Turning Wounds Into Wisdom The Shenpenn Khymsar Way!
“In order to write about life, you must first live it.” – Ernest Hemingway
He writes poetry in four languages, pens lyrics in three, is a monster shredder who composes rock to heavy metal to pop to Spanish to mellow romantic numbers to dark music alike. If that isn’t enough, he is a world-acclaimed Tibetan activist, international rock-u-mentary filmmaker and now writer-director Shenpenn Khymsar is rewriting history by making Broken Wings, the first Nepali-Hindi-English film from Darjeeling, 72 years after Indian independence.
“Broken Wings is the first true representation of the Northeast. To an average Indian, Nepali means momos, security guards and a regiment. In an artistic sense, I am asking for inclusion of people from the Northeast.”
It has not been an easy journey for Khymsar. Born in exile, the struggle to find his true self and the want to go back home seems an eternal quest. “Tibet needs to be free,” he says simply. The rebel in Khymsar has always tried to rebuild his broken wings through the medium of cinema. His unconventional effort of combining political filmmaking with entertainment, mirroring the frustration of an entire young generation in the hills of North-Eastern India is evident in both his documentary ‘Journey of a Dream’ and his current feature, Broken Wings.
( Filmmaker Shenpenn Khymsar )
( Filmmaker Shenpenn Khymsar with Actor Vinay Pathak )
( Filmmaker Shenpenn Khymsar with Actor Randeep Hooda )
“Life has never been easy. There have been times when I was depressed, rebellious, angry and could not rationally articulate happenings. What kept me going were my dreams.”
The autodidact artist in Khymsar worked on his Hindi, studied scriptures from the Bhagavad Gita to the Upanishads, the Vedas, the Nalanda tradition besides mastering Urdu poetry. When it comes to Shenpenn Khymsar, it looks like victory is the only way forward for a person who refuses to go down to destiny!
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Real Life Aarya – Sushmita Sen Loves Reel Life Sampat Portrayed By Vishwajeet Pradhan
Miss Universe-turned-Actor Sushmita Sen took to Social Media platforms beginning her appreciation post with “Naam kafi hai.” Meet Vishwajeet Pradhan, the Indian Entertainment industry’s rediscovery, all set to win our hearts again with the Sushmita Sen starrer, ‘Aarya’.
Having been a part of the Indian Entertainment industry for over three decades now, the acclaimed film fraternity veteran Vishwajeet Pradhan’s character takes the centre stage as the indispensable Henchman for the mob boss in Disney+ Hotstar’s latest web-series, Aarya.
Sushmita Sen’s social media platform post read, “Introducing #Sampat (Vishwajeet Pradhan’s character) in #Aarya. A strong presence with an ability to turn any character into a living being!!!? I love his accents..A gifted actor that can seamlessly add humour to even a most volatile character!!!What a privilege to have you be a part of #aaryafamily @vishwajeetpradhan. Love & Respect!!!”
Acknowledging Sushmita’s sweet gesture and appreciation post, an overjoyed Vishwajeet reposts, “#thankyou #sushmitasen #wonderwoman #actress #mother. What a pleasure working with you !!”
Vishwajeet’s fandom was also seen on both, Sushmita as well as his, social media posts where they were complimenting the actor’s stellar performance, some particularly appreciating the his adopted accent for the show!
What more to expect from this versatile actor? Stay tuned.
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Naarad PR and Image Strategists
M: 9820535230, 8007476464
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Kamala Harris’s Rise Sends A Message Of Hope To Young Girls Of Colour And Every Immigrant In The US – Tel K Ganesan
US State Senator, politician, lawyer and Vice-Presidential running mate Kamala Devi Harris has scripted history by being the first Indian-American or African-American woman to be appointed as the Vice-Presidential running mate.
It is a known fact that Kamala Harris has a huge support base in the Indian-American community. Indian-born Hollywood producer, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur Tel K Ganesan is excited at the power push for the senator as it “sends a message of hope to young girls of colour, and any immigrant, for that matter.”
Ganesan, who met Harris at Detroit, Michigan during her political run for the primary race of the Democratic presidential ticket, avers that Harris is “high energy, positive, upbeat and a bubbly person.” Ganesan had an instant connect with her. “We shared wonderful, happy moments. She is very friendly. It is much like talking to a friendly neighbour.” Both Ganesan and Harris’s mother Shyamala Gopalan hail from Chennai. “We very briefly spoke in Tamil – vanakkam and nandri. We did talk about sambar,” he grins.
