Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-17-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV, Fashion-Eastas, Beauty
She was cut from last week’s episode of Shear Genius on Bravo for what the judges called a “safe” updo, but Arzo is a talent to watch. Born in Afghanistan, raised in New York City and currently residing in San Francisco, Arzo’s experience includes platform education, traditional hairdressing and editorial work. Arzo has styled the likes of Rose McGowan and Ally Hilfiger. Editorially she has worked with clients that include Bed Bath & Beyond, MTV and Hood Star Magazine. Arzo has owned and operated a hair studio in Pleasanton, California for fifteen years.
Tags: shear genius, bravo, arzo
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-17-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
One of the most famous actors in the world - Bollywood uberstar Shah Rukh Khan stars in the just released My Name Is Khan, written by Shibani Bathija. The plot centers around a Muslim child (Rizwan Khan) who grows up in a middle class family in Mumbai. Rizwan is different from the other children and no one, including his mother, can understand why. As an adult, Khan moves to San Francisco and is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder which makes it difficult for people to interact socially. Rizwan meets a Hindu woman, and despite hostility to the match, they marry. The Khans’ existence gets disrupted, however, after 9/11 when they begin to experience prejudice in their community because of their Muslim roots. Khan then sets out on a journey that takes him from one U.S. state to another in order to prove that he is not a terrorist.
The irony is that in August 2009, when Shah Rukh Khan (a Muslim), came to the U.S. to promote the film, he was detained and questioned for two hours at Newark Liberty International Airport because of his “Khan” name, infuriating Indian leaders and fans around the world. A case where life imitates art, and vice versa.
Trailer:
Tags: shah rukh khan, my name is khan, shibani bathija
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-13-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Comedy, Film/TV
You may recognize him from his regular stint on John Stewart’s The Daily Show or as the disgruntled office employee in Sandra Bullock’s The Proposal. Actor/comedian Aasif Mandvi was born in India to a Muslim family before moving to England then Tampa, Florida when he was 16 years old. After studying theatre at the University of South Florida, he moved to New York City where he began appearing in off-Broadway productions. He won an Obie Award for his critically acclaimed one-man show Sakina’s Restaurant.
He has since appeared on ER, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, CSI, Oz, Ed, The Bedford Diaries, Jericho, Sleeper Cell, Law & Order, and the Daily Show. His film credits include The Siege, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Analyze This, Ghost Town, and M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming film The Last Airbender.
As a Daily Show correspondent, he not only reports on brown people, he talks to them:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Best F#@king News Team - Aasif Mandvi Is Brown | ||||
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Tags: aasif mandvi, daily show, john stewart
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-09-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
He played the interrogator in Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, a Pakistani police captain in A Mighty Heart, the remote immigrant father in The Namesake. Slumdog director Danny Boyle says, “He is a touchstone connecting two worlds”. Some have dubbed him as “Asia’s Finest Actor”.
Born in 1962, Irrfan Khan grew up in Jaipur, a city of crumbling palaces in the north Indian desert, as the eldest son of a conservative, aristocratic Muslim family. He enrolled in the National School of Drama in New Delhi before landing a fleeting appearance in Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay. 18 years later, he has received recognition for his roles in The Warrior (2001), Maqbool (2003), Haasil (2004), The Namesake (2006), A Mighty Heart (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Billu (2009), New York, I Love You (2009), and Vodafone commercials. He has won two Filmfare Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
Here’s a scene from The Namesake:
Tags: Irrfan Khan
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-07-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
Masroor Malik is an actor and a filmmaker (director, producer, and writer) who tries to facilitate a better understanding of cultures, religions, and ethnicities through film. He produced “Bassem Is Trying”, a short 1 minute film about the struggles of a hapless Muslim man trying to prove himself to the world.
Tags: Masroor Malik
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-03-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
A movie that began as a project in a University of Michigan film class has beaten out thousands of other entries for a spot at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Bilal’s Stand, the creation of 25-year-old Michigan graduate Sultan Sharrief, is one of eight films in the category, out of about 7,000 submissions. “This story is highly personal, about as personal as you can get,” Sharrief said in a video interview released by the university. “It’s about my life and my family … growing up in Detroit.” Five years in the making, the film tells of an African-American Muslim high school student who works for his family’s cab company.
Tags: sutlan sharrieff, bilal's stand, sundance film festival
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 01-18-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
CBC News: Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-born comic who has been part of the Axis of Evil comedy troupe and TV shows such as Knights of Prosperity and Better Off Ted, will star in the new family sitcom Funny in Farsi.
The ABC comedy is based on the acclaimed comic memoir by Firoozeh Dumas about her family’s move from Iran to California in the 1970s.
Jobrani will play the father, Mohammed Sayed Kazem Jazeyeri, an oil company engineer in love with American ways who never quite learns proper English. Marjan Nehsat, also an Iranian-born actor, will play the mother, who finds it harder to assimilate. Jobrani has appeared on The Colbert Report and Comedy Central. The jovial uncle in Funny in Farsi will be played by Armenian-American Hrach Titizian, who also has an ongoing role as the president’s assistant on 24.
The comedy is directed and produced by Barry Sonnenfeld, who is also executive producer of Pushing Daisies. The book was adapted by Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai.
American network ABC has approved a pilot, but has yet to assign an air date to the comedy about a Muslim family.
Tags: Maz Jobrani, Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas, Barry Sonnenfeld
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 01-08-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
Nasfim Haque is a Cambridge graduate and award winning film-maker at BBC, conceiving program ideas and working as a producer/director. Her film projects have included “A Muslim in Wales: Qu’ran and Country” and “Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic”, on attitudes towards Muslims in Britain. Nasfim notes that “as a Muslim myself, I feel Islam has recently been saddled with an image problem, quite unfairly in my opinion, so I wanted to twist this around to ask the real questions about religion in secular society.”
Watch the film here. It’s tongue-and-cheek and pretty funny at times:
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 01-07-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
Barmak Akram was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and lives in France. He has directed several documentaries for television, including ‘Ralentir Ecole’ (1997), ‘Mon Retour A Kaboul, 21 Ans Après’ (2002), ‘Les Clowns A Kaboul’ (2003) and ‘Voyage Des Les Archives De La Télévision Afghane’ (2004). ‘Kabuli Kid’ (2008) is his directorial feature debut.
On Friday, January 8th, his film ‘Kabuli Kid’ will premiere in Washington, D.C. at 6:30pm. Location: Alliance Francaise (2142 Wyoming Avenue NW)
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 01-05-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Film/TV
Showing off commonalities between American Muslims and their non-Muslim compatriots, a US documentary is exploring into the Muslim-Christian friendship in America. The hour-long documentary, “Different Books, Common Word”, features five friendships between Muslims and Baptists across the US. It showcases how Muslims come to the help of non-Muslims in crises, providing aid and shelters for hurricane victims. The movie also highlights how Christians rush to help and show solidarity with Muslim neighbors after their mosque were burned by White supremacists in 2008. The documentary further features American Muslims as compatriot people who also have a sense of humor.
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