Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond
Director: Nora Ephron
Music: Alexander Desplat
TTS Rating: 4/5

Julie and Julia will be highly enjoyed two kinds of people – Meryl Streep fans and food lovers.

Julie and Julia successfully adheres to deliver to both the young crowd and our incredible stay-at-home or moms. With intertwined lives of the two characters unfolding at a gripping pace, the comedy-drama plot shows similarities in challenges and obstacles faced by Julia and Julie. Meryl Streep, looking gorgeous as ever, might seem a bit over cheery and pluckily self-confident, but the trait goes a long way in building certain scenes and her relationship with the character’s husband. Both Meryl and Amy Adams look utterly gorgeous with the pearl necklaces.

As Julie’s character moves ahead in the film with Julia Child as her idol in the kitchen, we’re taken on tour with the best of French cuisine! Beef Stew in Red Wine, Raspberry Brulee, Mushroom Cream on Chicken, Lobster, Roast Duck and the list goes on. A gastronome’s delight, the film not only touches the cheeky side of the audience with the hyper reactive characters, but plays with the palette too.

But interestingly, while bustling through the kitchen, both women skirt the importance of their husbands in life and little things in life, like having a man to support them at their best and more importantly at their worst matters more. Watching Stanley Tucci get into Paul Child’s shoes and becoming a wholesome part of Julia was as interesting as any love affair.

Amy’s characters' breakdown and upheaval, while relating to her self built image of Julia, has a lovely touch and shouldn’t go unnoticed but sadly, Streep overshadows her performance, just like in any other film (Devil Wears Prada & Mamma Mia).

Julie’s original blog is still live though she stopped writing after Julia’s death in 2004.

Now that you’ve got the movie, the blog and their cookbook to enjoy, Bon Appétit!

Sahil Khan

Director: Dev Benegal
Cast: Abhay Deol, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik
Music: Michael Brook
TTS Rating: 4.5/5

From the director of August (1994) and Split Wide Open (1999) comes a soul-stirring fable magically woven in the rough and exotic terrains of the desert regions of Kutch and Rajasthan. Produced by Ross Katz (in the Bedroom and Lost in Translation fame), Susan B. Landan in collaboration with Studio 18, Road movie is an exclusively indigenous story directed in a style that is incredibly universal.

Road Movie is the story of a young, passionate and restless boy Vishnu played by Abhay Deol. The character is agitated, yet not openly defiant about his father’s business. In the hope of helping a friend he falls upon an old rusted truck of the 40’s era that must have been a magnificent beast during its time but now barely splutters to life. Vishnu, driven by wanderlust, ventures to escape his bleak fate at home.

His six-day journey in the battered run-down vehicle to its final destination - a sea-side museum across the desert turns into a transformative experience for Vishnu. A life changing transition from a self centred, disoriented person without much direction to that of a selfless companion is seen revealing itself, beautifully yet subtly.

He picks up a sharp-tongued runaway (Mohammed Faizal) in search of a new life, an old entertaining mechanic (Satish Kaushik) who repairs the truck in exchange for a ride to the desert fair, a beautiful gypsy woman (Tannistha Chatterjee) who is in search of water.

An unquestioning bond is shown beautifully developing between the four comrades belonging to different generations. The woman teaching him about love, life and laughter, the old mechanic stirring his conscience, Vishnu transforms through the journey. In spite of being ambushed midway by a corrupt cop and a notorious water lord, they escape with a clever slap of comedy that touches the magical realism already unfolding in front of us.

Abhay Deol’s outstanding performance in Dev D earmarked him as an exponent of unconventional independent cinema. He now plays a completely different role in this movie. Subtle, in search of direction, a something to help him break away from immediate destiny, Abhay Deol manages to pull off this face of Vishnu with remarkable ease.

French cinematographer Michel Amathieu’s stunning camera work gives a visual delight to the viewers. He pays tribute to the receding open areas of rural India by capturing the dreamy picturesque beauty of the drought-struck Rajasthan amidst a water crisis.

Credits for the effectively eclectic background score go to Michael Brook who has previously worked on the likes of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, ‘Black Hawk Down’, and ‘Mission Impossible:2’. He has also carved recognition in international music with the two break-through albums with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Armenian Djivan Gasparyan. His light-hearted motifs contain both Indian and Western influences that blend in with the country charm. While the movie makes use of a lot of background score, the OST album features Lucky Ali, KK and Kailash Kher. Very well selected tracks from across the artists. Do check out Kesariya Balam and Naiharwa.

