..Apache Indian

If there is anywhere you need to be this Saturday night it is at the Apache Indian Concert at the Pavement. I managed to spend my afternoon with Apache and I have to say his company is inspiring. The 'just turned' 40 year old is as youthful as ever and has so much positivity emanating from him that we could have sat in silence and I would have walked away smiling. But sitting in silence is not something I do when I am not meditating and not ever in the presence of a superstar.

We know his array of hits "Chock There" and "Arranged Marriage", he has been involved in numerous Bollywood projects including Lovebirds and Dil Apna Punjabi and is now working with Saif Ali Khan in one of the songs off the movie 'Race'.

He is a music driven person with wisdom, a genuine soul with depth and a unique character with personality and a sense of humor.

Apache Indian was born in Handsworth, Birmingham UK. His parents where born in Jullunder (Punjab), India & moved to the UK in the 1960's. Apache grew up in Handsworth, which was largely made up of working class immigrants that had settled from Jamaica & India.

You have been in this business a long time now, what is the secret of your longevity?

Originality. I have never done anything copied or remixed, I have written everything myself and I don't feel that my music falls into any particular genre. My music represents the fusion, it's multicultural – it represents life. My music & lyrics are a simple reflection of this cross culture.

Your sound is very timeless. A song that was a hit 15 years ago can still be listened to today and no one would be able to tell that it is an old song. Only a handful of musicians are able to do this, one of them being Bob Marley. How does this make you feel?

It's a great feeling. To hear Arranged Marriage still playing at clubs is a great feeling. Boom Shakalak was used in Scooby Doo2 and over 100 commercials until date. That of course gives me a very gratifying feeling. I guess it is because what I do is what I feel – I make music. I don't make it for that time following a certain fad or anything, I just create my best.

What is one of your most memorable experiences?

That would have to be when I toured India in 1993. I was taken to meet the Prime Minister. Here I was with my simple styled music that is reggae based and I met with Sonia Gandhi. Rahul, her son, disguised himself to come and see me in Dehli and I guess they just felt very proud that an Asian was doing well; being on Top of the Pops, MTV with the Indian elements made them feel proud and to see the appreciation was an achievement for me.

You do a lot of charity work, tell us about that?

I run the Apache Indian Foundation and also do a lot of work for numerous organizations like the Blind Association, I work with young offenders both Asian and Black in the UK. There is a lot we have to deal with like drugs, crime and violence. Being a role model means that I have to do and say the right things and I enjoy it. It is important to have your own role models, when growing up we only had our parents or people in our families – but you would hardly see any Asian faces on TV, in sport, etc.

Also music is street so the youth can relate that much more easier to music.

Who are some of the major stars you have worked with and who would you like to work with?

I have worked with Asha Bhonsle, A R Rahman, The Fugees, Desmond Decker, Maxi Priest and Boy George to name a few. I would love to work with Lata Mangeshkar – in India there are very few younger artists who really stand out, but I think Sunidhi Chauhan is brilliant. I would also like to work with M People and more reggae artists.

What is your message to the many musicians who want to be where you are today?

What is key is originality! If I heard something from Nairobi I would love for it to reflect the city, the country, the culture. This isn't the formula though, but at least people will respect you for doing your own thing – when it is your own thing you can carry it on, hence I am here twenty years later!

You went quiet for a long while, is there any particular reason for this?

Well, I had 7 top 40 hits, 4 Brit Awards and I didn't have any experience. I was getting totally ripped off because I wasn't business savvy and I guess it was too much to swallow at one go. So in essence, I took a step a back to take two steps forward. But in the mean time I was presenting my own TV shows, Radio shows, Channel 4 in the UK sent me to India to record 'Apache goes Indian' and co-presented a show on MTV from Jamaica called 'Reggae Sound System' with Reggae singer Patra. The show included exclusive interviews & the best Reagge videos from around the globe & I presented a live music show for Charlton TV called 'Soul Music.'

In India everything is very visual – so unless you are seen you are famous, where as around the world there is a lot more where that came from with print media and radio. But it is going very well now with my going back to India to sign new deals.

What sort of a show do you have in store for Nairobi tomorrow night?

