The week india TruePDF 31 march 2019

TATA MEANS BUSINESS: N CHANDRASEKARAN’S CORE FOCUS ALLIANCE PAINS JOURNALISM WITH A HUMAN TOUCH www.theweek.in TheWeekMag TheWeekLive $ 50 WHY SOME PARTIES CAN’T TANGO WITH MODI OR RAHUL MARCH 31, 2019 H.D KUMARASWAMY REGIONAL PARTIES THRIVE ON FAMILIES THAT RUN THEM E X C L U HOW DID JAYA DIE? THE WEEK accesses confidential documents to piece together the untold story of the final weeks of her life S I V E LETTER FROM THE EDITOR PTI JAYALALITHAA, the politician, and THE WEEK were born around the same time She joined the AIADMK in June 1982 by formally paying a rupee, and delivered her first political speech in Cuddalore The opposition had a derisive name for her debut performance: “The Cuddalore cabaret” In December that year, the first issue of THE WEEK rolled off the press Cover price: 01.50 When she died in December 2016, an online quarterly magazine named Antiserious had put out some interesting excerpts The portal said that these were from a cover story that had appeared in the now defunct Sunday magazine The headline: “MGR nominates an heir” The writer? Anita Pratap, currently THE WEEK’s consulting editor THE WEEK’s first cover on the former Tamil Nadu chief minister was in 1984, I think—“Jayalalitha: Lady behind the throne” by Bhagwan R Singh The only time I met Jayalalithaa was when the FINAL WAVE Jayalalithaa flagging off the Metro Rail service between Airport and Little Mount in Chennai through video conference This was her last official event Press Trust of India’s director board met her in Chennai She was at her charming best and wowed all the directors I was pleasantly surprised, I must admit The cover story this week is special because I have followed Jayalalithaa’s career keenly, and the circumstances of her death had made me wonder about her last days Now we have an answer, and I am most glad to share it with you, dear reader The cover story is based on information gleaned from confidential documents It takes you to Jayalalithaa’s bedside, and through the ups, downs and tough decisions of her final days Being a family man, I cannot even begin to comprehend the loneliness that surrounded Jayalalithaa I think everyone feels all the more lonely when they are ill So, how would Jayalalithaa have felt? Did the actor in her enable her to mask it so skilfully? In the current issue, there is a story on filmmaker Ritesh Batra (Lunchbox, Photograph) He makes an interesting observation about portraying loneliness/longing in cinema: “Being lonely means nothing The best actor in the world would not be able to play lonely You cannot ask the actors to sit and be lonely But, longing [can be worked]—something they don’t have, or wanting something, or be somebody else, that is pretty universal.” Universal? Perhaps, yes But some longings are heavier than others, I feel And, for some, it becomes a habit A Jaya anecdote that has stayed with me is of her as a schoolgirl She and her brother used to be alone at home while their actor mother, Vedavalli, worked Jaya was an exceptional student One day, she was praised in class for an essay she wrote For three days, she sat up late into the night, wanting to read the essay out to Vedavalli On the fourth day, the mother came back late at night to find the child asleep in the living room, with a notebook clutched to her chest The essay was titled—My mother, and what she means to me The irony! As Tamil Nadu goes to battle in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, two captains will be missed Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi While M.K Stalin has stepped into his father’s shoes, a battle royale is being waged to claim Jayalalithaa’s political legacy Some people continue to make news long after they are gone MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK VOL 37 NO 13 THE WEEK MARCH 31 2019 FOR THE WEEK MARCH 25 - MARCH 31 GOA Despite being a swayamsevak, Manohar Parikkar never allowed the RSS ideology to weigh him down in politics 63 AFP 54 SANJOY GHOSH PTI 46 BUSINESS Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran is looking to simplify the group structure to bring companies closer 20 COVER STORY @LEISURE Filmmaker Ritesh Batra and the knack of telling stories of ordinary people in extraordinary situations COLUMNS 13 POWER POINT Sachidananda Murthy 62 SCHIZO-NATION Anuja Chauhan 14 IVORY TOWER Sanjaya