Reviews & Previews
South Asian Film Festival
The South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF), hosted in New York in November, proves that there is an audience for thought-provoking cinema outside of South Asia; in fact, many of the movies played to packed houses. It slipped into and out of the New York festival circuit leaving much to be desired, and much to look forward to.
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Architecture & Design
Donna D'Cruz
At the entrance of Donna D'Cruz's Gramercy Park apartment are two figures. Shiva and Shakti. Dangling from Shakti's slender fingers is a diamond studded set of headphones that Dolce and Gabana gifted Donna because she DJs for so many upscale parties. Donna is the founder of raSa music which celebrates world music.
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Reviews & Previews
Restaurants
Polo is a particular obsession of the rich and famous in Lahore. Many a Lahori socialite flew to France for the Polo World Championship in September 2004. So it is little wonder that the Polo Lounge, resplendent with polo imagery and Ralph Laurenesque decor, became an instant crowd puller.
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Art & Culture
The Films of Hanif Kureishi
The product of a non-practicing Muslim father from Karachi and an English mother, Kureishi's writing paints a vivid mosaic of postcolonial, hybrid British culture. During his youth, Kureishi was fully aware of the racism that encircled his family, but rather than being bellicose about this disposition, he often makes light of it in his work.
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Art & Culture
Rekha
Bollywood icon Rekha turned 50 last month. For much of South Asia, Rekha is the Indian equivalent of Catherine Deneuve: beautiful, timeless, and forever seductive. As the story goes, in that titillating, tumultuous and tantalizing world called Bollywood, there are actresses, and then there is Rekha.
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Fashion & Beauty
Saira Mohan
Supermodel Saira Mohan offers a universal beauty edged by a riveting intellect. Newsweek magazine recently called her the "new global standard of beauty,” a label that is an appropriate fit for Saira who, though keenly in touch with her Indian roots, denies she belongs to any one particular culture.
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