Lia Chang: DOGS LIE, Starring Samrat Chakrabarti, Frank Boyd and Ewa Da Cruz, Nabs ”Best Film (USA)” and ”Feature Film Audience Award” at 2011 ITN Distribution Film and New Media Festival

Samrat Chakrabarti © Lia Chang

Samrat Chakrabarti © Lia Chang

Dogs Lie, Richard Atkinson’s latest indie feature starring Samrat Chakrabarti (Elle Magazine Top 100 Talents to watch), Frank Boyd and Ewa Da Cruz, scored two awards, for “Best Film” (USA) and the “Feature Film Audience Award,” at the 2011 ITN Distribution Film and New Media Festival in New York.

“It was a great thrill for all involved to receive recognition,” said director Richard Atkinson. “The movie will be released in 2012 and will highlight a cast of rapidly rising acting talent……I’m sure we will be seeing a lot more of Samrat Chakrabarti, Frank Boyd and Ewa Da Cruz… they have all been involved in multiple movie and TV projects since we shot Dogs Lie….they are exceptional …TNA World Wrestling Champion, Ken Anderson, has a feature role as Yuri a Russian mobster. It all makes for great entertainment with unexpected twists and turns.”

Dogs Lie won “Honorable Mention” at the Los Angeles Movie Awards 2011 and was an “Official Selection” at The Big Apple Film Festival (BAFF) in NY, the La Femme International Film Festival in LA, and the Filmi SE Asian Film Festival in Toronto, where it was the “showcase feature.”

Samrat Chakrabarti plays Iqbal Khani, a likeable, conscientious clinician and romantic opportunist, alongside Frank Boyd as Josh Logan, a clinician who is a compulsive jokester with a competitive streak. The two are thrown together with eight patients at a luxury NY sleep clinic for a night of monitoring and observation. As the night progresses dark secrets are revealed. The beautiful Lucia ( Ewa Da Cruz), a patient, finds herself the center of attention as her life seemingly spins out of control. Nothing is quite as it seems. romance, blackmail and murder ensue as humor and irreverence give way to devious self interest.

Shiv on the drums, Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

Shiv on the drums, Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

I caught up with the award-winning actor and internationally acclaimed musician at The Wild Project in New York in June, after the opening night performance of Desipina and Co.’s 70 minute workshop production of Bakwas Bumbug, an electrifying musical reinvention of A Christmas Carol, told thru the looking glass of NYC Immigrants and Hyphenated America, for which Chakrabarti composed the score, co-directed and co-wrote the book and lyrics with Sanjiv Jhaveri.
Opening night for the cast and creative team of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village on June 22, 2011.  (L-R) front row- Rehana Lew Mirza, Rohi Mirza Pandya, Lipica Shah, J. Kaitlin Becker, Roopa Mahadevan; back row Shiv, Nick Choksi, Kiarri D. Andrews, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Ryan Kim, Christian Carter, Andrew Guilarte and Samrat Chakrabarti. Photo by Lia Chang

Opening night for the cast and creative team of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village on June 22, 2011. (L-R) front row- Rehana Lew Mirza, Rohi Mirza Pandya, Lipica Shah, J. Kaitlin Becker, Roopa Mahadevan; back row Shiv, Nick Choksi, Kiarri D. Andrews, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Ryan Kim, Christian Carter, Andrew Guilarte and Samrat Chakrabarti. Photo by Lia Chang

The rehearsal photographs of Bakwas Bumbug were featured in my display of photographs at the Library of Congress in July entitled, “In Rehearsal,” and are now part of the Lia Chang Theater Photography Portfolio in the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of the Asian Division at the Library of Congress.
Samrat Chakrabarti Photo by Lia Chang

Samrat Chakrabarti Photo by Lia Chang


Chakrabarti is best known for his film roles in The Waiting City (as Krishna), Kissing Cousins (as Amir) and The Wedding Weekend (as Will). On TV he has appeared in “30 Rock” (as Ramesh), “In Treatment” (as Arun Sanyal) opposite Irrfan Khan (HBO), “Damages” (as Manu Singh), “Outsourced” (HBO), “The Horrible Terrible Misadventures of David Atkins,” “Bored to Death,” and recently shot an episode of “A Gifted Man.”