Baru 67 EVERYONE IS A CAMERA Bose Krishnamachari 36 MANI-FESTO Mani Shankar Aiyar 74 LAST WORD Sanjay Manjrekar 58 The Week Connect: The biggest takeaways from THE WEEK CONNECT’s symposium on sustainable and safe use of chemicals and petrochemicals PTI 37 Alliances: Parties look to firm up their alliances before the Lok Sabha elections LASTING LEGACY AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami pay tribute to J Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary DEATH NOTES The details of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s last days have been shrouded in mystery THE WEEK uncovers the untold story of a long-drawn and complex battle to save her life, and how it ultimately failed Plus l The investigation into Jayalalithaa’s death is bogged down in a perception battle THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 l Interview: BJP’s publicity campaign has reached a saturation point, says Karnataka Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy l Interview: Dalits are offended like never before, says Jignesh Mevani, politician COVER DIGITAL PAINTING: BINESH SREEDHARAN Printed at Malayala Manorama Press, Kottayam, Print House India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, M P Printers, Noida, and Rajhans Enterprises, Bengaluru, and published from Manorama Buildings, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi-682 036, by Jacob Mathew, on behalf of the Malayala Manorama Co.Ltd., Kottayam-686 001 Editor Philip Mathew • Focus/Infocus features are marketing/PR initiatives K LETTERS MARCH 17, 2019 E X C L U S I V E LIFE ON THE EDGE: REPORT FROM INDO-PAK BORDER JOURNALISM WITH A HUMAN TOUCH www.theweek.in TheWeekMag TheWeekLive www.theweek.in FREE 44-PAGE SUPPLEMENT $ 50 MARCH 17, 2019 THE VIRUS WARRIORS GAMING IS PUBG HARMING OUR CHILDREN? INDIA’S PRIME CONSTITUENCY VARANASI Prime Minister Modi’s strategy in Kashi could be the blueprint for the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign PLUS JAYAPUR, THE VILLAGE ADOPTED BY MODI Varanasi for Modi The naturally fluent and lucid sketching of Varanasi by Mathew T George was simply incredible (‘Primed for polls’, March 17) Someone who goes through the story gets a flavour of Varanasi In Varanasi, they say, all occasions are celebrated, and all national losses are mourned The Kashi Vishwanath corridor project is getting a mixed reaction Some perceive it as foundation stone being laid to modernise the city, keeping intact its ancient values While others believe it will pave the way for big players to venture into Varanasi and start their innings at the cost of traditional shopkeepers Majority in Varanasi want Modi to remain the MP, as no other leader can match his stature It is a matter of pride for every Banarasi to see their MP leading the country as prime minister Jaideep Mittra Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the prime minister promised more than what he could achieve He promised the moon to the voters, and brought hopes to his own constituency in Varanasi The achievements and shortfalls on the ground, across India, and in Varanasi, are for all to see There are both hits and misses in Varanasi, though it was given extra focus SUBSCRIPTIONS/CUSTOMER CARE CIRCULATION For all subscription related inquiries please write, email or fax to Manager, Circulation, Malayala Manorama, PB No 26, K.K Road, Kottayam 686001 Kerala Email: subscribe@theweek.in Toll free no.: 18001035981, 1800 4255001 Tel: +91 481 2563646 Fax: +91 481 2562479 For advertising: +91 98953 95097 Email: magazineads@mm.co.in Bengaluru: 080-22247735/22247736 Bhopal: 0755-2557937 Chandigarh: 0172-2724699 Chennai: 044-66918530/31 Cochin: 0484-4447888 Coimbatore: 0422-2241911/2245470 Delhi: 011-23379718, 23379719 Hyderabad: 040-23314168/23324692 Kolkata: 033- 24198233 Lucknow: 0522-2341576 Mumbai: 022-24901331, 39495969 Patna: 0612-2233809 Jaipur: 0141-2368360/4005808 Thiruvananthapuram: 0471-2328198 How nice it would have been if the prime minister had taken India as a whole as his constituency and developed it on the same footing as he did in Varanasi How nice it would have been if every MP in the country toed Modi’s line Varanasi will not change for better, so very soon M.Y Shariff, On email I congratulate THE WEEK for beautifully covering every aspect of developmental activities being carried out in Varanasi, on civil as