oted writer-lyricist and social activist Javed Akhtar is very upset at the continuous vilification campaign against him by a section of the BJP who are accusing him of making certain comments supposedly derogatory to Assamese women in a TV programme recently.
He has been accused of stating that “Assamese women are known for frequently changing husbands and can be purchased in any city of the country,” a remark that he never made, which can be verified easily from the NDTV office in Delhi. Senior NDTV Editor Pankaj Pachauri said, “Mr. Akhtar made no such comments.”
Akhtar vehemently refutes the charge saying, “The BJP is looking for a scapegoat to peg their election campaign on for the coming elections in the sensitive North-Eastern state of Assam. I have been very visible on several TV programmes demolishing the stands of their stalwarts like Uma Bharati, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Prakash Javdekar. They want to discredit me and have attributed comments to me that I never made. When discussing a common civil code I had pointed out that social customs in different parts of the country were different. I had never said anything derogatory about Assamese women or any women.
“Anybody who even remotely knows me can never believe that I would say anything that would be derogatory to womankind by any stretch of the imagination,” he continued. Akhtar is renowned for having written poetry on emancipation of women. He is also the author of the anthem of the 300 members of the NGO We Can, a group that fights violence against women in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and at their last meeting had delivered the keynote address too.
Saregama’s tribute to Mohammed Rafi
Saregama India Limited has released A Tribute - Mohd. Rafi, a double- album of 27 evergreen Mohammed Rafi’s songs on the occasion of his 25th death anniversary which fell on July 31st. The music company has also announced “Rafi Mania” across select music retail outlets across the country. There is a 10% discount on purchase of Rafi albums and a customized Rafi T-Shirt on purchase of Rafi albums of a value greater than Rs 1000.
Broadband site for Asha, the new album
Saregama India Limited has joined hands with Sify Max India to create a broadband site for Asha, their new album sung by Asha Bhosle. The site will host the music video, interview, photo gallery, biography and 30 second audio clips from the album. Radio City will also run an exclusive campaign on the album and Channel [V] has selected Asha Bhosle as the “Chosen One” this month.
Pramod Chandorkar conducts SAE Seminar
Pramod Chandorkar, recording engineer who has woked on films like Veer-Zaara, Hum Tum, Lucky, Aankhen, Gayab and other films and has also done live sound engineering for Unit Anarayan’s and Sonu Nigam’s concerts in India and abroad, conducted a seminar at the SAE Technology College’s Education Forum on July 16 when he addressed students on the careers and job opportunities in Audio Engineering.
He separated the illusion of glamour attached to the film industry in general, adding that audio engineering was serious business and a perfect blend of Arts and Science.
He opined that knowldege of theory needed to be boosted by a love for music and creative valour to stand out in a crowd. e stressed that the hours could b taxing and that a good audio engineer needed to understand artistes and their psychology. He also gave insights on important issues like Sound Designing, appreciating roles played by institutes like SAE. Mr Chandorkar added that today’s students are fortunate about having professional certification for their work.