Amjad Ali Khan is one of the undisputed masters of the music world. Born to maestro Haafiz Ali Khan, he gave his first performance at the age of six and is credited with reinventing the technique of playing Sarod.

Over the course of a distinguished career spanning more than six decades, he has won numerous accolades including a Grammy nomination and three Padma awards. He has performed all over the globe with the best of artistes and remains as passionate about music as when he started as a little boy.

Many books have been written on Amjad Ali Khan but in the latest published by Penguin Master on Masters Amjad Ali Khan talks about the influences on his life.

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Today the graceful Waheeda Rehman of the Black and White and color movies turns 80. In an interview to me she said her generation of artists was not exposed to advanced technology and only relied on their instincts. “We worked at a slower pace and prided in our spontaneity.  “In those days it was unthinkable for a director to start a new scene on the same day. It was always a new mood and a new scene on the following day. Today so many disconnected scenes are shot on the same day and competently so. The post-production happens simultaneously at different places in different stages but this hasn’t diffused the magic of cinema which is wonderful. I feel we are making great films today and have terrific actors and technicians. I feel proud to be a part of Indian cinema that has completed more than 100 years and it is indeed a privilege to be born as an artist and lived such an enriching life.”

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Show business had a restricted interpretation when I became a journalist but today it has a wider appeal and wider connotation. It involved the media, the celebrities and the star brands. I have been writing about the film world for more almost four decades now and feel that insecurity is an overwhelming emotion in any creative profession.  In the media and the film fraternity, it is more so. Film stars are peddlers of emotion and, therefore, there are more emotional wrecks in the film world than in any other place. There is shame and scandal, exhibitionism and eccentricity, but there is also energy, a fatal attraction about the world of cinema that is obsessive. Once you’ve been a part of it you feel incomplete without it.

In the olden days the media meant just the print today we have electronic, digital, radio and more. I had never imagined that I would engage my audience in any other language except English but  2009 took me to not just another language/ Hindi but another medium/ Radio and though it was initially very difficult I eventually made friends with the microphone and love the idea of reviewing films/ talk shows on 92.7Big Fm.

Post my talk I drive to our Hyderabad studio and Jyoti has lined up an interview for me that goes but it is not all work and no play because post interview Jyoti treats me and my friends to an awesome lunch.

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The students have had an overdose of lectures and the professors feel they need to be entertained so Dr. Chinnadevi Singadi has worked on an audio-visual presentation of the lyrical journey of songs from Ghalib to Gulzar.  For the first time in all day, the hall is house full and every song is welcomed with claps and whistles. They are having a good time and it does not matter to anyone that the show has gone beyond their dinner time. That’s the power of entertainment.

During dinner, everybody is happy and still discussing the film scenes and songs. One of the students asks me what is my subject of talk the following morning and I say that since I am from the show business it is natural that I will talk about show business.

This is the third time I am sleeping in a university campus. The first time was at FTIII in Pune and the second time at JNU in Delhi, both large campuses surrounded by trees. The trees look very beautiful during the day but at night if you are not used to such quiet surrounding it can be rather scary.

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I am introduced to more Plenary Talk, this time on Indian and world theatre: classical, modern, contemporary. Prof Aparna Dharwadker, Dept of English and Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA discusses the detailing on stage and what makes theatre classic.

Dr. Mini Krishnan, Editor – Translations, Oxford University Press, India has a more interesting topic to elaborate and finally, there is a discussion on The Road Ahead for Indian Literatures joined by all the prominent guests invited from all over the country namely Prof Graham Huggan, Prof Vinay Dharwadker, Prof Aparna Dharwadker, Dr. Mini Krishnan, Prof T Vijay Kumar, Prof T Nageswara Rao and Dean EFLU, Prof Ramadevi Murru.

The world and life of these academics is a far cry from the world I live in and much as I am attracted to a life at a university campus I discover it is not easy. If you need anything from outside or from your guesthouse you have to walk a mile. The guest house though comfortable don’t have the amenities available even in a 3-star hotel and for those unexposed to austerity, this is a reality check for sure.

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In the morning Suresh Kumar, Vice Chancellor, EFL University was assigned to introduce the Keynote Speaker, Prof T Nageswara Rao, Dept. of IWL & Director and Educational Multimedia Research Centre. The topic is Re-evaluating the postcolonial exotic and another speech by Prof Graham Huggan, Chair of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Literatures in the School of English at the University Leeds, UK.

Post lunch the discussions become more serious. The topic is India Incorporated in the Canons of world Literature, whatever that is supposed to mean. It is the same venue, the same crowd and more or less the same professors. The discussion is very informative but I find it difficult to concentrate beyond a point so I take the liberty of walking out half way and spend time at the book corner where various books are spread out for public benefit. I spend time chatting with the publisher and ask her how she got involved with the university and if this is a regular feature to display books at all universities.

Very few students seem to be drawn to the bookstall; some of them appear interested but confess to me that they don’t have money to splurge on books because reading is a luxury for a student bogged down with assignments and deadlines.  The venue, however, is a big favorite with all the students because they like sitting by the pond and often fill the water with rose petals and floating candles. “We would love to fill it up with scented mogras but all of us are forever broke and never have the money for indulgences”.

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I have been invited by the English and Foreign Language University for a one day conference to Hyderabad and I am looking forward to the experience of spending time at the university campus. They have invited a number of speakers from prestigious universities in India and abroad and all of them have been put up at the university guest house.

On Day 1 the registrations begin in the foyer of the New Academic Block popularly recognized as the multipurpose hall for the inaugural session. Dr. Chinnadevi Singadi, Assistant Professor, Department of IWL & Joint Coordinator of the Conference makes the welcome address followed by Professor N. Ramadevi Murru, Dean, School of Literary Studies & Conference Coordinator making vital points on the purpose of this seminar.

It is a long morning of too many speeches and I decide to spend some time by myself in the wilderness of the campus.

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Eros International, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today the launch of Eros Now Short Movies on Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform. The first of the short movies, produced by multi-talented artist Ayushmann Khurrana’s Toffee, co-produced with casting director Mukesh Chhabra and directed by Tahira Kashyap premieres today on Eros Now.

2017 witnessed an emerging trend of short movies on OTT platforms, which have been widely appreciated by viewers. Recognizing the trend and its fast-growing popularity, Eros Now is one more production house to provide a new platform to showcase talent. It will aggregate and showcase the choicest Shorts one each month to its subscribers globally.

Their first film Toffee has already garnered critical appreciation at various festivals including the 30^th Cinekid International Film Festival, Amsterdam, the 14^th Bahamas International Film Festival and MAMI and nominated for the Best Film at the Filmfare Short Film Awards 2018, a category specially created by the popular awards owing to its growing status.

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