well as social fronts, under Modi, the dashing prime minister of India You have nicely presented the diverse views of persons who are affected by such developmental activities As an individual who was born and brought up in Varanasi, I am amazed to see the fast and quick development activities, particularly in the old city The perception of some people that it is not good to demolish some of the oldest neighbourhoods in Varanasi is because they cannot visualise such development in a city where all civil amenities are overloaded Finally, as it is said, when you progress, BUREAU Bengaluru: 080-22867345, 22867050 Kolkata: 033-24556995, 24198344, ext.216 Chennai: 044-66918500 Delhi: 011-23354920 Hyderabad: 040-23314168, 23324692 Mumbai: 022-22074604, 22004358 Bhopal: 0755-2431001 Lucknow: 0522-2701725 Modi’s candidature for the forthcoming general elections from Varanasi is a mere formality He will win hands down this time, too The outsider tag did not hinder him in 2014 and it is not going to play a major role in 2019, as he has endeared himself to the electorate admirably A number of projects have also been launched in Varanasi and this will help Modi when he seeks a second term from Varanasi C.V Aravind, On email Even though a subtle attempt was made in the cover story to pick and choose the fault lines in Modi’s projects in Varanasi, the report was quite exhaustive Modi has performed exceedingly well But, the moot question is whether Modi, the prime minister, showed over-indulgence to a particular constituency where he has selfish interests? Raveendranath A., On email Your cover story was well written But a hidden sarcastic tinge has spoiled its ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE Manorama Buildings, P.B No 26, Kottayam 686001, Kerala, India Tel: 0481-2563646 REGIONAL CO-ORDINATING OFFICE Tej Building, 1st Floor, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002 Tel: 011-23354920, 23354921, 23359541, 23355801, 23356537 Fax: 43541354 TheWeekMag THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 you shed something Vinay Kumar Srivastava, Bengaluru @TheWeekLive EDITORIAL Manorama Buildings, P.B No 4278, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi 682036, Kerala, India editor@theweek.in http://www.theweek.in +91 484-4447888 +91 484-2315745 TheWeekMag 85 89 99 48 69 LETTERS taste It needs to be taken into account that the reporter has come across only those who are disgruntled and affected due to development activities in Varanasi We should not forget that when one’s misfortune brings in benefits to a larger community, it is considered as a sacrifice for a greater good Amal Mandal, On email To be taken seriously Villagers along the LoC are always on edge when Pakistan begins shelling the border This is nothing new But, we need to think of ways to tackle the problem (‘Shelled, shocked’, March 17) The government should continue to build bunkers for the residents and ensure that there are no casualties Even the slightest provocation from the Pakistani side should be taken seriously and all precautionary measures need to be taken Ideally, there should not be any settlement in the border areas But, I am not sure whether such a thing is practical Anjana Unni, On email Well expressed Anuja Chauhan’s column made a good read She has expressed her views well (‘Schizo-nation’, March 17) The strain one feels surrounded by these hypnotised bhakts is so true I am sure our THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 respected freedom fighters must be rolling in their graves Dhany Anna Kurian, On email I not agree with Chauhan Can she show me any Indian (from the majority or the minority communities) who is feeling the kind of fear that she has mentioned in her column? The only fear is in the minds of the terrorists and the Pakistani army I feel if someone is asking for proof on the Balakot airstrike, then he or she must not only be treated like anti-national but also be deported from the country Madam, our intelligence agencies work day and night to make sure that you sleep peacefully inside your home We are intelligent enough to understand who we should choose as our next prime minister We not need your advice S.N.H Pandit, On email Realise the problems Online and video games were always there; but the kind of pleasure young people get from such games is not a pleasing sight (‘Hand held