Though Harris considers herself black, she has also spoken of her Indian roots. Harris has worked in international development around the world and return to live in villages throughout India in the mid-90s. Her matrilineal family of strong South Indian women has always been her inspiration. Her mother is a Tamilian from Chennai, and had moved to the US for higher studies. Her father is Donald Harris, of Jamaican descent. Ganesan is very proud of Harris’s achievement. “As an immigrant, it is a great inspiration. She already has a track record of breaking barriers. She started off as the first person of color in the office of the district attorney in San Francisco as a tough prosecutor and later as California Attorney General before winning the Senate seat four years ago. Harris is also the first person of Indian descent to ever get on the presidential ticket. Harris amassed more than $35 million over 11 months despite challenges that black women candidates face in raising money. If the Biden-Harris ticket wins, Harris will be the highest-ranking female US official in the country’s 244-year history. And it is not just that, Biden who would be 78 if he wins, might only serve a single four-year term, instantly making Harris a leading 2024 Democratic Presidential contender. She serves on several high-profile committees in the Senate including the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee.”
Ganesan believes that such a historic move is only possible in a country like the United States. “Hope fuels life and hope fuels opportunities. This will address the bottom-line issue of under-representation of women and minorities on US public company boards and will match the changing demographics we are experiencing in the country today.”
[ Senator Kamala Harris with US Presidential Candidate Joe Biden (above), and Serial Entrepreneur-Mentor- Hollywood Filmmaker Tel K. Ganesan (below) ]
Statistics reveal that 42% of women in the US have faced gender discrimination at work. Even in the military, women represent 16% of the enlisted forces and 19% of the office corps. “Kamala Harris’s rise opens up the dream of women and minorities sharing the same power, privileges, rights and opportunities as the privileged and is a giant stride for women in politics. India and Pakistan have had women in political power, but for the US, this is a first. A person born of immigrant parents running for the second highest position in the land, shows us the impossible is possible. It reinforces that the American Dream is still alive and well.”
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LA filmmaker Atul Arora To Team With Kangana Ranaut For A Woman-Based Drama
ATUL ARORA, Los Angeles resident and comfortable making films on all kinds of genre; especially on human relationship will be teaming up with multiple-award winning Indian actress and filmmaker KANGANA RANAUT for a magnum dream opus.
Speaking about the development director Atul Arora reveals, “The subject is woman-oriented and for Kangana ji it is a tailor made character. I have been informed that ad-filmmaker Pratik who has written the film has narrated the script to Kangana Ji and her sister Rangoli ji (who handles her business affairs too). They have immensely liked it and that the talented actress may give her nod to work with me. If Kangana ji agrees and finalise this project then I feel it will be a blessing in disguise for me.”
Atul Arora is a die-hard fan of Hollywood’s two different creative directors – the insightful Christopher Nolan and the energetic Quentin Tarantino who loves cinema in its purest form. While from Bollywood he is impressed with the grand story-teller Sanjay Leela Bhansali and dynamic Nagesh Kukunoor that inspires and adds fuel to his creative urge.
Understanding the nuance and rationale behind their works, director Atul Arora is all geared up to put his full steam in his dream project which will feature Kangana Ranaut.
The multiple award winner Kangana Ranaut will now be seen in a multilingual (Hindi, Tamil & Telugu) biographical film “Thalaivi”; where she is playing the role of J. Jayalalitha, the late politician and film actress who served six terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The actress has made her presence felt with different kind of roles from her debut film “Gangster” (2006) to “Life in a Metro” (2007), “Fashion” (2008), “Raaz…The Mystery Continues” (2009) followed by films like “Queen” (2013), “Tanu Weds Manu” (2011), “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” (2015), “Krrish 3” (2013), “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi” (2019) and the latest release “Panga” (2020) amongst many others.
Atul completed his graduation in B.A. from Lucknow from where he hails from. Having canned many documentaries and commercials including short movies in Lucknow and Hollywood; was also associated in various departments with major films filmed at his hometown like Anil Sharma’s “Gaddar…Ek Prem Katha”; J.P. Dutta’s “L.O.C: Kargil”; Chandan Arora’s “Main Meri Patni Aur Woh” (2005) starring Rituparna Sengupta – Rajpal Yadav and produced by Ronnie Screwvala; Ashu Trikha’s “Baabarr”; Abhishek Chaubey’s “Ishqiya” and its sequel “Dedh Ishqiyaan”; Maneesh Sharma’s “Ladies v/s Ricky Behl”; Habib Faisal’s “Ishaqzaade”; Tigmanshu Dhulia’s “Bullett Raja”; Mudassar Aziz’s “Pati, Patni Aur Woh”; Soumik Sen’s “Why Cheat Indiaj”; Nikhil Advani’s “Batla House”; Pushpendra Nath Mishra’s “Ghoomketu” amongst others.
Meanwhile, Atul Arora’s another directorial venture – again a woman-oriented Hindi feature film “Afsana” on brothel with the Lucknowi culture and background is in the pipeline of release. The film introduces young model Arpita Shrivastava in the title role. Marathi actor Harsh Kulkarni makes his Hindi debut with this film. N.R. Shivange who has made four successful Marathi films is the producer while Furqan Qureshi is the executive producer.
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