communique - St. Joseph`s College

A LAB JOURNAL OF THE PG STUDENTS OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
COMMUNIQUE
CONCERN, COMPASSION, CONSCIENCE
Rs. 5/-
VOLUME-8; ISSUE - 1
ST JOSEPH’S COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS)
APRIL 2016
St Joseph’s College takes a strong
stand against pseudo-nationalism
Ralph Alex Arakal
St Joseph’s College was the only
private educational institution
in Bengaluru City that joined
the countrywide protests to get
Kanhaiya Kumar, Jawaharlal
Nehru University Students
Union (JNUSU) President,
released following his arrest
under IPC Section 124(A) for
‘sedition’.
The Students’ Union of the
college, with support from
the faculty, organised various
panel discussions, documentary
screenings, and protest events
on and off campus, letting the
students as well as all those
who were interested to know
more about the central issues of
“The biggest
mistake the
government did
was to interfere
with JNU as it
is a legendary
institution.”
what constitutes ‘nationalism’
and ‘sedition’ to allow them to
develop an independent stance
on the issue.
Speaking during a panel
discussion at SJC on the issue,
Fr Ambrose Pinto, Principal, St
Aloysious College, questioned
the policies developed by the
State to support the corporates.
“Why is the State investing its
powers to suppress the voices
of the minorities? The real
anti-national is the authorities
themselves who try to push the
marginalised down to benefit the
corporates,” he said.
According to Dr Kiran Jeevan,
Department of Social Work,
democracy and dissent goes
together and all such forces
that tries to interfere between
must be questioned. “The whole
meaning of democracy is lost
when dissent is controlled.”
He continued that the JNU
issue is a striking example of
government interference in
student freedom at educational
institutions.
SJC being a minority institution
had to take a strong stance in
the issue as it is the majority
which decides everything. Thus,
questions had to be raised in such
parliamentarians have criminal
track records, he added.
“People do have a right to
criticise. If one is against the
government at the moment,
they are termed left, and if one
supports the policies, he/she is
considered ‘right.’ At the same
time, an individual who stands
neutral to the issues is considered
a coward. The government which
to the point that the college must
look into inviting people from
pro-government organisations
for future debates, Dr Jeevan
said, “At the moment we were
protesting against the intrusion
of the government and we
wanted nothing to interfere our
viewpoint.”
According
to
Kanhaiya
Kumar’s counterpart at SJC,
the students at campuses across
the nation are going through
struggles at the moment. As a
representative of the students of
an institution, it was inevitable
for him to act meaningful during
current scenario taking place.
“Not everyone who supports
JNU are leftists by nature, and the
Students’ Council is not acting
with an ideology held within,”
said Vysakh Thayyil, President,
SJC Students’ Council.
When asked about the absence
of a panel member who was progovernment for the discussions
which took place, he said that
many were invited but all
refused to come. “The activists
were asked to keep mum on the
issue by their party authorities.”
JNUSU Vice-President Shehla
Rashid coming in to the college
to interact with the students gave
an opportunity for Josephites to
get a first-hand account of what
really happened at JNU. “Ms
Rashid had come to the city to
take part in another event when
we got contact with her and that
led to her address at college,”
said Vysakh.
Vysakh seemed happy with
the support the Council got
to organise such events. “The
management was supportive
Students protesting at the Town Hall, SJC President Vysakh
right from the start for everything
leading the protest, and JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid
we planned and executed during
adressing Josephites.
the course of agitations,” he said.
PHOTOS- Reevan
The protest rally on March 15
a manner that one doesn’t get tries to control dissent thus has to which took place from Freedom
into the bad books of the people be termed insecure,” he said.
Park to Town Hall, also saw a
in power, by taking calculated
Quoting a renowned poem big number of Josephites being
risks.
First They Came by Martin a part of it.
“The biggest mistake the Niemoller, Dr Jeevan justified
The Students’ Council, along
government did was to interfere how it was important for SJC with faculty support, were
with JNU as it is a legendary to react before the mob comes successful in bringing in eminent
institution,” said Dr Jeevan. knocking at the doors. “If we personalities from the realm of
Terming someone who fights isolate ourselves now, we’ll be politics, student organisations,
for the rights of people as isolated when we are in trouble,” and media houses for debates
anti-national is not acceptable he said.
and open discussions.
in a country where even
Even though the faculty admits
Muslim leaders
disown ISIS ,‘black
sheep’ of Islam
Page 2
Karaoke is the new
fad in city pubs
Page 4
JumpCuts
makes the cut on
Sandalwood spoofs
Page 5
Kabaddi soars
high as a global
sport
Page 6
2COMMUNIQUE
APRIL 2016
FEATURES
Muslim leaders disown ISIS as ‘black sheep’ of Islam
Claude D’souza
Muslim leaders in the City
blame the media for portraying
Islam as the cause for every
terrorist activity around the
globe and have disowned ISIS as
the ‘black sheep’ of Islam.
“The
media
picks
up
barbaric actions done by some
anonymous people and portrays
them as though they were done
by the Muslims. What you see in
the media is not what the reality
is,” said Zakir Naik, Indian
Islamic preacher, founder and
president of the Islamic Research
Foundation.
Mr Naik denies that ISIS is
Islamic. “ISIS is not based on
Islam. Muslims have no interest
in ISIS ideologies,” he added.
In India, amplified mass media
coverage and predominantly
negative portrayal of Islam
is fuelling unjustified hatred
towards Muslims. Thereto, a
false image of Indian Muslims
has been formed in the minds
of other Indians: Muslims are
terrorists.
Muslims are harassed over
suspicion of being linked to
ISIS. They are being denigrated
and attacked in some parts of the
country.
“We were not taught to be
pro-violence. In our upbringing,
we are taught not to choose any
violent means. We are peace
lovers,” said Zaid Muhammad
Hussain, Founder and CEO of
Hikmah Institute.
Blaming the biased nature of
the media, the Indian Islamic
preacher Mr Naik laid stress
that no religion teaches to kill
Muslims.