snare’, March 17) The availability of mobile devices, along with cheap 4G data, has helped such online games reach all young people Everyone talks about mobile addiction causing lots of problems But there is nothing being done to stop it and channelise such energy and enthusiasm elsewhere Tapesh Nagpal, On email Editor Chief Associate Editor & Director Editor-in-Charge Senior News Editor News Editor Deputy News Editors Resident Editor, Delhi Chief of Bureau, Delhi Contributing Editors Chief of Bureau, Mumbai Deputy Chiefs of Bureau, Delhi Chief Subeditors Senior Subeditors Subeditors SENIOR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS Delhi: Rekha Dixit, Mandira Nayar, Namrata Biji Ahuja, Soni Mishra, K Sunil Thomas Srinagar: Tariq Ahmad Bhat SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS Philip Mathew Riyad Mathew V.S Jayaschandran Stanley Thomas Lukose Mathew Mathew T George, Maijo Abraham K.S Sachidananda Murthy R Prasannan Barkha Dutt, Anita Pratap, Anuja Chauhan Dnyanesh V Jathar Vijaya Pushkarna, Neeru Bhatia Ajish P Joy, Susamma Kurian, Navin J Antony Anirudha Karindalam, Anirudh Madhavan Diya Mathew, Karthik Ravindranath, Reuben Joe Joseph, Nirmal Jovial PRINCIPAL CORRESPONDENTS Ahmedabad: Nandini Gunavantrai Oza Delhi: Soumik Dey Hyderabad: Rahul Devulapalli Kochi: Anjuly Mathai Delhi: Pratul Sharma, Namita Kohli, Pradip R Sagar Mumbai: Rachna Tyagi Bengaluru: Prathima Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram: Cithara Paul Mumbai: Nachiket Kelkar Chennai Lakshmi Subramanian Kolkata: Rabi Banerjee SENIOR CORRESPONDENTS Photo Editor: Sanjoy Ghosh Deputy Photo Editors Bhanu Prakash Chandra, Salil Bera Chief Photographers Delhi: Arvind Jain, Sanjay Ahlawat Mumbai: Janak Bhat Senior Photographer Mumbai: Amey Suhas Mansabdar Photographer Delhi: Aayush Goel Chief Picture Coordinator Bimal Nath C Research: Jomy M Joseph Art Editor: Jayakrishnan M.T Assistant Art Editor: Binesh Sreedharan Senior Infographic Designer: Sreemanikandan S Illustrator: B Bhaskaran Layout Artist: B Manojkumar Designers: Deni Lal, Job P.K Graphic designer: Syam Krishnan Artists: Rajesh A.S., Sumesh C.N., Sujesh K., Ajeesh Kumar M., Jairaj T.G Research Head: K Manoharan Research Assistant: Rani G.S Bengaluru: Mini P Thomas, Abhinav Singh Delhi: Sneha Bhura Mumbai: Priyanka Bhadani, Pooja Biraia Jaiswal CHIEF REPORTER UAE: Raju Mathew, Dubai THEWEEK.IN New Media Coordinator Deputy New Media Coordinator Senior Subeditors Subeditors Researcher MultiMedia Neeraj Krishnan Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl Hazeeda Vijayakumar, Sumitra Nair, Vaisakh E Hari Annifred Solomon, Ancy K Sunny, Vinod V.K., Jose K George, Anita Babu, Elvis Kurian John, Justin Paul George Saju C Daniel Rahul J Mohan, Vipin Das P Executive Director Vice President, Marketing, Advertising Sales Vice President, Circulation General Manager, Sales Varghese Chandy M Rajagopalan Nair Hari M Varrier Resident Chief General Manager Shree Kumar Menon Regional Chief General Manager K.C Suresh Regional Chief General Manager Ranjit Kurien Chief Marketing Officer (North) & Head, Special Projects R Rajmohan MUMBAI CHENNAI BENGALURU NEW DELHI George Jacob 10 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 SCHIZO-NATION ANUJA CHAUHAN Chowkidars, we are not stupid! T his has got to be the most dumbed-down election ever The other day, Twitter was awash with major political leaders all thumping their chests and insisting they were chowkidars Chowkidars themselves are puzzled by how their profession has become so high-class and sought-after suddenly They have been gathering at the bottom of the buildings in my colony, leaning on their lathis, and discussing if there is a pay rise in there for them, somewhere But of course there is not It is like last fortnight everybody was walking around in camouflage fatigues (including Virat Kohli and his merry crew) insisting they were faujis, but the faujis got nothing out of it Nor did the chai-wallahs, a little while ago, when our PM was thumping his chest and proudly saying ki haan, main chaiwalla hoon Anyway, I suspect #MainBhiChowkidar has been churned out in a hurry, in a blind panic actually, because the Congress’s chowkidar chor hai slogan has been gathering momentum And also because the Modi hai toh mumkin hai (which is a shameless lift of the old Airtel Magic hai toh mumkin hai line, I wonder if they are