A fantastic show!! 3 generations of fans who will want to hear the new and old. I love Nairobi and am glad that am loved here too. Being on stage is no easy task but as usual I will give my 110 per cent. This is a family show so of course there will the young and the old and if you love reggae, bhangra and pop then you will have yourself a great time.

What is your opinion of the current music scene?

There is no reggae in mainstream music. Over the years there was talk of fusion as well but we see less Asian artists in the charts. The Jay Seans and Rishi Richs are being dropped off labels and record companies are trying to sign on old artists. Also there is nothing new – people just stick to the formula including the people who play the music, as if they are afraid to try something new. Also there is a lot of downloading of songs, so artistes are probably not making so much in sales, the upside of that of course is that there are more live performances but then you don't get a gig unless you are a known musician and to be a known musician you need have sold albums – it's a viscous circle!

Today what challenges do you face as an artist?

People don't disrespect me – when you have been in the industry for as long as I have to tend to become established and people know you and your music. I guess it is a challenge to create something fresh and new to appeal to the younger generations.

But I am very happy to be where I am – my music has shown me the world three times over it has brought me back to Nairobi and for that I pay it immense respect. In this business it is so easy to go wrong, one just has to stay focused.

What inspires you?

God.

What are the pros and cons of being an Asian in the limelight?

Pros are there aren't many in the market and cons are that people feel that it adds flavor for a season, the thing is we are here to stay.

What is your opinion on Shilpa Shetty?

She got a lot of publicity and because 'Bollywood is in' – the producers thought they would bring her in and it worked. But here she is talking about racism but she doesn't know the half of it. Good luck to her though, she played it really well – the thing is racism is real. I have grown up with it and it is no joke. No disrespect to Shilpa Shetty, but people get stabbed and shot and it is not getting better. It is getting worse – religion and war all breeds racism. People die because of racism. Terrorism of course makes a difference, it brings in things from the past with the west then blaming Muslim, Sikhs, Hindus – they all see us as the same. It isn't intentional and it is not in your face, but it is there – I have seen racism go up and down and down and up again. Where are we going to be in 10 years? With racism, one thing leads to another. My take is if you are going to make a difference don't do it for the money or the hype or the publicity. I have been asked to be in the reality TV shows that feature celebs, but I stay away from it.

How important are Indian traditions to you?

Very important. Cultures and traditions are important for everyone no matter what your background. But instead of letting traditions or cultures from the past hold us back, we should look at culture that is now and respect it. Why wait 100 years from now to celebrate the culture that we are enjoying today? I come from different influences like I enjoy reggae music, I speak different languages, I enjoy Chinese food so I say that we are a part of a new culture. Don't disrespect the past but look at religion as well – even that has its different influences. What is religion? Being good right? Don't lie, rape, rob – you need not learn that from a book. Things are changing.

Tell me about your dreadlocks?

Everyone thinks that I have them because it leans more to the black community but you will surprised – Saints who went from India to Jamaica had dreadlocks – that's where it came from. Because of the lack of understanding because of the language barrier there was so much that the Jamaicans took from Indians. You can actually do a search on this on the net on Hinduism influences on Rastafarian the results may just astound you!

For more on this artist

www.myspace.com/apachei

Trivia

Bob Marley died on his birthday

He is opening a Rasta Shanti Camp in Goa

Star sign: Taurus

What Nots

Aishwarya Rai or Angelina Jolie? Aishwarya Rai

Manchester United or Newcastle United? Man U!

Fast cars or Fast women? Fast Women

Snow or Sun? Sun

SMS or Snail Mail? SMS
Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage? Love

Jullundar or London? Jullundar

Favorite things

Favorite Food: Indian

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite time of day: Evening

Favorite Number: 7

Favorite Animal: Elephant

Favorite Musician: Bob Marley

Favorite Movie: Gandhi

Favorite place in the world: Goa

What is the first thing you do in the morning?

Drink Tea

What is the last thing you do at night?

I can't tell you that

..Ash Kumar

Havind made a name for himself and is somewhat a pioneer in the mehndi world, Ash Kumar has taken the beauty world to the next level.. Here he chats with me about men wearing henna, Madonna and what it takes to get him to be at your wedding.

Your name appears in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest Henna Artist. How do you get into the Guinness Book for your art?