Film projects in the can include A.J. Carter’s Extinction, Dagen Merrill’s Murder in the Dark, Salim Khassa’s Desperate Endeavors and Michael Walker’s Price Check, starring Indie Queen Parker Posey, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 in January. Chakrabarti recently worked on Blemished Light with Victor Banerjee; Kamal Hassan’s Viswaroopam, with Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Rahul Bose, Amy Jackson, Shekar Kapur and Jaideep Ahlawat; and can soon be seen as Wee Willie Winkie in Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children, based on the novel by Salman Rushdie.

Chakrabarti was dubbed the “independent film king of New York” when three short films he was starring in – Rehana Mirza’s Zameer & Preeti: A Love Story, Shiva Shankar Bajpai’s Raju and Soham Mehta’s Fatakra – screened at the New York Indian Film Festival in May. He also composed the score for Fatakra, which has garnered accolades at Film Festivals across the country including a Student Academy Award, the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions award from the 2011 LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL and the Audience Award for Best Short at the 2011 Sarasota Film Festival.

Samrat Chakrabarti Photo by Lia Chang

Samrat Chakrabarti Photo by Lia Chang


Chakrabarti’s film credits include Italo Spinelli’s Gangor, Shilpa Sunthankar’s Seeta’s Demon, Joseph Mathew’s Bombay Summer, Kabir Khan’s New York, Shailja Gupta’s Walkaway, Bruce Leddy’s Sing Now, Sai Selvarajan’s Joy Lies, and Manish Acharya’s Loins of Punjab of Presents alongside Shabana Azmi. He has also had roles in Spike Lee’s She Hate Me, Leonardo Ricagni’s Indocumentados, Jonathan Betzler’s Homecoming, Manan Katahora’s Arya, Ajay Naidu’s Ashes and Joseph Castelo’s The War Within which was nominated for an Indie Spirit Award. In addition, he has appeared in Gareeb Nawaz’s Taxi, Robert Harte’s Finding Graceland, Anjaan Dutt’s The Bong Connection with Victor Banerjee, Sarba Das’s Karma Calling, Randall Krongard’s Override, Manan Katahora’s Arya and When Kiran Met Karen, Joseph Matthews’ Days of Love and Loss with Tanishtha Chatterjee, Raj Basu’s Piyalir Password and and Suman Ghosh’s Dwando.

Chakrabarti is the recipient of a U.S. CARA for Best Original Pop/Rock Song for his composition “What’s It all About” and the 2010 TMG Award for Global Achievers in the category of Film, TV and Drama, for his outstanding body of work as an actor. Samrat Chakrabarti Website

Vanguard Cinema LA, who specialize in the indie genre, will distribute the film in the USA. Dogs Lie is a Top Movie llc production. Contact info@dogslie.com Website http://www.dogslie.com

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Click here for more articles on Samrat Chakrabarti.
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Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Features Photos of Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas, Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug! on View Through August 2
Photos: “How To Succeed” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway and John Larroquette at Lord & Taylor for Windows Unveiling
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

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Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography


Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.

Lia made her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden, and has since documented her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism as a photographer and videographer, collaborating with other artists, organizations and companies to establish their documentary photo archive and social media presence. Lia was featured as Joy in the Signature Theater Company’s revival of Sam Shepard’s 1965 Obie award winning play, Chicago directed by Joseph Chaikin at the Public Theater. She has appeared in Wolf, New Jack City, Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman, “As the World Turns,” “Another World,” and “New York Undercover”. Lia currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com.

Lia Chang Photos: Experience Christmas in June with Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s “Bakwas Bumbug” at The Wild Project in NY through June 26

Opening night for the cast and creative team of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village on June 22, 2011.  (L-R) front row- Rehana Lew Mirza, Rohi Mirza Pandya, Lipica Shah, J. Kaitlin Becker, Roopa Mahadevan; back row Shiv, Nick Choksi, Kiarri D. Andrews, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Ryan Kim, Christian Carter, Andrew Guilarte and Samrat Chakrabarti. Photo by Lia Chang

Opening night for the cast and creative team of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village on June 22, 2011. (L-R) front row- Rehana Lew Mirza, Rohi Mirza Pandya, Lipica Shah, J. Kaitlin Becker, Roopa Mahadevan; back row Shiv, Nick Choksi, Kiarri D. Andrews, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Ryan Kim, Christian Carter, Andrew Guilarte and Samrat Chakrabarti. Photo by Lia Chang