considering suing) has created as much as a ripple as the new Pepsi commercial (none) The fast-talking marketing team has sold the panicked party some glib, twisted logic of ‘embracing a negative and turning it into a positive’ with the result that now Modi is now lumped with calling himself Chowkidar Narendra Modi, surely a sad comedown from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and horribly reminiscent of the Insaan suffix that follows the names of all members of the Dera Sacha Sauda cult It is actually pretty funny, but also rather scary—as it begs the question that if everybody is standing outside, holding a lathi, smoking a beedi and guarding the building, then who the hell is inside the building doing the vital work of governILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN 62 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 ance? There is contempt for education, skills and white-collar workers in the line There is watchdog-ism in the line There is khap-ism in the line You get the sense that the country has tuned into a Big Boss set, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere—watching you narrowly And of course, there is the point that if indeed Modi is a chowkidar, then he is a pretty lousy one Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi have all happily run out of the country on his watch, and he has done absolutely zip about getting them back He has not been very good at guarding the institutions of democracy either—the Supreme Court, the CBI, the RBI, and the Constitution of India itself, have all been messed with and compromised in various ways on his watch Crimes against women have been on a rampant rise as well—so no kudos for his chowkidari in that department either The only thing he has been successful at, is a certain regressive, sternly paternalistic sort of moral policing So the BJP’s usage of this particular line strays beyond irony into absolute dishonesty Supporters of the BJP may say in his defence that at least he has a campaign in place There is a film and a line and it is all rolling out on time The Congress, on the other hand, still remains absolutely mum about their slogan, campaign and manifesto for elections 2019 Which, of course, is really quite unforgivable They should have been out there, united, alliances in place, firing from all cylinders by now I mean, they want to win or not? Seriously, what gives? But I would say the BJP is worse Because while the Congress’s lethargy and silence can (and should) be considered stupid, the BJP’s campaign reveals something much much worse It reveals that the self-styled pseudo-chowkidars in the BJP think that we, the voters, are stupid editor@theweek.in CINEMA • ART • THEATRE • LUXURY • FOOD • MUSIC • PEOPLE • LIFESTYLE • TRENDS • REVIEW ENCOUNTERS SPECIALIST Filmmaker RITESH BATRA puts ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and makes it believable through his storytelling AP BY PRIYANKA BHADANI MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 63 @LEISURE W CINEMA hen filmmaker Ritesh Batra started writing Photograph, his fourth film, in 2013, the biggest challenge was to make it believable The story is about a unique bond between a photographer at the Gateway of India, Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), and Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), a middle-class Gujarati Rafi, who is originally from Uttar Pradesh, is being pressured to get married by his grandmother And, after he clicks a picture of Miloni, he convinces the reticent girl to pose as his fiancée It could be described as a rich girl-meets-poor boy love story “We have seen many of those in India—a motor mechanic falling for a rich saheb’s daughter,” says Batra, 38 It is not by chance then that Teesri Manzil becomes a crucial part of the film “A lot of drama followed in those films, from kidnapping to fight scenes But, there was never an attempt to make it believable,” he says And, if it were not believable, the film would have lasted for only seven minutes, he says “To really sell this story, we needed to bring that curiosity in both the characters for the life of the other character,” says Batra “In our country, or perhaps in any place in the world, bankers and plumbers are never going to grab a drink together That is just a fact Maybe in America it is possible because a white-collar kid