When I was studying at university, it wasn't planned to do this, my degree was actually in forensics and my skill didn't stretch further than doodling on the sides of the paper, I didn't have an art degree or any kind of former education in fine art. My speed was there from day 1 and I was always quite fast at doing henna etc. One day I was on breakfast TV and one person noticed my speed and accuracy and informed me that there is a world record, which I wasn't aware of and asked me if I would be interested in trying to conquer it myself and I took the opportunity but only as a hobby as it wasn't too serious for me at the time, but after I broke the world record, things became a lot more serious and it became a 24 hour thing with the pressure from the media who were very interested in a) my gender and b) my age and obviously, the fact that I was the fastest. So that happened with an invitation from Guinness world records.

What were your criteria? What did you have to do; did you have to cover a certain area in a certain time?
It was henna armbands in an hour and my first record was 96 armbands in one hour and then three years later I broke my own record with 196 armbands in one hour. So there were a lot of criteria, they don't obviously just hand over a world record. There were over 100 rules and guidelines which I had to meet which were very important. One of these being "there are no shapes, letters or numbers allowed" and that you couldn't repeat any design, if you did then the repeated and the original would be disqualified. Guinness world records had their own provisional judges sent down from the head offices who all had PhD's in art and design to invigilate every single design that I do. Each design was photographed, the list goes on.

How does it feel to have gone down in history?
I feel proud because henna has gone onto a different frontier for me, obviously it is not just a Guinness world record my work is also is in the British museum and the V and A museum. Making history with my art is the kind of thing that I can turn to my kids one day and have them say "my father made history". I feel that I have set a pedestal for my children now. I feel very proud that I have achieved something that I wasn't deliberately aiming to do.

You have been making a name for yourself for quite sometime now, is this where you envisioned yourself to be?

Not at all, I actually saw myself in a lab somewhere helping crime scenes or maybe helping detectives departments or something along the lines of opening up bodies or making sure that things are running well or how to diagnose what has gone wrong with the human body. But here I am surrounded by flamboyant industry with the glamour industry intertwined in Hollywood and Bollywood! So nothing that I would be doing and I'm thoroughly enjoying it and wouldn't change it for the world

Tell us about how you got started.

Basically by doodling! Family and friends would then say "wow that's good, why don't you try it with a mendhi cone?" and people throwing their hands forward and saying "can you do something for us please?"

Is it true that you have started teaching the art of henna to people who are interested?

Yes, because I've never had formal training myself, so for me it's a bit daunting when I started teaching because I had no idea what formal training was like! So what would I hand over to my students? So I had to go back to basics and dissect my work for it to be a lot easier for somebody else to understand. SO every step, every dot, line that I did I had to double think and day "right you are doing it but can you explain it?" and that's where the training started and today 5 years down the line we have the leading henna academy and people come across the world my customers come from Holland, Switzerland, Dubai, South Africa because of the reputation that our vicinity upholds. Having an "Ash Kumar" certificate on your wall in the Asian beauty community is the equivalent of having "Nicky Clarke" brand.

How does one enroll in your classes?

It's really simple. Just go onto the website, there is, however, a waiting list to get into the 1 on 1 personal teaching program but you can enrol online at www.ashkumar.com. 

You have managed to break into Bollywood in a huge way, tell us about how the break came about and how you are handling that successful part of your career?

Basically, word of mouth is the biggest form of marketing and I was basically recommended into Bollywood purely through Hollywood as my first client was Julia Roberts and doing that in Hollywood paved the way for me to get into Bollywood, in which henna, obviously plays a bigger part. In Bollywood the standard has to be higher and the way to handle it is to pay more attention to the speed and the quality of the work being produced. So in Bollywood it is not so much the speed that I am recognized of it is the quality that I produce.

Of course you have also worked with Madonna and Cameron Diaz, what did you do on them?

Cameron Diaz was for a private project, not for anything else. She wanted an armband, a wrist bracelet and an anklet and for Madonna it was the palm of her hand and for the back of her hand. 

How did you react when someone told you Madonna was on the phone requesting your services?

To be honest, the first thing that I thought, being a businessman was that it would be great PR having a fashion icon like Madonna for a client. Then it hit me that "hang on, this is Madonna!" Naturally, I was a bit apprehensive at first but when I did do it was the whole production crew, not jut Madonna, there was a whole crew behind her and everyone was very professional and this was my first real taste of how professional and how organized the industry should be.