The movie was premiered at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival and screened at the international film festivals of Berlin and Tokyo, drawing forth a mature international audience.

Road Movie has resulted in a short and crisp story with the perfect dosage of humour, thrill, sarcasm and reality rolled into one with a tad bit of cheeky fantasy to it.  A simple story, which is enacted beautifully with superb cinematography, unfurls at its own lethargic pace. A light unhurried touch is maintained and only a mild sense of real danger creeps in.  It might come as a disappointment for those expecting a mainstream conventional 'road movie' with frequent adventures and an intriguing plot. It makes for a 'Must Watch' for those open to a modestly amusing and life-changing story that might just be the new Indian archetype of independent cinema.

Tejal Johri

Mark Edwards is a man who could be called a photographer, an environmentalist, or a filmmaker. This UK based 60 year old heard Bob Dylan’s song, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ in the Sahara Desert, which is about love and death. As the images in the song hit him, Mark had the idea of illustrating each line of the song with a photograph. He has come up with a book and a DVD with the photographs with Hard Rain, which are now available in bookstores all over.

TheTossedSalad: Your photographs stir feelings in the reader to help nature. But other than a lifestyle switch, what do you think is the solution?

Mark Edwards: Put huge pressure on the government. You have to find ways to do this- write to your Prime Minister, to MPs. Get people to write in to them. With Hard Rain, on the assumption that we have to put huge pressure on governments to act in favour of the future, we take the stand that governments need a mass movement behind them to lead. In addition to writing to your PM, write to politicians and leaders of other countries also.  Climate change needs more reading about and thinking about than most other global problems. You’ve got to do the homework and then create a movement.

TTS: Most people are unwilling to compromise on their comforts to make way for a long-term sustainable solution. What can we do about this?

ME: What you’ve done is to brilliantly summarise the key difficulties of this extraordinarily difficult problem. From now on, our civilisation will start to deteriorate and collapse, as others have. That’s one point of view that is logical. In broad terms, we need to get the CO2 levels down and this will require massive government action to invest in new kinds of energy production. It will require a lifestyle change on the part of the middle class people, more and more of whom are becoming over consumers. We need to put as much pressure as we can on industry to manufacture the goods and services we use sustainably and also on governments. If people say that “I’m not going to give up my comforts. I’m not going to live a more sustainable life”, it means that we’re heading for a cataclysm, i.e. a human induced disaster on a civilization, on a world-wide scale that will ultimately destroy civilisation. If our present way of life is so precious that we don’t care about our future generations and our old age, then we know what is coming to us. We can’t overexploit habitats; nor put poisons into the atmosphere or water. Industry should be compatible with nature.

One of the shots from Mark's exhibition.

TTS: What would you say is the biggest problem that the government needs to work on and how would you solve it?

ME: The non-alignment of the human systems to the natural systems-dealing with population expansion, dealing with poverty and the West has to be a part of this as well.

Firstly, you have to see how different problems connect. They all connect with cause and effects. We have departments in governments as well as NGOs who look at the intricacies to these problems. There has to be better communication between them. For example, instead of separate child healthcare and family planning projects, the two should be rolled out together. To separate such projects was a key problem in the early days.

TTS: What about the dispute that would arise between environmentalism and the economy?

ME: We shouldn’t be afraid of progress. It’s difficult to get it going but once it starts, it will provide new opportunities for employment and a world without the kind of pollution that we’re familiar with today. If we could improve the air quality or generate electricity from renewable sources, we would have a better quality of life. Encourage people by showing them a future that is much more attractive than the present.

Remember, when you hurt nature, you’re hurting yourself.

Interviewed by Rohini Kejriwal

As they stand on the border, we sleep. As they stand up and defend, we look away. As they unite, we fall apart and as they protect, we attack. We are the ones responsible.

Sitting in this square room, I am to write upon the justice that movie makers shed on the war of freedom: definitely a debatable topic. When at war with other countries, while other countries stand against us, we, in an attempt to justify ourselves, make war movies.

Paying tribute to the heroes that were and the heroes that still are out there, fighting to protect us; a zillion movies have been made. Indian cinema has somehow always focused on individual stories within a backdrop of the defending lines. In Lakshya, it was about Karan Shergill trying to find himself, LOC Kargil, was about a group of men, with and around many problems, trying to figure out life and trying to be the men Mother India would want them to be. Border talked of the emotions of soldiers. However, from observation it can be said that they hardly make one feel patriotic. Contrasting the same are movies like Rang De Basanti, which instead infuse us with patriotism and enrage us.