and a blue-collar kid went to the same school But if you think of the United Kingdom, never! It is such a classist society In our country, neither We, too, are a very classist society.” Batra does not blink an eye before saying this “The relationship that you see in the movie would never happen in real life, anywhere in the world,” he says And, that is why he says it was a hard movie to write “It was difficult to write because these two characters—Miloni and Rafi—have never spent time together,” says Batra “[In a normal circumstance], the extent of their conversation would be limited to ‘bhaiya, kitna hua?’ and stuff So, to sustain a whole film, beyond the contrivance of an excuse for them to meet, was the tough part.” But, something strikes in the film Like his debut The Lunchbox, Photograph, too, tugs at the heartstrings Even if we not mull over the romance of it, there is a lot to absorb—from Miloni’s rediscovery of herself through a picture that a photographer at the Gateway of India takes to Rafi’s trust in Miloni to introduce her to his grandmother If Batra’s films were to be described in a line, it 64 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 PHOTOGRAPH A UNIQUE BOND DEVELOPS BETWEEN A PHOTOGRAPHER AT THE GATEWAY OF INDIA AND A MIDDLE-CLASS GUJARATI GIRL 19 20 Nawazuddin Siddiqui Sanya Malhotra would be thus: stories of ordinary lives in remarkable situations In the much-appreciated The Lunchbox, a homemaker strikes a friendship with an office-goer because of an unlikely mistake by a tiffin carrier service In his next two films (both book adaptations)—The Sense Of An Ending, about the reuniting of two lovers in old age, and Our Souls At Night, about a widow and a widower finding company in each other—two people come together because of unlikely situations Probably, also because they have been lonely enough to get on to the journey of exploring something new Batra would not call his characters lonely It is more of a longing, he reasons “Being lonely means nothing The best actor in the world would not be able to play lonely You cannot ask the actors THE LUNCHBOX A HOMEMAKER STRIKES A FRIENDSHIP WITH AN OFFICE-GOER BECAUSE OF AN UNLIKELY MISTAKE BY A TIFFIN CARRIER SERVICE to sit and be lonely because that is nothing,” he says “But, longing [can be worked]—something they don’t have, or wanting something, or to be somebody else, that is pretty universal.” Nawazuddin, who collaborated with Batra in The Lunchbox as well, had told THE WEEK in an earlier interview about Batra’s ability to make his characters life-like Sanya, on the other hand, was so consumed by Miloni, she found it difficult to come out of it “I had to make efforts to meet people to get out of that zone,” she says Nawazuddin believes that Batra’s gaze towards his characters is emotional and he infuses life into each character he develops “That is what happens in movies,” says Batra, playing down the compliment “I don’t think I have been successful all the time.” For that to happen, a lot of things have to come together “First, the director and the actor have to look eye to eye, and agree on the character’s arc,” he says “And, the people have to be 13 20 Irrfan Khan Nimrat Kaur willing to come along for this journey with you.” He also talks about doing 30 takes, and then turns to me and asks, “Is that a lot?” Perhaps, not! He has an explanation for it: after doing so many takes, the line between the actor and character blurs; what is on screen is real Batra, now settled in New York, has not had an easy journey He is not from a film family—his father was in the merchant navy, and his mother is a homemaker “And even though I grew up in Mumbai, I know how difficult it is to break into [the industry], and to survive it is even harder,” he says, recalling a time when “I was alone with my script (The Lunchbox) for four years” Has it got easier now? “Every film is such a unique piece,” says Batra “It doesn’t get easier The process of writing and making and shooting—the things that I love doing—do not get easier Also, the process of raising money to make a movie that you want to make has not got easier, either.” He recalls how once he sacrificed his independence to make a movie He would not name the film, but says, “Even though I enjoyed working with the actors, I did not enjoy working on it And, I not think the movie is great.” But, Batra has let bygones