Last night, I got a taste of Christmas in June, Desi style, at The Wild Project in the East Village, where Bakwas Bumbug, an electrifying musical reinvention of A Christmas Carol, told thru the looking glass of NYC Immigrants and Hyphenated America, composed by Samrat Chakrabarti and featuring a book and lyrics by Sanjiv Jhaveri and Samrat Chakrabarti, is being presented as a 70 minute workshop production through June 26, 2011.
Sanjiv Jhaveri and Samrat Chakrabarti, co-creators and co-directors of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village after the opening night performance on June 22, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Sanjiv Jhaveri and Samrat Chakrabarti, co-creators and co-directors of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village after the opening night performance on June 22, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang


Presented by Desipina and Co. (Rehana Lew Mirza, Artistic Director & Rohi Mirza Pandya, Producing Director), Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug is a delicious treat, poignant, touching, and laugh out loud funny. I highly recommend you see one of the remaining four performances which are Thursday – Saturday at 8pm, and a matinee on Sunday at 2pm. The Wild Project is located at 195 East 3rd Street, between Ave A & B in New York,Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at http://www.desiclub.com/bakwas or https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/842695.
Bakwas Bumbug cast with co-creator and co-director Sanjiv Jhaveri in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

Bakwas Bumbug cast with co-creator and co-director Sanjiv Jhaveri in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Bakwas Bumbug , the first Indian American full length musical written, composed & performed by the Diaspora, has a raw in-your-face energy that combines the angst of shows like RENT and AMERICAN IDIOT with an Eastern melodic flair. The very talented cast of this Popera (pop opera) includes Kiarri D. Andrews, J. Kaitlin Becker, Christian Carter, Nick Choksi, Andrew Guilarte, Ryan Kim, Roopa Mahadevan and Lipica Shah. Equally interesting to watch is Samrat Chakrabarti who co-wrote the book and lyrics and composed the score, playing the keys without sheet music and orchestrating the show.
Shiv on the drums, Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

Shiv on the drums, Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Bakwas Bumbug also features Shiv on the drums and Tony in the booth. The creative team includes lighting design by Jeff McCrum, costume design by Jenny Fisher and set design by Shehab Hossain.
The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Thanks also to Chakrabarti and Jhaveri who allowed me to come photodocument their rehearsal of Bakwas Bumbug for my collection at The Library of Congress, The Lia Chang Asian Pacific American Theater Photography and Other Works Portfolio. Some of the photos from rehearsal will be on display at The Library of Congress from July 23-30, 2011 in Washington D.C.
The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Sakina Jaffrey congratulates Samrat Chakrabarti after the opening night performance of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village on June 22, 2011. © 2011 Lia Chang

Sakina Jaffrey congratulates Samrat Chakrabarti after the opening night performance of Bakwas Bumbug at The Wild Project in the East Village on June 22, 2011. © 2011 Lia Chang


Bakwas Bumbug
June 23-26, 2011
The Wild Project
195 E. 3rd St., btwn Ave A & B
New York

Thursday -Saturday at 8pm
Sunday 2pm
Desipina & Co. Website

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: Rick Shiomi Checks out Performing Arts Playwrights Series in the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of Library of Congress; Attends “Asian American Plays for a New Generation” Book Signing in NY
Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Features Photos of Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas, Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug!
Photos: Desipina & Co presents Samrat Chakrabarti & Sanjiv Jhaveri’s “Bakwas Bumbug” at The Wild Project, 6/22-26
Photos: Samrat Chakrabarti, Soham Mehta and Shiva Shankar Bajpai at the New York Indian Film Festival
Click here for other articles on Samrat Chakrabarti.
Multimedia: The River Crosses Rivers Opening Night Photos
Read More…

Lia Chang Photos: Desipina & Co. presents Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s “Bakwas Bumbug” at The Wild Project in NY, June 22-26

(L-R) Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer, Shiv on the drums, Lipica Shaw and Nick Choksi in rehearsal,at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

(L-R) Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer, Shiv on the drums, Lipica Shaw and Nick Choksi in rehearsal,at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


From June 22-26, 2011, Desipina and Co. (Rehana Lew Mirza, Artistic Director & Rohi Mirza Pandya, Producing Director) is presenting Bakwas Bumbug, an electrifying musical reinvention of A Christmas Carol, told thru the looking glass of NYC Immigrants and Hyphenated America, composed by Samrat Chakrabarti and featuring a book and lyrics by Sanjiv Jhaveri and Samrat Chakrabarti, at The Wild Project, 195 East 3rd Street, between Ave A & B in New York.
Bakwas Bumbug cast with co-creator and co-director Sanjiv Jhaveri in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