As is in all movies, the true expression here too comes through songs and powerful dialogues. For Border, it is Ghar Kab Aaoyege (When Will You Come Back Home?), while for Lakshya, it is about finding oneself and answering that important question Mein Aisa Kyun Hun?(Why Am I Like This?). But somehow, these songs and their lyrics get lost somewhere and live only through the compositions rather than in the truth of what they wanted to project and what they wanted the world to see.

Individually and as a whole album, these songs have very little to do with the entire theme of patriotism and of paying homage and respect to the dead and the alive respectively. Yet they manage to unite us over and above the boundary lines. These songs, as is in most Hindi feature films, were just mediums of hope for the characters in their struggle to find themselves.

These 3 movies in particular haven't gone down in the history of Indian Cinema.  Neither have their box office collections been impressive, nor considered impactful. These movies repeatedly throw the same things in your face: corruption, sentiments, and more of the “India was right” attitude. The music in itself fails to build up on the fear of the ranks. It also fails to capture the true essence of each soldier. More focus is paid on the building up of drama, again through the use of songs, than on the duty that each soldier must fulfill.

There is a lot more to depict, and a lot to talk about. A lot more that needs respect.

Their families shed tears because they sacrifice their lives for us. They deserve to live on respectfully.  The least we can do is make sure they do, even if it is by way of movies.

Akanksha Arya

Not many have heard of him, but those who have consider Steve Kimock a legend. They worship the music, speak highly of him and recommend his music to every intrigued ear. Kimock, a guy whose been around since the 1970’s when he first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from Pennsylvania.

The Steve Kimock Band known around the world for its versatility in music, one that breaks all boundaries; hit the stands again with a new album – East meets West. The new album, literally makes east meet west with the band exploring Japan and San Fransisco, California in concerts.

Having hit it right with Live in Colorado, Eudemonic and a few other albums, ‘SKB’ is known for its individuality and hitting the right notes in more than its literal sense of meaning. Famous for creating music across genres, the album is a double pack, one that you will satiate your want of the band’s music.

The album literally makes east meet west vis a vis Japan meet California. The two countries, poles apart in matter of ethnicity and culture come together under The Steve Kimock Band and get unmatchable treatment with performances on stage which constitute this album.

The album holds10 tracks varying in length, the longest being 21 minutes, strummed without losing fluidity of the instrument. This album is for patient listeners who can wait for the music to develop with every beat. The music has a groove enough to dance to, a mood to meditate, or just drive along with.

All the songs are a possible representation of a slow progression of a human brain into a story; a story that the listener is free to develop and to build on. In fact each song might be a different story.

While High and Lonesome makes you want to pick up the car keys and drive along the highway lost within yourself; Africa, doesn’t remind one particularly of the continent.

With cheers in the backdrop and music that fills you up, each song can be considered as a constant reminder of the brilliant prodigy that the Steve Kimock Band is.

Of course, there are the usual ups and downs in each of the two discs. Disc one can, however, be considered a better overall production as the sounds in this range from slow drum rolls to high guitar crescendos.

All in all, the album is a mix of everything a rock fanatic would want, minus the lyrics. This album is for those who have faith in listening and belief in music at its finest. From psychedelic to slow to soft to jazz, there is all you want and of course, the quality hasn’t been sidelined. Well, neither has the quantity.

Akanksha Arya

22 year old Varun Murali is the lead guitarist of Bangalore-based urban folk rock band Swarathma, a growing craze across India. He runs a production house called Erato Productions and also endorses Epiphone guitars. The band recently played at Baajaa Gaajaa, the three day music festival in Pune, a platform for upcoming Indian bands like his. The band’s music is available on MySpace & Swarathma.com. Do check it out!

He was kind enough to take out some time for an interview from his busy jamming schedule. Here’s what he had to say:

TheTossedSalad: Since when have you been playing the guitar?

Varun Murali: I have been playing guitar for 6 yrs now

TTS: Were you taught by someone else or are self-taught?