be bygones and is focusing on new avenues Next for him is a series for a leading streaming platform and a project for the stage in New York “It is not something that I have done before,” he says, “so it is quite exciting.” MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 65 @LEISURE ART art of recovery BOOK REVIEW Spring Live Auction will feature 68 artworks, all seized from Nirav Modi Dollops of information BY NIRMAL JOVIAL BY VIJAYA PUSHKARNA K F ugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, a key accused in the $2 billion Punjab National Bank fraud case, was an avid art collector Now—days after he was spotted in London—a part of his art collection seized by the income tax department will go under the hammer The Spring Live Auction on March 26 will feature 68 lots, all seized from Modi’s Camelot Enterprises Mumbai-based Saffronart is conducting the auction on behalf of the IT department “This is the first time that the IT department has approached a professional auction house to carry out an art auction on their behalf,” says Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and cofounder of Saffronart “The auction will mainly feature Indian modern and contemporary artworks.” Modi’s exposure to art started at a very young age, when his mother used to take him for gallery visits He became a zealous collector in the early 2000s Soon, he built a collection of more than 400 works, including those of masters like Raja Ravi Varma, V.S Gaitonde and Akbar Padamsee An 1881 painting by Ravi Varma depicting the maharaja of Travancore welcoming British administrators, and a 1973 untitled oilon-canvas by Gaitonde that explores the idea of metamorphosis, are expected to fetch the highest bids In addition to Indian works, the auction will feature a selection of Chinese contemporary paintings, too Modi got introduced to the Chinese ink-on-paper style of painting during his Beijing Olympics trip in 2008 End of the World by Xu Lei, a work he bought then, is part of the auction Some might wonder whether the fact that a tainted businessman owned the paintings would affect the sale But, Vazirani is optimistic about the auction “It includes works by some of the most sought-after names in art world,” he says The auction is expected to raise anything between 030 crore and 050 crore 66 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 uldip Nayar was a journalist’s journalist—a star reporter who delivered countless scoops As a columnist for more than four decades and an editor for years, every piece Nayar wrote had something he was most fond of—new information And, that is why his columns were widely published and read, wrote H.K Dua, Nayar’s colleague at The Indian Express, in his tribute In each of his 18 essays in On Leaders and Icons: From Jinnah to Modi, Nayar comes up with hitherto unknown information The book was ready to be published when Nayar passed away last August Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s MASTER’S Lahore bus yatra in 1999 is well-known But, PIECE Raja Ravi it requires a Nayar to tell us that as Vajpayee Varma’s oilsat in the bus, he received a telegram that 26 on-canvas Hindus had been killed by militants in Jammu (41.5’’ x 57’’) and Kashmir! Vajpayee even wondered whethpainting is er there was any use of further talks When he expected to and his delegation were to head for a banquet fetch up to at the Qila, members of the radical Jamaat-e-Is018 crore in the auction lami took to the streets But, Pakistan ensured it was a symbolic protest and no more! Another former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri would have been cremated in his hometown—Allahabad—if Indira Gandhi had her way But, his wife, Lalita, threatened to fast unto death if he was not cremated at Raj Ghat, alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Indira had to give in not once but twice, when Lalita insisted on ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, coined by Shastri, to be inscribed on his samadhi The writing, like always, is simple, straight and loaded with inforON LEADERS AND mation he gathered by ICONS: FROM JINNAH listening to all kinds of TO MODI people What makes the Author: Kuldip Nayar book doubly precious is Publisher: Speaking Tiger that it is the last from a Pages: 183 man who lived to write Price: 0499 EVERYONE IS A CAMERA BOSE KRISHNAMACHARI Curator, visionary, associate