Bakwas Bumbug cast with co-creator and co-director Sanjiv Jhaveri in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


The five workshop performances for Bakwas Bumbug are Wednesday – Saturday at 8pm, and a Sunday matinee at 2pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at http://www.desiclub.com/bakwas or https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/842695.
The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Bakwas Bumbug has a raw in-your-face energy that combines the angst of shows like RENT and AMERICAN IDIOT with an Eastern melodic flair. Kiarri D. Andrews, J. Kaitlin Becker, Christian Carter, Nick Choksi, Andrew Guilarte, Ryan Kim, Roopa Mahadevan and Lipica Shah are featured in the workshop production of this Popera (pop opera) that shares catchy, soulful and haunting melodies.
The cast of Bakwas Bumbug with co-creator and co-director Sanjiv Jhaveri in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug with co-creator and co-director Sanjiv Jhaveri in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Bakwas Bumbug, the first Indian American full length musical written, composed & performed by the Diaspora, features Samrat on the keys, Shiv on the drums and Tony in the booth. The creative team includes lighting design by Jeff McCrum, costume design by Jenny Fisher and set design by Shehab Hossain.

Bakwas Bumbug
June 22-26, 2011
The Wild Project
195 E. 3rd St., btwn Ave A & B
New York
Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm
Sunday 2pm
Desipina & Co. Website

Sanjiv Jhaveri has been a professional actor for the last 14 years with credits in theatre, TV, film, voice-overs, and audiobooks. He has a long history of working with Desipina and Samrat Chakrabarti.

Sanjiv Jhaveri, co-creator and co-director of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on June 16, 2011.  Photo by Lia Chang

Sanjiv Jhaveri, co-creator and co-director of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on June 16, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang


With Desipina, he has served as a writer, director, associate producer, and dialect coach. With Samrat Chakrabarti, in addition to Bakwas Bumbug, he has co written three 11-minute musicals for Desipina’s highly successful “7-11 Convenience Theatre”: A Very Desi Christmas, Soonderella, and Who Killed Mr. Naidu First?. He is very proud of his long collaboration and friendship with Samrat Chakrabarti, as this synergy always shines through all of their work.
Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

Samrat Chakrabarti, Bakwas Bumbug co-creator, co-director and composer in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


Samrat Chakrabarti, co-creator, co-writer and composer of Bakwas Bumbug, is an award-winning actor and internationally acclaimed musician. His musical collaborators include: Robert Brustein (founder of Yale Repertory Theatre & American Repertory Theatre), Sabir Khan (son of musical maestro Ustad Sultan Khan), Jared Stein (from the Broadway show American Idiot), Deborah S. Craig (from the Broadway show The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Roo (from the band, House Jacks), Meetu Chilana (from Cirque Du Soleil), Manu Narayan (from the Broadway show Bombay Dreams), John Clark, Ajay Naidu and others. Chakrabarti has also composed music for over a dozen films, including, Rehana Mirza’s Hiding Divya, Ted Wallach’s Oil: A Love Story, Sundaram Tagore’s Natvar Bhavsar: Poetics of Color,and Manish Acharya’s Loins of Punjab Presents. He is the recipient of a U.S. CARA for Best Original Pop/Rock Song for his composition “What’s It all About” and the 2010 TMG Award for Global Achievers in the category of Film, TV and Drama, for his outstanding body of work as an actor.
Samrat Chakrabarti Photo by Lia Chang

Samrat Chakrabarti Photo by Lia Chang

Chakrabarti recently starred in three short films- Rehana Mirza’s Zameer & Preeti: A Love Story, Shiva Shankar Bajpai’s Raju and Soham Mehta’s Fatakra – that screened at the New York Indian Film Festival in May. Chakrabarti also composed the score for Fatakra, which has garnered accolades at Film Festivals across the country including a Student Academy Award, the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions award from the 2011 LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL and the Audience Award for Best Short at the 2011 Sarasota Film Festival.

