Just to start with, it is certainly worth reading the article posted / sourced via Sikhnet on the 2008 bollywood movie, Singh is Kinngh.

http://www.sikhnet.com/reviews/singh-kinngh-film-review

Last year I presented at a Sikh camp in the UK and suggested we need to create our own media. This is one answer and this film says that such desperate times need desperate efforts. We needed to assemble good media right now and more than ever!

I skimmed through the film Singh is Kinngh - I wanted to see if my fears about the film were warranted. The skimming was the result of my cringing and the fact that it was hard to concentrate. My fears about this film are warranted. The film contains swear words and variable views of Sikhs and that is putting it lightly.

In addition, questionable themes are revealed as the so called romantic comedy unfolds.

Let us consider the film in the context of whether we should laugh at ourselves.
Sorry, I can’t as it is too offensive. There is simply too much misinformation and humour that does not travel. Bollywood is known for slapstick comedy, sick jokes about speech impediments and the disabled. In this film slapstick is the focus. The various characters are shown as clumsy. Clowning around humour simply does not last.

Does the film show that Sikhs are cool just because they can capture villains from an aerial feat or rap with Snoop Dogg?
Hey! Sikhs know that they are already cool and they certainly do not need this kind of film to exhibit.

If you want to read an article I wrote as early as 2004 on how Bollywood always betrays Sikhs please checkout:

http://www.saviarora.com/bollywood-always-betrays/

The sad reality is that nothing much has changed.

It is certainly strange that in a world where Sikhs are leaders in a variety of world arenas, for example: Medicine, bravery and self-less service not enough information is available about the reality of who we are.

A light on the horizon is to see how Sikhnet inspires by the way they are encouraging the annual Sikhnet Film festival.
It shows that we can be creative without being crude and cool without being cunning like the likes of Bollywood moguls.

Keep the Faith!

Popularity: 50% [?]

Another year had gone by so I wondered about what I had been writing about since January 2007.
In January I wrote about how different types of racism are defined in the work place, for example: Direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, Harassment and Victimisation.
I also remember that the media storm over the jaded characters in the Cel BB waste of time household!

Yesterday it was nice to receive a text message from someone we met whilst touring South India. I remember writing about India’s terrible death toll and also the irony between shiny new petrol stations surrounded by slums.

In February I wrote about the enormous cost of the Oscars, whether our media outlets were changing and the extent of global warming.

In March we remembered that on 25 March 1807, the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed. For more than 200 years Britain was at the heart of a rich (to them!) transatlantic trade in millions of enslaved Africans.
I also wrote an article about the need for greater accuracy for documentaries. Especially as one outlining the last days of the Raj (consider that 2007 was commemorating 60 years of independence for both India and Pakistan) was full of inaccuracies and bias. We need to create higher quality media outlets!

In April I commented about the sadness of the Virginia Tech tragedy: Everyone watched with shock and horror the post nightmare of the Virginia Tech shootings. Scholars and lecturers were gunned down in a pointless sense of rage by one lost soul.

In June and July I wrote articles about the lead-up to the annual Birmingham to London cycle ride – this year the 18th with proceeds collected for the Children with Leukemia charity. I also viewed a documentary about child cocoa workers being exploited by giant multi-national confectioners.

August was the month when the actual commemorations took place for understanding that it was 60 years since independence for both India and Pakistan – So many pointless deaths instigated by a few who had the power to be more creative!

In September we saw another misleading documentary, this time: Michael Wood’s: The story of India! When we do get any good documentaries, e.g.: October’s Roots Remembered it was shown at non-peak hours! I suppose we have to make room for more reality TV!

In November it was an honour for me to meet and interview the Rev Jesse Jackson. He commented on the lack of corporate justice and responsibilities of banks.

This Month I was disturbed to hear a certain musician mouth off about British culture considering the person does not even live hear!
Hot News of the week has to be the terrible killing in Pakistan of B Bhutto.
Until the world appreciates that living is a gift and that ego should be removed, there are going to be challenges!

Popularity: 59% [?]