“ISIS has been trying to
defame Islam for a long time
ISIS is openly hated all over the world. Memes are popular ways
to express hatred in a constructive manner.
innocent human beings. But
black sheep exist in every
community and religion, he
added.
“The media picks up these
black sheep in the Muslim
community and portrays them as
Muslim in its entirety,” said Mr
Naik. “The media can change
black into white, day into night,
hero into villain, and villain into
hero,” he added.
Over 70,000 Muslim clerics in
India have issued a fatwa against
ISIS, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,
saying that they are not Muslim
organizations. Clerics have also
called on media organizations to
stop calling the terrorist groups
“Islamic”. In addition, over
1.5 million Muslims signed a
petition against terrorist attacks,
stating that terrorists were not
now,” said A. R. Zakir Hussain,
how ISIS is against the teachings
of Quran.
“Quran clearly mentions in
chapter five verse 32 that if
anyone kills a human being,
unless it be for a murder or for
spreading corruption in the land,
it is considered to be killing the
whole of humanity. In contrast,
if anyone saves a person, it is
considered to be saving the whole
of humankind,” said Muhammad
Hussain.
He condemned the media for
mixing religion and terrorism.
“Religion and terrorism are two
different things. It is unfair to
mix them and play with people’s
emotions,” said Muhammad
Hussain.
Muhammad Ashraf Khan
and Syeda Zuria Bokhari in
ISIS is known for their brutality, beheading is their means of
execution.
Ward Councilor, Pulikeshinagar.
“ISIS has taken the limelight.
They have hijacked the religion
of Muslims,” he added.
A Muslim leader explained
their research paper Portrayal
of Muslims in Indian Cinema:
A Content Analysis of Movies
during (2002-8), said “From the
very beginning and particularly
since 9/11 incident, the Indian
film industry very often portrays
the Muslim with stereotype
image (which is negative). After
the 9/11 incident, Muslims are
being looked on as suspicious
people and portrayed as
terrorists. Indian film industry
adds fuel to the fire by making
a lot of movies on Muslims and
presenting them as terrorists and
negative ones.”
Mufti Menk, a Muslim cleric
said that ISIS does not spare
anyone, including Muslims,
who disagrees with their
ideologies. “ISIS attacks anyone
who disagrees with them, not
necessarily non-Muslims. Even
if Muslims disagree with ISIS,
they will be killed. This explains
that ISIS isn’t Islamic,” he added.
Talking to Communique,
Satish Nair, a PhD student, had
a different take. “These days
the awareness among people is
increasing and people are getting
educated about the fact that Islam
and ISIS believe in different
ideologies and they don’t go
hand in hand,” said Nair.
Indian Muslims have lived here
in relative peace and harmony
for centuries. It has been a very
different religion to the one that
the ISIS seeks to impose upon
the world.
“While Muslims alone are not
the victims of a biased media,
young men portrayed as terrorists
find it hard to get their lives back
on track once they have been
acquitted,” said Muhammad
Hussain.
Compassion is the new student mantra in Kerala
Ralph Alex Arakal
Engineering college students
are setting a new trend in God’s
Own Country that can spiral into
a nationwide movement, setting
a new tone of compassion and
humanity over the euphoria and
celebrations of inter-collegiate
festivals.
Students of various engineering
colleges in Thiruvanathapuram
are, for instance, stretching
out a helping hand to people
suffering from serious diseases
including cancer. Organising
fund-raising
programmes,
instilling
awareness,
and
gathering together like-minded
people towards such causes is
the current positive trend among
such youngsters.
The students of LBS Institute
of Technology for Women
(LBSITW) have also decided
to slash expenditure on college
fest and channel the money
into humanitarian causes. They
have launched a campaign
called lbsitwCAN that aims to
fund financially-affected cancer
patients for treatment at the
Regional Cancer Centre (RCC).
In the first phase of the initiative,
the students have decided to
collect Rs 2 lakh to help a breast
cancer patient.
A contemporary dance on the
theme of helping those with
serious diseases was performed
at their inter-collegiate fest
named Yagna Dhruva, which
took place from March 11 to 13.
The students had also organised
a run in the city on March 6, to
create awareness and to collect
donations. The initiative is
supported by Snehathalam, a
breast cancer campaign by the
Malayala Manorama group.
“We thought of being
meaningful by collecting a
reasonable amount towards a
social gesture instead of spending
a bulk amount to celebrate a
fest,” said Sruthy S, a first-year
student at LBSITW.
The students of Mar Baselios
College of Engineering and
Technology (MBCET) have
signed up to two different
initiatives as part of their intercollegiate cultural and technical
fest named Crossroads 2016.
to paint the
face all the
completely
paint design
The team from MBCET after painting a wall
Paint a Wall, Spread a Smile,
was the charitable event they
undertook. With the support of
Palium India, a charitable trust
which offers palliative care to
those in need, the students found
10 houses of deserving young
patients suffering from cerebral
palsy. The team volunteered
walls the patients
time as they are
bedridden. The
was selected by
PHOTO- Ralph
the patients themselves. Around
100 students from the college
painted the walls on February
13, spreading smiles around the
city.
“Implementing an action with
a strong social meaning was what
we craved over mere publicity,”
said Deon Douglas, Publicity
Head, Crossroads 2016.
Students from Sree Chitra
Thirunal (SCT) College of
Engineering have also formed
the SCT Cancer Rescue Forum
and have planned numerous
programmes including fundraisers, blood donation and
clean-up drives. The forum is
organised a hair-donation drive
at the campus on March 22
where a reasonable number of
donors participated. The signingin ceremony for the event took
place at Shankumugham beach
during a Women’s Day special
event put up by Nizhalattam, an
NGO.
“We look forward to continuing
with this initiative even after the
fest. The forum will take up more
activities in days to come and we
also aim to inspire and bring in
more members to our team,” said
Nandu Mohan, final year B.Tech
student at SCT. The students also
installed mosquito-nets at the
radiation wards of Department
of Oncology, Medical College
on March 12.