Film projects in the can include A.J. Carter’s Extinction, Deepa Mehta’s Winds of Change, Dagen Merrill’s Murder in the Dark, Michael Walker’s Price Check, Salim Khassa’s Desperate Endeavors and Richard Atkinson’s Dogs Lie, which received an “Honorable Mention” in the Narrative Feature Category at the 2011 Los Angeles Movie Awards. His recent guest starring appearances on TV include “Outsourced” (HBO), “In Treatment” opposite Irrfan Khan (HBO), “30 ROCK” (NBC) “The Horrible Terrible Misadventures of David Atkins,” and “Bored to Death.”
Samrat Chakrabarti Website

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug with co-creator, co-director and composer Samrat Chakrabarti in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug with co-creator, co-director and composer Samrat Chakrabarti in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang


The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

The cast of Bakwas Bumbug in rehearsal at DANY Studios in New York on 6/16/11. © 2011 Lia Chang

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: Christmas in June w/ Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s “Bakwas Bumbug” at The Wild Project in NY-6/26
Photos: Samrat Chakrabarti, Soham Mehta and Shiva Shankar Bajpai at the New York Indian Film Festival
Click here for other articles on Samrat Chakrabarti.
Multimedia: The River Crosses Rivers Opening Night Photos
Read More…

Lia Chang: The Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival Screens Ashes and The Waiting City, two films featuring Samrat Chakrabarti at the SVA Theater 

Samrat Chakrabarti and Ashes filmmaker and star Ajay Naidu at the MIAAC screening of Ashes at the SVA Theater in New York on November 12, 2010. Photo by Lia Chang

Samrat Chakrabarti and Ashes filmmaker and star Ajay Naidu at the MIAAC screening of Ashes at the SVA Theater in New York on November 12, 2010. Photo by Lia Chang

Tonight I am off to see a double feature of Samrat Chakrabarti at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival at the SVA Theater (333 W.23rd St., between 8th and 9th Avenues in New York)- AJAY NAIDU’s Ashes at 6pm and Claire McCarthy’s The Waiting City at 9pm.

I chatted with Samrat yesterday just before he went to the screening of the third film he has at the festival, the documentary Sundaram Tagor’s The Poetics of Color: Natvar Bhavsar, for which he created the score. Check back for my exclusive interview with this globe-trotting actor, composer and musician, who has been having a whirlwind of amazing film, television and music projects.

Q&A of Ashes - A film by Ajay Naidu at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival, SVA Theater in New York on November 12, 2010. (l-r) Ajay Naidu, Debargo Sanyal, Atul Ohri, Samrat Chakrabarti, Ajay Naidu, Reena Shah & Ajay Mehta. © 2010 Lia Chang

Q&A of Ashes - A film by Ajay Naidu at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival, SVA Theater in New York on November 12, 2010. (l-r) Ajay Naidu, Debargo Sanyal, Atul Ohri, Samrat Chakrabarti, Ajay Naidu, Reena Shah & Ajay Mehta. © 2010 Lia Chang


The Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival is the longest-running, most prestigious Indian film festival in the country, and continues through November 14. For further information please visit www.miaacfilmfest.org.

About the Indo-American Arts Council: The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered not-for-profit arts organization passionately dedicated to showcasing, building awareness, and celebrating artists of Indian origin in the performing, visual and literary arts. Annual festivals of art, dance, play writing and film are scheduled through the year, with several special events and book launches. For further information please visit www.iaac.us. The IAAC Film Festival was born in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to Mayor Giuliani’s call to New Yorkers to help rebuild a limping city. The First Annual film Festival opened its doors with Film Diaspora Godfather Ismail Merchant and closed with New York’s favorite Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. Four years ago, Mahindra & Mahindra joined forces with the IAAC Film Festival by becoming the lead sponsor, changing the name of the festival to The MIAAC Film Festival.

About The Mahindra Group: Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a $7.1 billion Indian multi-national company. It employs more than 100,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors, and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, and trade and logistics. Today, The Mahindra Group is an embodiment of global experience and enjoys a strong corporate brand image.

Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brands in the world. It is today a full-range player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry, from two-wheelers to CVs, UVs, SUVs, and sedans. Mahindra recently acquired majority stake in REVA Electric Car Co. Ltd. (now called Mahindra REVA), strengthening its position in the Electric Vehicles domain.

The Mahindra Group expanded its IT portfolio when Tech Mahindra acquired the leading global business and information technology services company, Satyam Computer Services. The company is now known as Mahindra Satyam.




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All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2010 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachang@hotmail.com.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
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