Sorry that i was away last week and could not read messages. just read this post and quite shocked how intriguing media can be in misleading and deforming the facts. for me this article is TOTALLY piece of crap, just an example of irresponsible journalism. (in fact author's role here is no different than our politicians who always make us believe how severe enemies India and Pakistan are and how we are always at the brink of war). the fact is that ARR has always been dear of Pakistani paper media since his days of Muqabala back in 94. i know this because i always used to explore newspapers' showbiz sections only to see ARR's name. in fact no music composer in Pakistan has been covered by paper media as widely as ARR. in fact some of my friends in Pakistan mailed/called me to congrat for ARR the next day after reading news in newspapers.
now coming to the facts about this article. all leading newspapers of Pakistan had ARR's name in headline of the news of Slumdog's wins and was the focus of the news as well in many. Pakistan's two leading Urdu newspapers Jang and Nawai Waqt thoroughly covered about ARR's win. You can see it in the electronic versions of these papers. Here are the links: Jang http://ejang.jang.com.pk Browse to 24 Feb, page 12. It requires login so here is the link to the article: http://ejang.jang.com.pk/2-24-2009/pic.asp?picname=102840.gif If you know Urdu it clearly mentions ARR in third (black) headline. For those who cannot read Urdu it says "Indian musican A.R.Rahman got 2 awards". And here is what it says inside the article: "Indian musician A.R.Rahman got two Oscar awards. He got awards for best song (Jai ho) and best music. After receiving the award he praised Mumbai and said that Slumdog Millionaire emphasizes importance of hope in life." then it goes on to add in the end: "A.R.Rahman who has made dozens of Bollywood movies memorable for the viewers with his beautiful and soulful music remained most prominent/noticeable due to his beautiful music in Slumdog Millionaire. For him this Oscar ceremony was memorable also because he got two awards which include best original song and best music awards." Nawai Waqt http://nawaiwaqt.com.pk Browse to 24 Feb, page 8. Once again it mentions ARR in the third (black) headline (for those who cannot read Urdu it says "A.R.Rahman got 2 awards in music"). Full news cannot be open in e-edition therefor I am not able to add what it says inside the article. Now about the Dawn. I explored whole 23 Feb edition of Dawn but could not find any article `Slumdog scoops eight of its ten nominations' in it. In fact I very much wonder how come Dawn printed it in 23rd' edition as the ceremony itself ended on 23rd morning. Instead here is Dawn's real coverage, as in 24 Feb's edition: India basks in Oscar limelight http://epaper.dawn.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=24_02_2009_001_008&typ=1 And as you can see, it mentions ARR twice, and also with "Mozart of Madras". "The News" is English version of Jang newspaper I discussed above. The article the author is referring to is here: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=164263 If you read it, you will find that it is only discussing main awards (film, director and acting categories), ARR's omission hence is not deliberate. Here is The News's detailed coverage which clearly mentions ARR and Resul: Slumdog wins eight Oscars http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=69382 and here are The News's online updates: A.R Rahman wins best original score Oscar http://www.thenews.com.pk/print.asp?id=69368 Double Oscar for Indian music maestro Rahman http://www.thenews.com.pk/print.asp?id=69373 others: India gives A R Rahman hero's welcome http://www.thenews.com.pk/print.asp?id=69754 It was covered in same fashion for GG too, e.g.: A R Rahman wins Golden Globe http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=64778 And now about the The Daily Times. Here is the article referred: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\24\story_24-2-2009_pg9_1. It is true that it did not mention ARR explicitly but if you follow the paper in the days followed, they covered ARR quite well. `Slumdog' stars welcomed home to India after Oscar glory http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\27\story_27-2-2009_pg9_10 As you can see it gives a through coverage of ARR and his reception. AR Rahman smiles during a news conference http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\14\story_14-3-2007_pg9_4 India's Congress adopts `Slumdog' tune for elections http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\03\05\story_5-3-2009_pg9_5 It covers GG and Critics Choice Awards as well, mentioning ARR and group photo with ARR: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\01\10\story_10-1-2009_pg9_1 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\01\13\story_13-1-2009_pg9_1 I hope this will clear some misunderstandings/misconceptions. - Jahanzeb --- In [email protected], Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@...> wrote: > > > Who's AR Rahman? > > It is quite amusing to see how geo- political differences can influence the > coverage of events > that have cultural acceptability across borders. KUNAL MAJUMDAR scans Dawn > and The News of > Pakistan, and The Daily Star and The New Age of Bangladesh in search of two > words `AR Rahman' > and `Oscars'. > > Posted Sunday, Mar 01 15:59:04, 2009 > > > > While the Indian media went overboard with the coverage of Oscars, the > Pakistani media tried > its best to ignore the Indian connection. The leading newspaper Dawn has no > mention of AR > Rahman's win. In its lead article `Slumdog scoops eight of its ten > nominations' (23 Feb, > 2009); it does mention that the movie is based in Mumbai and gives brief > outline of the story. > Beyond that, it simply ignores the Indians who won the Oscars. A feeling > that Dawn > intentionally wanted to stress on the poverty angle of the story comes with > the accompanying > articles and photographs of slum kids. > > The News, of the Jang Group, was no different. The article -- `Slumdog > Millionaire' wins Oscar > gold at 81'st Academy Awards (February 24, 2009) tells the readers that > Slumdog is small-budget > British movie on "A ragtag group of Indian orphans". The writer mentions how > the cast and the > crew of the movie was present to accept the best film award, which included > "several school > children who were plucked from Mumbai's shantytowns to appear in the movie". > AR Rahman again > ignored! > > The Daily Times also ignores the Indian winners. However, it has a more > sympathetic approach. > It quotes Danny Boyle offering gratitude to Mumbaikars and saying they even, > "dwarf even this > guy (Oscar statue)". The newspaper is the only one to carry a photograph of > the cast and crew > of the film, where you can see Anil Kapoor, AR Rahman and Rasul Pookuthy. > > One wonders how many Pakistanis actually know about Penelope Cruz and Hugh > Jackman, compared to > AR Rahman! > > Bangladeshi awareness > > Bangladeshi newspapers seem to be much more aware about the Indians in the > movie. In an article > Oscar Glory for `Slumdog'(February 24, 2009), The Daily Star mentions AR > Rahman's win quite > prominently. The newspaper calls Slumdog Millionaire a "feel-good film about > a Mumbai tea boy > who rises from poverty and enters a television quiz show to win millions and > find the love of > his life". Quite a contrast to Pakistani media's definition. It goes on to > mention that in > spite of being directed and produced by Englishmen, many Indians claim it to > be their own. A > very just portray of the debate in India on the movie. The article also > mentions about Resul > Pookutty and the best documentary Smile Pinki. Photographs alongside have > AR Rahman with his > two Oscar statues. > > `AR Rahman wins Golden Globe' was the front-page story on The New Age > (February 24, 2009). The > newspaper used Reuter's input and made Rahman's win the peg of the story. The > writer spoke > about the versatility of Rahman's music and his other achievements. While > other western actors > and films did get a mention, but it didn't dominate the story unlike the > Pakistani coverage. > > It is quite amusing to find how geo- political differences can influence the > coverage of events > that have cultural acceptability across borders. > > http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?sectionId=8&mod=1&pg=1&valid=true&storyid=3683 >