3COMMUNIQUE
APRIL 2016
INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS
Manjima Mohan - the girl next door turned actress
Akshitha Subramanian
The cute Malayalam child
artist who won many hearts
and awards had returned to the
limelight after 11 years with Oru
Vadakkan Selfie (OVS) starring
opposite Nivin Pauly. Now
she has bagged the lead role
in Gautam Vasudev Menon’s
bilingual Achcham Yenbadhu
Madamaiyada (AYM) in Tamil
starring
Silambarasan
and
Saahasam Swaasaga Saagipo
(SSS) in Telugu starring Naga
Chaitanya. The actress talks
about who she draws inspiration
from, her experience with the costars and future projects.
How did you bag your first
role as a child artist?
I was three years old and I
happened to be on location of a
shoot. The director was looking
to cast a kid my age and when he
saw he was convinced I should
play the role. Though it wasn’t
a prominent role, I got noticed.
I worked for a few years till i
decided I should take a break
and focus on my studies as I
didn’t want to lose out on the
experience of school.
role to play. This convinced me
that if the team believed I could
do this role, I should take it up.
watch OVS, he just saw the
trailer where I appeared for
hardly 3 seconds. He got my
Did you always want to be a
part of the film industry?
When I started acting that
young, I had other plans. My
focus at that point was just doing
well in school and worrying
about the future when I’m a little
older. But during my teens, I
started considering acting again,
but I wasn’t looking for scripts
till I was done with college.
You returned to the industry
with Oru Vadakkan Selfie. What
convinced you to choose that
script?
The script revolved around me
and it wasn’t a cliche glamourous
role, which normally a heroine
who is debuting as a lead would
want to be introduced. The script
writer, Vineeth Srinivasan warned
me of this and told me it’s a risk
to take and it’s quite a difficult
The talented Manjima Mohan
PHOTO- Akshitha
I love challenges and this was
a tough one but the team was a
lively bunch and working with
them eased the process. Given
a chance, I would work with the
same team again.
number through Vineeth and
called me for an audition. I went
for the audition with my dad and
once I finished it I had a feeling
I didn’t give my best and Gautam
sir might say that he’ll get back
to me about it. But after watching
my audition, as my dad and I
waited, he sat next to me and
told me he was convinced and
wanted to cast me. I was ecstatic.
How did AYM and SSS
happen to you?
Right after OVS released,
Gautam sir called me. He didn’t
Debuting in Kollywood and
Tollywoood under his direction
is a blessing as I’m a huge fan of
his work and he brings magic to
the women he portrays onscreen.
Tell us what makes Nivin
Pauly, Silambarasan and Naga
Chaitanya unique actors.
Nivin Pauly is a hard worker.
He reads the script at least 10
times and tries to understand
every character. He looks at the
script from different perspectives
and goes over every minute
detail.
When he acts, he pulls it off
easily. Simbu is a born actor. He
doesn’t need to put in any effort.
Most of his scenes are just one
takes and he always improvises
and tries to bring out the best of
the character.
Naga Chaitanya is very
professional.
He’s
always
listening to the director, does
his part and leaves. He’s very
friendly which makes it easy for
me to do a scene with him.
Point Break fails to make its point
Cliché romance and mystery
Scenic landscapes and extreme
sports go hand in hand, but what
happens when you throw a heist
into the mix? You get Point
Break 2015. The movie revolves
around extreme sports athletes
pulling off awe-inspiring heists
and giving the loot to the poor,
just like Robin Hood, but in a
modern day context.
Point Break made it first debut
in the summer of 1991, featuring
the enigmatic Keanu Reeves who
adorned the role of Johnny Utah,
and Patrick Swayze who played
the role of Bodhi. As if one
edition of Point Break directed
by Kathryn Bigelow wasn’t bad
enough, more recently director
Ericson Core decided to revive
the movie attempting to correct
a few ‘mistakes’ of Bigelow
and making a bigger mistake by
making the 2015 version of it.
In the new version, the
protagonist Johnny Utah played
by Luke Bracey, is a former Moto
Cross rider and snowboarder,
joins the FBI after a tragic
motocross accident. A typical
greenhorn looking to make a
name for himself, he wants to
jump into cases right away. He
is mentored by Instructor Hall
played by Delroy Lindo, a typical
task master with a soft spot for
the newcomer. Utah happens to
connect the dots on a series of
heists across the world and wants
in on the case. As usual nobody
takes the newbie seriously except
for Hall.
The FBI is being menaced by
The novels of Nicholas Sparks
are considered to be cliche
romantic novels. His new book,
See Me, isn’t any different.
The story revolves around
Colin Hancock and Maria
Sanchez, two distinctly different
individuals who cross paths and,
as you know, fall in love. Colin
has a history of violence and
is working towards
keeping his anger
under control and
focusing on getting
his life straight. Maria,
on the other hand,
is a Duke-educated
lawyer
whose
immigrant parents run
a restaurant.
Colin and Maria
meet when he helps
fix her tyre on a rainy
day in the middle of nowhere.
Maria later finds out that her
younger sister, Serena and
Colin study in the same college.
Though he is 28, he never got
a chance to complete his degree
so he started out late. Serena
sets them up on a date and these
two get along like a house on
fire.
When things seem to be going
smooth for Colin and Maria,
eerie things start to happen.
Maria receives dead roses with
a note which says “You will
know how it feels.” She feels
like she is being stalked and it
all seems too familiar as this has
happened before.
Whether Colin controls his
Reevan Vishwas Rego
a series of heists and the robbers
seem to wipe out every single.
The FBI is stumped; who would
come to their rescue? Drum roll
and you have Utah who seems
have figured out the case which
no one else could.Utah is then
mountains to dropping into the
Cave of Swallows, Mexico,
snowboarding on the slopes of
Swiss mountains and scaling the
scenic Angel Falls of Venezuela.
Some of the action sequences
leave the audience holding on to
One of the most thrilling visuals of the movie
shipped off to Paris where he
meets Pappas played by Ray
Winstone, a British agent working
in alliance with the FBI. Pappas
plays a typical Brit agent who is
all about action rather than talk.
