Imtiaz Ali in conversation with Tipu Purkayasta
The charming Imtiaz Ali, whose directorial hits include “Jab We Met”, “Rockstar”, “Highway,” and most recently, “Amar Singh Chamkila,” shared his journey in filmmaking in a lively and self-effacing manner. Ali previously visited the Bay Area to film “Love Aaj Kal.”
He credited his versatility to growing up in small town Jamshedpur with its cosmopolitan outlook, and then moving to Hindu College in Delhi to study theater before making his foray into the movie business in Mumbai.
When asked about his penchant for adding gorgeous locales and travel to his movies, Ali explained that travel was a very accessible form of entertainment for him while growing up. “The moment you step out of your home and get onto a train, the scene outside changed – a novelty that was affordable to middle-class families. I did not have to be myself on a journey. External journeys trigger some sort of an internal journey.”
He laughingly added that he has been accused of including travel in his movies so that he can travel.
Ali also believes that music is an important element of Indian cinema because “not everything that is profound can be expressed in dialog, but can be expressed via songs.”
Yet, while Ali loves watching movies, he believes that he hasn’t learned anything from them. “As a result, the resource that I have to draw out my movies from is life itself.”
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Tales by the Bay: Moderated by Jaya Padmanabhan
Moazzam Sheikh, Anoop Judge, Anita Felicelli and Nayomi Munaweera are beloved Bay Area writers who represent the best of their genres. They spoke with passion and honesty – whether reading from their books or reflecting on the inspirations for their storytelling.
A short story and novella writer, Moazzam Sheikh creates characters “who are composite for people I’ve known in my own younger life,” when he lived in San Francisco. Anoop Judge writes upmarket fiction that focuses on telling stories with protagonists who straddle two worlds – India and the US, while facing “the judgment of a society they were born into, but didn’t choose.”
For Anita Felicelli, whose stories center on Tamil Americans, “an idea of story will come but typically the character comes along with it.” She referred to her story about a lemur and the Tamil legend of Kumari Kandam, a lost continent of ancient Tamil civilization, and the experiences of the main character Maya as a trial lawyer.
Sri Lankan writer and teacher Nayomi Munaweera drew attention to South Asian underrepresentation in mainstream culture. “We’re also pretty invisible as a community”, she said. “We’re pretty marginalized, even though we have tremendous economic success. Our inner lives, our spiritual life, our sexual lives are pretty underrepresented. For me, if I can represent those things in a way that people really find touching, that’s fantastic.”
Blow Cold, Be Cool
Day 2 of the SALA began with Blow Cold, Be Cool, a panel about ice cream, a favorite treat in cultures across the world. In South Asia, it takes the form of kulfi, creamier than ice cream, and often flavored using saffron, cardamom, rose, dry fruits, and nuts.
Priti Narayanan and Madhuri Anji, founders of San Leandro-based Koolfi Creamery, along with co-founder of Sunnyvale-based Pints of Joy – Ketki Dandekar discussed the challenges of commercially manufacturing ice-cream with a South Asian twist. Sanjog Singh of Sukhi Foods moderated the panel.
Pints of Joy, launched during the pandemic, had its start in communal meals that included homemade ice cream which became a super hit. But it was not easy. “The best way to start a business,” said Anji, “is to be ignorant; if you know how much work goes in, you’ll just go out and buy a cup of ice cream!” Logistics aside, said Dandekar, being female entrepreneurs was challenging; they faced sexism but grew stronger from it all. Narayanan and Anji, a part of the LGBTQ+ community, also use their store for advocacy, and to share their lived experiences, their wedding photograph often serving as a conversation starter.
Tapestry of Taste
The culinary panel, Tapestry of Taste, featured chefs Keith Sarasin of pop-up restaurant Aatma; Heena Patel of Besharam; Srijith Gopinathan of Copra; and columnist and cookbook author Suvir Saran.
Sarasin, not South Asian by origin, found the depth and breadth of Indian food a transformative experience. He devoted himself to studying Indian food history and honoring the country’s culinary traditions. “I’m never going to be an Indian chef,” he said of being a white man cooking Indian food, “but, I’m not even trying to be!” He also prophesied that Indian food will take over the U.S. in the next ten years.
Patel said she learned the basics of cooking “to get a better husband!” After moving to the U.S. with her husband, she cooked the traditional Gujarati food she grew up with. Working her way up in a professional kitchen, Patel faced her fair share of sexism in other chefs’ restaurants before launching Besharam in 2018, which has collected accolades like Eater SF’s Restaurant of the Year award in 2019.
Gopinathan experimented with Cal-Indian cuisine at his restaurant Ettan. He said that Indians themselves need to celebrate their food and not just look at Indian dining as cheap, takeout.
Where Do We Go Now?
Renowned landscape architect, Aniket Bhagwat hosted the curiously titled talk “Nitrogen Fixation and the Beauty of the Environment.” He spoke about his father, Prabhakar Bhagwat, the first landscape architect in India, who paved the way for groundbreaking landscape architecture projects in the country.
Bhagwat discussed intentional design and a thorough understanding of how human structures interact with their natural environment through subjects like sustainable design and the restoration of heritage places. In conversation with artist Rekha Rodwittiya, Bhagwat said that the central question should be “What is the just way of living?”. “The structures of change are in place,” he said about India’s potential to transform its urban spaces on a large scale, “but I think we lack political will, it requires a leader who inspires and has enough time.”