VM: I’ve learnt from Bruce Lee Mani of Thermal and a Quarter and also did some guitar studies under Konarak Reddy for a while. He is a solo guitarist from Bangalore who has done his music studies from Berklee College of Music. I still do continue to learn from Bruce. Also, I’d like to mention Anirban Chakravarty , another solo guitarist who is currently in USA, who worked with Raghu Dixit, has been a great influence and support for me to in coming all this way. Though he never officially taught me but I did learn a lot from him by watching him play and by working on the feedbacks he gave me.

TTS: What has been your inspiration which urges you to keep going forward?

VM: Music itself is an inspiration. When I listen to my idols like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Andy Timmons, it inspires me to play more and more and work harder.

TTS: You are just 22 and have already come a long way in your career. How does it feel?

VM: It feels great. I always wanted to reach places at a young age. In fact, sometimes I feel I wish I had started playing guitar a bit earlier in my life. It would’ve meant a big deal for me.

TTS: Other than music, are you passionate about anything else?

VM: Wildlife tops my list after music. If I was not a guitarist, then I’d have tried something to do with wildlife. Especially wildcats which I love by the way! I still do visit zoological parks in different cities when I am touring with Swarathma. I also enjoy watching landscapes and exploring caves when I can. I’m scared of water and great heights so things relating to them don’t fascinate me at all!

TTS: What’s your daily routine like and how many hours in a day do you put into practice?

VM: My day starts really early since I teach at a music school and also have practice with my band on alternative days. Soon after my practice with the band, I go home, relax for while and the rest of the day is just MY DAY which I use mostly for practicing guitar, listening to music, watching concert videos, writing songs. I wish I could practice for 15-18 hours a day like how great guitarists did. But sometimes it becomes tough to do that, so I make sure that I at least spend a minimum of 5 hours a day doing serious practice. But yes, I do want to exceed the duration of my practice session.

TTS: How has your family been in your choice of career? Supportive?

VM: Wow, what do I say! They have been really supportive right from the beginning, especially my mom. Yes, they were quite concerned in the initial days when I showed no signs of studying further after my graduation but soon they realized that this was where my heart was and they just let me chase my dreams. A big thanks to them. I just can’t imagine what I would be doing without this.

TTS: We hear your write your own songs. Are the lyrics based on your real life instances or something else?

VM: I love fiction. In fact, a lot of the songs I personally write are based on experiences that I’ve had, imagined or dreamt about. I create my own world with imaginations and it helps me live the life I want. I try to keep my song writing themes really simple because it has so much to do with me and I have lived a simple life till date. So rarely do things get complicated.

TTS: Any plans of solo projects?

VM: Yes, I do have plans of releasing an album sometime. But I can’t promise when that would be because till I personally feel confident about the songs, that I feel should go in my album, I wouldn't want to hurry up and release anything.

TTS: How was your experience playing at Baajaa Gaajaa’10, Pune with the rest of your band?

VM: Pune has by far been a lucky place for us for the fact that whenever we performed there we had a good supportive crowd there, be it small or big. The fact that you are playing onstage and there are people standing below and they say "WE NEED MORE", what do I say? That’s a great feeling to be playing for such people and Baajaa Gaajaa in particular has been a prestigious event for us because of such high profile musicians who visit the festival and also our love for Shubhaji and for all our fans in Pune!

TTS: What do you see as the future of Indian rock bands?

VM: A long way to go. A long journey and yes, still a lot of things that we all need to come together and build up. Bands have always had a tough time but things have gotten far better now but compared to what happens in the international scene, I personally feel that we are still lacking behind a bit. But cheers to a lot of event/festival organisers and artist management teams who are making it possible for the music scene to get better and better. I would do as much as possible from my end to take Indian music scene to a next level.

TTS: What is your current relationship status and how is your love life?

VM: LOL. Yes I am single. Actually, I must say I am committed—to my guitars and my music. They mean so much to me that I can live a 100 lives with it.

Some fun facts for our readers:

Favorite guitarist: Joe Satriani

Favorite song of all time: That’s a really difficult question, Hmm...I would say Flying in a blue dream by Joe Satriani

Favorite Indian band: Thermal and a Quarter

Favorite International band: Whoa! Super tough question again. I follow a lot of bands...Dave Matthews Band, ChickenFoot, Rasmus, Metallica, Evanescence, and Muse are some of my favourites on my I-pod.

Favorite cuisine: I like junk food a lot-burgers, pizza, chocolates and ice creams (I LOVEEEEEE THEM). And desserts!

Favorite movie of all time: Avatar, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter series. Like I said, I LOVE FICTION.