Utah then goes undercover as a
surfer to infiltrate the daredevil
robbers, where he meets Edgar
Ramirez who plays the character
of the mystic-philosophic-zen
master Bodhi.
Ramirez, the villain, is
attempting a series of eight
extreme tasks, called the Osaki 8,
which are about finding balance
and the perfect line; all this is
done in order to attain a spiritual
high.
The movies is filled breathtaking scenery right from
when Utah and his friends
are riding their bikes through
the
meandering
Caineville
the edges of their seats, especially
the scene where Utah and Bodhi
scale the rock cut face of Angel
Falls without any harness and
supports. The other spellbinding
scene is when Utah rides an 80
foot high wave in the middle of
the Pacific Ocean - an absolute
visual stunner.
Despite the stellar visuals and
cinematography, the movie falls
flat on the story line and acting.
Bracey’s acting is equivalent
to that of an eraser, flat,
expressionless and with a lack
of charisma. The only spark is
brought by Edgar Ramirez.
As history is known to repeat
itself, this has held well in the
case of Point break. Be it the
original in 1991 or the ludicrous
remake of 2015. Point Break
was and is a movie that failed to
deliver.
Akshitha Subramanian
temper and sees that it does
not get the better of him and
land him in trouble when he
helps Maria or whether Maria is
able to handle the relationship
when she has a lot going on in
her professional life including
finding out who is behind the
creepy incidents, is what the
story is about.
‘See Me’ is rich in emotion,
fuelled with thrills and is a
reminder that love is
forged in situations
which threaten to
break things up. But
unfortunately,
the
readers would find
their own progress
slowed by a number of
questions such as why
is Colin constantly
pissed off and not
doing anything about
it? If Maria is so smart
and career oriented, how is she
swayed by ‘the most handsome
man’ she’s ever seen?
Nicholas Sparks is known
for killing off characters and he
goes down the same lane in this
book as well, not stopping with
humans but also a dog, probably
the saddest note in the entire
book.
‘See Me’ is everything a
Sparks book is equipped with:
a hot guy, disapproving parents
and a strong will to not ruin a
second chance in romance. This
book was different in terms of
the mystery angle.
Overall,
Sparks
doesn’t
disappoint but makes it
predictable.
4COMMUNIQUE
A LAB JOURNAL OF THE PG STUDENTS OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
COMMUNIQUE
CONCERN, COMPASSION, CONSCIENCE
When the watchdog
needs to be watched
In the light of the recent events at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University when certain students were branded as ‘anti-national’
, ‘seditionists’ and ‘traitors’ by Stormtroopers of the ruling RSS_
BJP combine, -- the right to debate, discuss and dissent seems to
become mired in the dreary desert sands of media coverage with
a political agenda.
The controversy over the hanging of Afzal Guru has not
been well digested by certain vociferous sections of the nation
and media. Thereafter, JNU Student Union President Kanaihya
Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition. In the process, he was
beaten up by lawyers and other miscreant in the court premises in
the presence of 4000 police officers.
How or why did the police let an incident like this take
place? What happened to the constitutional rights granted to the
individual?
Were Kanhaiya Kumar and the JNU students fundamentally
wrong? Did they really have seditious intentions? Did they really
chant slogans, as alleged, demanding the division of India? These
questions were answered when a news report revealed that the
footage that went viral was doctored and no such slogans were
actually chanted. But by then it was too late, the damage had
already been done. The damage done seems to also be beyond
repair.
The popular saying that, ‘no information is better than half
information’, holds good in this case. While the media went all
guns blazing, zeroing in on the JNU students in a media trial, they
failed to reveal what the students had to say. All they cared about
was their TRP and indulge in the rat race of who would be the first
to break this story and its developments.
The rat race meant that the truth ought to be blatantly ignored.
The hunger to break the news out-weighs the aspects of objectivity
and ethics. As a result, a perception among the audience is created
and they are automatically forced to pick sides, left or right. When
sides are picked, friction, disagreement and collision take place.
If you pick the left, you are branded as ‘anti-national’; if you pick
the right, you are a bahkt and a sanghi.
Being ‘anti-national’ is now redefined as having the temerity
to question authority and dissent with ‘official’ views. A good
nationalist and a patriot, it seems, will follow the authority to
the dot and bleed saffron, white and green, with a tinge of blue
in the middle. He or she will never question authority and will
never disrespect authoritarian views. Should he violate this norm,
he or she would instantly have committed sedition, become an
‘antinational’ and a threat to the peace and sanctity of the country.
Unfortunately, this kind of blinkered viewpoint seems to have
become the norm. The freedom to question wrong acts, the right
to discuss and debate atrocities that citizens are subjected to, and
practicing democracy are being muzzled.
If democracy gives the citizen the right to debate, discuss and
dissent, why are our governors and leaders trying to take away this
right from us? Or rather, one should ask, why is the media aiding
and abetting these forces in taking such rights away from us and
subjecting us to ts blatant propaganda?
This is not an isolated incident. Media has been blowing many
such incidents out of proportion. Be it the Aamir Khan fiasco
or tussles over M F Husain’s paintings, the media’s deranged
gluttony for TRPs has ballooned issues where there were none.
Ideally, the media ought to be a watch dog and expose and keep
the misdeeds of the governing bodies in check. Instead, today
the media causes confusion and chaos among these bodies and
derails the course of administration according to the Constitution.
This, in turn, disrupts the way the masses function.
Instead of using sensationalism to gain TRPs, the media ought
to use sensitivity, sensibility and objectivity in reporting events or
raking up issues. There are bigger, heinous events taking place in
the country than the issues the media is focusing on at this very
moment. These need uncovering. Hyping up and misrepresenting
student activism for the sake TRPs is blatantly moronic and
degenerate of the media.
