-Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane over dinner while the two officers discussed war plans. At first, Ross and Cochrane refused to release Beanes, but relented after Key and Skinner showed them letters written by wounded British prisoners praising Beanes and other Americans for their kind treatment.

Because Key and Skinner had heard details of the plans for the attack on Baltimore, they were held captive until after the battle, first aboard HMS Surprise and later back on the HMS Minden. After the bombardment, certain British gunboats attempted to slip past the fort and effect a landing in a cove to the west of it, but they were turned away by fire from nearby Fort Covington, the city’s last line of defense.

During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort’s smaller “storm flag” continued to fly, but once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

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