Most embarrassing moment in your life: When Bobby Talwar from OML, also bassist of Zero, played a prank on me when I was supposed to receive my first endorsement guitar, a wonderful Les Paul saying that it got damaged in transit. I had to speak to my dear friend Heena from Gibson guitars and I troubled her when she had a flight to take and she had to order for another one and after all the mess, I realised it was a prank and I was so dead. I had to send an apology to Heena saying I had nothing to do with this. I had no clue. It was a nice story, but a bit long, so contact me for the complete story telling session.

Most memorable moment in your career: There are too many moments that I cherish. One such special moment is when I shared the same stage with my tutor Bruce Lee Mani at a show in Bangalore quite recently and this was a dream that I had had for quite a long time. 5 years to be precise. And also when I got the chance to watch the Flight 666 Iron Maiden's documentary’s premiere with the drummer of the band himself.

A quote for the readers: I would say dream as much as you can. Believe in them and work as hard as possible in making them come true.

I’d also like to thank all the people who have made me what I am today. I’ll never forget you all. Lots of love.

Interviewed by Rohini Kejriwal

Pizza for 30 rupees. Yes. You read it right. It’s a tapri in Model Colony, and the guy sells them like hot cakes. So it ain’t one of those oh-road-side-Italian-is-worthless. Obviously it’s a heavily Indian-ized version, but what the heck! Anything topped on a flour base, tastes good and for that low a price, it’s good enough for me.

Vilas Nair spent two months doing his research for his first shop for the right spot. Today, with four employees at the Model Colony tapri, and nine months later, he has four joints dishing out 200+ pizzas on a daily basis, a number which goes up on weekends.

With the Veg. Classic and Veg. Crunch starting at a mere 30 INR, the price just goes up till 50 INR for their Special Chat-Pata Chat Paneer which is loaded with double cheese, sev and chat masala apart from the regular oneness of a pizza. What really intrigued me was the custom ready to go electrical oven they were using!

On being asked about starting home delivery, Vilas feels humbled about the response his pizzas have been getting and even shows us a clipping from a recent coverage in a newspaper, but politely rejects the idea saying he is happy with his turnout from the four shops.

So till the time he begins to bring the amazingly affordable bread with topping to your door step, you can go get a bite at the following points:

• Next to Coffee Stop, Near Om Super Market, Model Colony
• Next to Archies, Deccan Crossing
• Rastapeth
• Adinath Society, in front of Parvati Industrial Estate, Satara Road

Sahil Khan

[image courtesy: Nikhil Kumar Verma]

Even slices of carefully chosen pieces of pickled and sun dried heaven to satiate your gastronomical desires, pizzas, the word is enough to make your mouth water! The food you almost immediately associate Italian cuisine with, often alternating with pastas.

Undeniably the most popular food across the globe, the pizza easily replaces the prescribed balanced diet for most of the youngsters today. Eat outs or home deliveries, house parties or birthday parties, celebrating a promotion or a bet won, one call and the box of joy is on its way, 30 minutes nahi toh free!

In spite of being so popular across generations, what no one knows today is that pizza used to be one of the tastier dishes for the poor, as opposed to for the higher classes of the society. Known to have been tossed together by the poorer class of ancient Italy, seasoned bread was now much more than just dough consumed in everyday meals by the Greeks and the Phoenicans.

Coined from the Latin word ‘pinsa’ meaning ‘flatbread’, pizzas were first created by baker Raffeale Esposito in Naples, Italy. He experimented with cheese, adding it to the bread and then sauce under the cheese. Lucky for us, it was immediately devoured by King Umberto and Queen Margherita of Italy in 1889. The ‘Margherita’ pizza was named in the Queen’s honor after Esposito visited their court and made them a pizza with the colors of the Italian flag – white cheese, red sauce and green basil spices.

Tomatoes weren't an immediate success though. It was only around 1890s when tomatoes were added to the recipe. In 1830, a pizzeria was established in Naples, making it available for everyone in Italy to taste Esposito’s creation. Traditional pizzerias used wood burning in brick stoves also giving the pizzerias a very charismatic look. The tradition continues in most of the pizzerias in Italy today, where the customer can watch their pizzas being prepared directly on the brick surface, which is an art in itself with the tossing of the bread and the rest of the preparations drawing the fascination of the customer. The temperatures reach a good 400°C.