FEATURE / EDITORIAL
APRIL 2016
Karaoke is the new fad in city pubs
Reevan Vishwas Rego
There was a time when Disc
Jockeys (KJs) mixed and
mashed tracks that got crowds
excited but right now namma
Bengaluru is being flooded
and have made a name for
myself.” Semmon host his
karaoke shows at Harry’s pub
in Indranagar on Thursday
nights.
“Retaining the audience in a
karaoke event and converting
Mathew grooves with his buddies
with Karaoke Jockeys (KJs).
With
karaoke
gaining
popularity, a whole new set
of hosts are taking over the
music scene in the rock capital
of the country.
Opus being one the oldest
and most popular karaoke
joints in the city, still enjoys
a major share of the karaoke
action in the city. But this is
has not deterred other pubs
like Harry’s, Prost brew pub,
Take 5, and Indigo live who
host regular karaoke nights.
KJ Mathew Semmon, 37,
part of the scene said, “The
idea of karaoke came to me
when I was doing voice-overs
PHOTO- Reevan
Adhir Punja does a Pearl Jam
number
PHOTO - Reevan
Why do a solo when you can partner-up for a duet ? PHOTO- Reevan
for corporate movies, and
singing. I realized I was good
at this and I was good with
people, so I quit my day job
at a software firm and took
up KJing for about two years
them into regulars is tough
task”, said KJ Prithvi, founder
of Waterhole, a food and
beverage consultancy. He
said that one of the biggest
challenges is giving everyone
a chance to sing and making
the regulars feel special and
this was his strategy to retain
his audience.
Karaoke is meant for leisure,
a way to unwind and for
people to express their love
for music and singing. One
does not have to be a trained
singer to perform at a karaoke.
Madhu Menon, a chef and
F&B consultant, a regular
at Harry’s and Prost said, “I
love to sing and I’ve been into
karaoke for over four years. It
gives me a good chance to try
and perform songs outside my
genre and range.”
Ankan Roy, a final year
B.tech student, said, “Karaoke
is kind of stress buster for
me.” Ankan aslo happened
to reach the semifinal of the
karaoke competition held at
Prost Brew Pub earlier this
year.
With no bars on the genre of
music and no questions about
one’s ability to sing, karaoke
is about fun and having a
good time. Not so far in the
recent past, karaoke used to be
a weekend thing. Now, with
karaoke gaining popularity,
mid-week karaoke nights are
becoming a popular attraction.
According to KJ Prithvi,
“Sometimes Sundays turn out
to be drier when compared to
mid-week gigs. You ought to
see the crowd that gets drawn
to these gigs. It’s a pleasant
surprise for me to see people
all excited and coming in
large numbers during the
week days.”
Shakthik Kumar, another
regular at Prost and Harry’s
Bar, said, “Sometimes the
mid-week gets so packed, I
don’t get to sing my song, or
at times there more than two
or three people wanting to
sing the same song, so on such
occasions, the KJ gets the
three of us to sing that song.”
With
Beer
Café
at
Indiranagar and Beer Café
Biggie
at
Koramangla
opening up karaoke nights,
Bangaloreans have two new
avenues to hang out at. At
the other end of town, in
Kamanahalli, one can get
to sing Karaoke on Friday
nights. So if you want to sing
and don’t really care how
good or bad you sound, head
over to a karaoke joint near
you and croon away to your
heart’s content.
5COMMUNIQUE
MOVIES AND FEATURES
APRIL 2016
JumpCuts makes the cut on Sandalwood spoofs
Ashika Ananth Rao
On a chill December evening,
when some enthusiastic filmmakers were thinking about
making something new for the
Kannada industry. The idea
of spoof making popped up
in their minds. That is when
JumpCuts, an online channel,
took form. It was and is the first
and only online spoof channel in
Karnataka.
“In this digital age, making
movies or any videos for that
matter has become so easy,”
says Esham Khan, co-founders
of JumpCuts. Along with his
brother, Haseen Khan, he
launched a new genre in the
Kannada film industry.
“Making a video is not as
easy as it looks. There is a need
for good content, planning and,
most importantly, the budget. At
the same time the competition
has increased. It is difficult to
get a platform to express our
ideas. So we decide to create our
own platform and showcase our
talent,” said Haseen Khan.
The idea for every script comes
from regular, original movies.
The spoofs are made on the basis
of the content of original movies,
but presented in a comic way.
Thus, the spoofs help or provides
the original movies in that they
reach a wider range of viewers
via the spoof route.
A very comic way and also to
reach out to as much audience as
possible.
Be it a regional video or national
video, spoofs with good content
and presentation are always
do yet another spoof based
on another film featuring her
husband.
lakh views and gained more than
2000 subscribers within few days
of release on YouTube. A self-
The creative heads behind a few of the productions of JumpCuts
appreciated worldwide. A recent
video made by JumpCuts is Style
Dinga, a yet to be released spoof
of the movie- Style King which
will be released later this month
with “Golden Star” Ganesh in
the lead.
Ganesh himself has seen the
spoofy version and has highly
appreciated it. His wife Shilpa
has now asked the Khans to
“The content or the script
when it comes to a spoof has
to be more powerful than the
original, so it certainly takes a lot
of hard work to spoof the actual
film. Scripting and editing are
very challenging including the
characters, music and detailing,”
said Esham.
Their very first video, Venkat
in Sankat, crossed more than two
acclaimed filmmaker, Huccha
Venkat, inspired it. There was
an incident when Huccha Venkat
shouted at the audience for
not watching his movie in an
interview. The video went viral
in December 2014. JumpCuts
took the same incident and made
a spoof on it. The spoof of the
Huccha Venkat video went viral
within a short span leading to the
Khans getting threat calls from
the so-called filmmaker.
PK meets DK, was the second
video spoof made by JumpCuts.
The spoof was based on the
Bollywood movie, ‘PK’ by
Aamir Khan and a Kannada
movie by Prem, titled DK. This
was a challenging video since it
had to deal with both technical
aspects and content from
Bollywood and Sandalwood.
Other spoof videos by the
Khans are- Flavored Condoms,
Loveday, and 6-5=WTF.
