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Showing posts from July, 2018

Meet the quirky director of Fanney Khan

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Film Director, Atul Manjrekar An interview by Abigail Mathias  He was one of the silliest guys in college. Walked around with a red bandana singing Kishore Kumar songs. At least that’s how I remember my friend, Atul Manjrekar. Cut to 20 years later. And now Atul is the director of a major Bollywood film, a musical drama, called  Fanney Khan . The film stars leading actors Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Rajkumar Rao. Thankfully Atul is still the pun cracker I remember, except he is clearly in another league. Atul’s first feature film will release in a few days and I can’t help but beam with pride. The film has already crossed many millions in trailer views on YouTube. Fanney Khan is played by the ever-youthful Anil Kapoor, who’s struggling to fulfill the dreams of his daughter, Lata who wishes to be a singer. The film releases in India on August 3. It’s taken me three days to get 10 minutes to talk to the busy director. “Aren’t you excited that your first b

Meeting a descendant of the Mahatma - by Abigail Mathias | Kuwait Times

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Click here to see my article published in Kuwait Times. Arun Gandhi

The Gift of Anger

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By Abigail Mathias Rude cab drivers, broken promises, when things just aren’t your fault… There are times when you are so angry you just want to lash out. On a warm sunny day at this years’ Emirates Literature Festival, I met the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and his words make anger seem so futile. Arun M Gandhi is an 83-year-old man who has lived, learnt, and studied the art of non-violence (Ahimsa) from a very young age. His book, ‘ The Gift ’, The Sunday Times bestseller, is filled with real life experiences. It is by no means an easy path, but he offers a few guidelines. Gandhi is also an internationally renowned activist and speaker. He set up the M.K. Gandhi Institute for nonviolence in 1987 and spent 30 years as a journalist. As he joined his hands in a humble  namaste  greeting, before a room filled with listeners from around the world, I felt inexplicably proud of my Indian-ness. Following the news these days often leaves me with angst. Innocent victims tort