And this is why we love pizzas – varieties of cheese like ricotta, mozzarella, feta, brie; vegetables like onions, snow peas, olives, broccoli, jalapeños, pickles; herbs like basil, cardamom, rosemary, dill; meats like ham, pepperoni, bacon and the likes! Pizzas can be made from almost anything from the healthiest of ingredients to the most fattening ones. The choice is yours to make. The variety available for the crusts is also an attraction- pan pizza, stuffed pizza, thin crust pizza, thick crust pizza, and cheese crust pizzas are just a few of the many options.

Pizza, the food with its history and much loved present status is known to top the charts! With its aromatic smells and tastes, be it of basil or pepperoni, it continues to be the generation’s preferred snack. In the words of Daria Morgendorffer, “There’s no facet, no aspect, no moment of life that can’t be improved with pizza.” Now go, get yourself a slice.

Rohini Kejriwal

PS: Pizza for 30 rupees only? Check tomorrow’s article.

[image courtesy: http://wikipedia.com]

The short film lovers dawn upon High Spirits, Koregaon Park (next to ABC Farms) every third Thursday of the month for a feast for their eyes and brains. Shamiana Shorts, started by Cyrus Dastur in Mumbai, has over the past year build a steady fan base who enjoy a select number of short films chosen from submissions not only from across the country but the globe.

With the recent tie-up with Tata Docomo, Shamiana has reached Ahmedabad too. What began as a single screening at Not Just Jazz By The Way in Mumbai, with 4 chapters, every month the venues are jampacked.

At a mere 100 INR entry which is redeemable at face value, it’s a definite monthly visit to see the wonders that these bright minds create ranging from a few minutes to 45 minute long ones. Recently Shamiana had screened Road to Ladakh, starring Irrfan Khan and Koel Purie, at Ishanya Mall.

Happening tomorrow at High Spirits from 8.45 pm onwards, following is the line up:

1. Britian Isn’t Working: What were to happen if the whole of UK was to suddenly decide to stop working! An awesome comedy from the Queen’s land. Dir: Rocky Palladino Dur: 9 mins Country: UK
2. Nanbaa (Friend) (Tamil): What happens when you try to outdo your classmate in Class IV? One of the cutest shorts you'll ever se! Dir: Rohin Dur: 9 mins Country : India
3. Drishti (Music Video): A beautiful and emotional music video by a young student filmmaker! Dir: Harshad Nalawade Dur: 3 mins Country : India
4. Udaan: A story about a young boy and his dream to fly, simple and sweet. Dir : Pruthujay Raghani Dur : 5 mins Country : India
5. Vitthal: A story about a 12 year old boy who's head is forcefully shaved off by his parents on the death of his grandfather. Dir: Vinoo Choliparambil Dur: 21 mins Country: India (*VITTHAL won the Best Short Film at the Asian Short Film Festival, 2009 and has won many more accolades too.)
6. The Devil: Serious situations can be made to look quite funny if the filmmaker has the knack! A story about an old woman about to die and her son makes a pact with a village woman, almost like a wager! But the old woman just won't die. Dir: Andrea Lodovichetti Dur: 16 mins Country: Italy

Sahil Khan

The foremost thing on every aware citizen’s mind today is undoubtedly the planet. Our ecology and environment have been suffering for a long time and slowly more and more individuals are getting clued into how important a cause this is. Every vocation in society can find room to fight for mother earth and Nidhi and Gaurav of Indigreen are two such people contributing in their own fashionable way.

TheTossedSalad: From media to eco-friendly consciousness, how did the transformation happen?

Nidhi Singh: Well, I have a fashion background and was a part of the fashion industry before I joined the media Even as a TV journalist, I would report on fashion and lifestyle trends and other related stories. So when I decided to get back into fashion to start my own line, I realized I had to incorporate the two most valuable lessons I have learnt in life.

One, business is nothing but serving people in the best way possible. I have learnt this from my Guru Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the world famous spiritual classic- Autobiography of a Yogi.

Two, in order to catch the attention of the people, your story has to be visually stunning & effective. This lesson I learnt from my experience as a TV journalist.

I began researching on what my line should be about way back in 2006 and after two years of research, I saw how big the ‘green revolution’ was in the developed nations and the huge influence it had on the Paris, London, Milan, New York Fashion Weeks. It was high time this revolution became a part of my own country. I realized hence that Indigreen would have to be the following:

100% eco friendly…100% fair trade…100% quirky…and 100% Indian

Indigreen is thus, a fusion of Indian art, fashion, eco-friendly and fair trade values. It serves the well being of not only the people buying it; it also serves the people involved in creating it!