The JumpCuts team was
invited to represent Karnataka by
Google India for an international
seminar on ‘Aspiring Content for
YouTube – A Google Initiative’
last year.
In India, there are many online
acts and channels like All India
Bakchod, The Viral Videos, Pudd
Chatni and the like who make
spoof videos, and are directly
funded by YouTube India. “We
personally think that it is a good
platform for a lot of talents to
demonstrate their film-making
skills. Many are getting exposure
because of such initiatives by
YouTube India,” said Esham
Khan, co-founder of JumpCuts.
“Though the Kannada industry
is unaware of this kind of creative
enterprise, it is surprising to see
the audience response for our
videos, ’’ he added. The Khans
are now planning to make a
foray into making commercial
cinema.
Kajarya and Matrubhoomi - a plunge into female foeticide
Claude D’souza
“Some are born and have pillows on
their faces choking them, poisoning
them with opium, crushing them with
stones and starving them,” said Maneka
Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child
Development, after she read out the
number of female babies killed in 2015.
Female foeticide evidently is a cause
of grave concern that besets the country
today. Over two thousand girls are killed
in India every day, with many slain before
or just after birth. In such a backdrop,
comes the recent release ‘Kajarya’,
directed by Madhureeta Anand.
The documentary-style film wraps a
social critique on the practices of female
foeticide, in particular those prevalent in
geographical areas where ritualistic Vedic
sacrifices are kept alive.
Sex determination of the foetus, though
offensive, in rural set ups of India is a
very common practice. The absurd greed
for a boy child, who will be the ‘torch
bearer’ of the family, is something that
still subsists in several regions across the
country.
Meenu Hooda plays the role of Kajarya,
a village witch, not far from the capital
Delhi, who has been drugged and forced
to don the role of goddess Kali in a
completely staged religious ceremony.
The compelling film throws light on the
events that lead to the barbarous practice
that garners frontpage coverage, thanks to
the young and ambitious journalist Meera
(Ridhima Sud) who is investigating a
juicy story at the behest of her editors.
Meera assumes to have unearthed the
real story by portraying Kajarya as a
‘witch’ killer who murders girl infants
cloaked in the guise of religion.
It is only later that the journalist realises
how Kajarya was but a helpless victim
exploited by wicked and gender-biased
forces, using the ‘goddess’ as a pretense
to kill baby girls.
Madhureeta, an activist for women’s
rights and rights of other minorities,
chose this subject to make the film uneasy
to the watching eyes and torment their
minds. She has showed how gruesome
and ignorant a large part of the society
is; and how guiltless they are. What kind
of a world will it be without women?
Madhureeta has put all her efforts in
trying to wake up the people from their
slumber.
Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without
Women (2003) was a similar kind of a film
that tackled sensitive issues. It projected
into a futuristic scenario of rural India,
where sex ratio drops low and women are
hard to find because of female infanticide.
In the film, director Manish Jha went
a step further in showing how a nation
without women would be. Men will use
alternative sources like pornography,
homosexuality savagery, and ferocity to
gratify their sexual frustration.
Matrubhoomi is completely taken in
a village set up. Kalki (Tulip Joshi) is
married to five brothers. All five and the
father-in-law take turns to have sex with
her. Later, she becomes a sexual toy for
an entire village, which is exaggerated
and disgusting. The film solely focuses on
how uncouth and aggressive young men
of the village will become desperate for
sex.
The director Madhureeta, on the other
hand, intermittently weaves the lives of
both the central characters and show how
gullible women, both in rural or urban
areas are controlled and manipulated.
Kajarya also highlights the inherent
hypocrisy of urban India. In the name of
Sex Selective Abortion, female foeticide
happens more in the affluent societies
than in the unprivileged neighborhoods.
The idea of making such a disturbing
movie started when Madhureeta learned
how unresponsive the midwives were.
Their main job was to kill ‘undesirable’
female babies.
During 2001- 2011, the portion of
children to the total population of the
India had deteriorated and the drop was
sharper for female children than male
children in the age group 0—6 years.
India is highly patriarchal society, as
daughters are often seen as a burden
because of the continuing prevalence of
the dowry system.
Kajarya is undoubtedly a powerful
movie in striking at social evils that
plague this country. Ten million girls
were killed in India since 1986 informs
the statistical figures shown at the end of
the film. This alone is enough to illustrate
the importance of an intense story such as
this.
6COMMUNIQUE
SPORTS / FEATURE
Kabaddi soars high as a global sport
Ashwin Simon
Kabaddi was officially started
in India in the 1950s when the
All India Kabaddi Federation
framed the rules. In 1955, the first
Kabaddi National Championship
was held in Calcutta.
Kabaddi was then included in
the Asian Games held in Beijing,
1990 where the game gained
popularity among the people
around the world. From then
on the game has had its regular
occurrence at the Asian Games.
The Indian team has been the
most successful team on the
world stage, having won every
World Cup and Asian Games
title so far, in both women’s and
men’s categories.
Even though cricket is the
most watched sport in India,
the National Kabaddi team
has done extremely well at
the international level. In the
beginning the recognition or
support wasn’t there as much for
Kabaddi as there was for cricket,
but now it has slowly started to
pick up support from the people.
Pro Kabaddi League (PKL)
was an initiative developed in
2014 where Kabaddi was played
just like Indian Premier League
for cricket with 8 different
franchises based on the different
cities within India.
With the emerging league for
the sport and the stardom and
fame involved it is a boost for the
youngsters in the country who
can now not only dream of being
cricketers when grow big they
from January to February and
then again in July- August 2016.
This will allow the fans to get
Karthik receives an award for best player
also have Kabaddi as a choice.
Since the inception of PKL
the number of participations of
college students in Karnataka
have increased by a hundred in
the competitions held in college
level, even the number of
Kabaddi clubs in Karnataka have
increased, reason being most
youngsters want to make a mark
in the PKL.
The PKL have also taken steps
of developing Kabaddi from the
grassroot levels with camps and
competitions happening around
the country in the hunt for young
talents.