Who would have thought that a henna artist would have managed to get this far, do you feel that a lot of people who are passionate about their dreams can be a success irrespective of their choice of career path?

Yes. Of course they can, but to be honest, my only advice to people is if you have a dream, make sure that you follow it through with the right mentors and the right educators around you, especially in the beauty industry or any art form or if you want to be the biggest nerd in IT, go ahead and do it but make sure that you have the right people to guide you. Thankfully I have the right people surrounding me, my mentors, for example and family, who are there to give me the correct advice and help me move forward and give me the positive energy that I need. So I think that's very important definitely.

What is your motto?

I've got many mottos but what I would say is listen and learn with your mentors, and secondly I say always make your own decision, never be influenced. Thirdly, always have a positive attitude and there is no room for negativity also, if you are going to do something, see it through.

Is henna becoming a fashion statement?

I think so, yes I know one thing that I can't deny and that is that I am definitely now a leader and an icon in my industry. I'm definitely not following any trends. I am actually setting the trends which, believe it or not, is a huge pressuring responsibility and I get floods of emails with people saying "we love your work" or students come into our academy saying "I'm a big fan of your work etc" but its very important to understand that yes, we have all the well-wishers behind us and compliments but I've got be very serious about what I do still. So yes, I do have a huge responsibility but I still have lots left that I want to achieve. My technique has now become its own trademark.

Are we going to see more grooms wearing henna – like Abhishek for his wedding? Would you suggest that grooms go for that?

I think so, there are some areas it is part of the culture-not religion- to practise henna on men for their wedding and this is based on the philosophy that if the bride should have the henna used as a therapeutic deice on her, then the groom should be too. Personally, I'm doing henna for groom's aswell as brides and not as extravagant and as flamboyant as brides would but definitely keeping a good luck charm on them or even tattoos for their honeymoon.

Can you wear henna tastefully at other events? Can you give us hints and ideas?

The Ash Kumar products are now in Selfridges, Debenhams, Harrods and Harvey Nicks and the reason why we are at the department stores is because Ash Kumar products are now used not specifically for weddings. They are even used as stocking fillers for Christmas, hen nights, birthdays and Diwali. So people are now wearing henna for fashion statements.

Is Ash Kumar available to do brides in Kenya?

Of course, I've done quite a few actually, I was there last year and there were a few weddings and, depending how well in advance bride's book, we do travel out there. In Nairobi, my family have connections there, and the outside wall was built by my grandfather. My mother grew up there because she was born in Kenya,

How would a bride-to-be get in touch with you?                                                                   

By the website, would have to be done a minimum of six months before the wedding

Any tips for brides when they are searching for a henna artist (may be a top 5)

The best tips I would suggest to a bride looking for a henna artist would be a) make sure that they are using quality products (e.g., the ash Kumar products) and b) make sure that I consultation is done so that you can specify how intricate you want your mendhi to be. The third tip I would say, would be to tell your artist what to do and ask their advice and not to forget that there is a professional sitting in front of you! Another important one is to advise your artist of the look you are going for and tell them exactly what you are wearing.

Thank you.

..Mira Nair

IF WE DON'T TELL OUR STORIES, NOBODY ELSE WILL.

Pardon the cliché but Mira Nair is a woman of substance! I tend to use this term only when I genuinely mean it. I got to speak to this accomplished Film Director/Writer/Producer about her past films, current projects and what she has planned for the future. A very down-to-earth soul, with a great way with her words; her astute mastery of the English language comes across as she talks about film; her passion.

AlthoughMira Nair was born in India; she went to Uganda in 1989 to research her movie, Mississippi Masala, and has lived there since. This is where she met her husband, Mahmood Mamdani and had her son, Zohran, who was born in 1991. Mahmood is a third generation Asian living in Uganda and Mira has now openly embraced her 'East Africaness' saying that at one time she was a daughter-in-law of Uganda, but today she is very much a daughter of the great nation. Although she is deeply rooted in India and that is where most of her inspiration comes from as she has incredible respect and love for the Indian film industry, she feels that she is a citizen of many worlds.