TTS: Do yours and Gaurav's well defined roles help in achieving your goals?

NS: When I met Gaurav at The Climate Project-India and told him about the concept of Indigreen, I knew I had found a person who is equally passionate about all the values that the brand embodies! While I had the creative and the technical aspects of production and design sorted, I also needed a strong business mind to steer the project into a profitable direction. After all, you can’t expect to help people without doing well for yourself, right? And Gaurav, apart from being an ecopreneur is an economist by background having graduated from Oxford and Yale in the subject.

So it just works out perfectly for both of us. And many a times, Gaurav helps provide the global perspective to Indigreen’s creatives that help our message and concept become more global in spite of being an Indian brand. Our limited Edition Obama line was a result of Gaurav’s creative input!

TTS: Suddenly the environment has become the new it cause to be associated with but how does one manage to sustain the hype so that results actually come out?

NS: Well, we are glad that the concept that I have been working on for the past 4 years has finally caught the imagination of the people and media alike. The Copenhagen Summit saw the peak of media attention with world leaders coming together to find a possible solution to the crisis and India playing a major role. So in essence, what we had anticipated is now beginning to take shape here in India and we have the beginner’s advantage! People want to go green, save the Planet, do their bit for the environment- and we have the answer and options that are eco pure and so much fun!

And at this point of time, we really don’t need to make any efforts to sustain the hype. The cause of a Green and happy Planet has a life of its own!

TTS: Gaurav is involved in many other sustainable development and eco friendly projects, how is his time divided between these enterprises and Indigreen?

NS: Indigreen is a personal passion.  Sometimes we talk at midnight other times we meet on weekends.  It doesn't feel like work so Gaurav doesn't really himself understand how my time is divided.  But sometimes there are constraints placed on the business because Gaurav travels so much for his other work.  On the plus side, all his work is in the field of social responsibility so there is great synergy between his other activities and Indigreen's overall ethos.

TTS: How did you come up with the idea of bringing Bollywood and Indigreen together? Was it done for more publicity or aesthetic value?

NS: To start with, it was done out of the desire to create work opportunities for artists who lost out on the business of Bollywood posters when digital printing took over.

And all of us love Bollywood, don’t we? Hand painted Bollywood poster art is a 100% Indian art that is also 100% quirky with its beautiful colors, figures and nuances that are typical to it. It works very well for our concept of creating a ‘good visual’ story to get the clients attention to serious issues like environmental degradation, pollution, deforestation, and other social issues like child labor, AIDS, illiteracy.

Indigreen is a communicative fashion brand, and we use art and high fashion to communicate serious issues – and Bollywood art and other forms of Indian art and a very effective visual medium to explore. The cherry on the cake is the work it generates fair trade work opportunities for the artists and is also helping keep Indian art alive.

TTS: Tell me more about the Painters and the women from NGO's like SEWA. Does Indigreen donate its earnings to other organizations?

NS: By engaging the women of NGO’s like SEWA we are able to maintain our fair trade values even as we scale up our lines and expand our retail base. And make sure that any embellishments that are incorporated into the Indigreen collections are handcrafted by women, artisans that are being supported and trained by fair trade NGO’s. So that is how we end up directly contributing to other causes.

Apart from that Indigreen donates part of its profits to The Climate Project- India, to help in its work of spreading awareness of the science of Climate Change across India through its initiatives like the Environment Sustainability Leadership Program (ESLP).

TTS: What about the one of a kind fashion pieces? Do you experiment with all kinds of raw material?

NS: Indigreen has a Limited Edition hand painted Bollywood poster art line that retails from top end designer stores like (Mélange, Bombay Electric, Kimaya, Ayamik, Tribal Route, and Earthworm). We only create 20 pieces in each design as and each piece is numbered. Our clients really appreciate this line as it gives them the opportunity of owning something rare and unique.

TTS: What sells the most and being hand painted, does any care need to be taken while washing and drying?

NS: Every piece of Indigreen is also a work of art and so we advise our clients to take care of it as such. Gentle, loving hand wash works best for most of the Indigreen merchandise!

While the Bollywood hand painted line has a universal appeal, our quirky ‘go green’ desi line works better in places like Goa! And our Bollywood dialogues line is a sell out in Mumbai!

Website: http://indigreen.co.in

Alisha Fernandes