Since the increase in the
popularity of the sport, PKL
have planned have two seasons
in a year from 2016, the
tournament will have one season
PHOTO - Ashwin
their piece of action and also to
increase the reach of the sport.
The PKL is also giving
players from other countries
also a chance so that the sport
is being spread over there to0
and can become developed as an
international sport.
Interview with Karthik S,
junior national-level kabaddi
player
Who was your inspiration to
take up the sport?
I started playing Kabaddi from
my high school level and it was
my seniors who encouraged me
to take up the sport and from
there on I put my heart and soul
into it and dedicated most of my
time to practice and train.
Which club did you start
playing for?
I played for New Bharath
Kabaddi club, where my coach
Mr Rajanna trained me well; he
gave me tips on improving my
technique and what to focus on.
Then I moved on to Barithya
Yukara Sanga club where I was
trained by Coach Mr. Umapathi.
How was the feeling when
you came to know that you got
selected for the junior national
level team?
It was indeed a great moment
for me and my family, I was
really excited to perform in the
bigger stage and showcase my
talents.
Were your parents supportive
for your Kabaddi career?
No they did not support me in
the beginning, it was my friends
and my team members who
stood by my side, but once I got
selected for the junior national
level team my parents believed
in my talent.
So how was the experience at
the national level junior team?
A: It was special for me; they
had conducted a 15 day camp
where every day there was 2
hours of fitness training in the
morning and 2 hours of practice
in the evening.
What do you think about
PKL’s initiative?
It is a very positive initiative
considering the state of Kabaddi
in India. After PKL came in
there has been a drastic change
in the entire setup of the sport,
Troll old films on Booo My Show
Veda Gowda
Interests change for people along
with time. The same applies
to trends being set in various
walks of life. Booo My Show is
such a creative initiative, which
capitalises on mocking old trends
to attract the new generation.
The YouTube channel, which
started airing videos recently,
has already created an impact
in the minds of its viewers. The
number of subscribers, likes,
and views is showing a constant
growth graph. The brain of the
creator, Vikram Yoganand, who
has been actively associating
with the Kannada film industry
for some time now, powers the
channel which runs on the track
of laughter.
The channel, for Yoganand, is
a way he found out himself to
chase his big dream of being a
unique film critic. As a person
who has moved the camera
and also used the scissors
while editing many films, it
was experience that made him
realise the grey area between the
mind-set of the audience and the
developing trends of new media.
The channel is “old wine
in a new bottle.” Archiving
something for the upcoming
generation
is
also
done
knowingly or unknowingly with
young minds being challenged to
comparing vintage cinema with
that which the current generation
subscribes to.
Artists Pavan Venugopal,
Gautam Nayak, and Kailash Pal
have worked with Yoganand
towards making the channel
more attractive and viewerfriendly. They have also played
effective supporting roles in
bringing out Yoganand’s own
production house named Smart
Screen Productions. Facebook is
the platform these creative brains
chose to promote their videos on.
Yoganand chose electronic
media as a tool to execute his
ideas, for which reason he started
Smart Screen Productions. His
friends Kailash, Gowtham, and
Pawan stood by him through
tough times. Finally, the group
started uploading their videos
criticizing vintage films through
their Facebook page.
Vikram says:
“In the
Bollywood industry, they have
tried these type of shows and
they have been quite successful.
But in the Kannada industry no
one so far has tried this type of
show. These are not copied from
the original; we made a lot of
changes so that it’s tailored the
way we wanted it to be.”
The group decided to troll old
There is a third dummy reviewer
who will do nothing but react
with facial expressions to the
commentary made by the other
two reviewers.
In the future, the group plans
to involve a celebrity as one of
A promotional poster for Booo My Show
movies. Their first film was Sai
Kumar’s “Police Story”. The
production of these videos is
done in a fairly elaborate yet
simple manner. A camera is
pointed dead straight at the two
reviewers and each scene will
be played. A scripted narration
is recited as the scenes progress.
the reviewers, where he or she
will have to troll his or her own
movie.
Kailash and Pavan Venugopal
look after scripting, narration
and direction while Vikram
works as the production manager
and handles media marketing
with Goutham.
APRIL 2016
many youngsters and taking up
the sport and it has also given
the sport a wide reach among
the people in the country, people
are slowly starting to realize
Kabaddi as an important sport.
What do you think about the
enthusiasm of the youngsters?
A: It’s good to feel determined
to do something but it’s always
about the basics first; most of
these young kids never learn the
basics properly whether it is the
technique or the fitness - they
just want to jump on to the court
and play a match, this can lead to
a lot of injuries.
Are the sports authorities
giving good facilities for
kabaddi players in the state?
A: After PKL they have started
to give improve facilities to the
players and we are being taken
care of well by the authorities.
If you had to point out one
person who has made a great
impact in your Kabaddi life who
would it be?
A: It certainly would be my
first coach Mr.Rajanna who has
always guided me in the right
path.
What do you think is needed
for a person to be a good
Kabaddi player?
From my point of view it is
simple a person should first of
all be dedicated to the sport and
then practice hard and should
respect the sport.
Smart Screen Productions
initially released their first
film” Police story” video on
their Facebook page, and on
receiving a good response they
released the same on YouTube.
Their second movie trolled
was “Keralida Kesari” starring
Shashikumar and ace child artist
Master Anand.
“It is so good to see these
emerging film makers trying
something
different.
The
audience response and the
number of views they get for
their videos is increasing,” said
Master Anand.
The span of the movie review
will take hardly 5 to 10 minutes,
but the intention is not to tell the
audience or give suggestions to
them to watch this movie instead
of that. Rather, it’s an opportunity
to enjoy and recall our memories
with those films which we have
already seen years ago.
The third video, Aham
Premasmi, based on the previous
movie with the same name was
released on Valentine’s Day.
In short, Booo My Show is an
experimental film review show,
which guarantees thorough
infotainment to the viewers.
7COMMUNIQUE
TRAVEL/ FEATURE
APRIL 2016
Reaching the unreached at Raichur
Veda Gowda
As part of the mandatory outreach programme implemented
by the college, post-graduate
students from the Communication Department were expected
to Raichur in North Karnataka
on a rural visit during December.