Mira began her film career as an actor and then turned to directing award-winning documentaries.Her entrance into the international film world was made with the movie Salaam Bombay! which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988. Then came Mississippi Masala; the story of an interracial love story starring Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury was another award winning film garnering three awards at the Venice Film Festival including Best Screenplay and The Audience Choice AwardSubsequent films include The Perez Family with Marisa Tomei, Anjelica Huston, Alfred Molina and Chazz Palminteri, about an exiled Cuban family in Miami; and the sensuous Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, which she directed and co-wrote. In the summer of 2000, Nair shot Monsoon Wedding in 30 days, a story of a Punjabi wedding starring Naseeruddin Shah and an ensemble of Indian actors. Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2001 Venice Film Festival, Monsoon Wedding also won a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and opened worldwide to tremendous critical and commercial acclaim. Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Nair joined a group of 11 renowned filmmakers, each commissioned to direct a film that was 11 minutes, 9 seconds and one frame long. Nair's film is a retelling of real events in the life of the Hamdani family in Queens, whose eldest son was missing after September 11, and was then accused by the media of being a terrorist. 11.09.01 is the true story of a mother's search for her son who did not return home on that fateful day. In May 2003, Nair helmed the Focus Features production of the Thackeray classic, Vanity Fair, a provocative period tale set in post-colonial England, in which Reese Witherspoon plays the lead, Becky Sharp. Her latest film, The Namesake, premiered in the fall of 2006 at Dartmouth College where Ms. Nair was presented with the Dartmouth Film Award. The Dartmouth Film Award, established in 1979, honors outstanding contributors to film and filmmaking. Previous winners have included Johnny Depp, Robert Redford, Liv Ullman, Ken Burns, Ang Lee, Glenn Close, and Meryl Streep. Another premiere was held in fall 2006 with the Indo-American Cultural Council in New York. The Namesake, adapted by Sooni Taraporevala from the novel by Pulitzer prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, was released in March of 2007.

I got to speak to her on the phone in an exclusive interview and asked her about the many famous names that she has worked with and who she would love to work with in the future. Her tone was very motherly and calming and her confident reply was; 

 "I don't sit and hanker for this actor or that actor, my cast depends on my script and I have had the pleasure of working with some great names. Come 2008 I will be working with Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Shantaram." One thing that many a critic and fan notices is that she is able to blend the Hollywood star with a Bollywood star; perhaps the only directorable to execute this on screen very naturally.”

Mira is unique in many ways, one thing that stands out about this outstanding individual is that she wants to see others achieve. Her project Maisha in remarkable, a film lab to help East Africans and South Asians learn to make films. Maisha is headquartered in Nair's adopted home of Kampala, Uganda. 

"I am very happy to read about the Kenyan movie Malooned securing a deal for international release. This is what we are here to do. Maisha gives you the know how to make cinema. We don't want to make movies jua kali style, we want them to have that international standard. At Maisha we foster writers, directors and producers. Our challenges include sifting our students and creating great scripts that we can make movies out of. Also, we want to make Maisha a permanent home for the local community."

“Maisha's mission is to provide new screenwriters and film directors from East Africa and South Asia with access to the professional training and production resources necessary to articulate their visions. Maisha aims to preserve, cultivate and unleash local voices from these regions, and to become one of the first targeted programs to offer structured and accessible resources to these emerging filmmakers. Maisha is motivated by the belief that a film which explores the truths and idiosyncrasies of the specifically local often has the power to cross over and become significantly universal. The Maisha Advisory Committee includes Sofia Coppola, Raoul Peck, Peter Chappell, Karen Cooper, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Spike Lee, Sabrina Dhawan, Liz MacLennan, Mumbi Kaigwa, Amandina Lihamba, Eric Kabera, and Michelle Satter. This group of internationally recognized directors, artists, and academics has been instrumental in supporting Maisha's mission. You can support Maisha too, log on to their website and find out how www.maishafilmlab.com.”

"We want to honor our own heroes" she says "people forget because there is no place to remember and we must equip ourselves with the craft. We have stories of dignity and power."

Mira Nair was honored as the ''Pride of India'' at a Bollywood awards on May 26 at the Nassau Coliseum, New York for her contributions to the film industry.

We chatted more about her and myself but that is all too personal to put down for all to read. All I can say is talking to a humble soul such as Mira Nair inspired me more to dream bigger and achieve more!