For many, the outreach programme seemed to be something
which they couldn’t escape from
but for others it was an opportunity to gain new experiences.
The team from I MA Mass
Communication was guided by
Dr Isaac and Fr Pradeep Anthony. The 45-minute journey by
road from Raichur railway station to Loyola Campus, Manvi,
was enjoyed by one and all, even
after the long train journey.
The morning sessions for the
students encouraged them to get
her hands and feet dirty at the
fields. A barren land was tried
to evolve to a forest with a good
number of vegetation.
All the preceding groups too
had done similar kind of work
around the area at different places contributing to the St Joseph’s
Forest.
Mentoring the inmates of the
hostel was another part of the
programme. Children of different ages from the area who have
been trained well in all aspects
of life gradually turned out to
be teachers for the post graduate
students.
The Christmas cribs and decorations put up were part of their
well-planned and organised
team-effort.
The visitors also felt special as
the children looked up to them
for anything and everything.
The help offered by the children
without
expectations
The students of I MA Comm
shot a documentary on the special achievements of the children
there. Seven boys from the hos-
Andrea gets a taste of Lambani fashion
PHOTO- Reevan
The eyes of this Lambani boy sparkle with joy
strengthened the Josephites to
work better.
tel were selected to play cricket
at the national-level. The fact
that more than half of the team
from Loyola School, Manvi, had
made their way up the ladder
themselves to represent the state
Dr Isaac was a major energy
boost for the students
PHOTO- Reevan
itself was self-congratulatory.
“They had minimal facility for
training here. The whole credit
to this achievement goes to their
strong will power, hard work
and constant support from their
coach,” said Fr Francis D’Souza,
Principal, Loyola School, Manvi.
According
to
coach
Meghananth, the students were
willing to undergo hard training
under the burning sun till they
mastered each skill everyday.
“Their whole-hearted interest
to grab new techniques and to
practice hard is truly magical,”
he said.
Village visits every evening
during the course of the five-day
stay were platforms for the students to connect with the people
and their cultures.
The visit to Lambani tribals
remain fresh in the memory of
the group as a student from the
group had the opportunity to get
dressed like a typical Lambani
woman.
Students also joined the villagers for a traditional dance, picking up some new steps.
Various programmes including
skits and talks were organised
to create awareness of various
social issues, including education for girls and child marriage.
The students shared lighter moments with the kids by organising games which in turn helped
to enable a better bonding with
the people.
The students were also given
an insight into the social-initiatives taken up by the Jesuit society at the villages around the
district of Raichur.
Hip-Hop Kannadigaru, being different is the new norm
Ashika Ananth Rao
Hip-hop has come a long way
from the South Bronx in New
York City to make its own special
impact in Karnataka.
Meet Alok Babu, aka All.Ok,
one of the founders of the hiphop movement in Karnataka.
All.Ok is synonymous with the
hip-hop band Urban Lads.
“Music has always played a
major role in my life since I was
little and once I tried creating
music, I fell in love with it and
have been hooked ever since.
Creating music like this is a
diary for me. It’s like I need it
to create and get things off my
chest or I would go crazy,” said
Alok Babu, co-founder of Urban
Lads and a member of Hip-hop
Kannadigaru.
When they began as the first
hip-hop band in Karnataka in
2012, the Urban Lads, tried to
redefine music in the Kannada
industry. Hip-hop and rapping
were something new at that point
of time.
Young
Kannadigas
were
inspired and influenced by the
likes of Eminem and Jay-Z and
challenging and we nailed it,”
he added. The second album by
Urban Lads was titled Reloaded.
After becoming a massive
hit with youngsters across
“I
have
completed
a
professional course in DJ-ing
and electronic music production.
I want to encourage all the
budding talents and give them a
Hip-Hop Kannadigaru on their latest project KA -01
Still from their production
the Urban Lads caught the gravy
train with the release of their first
album titled Explosion One in
2012.
“Our idea was to introduce
something new to the music field
in Kannada. That is the reason for
Urban Lads making a mark. Hiphop and rapping in Kannada was
platform. Hip-hop Kannadigaru
is one such example,” said the
multi-talented musician.
Hip-hop
Kannadigaru
is
a group of young boys and
independent artists who are
trained in hip-hop and rapping
in Kannada. The members are
MC Bijju, J.O.Y, Shaitan, Martin
Karnataka, the Urban Lads
moved to the film industry. By
then, they had put behind them
200 concerts across India. Their
debut movie was Josh. Rakesh,
co-artist and co-founder of
the band, has now become a
prominent actor in the Kannada
industry.
Yo, John Bastin and S.I.D, Rahul
Dit-O and the youngest rapper of
the lot is Ammo.
The team along with All.Ok
is working on their next video
album, KA-01.
The album
is ideally for the multi-genre
clubbed together and various
independent artists are given a
chance. More than 24 artists and
many celebrities are part of this
album.
“Acting is also my priority.
I have acted in more than 25
films including Kannada, Tamil
and Telugu. I am also doing my
debut as a lead actor in a Kannada
movie in upcoming days. We are
planning to open a production
house and start a revolution in
Kannada film industry,” All.Ok
said.
According to All.Ok, the
Bengaluru rap and hip-hop
scenes are growing. “A musical
revolution is happening in the
Silicon City,” he warned.
8COMMUNIQUE
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APRIL 2016
Staff Editor: A V Varghese; Student Editors: Reevan Vishwas Rego, Ralph Alex Arakal;
Reporters: Ashika Ananth Rao, Reevan Vishwas Rego, Ralph Alex Arakal, Veda Gowda, Claude D’souza, Ashwin Simon, Akshitha Subramanian
Published by the PG Department of Communication, St Joseph’s College (Autonomous), P.O. Box 27094, Lalbagh Road, Bangalore-27
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in Communique’ belongs to individuals and do not in any way reflect the opinions of the faculty or the management
Website: www.sjc.ac.in Feedback: [email protected]