T he past few weeks have been very distressful, punctuated with deaths of admired figures from the world of arts Keith Flint of Prodigy; Dick Dale, the king of surf guitar; and Karl Lagerfeld, to name a few Yet, the biggest shocker was the departure of a fellow traveller, Okwui Enwezor, who died of cancer on March 15 Okwuchukwu Emmanuel Enwezor was born on October 23, 1963, in Calabar, a port city in southern Nigeria, close to the border with Cameroon He moved to the US in 1982 and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science However, his sights were set on claiming for Africa its rightful place on the global art map He was the first non-European, non-white, artistic director of the prestigious Documenta [eleventh edition] In addition to Documenta, he also curated the acclaimed 1997 Johannesburg Biennale, the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea (2008), the Paris Triennale (2012) and the Venice Biennale (2015) He was also the director of Munich’s Haus der Kunst Documenta was built on his vision of a set of programmes called ‘Platforms’ that were international debates, conferences and closed seminars that took place over a two-year period in Berlin, Vienna, New Delhi, St Lucia and Lagos With his curatorial intelligence, Documenta 11 succeeded in bringing issues such as genocide, poverty, political incarceration and industrial pollution to the fore through 415 works by 180 artists from five continents It also explored border disputes, contested territories (such as Pakistan and India, or Palestine and Israel), and collapsing urban space At Venice, his curatorial power of sight manifested again He anchored his show in one work of literature: Marx’s Das Kapital He had a OKWUI ENWEZOR / PHOTO LEV RADIN team of performers staging daily readings from the book till the close of the biennale “I wanted to something that has contemporary relevance,” he told an interviewer “And, so, I thought of Das Kapital, a book that nobody has read and yet everyone hates or quotes from.” My association with him goes back to 2010 when my research for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale took me to Gwangju (to look for artists and to experience a biennale).The biennale’s artistic director was the young curator Massimiliano Gioni It was a memorable experience because one thing led to another and we (Riyas Komu, Shwetal Patel and me) ended up meeting young curatorial students, curator Dan Cameron, legendary and controversial artist Ai Weiwei and, finally, Enwezor We spent some time with Enwezor at his hotel to discuss our inaugural biennale He was sceptical and laughed off our idea: “Aha, yet another biennale!” Then he launched into the trials and tribulations he faced while putting together the Johannesburg Biennale He visited the KMB in 2015 It was one of his last research trips for the Venice Biennale 2015 He found Kochi to be a platform that “offers a vital link between Asia and Africa” He also had conversations with Riyas and Jitish Kallat at the Biennale Pavilion at Aspinwall It was followed by a wonderful dinner at Casino Hotel, where he talked at length about the Johannesburg Biennale I also heard a lot about him from my mentor and teacher Sarat Maharaj, who was a co-curator at Documenta 11 I still remember his unusually thick and long fingers Dressed like a dandy (he was known for his double-breasted suits), he always had a twinkle in his eye and mirth around his lips editor@theweek.in MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 67 @LEISURE APPS Dating, the halal way BY ANJULY MATHAI M any millennial Muslims are living in the no man’s land between modernity and tradition They might not want to blatantly flaunt their identity as Muslims, but they not want to hide it either They are not looking for hook-ups on Tinder, but neither are they looking for set-ups by their parents Enter Minder, a dating app that is getting increasingly popular among young Muslims It has got 3.5 lakh users worldwide and has made one lakh matches Haroon Mokhtarzada, who founded 68 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 LOVESTRUCK Saba Azizi and Hadi Shirmohamadali IF YOU ARE MUSLIM, TRY MINDER TO FIND A PARTNER Minder in 2015, says he was inspired after he heard several eligible Muslim women complain about how tough it was to find partners “They had everything going for them and still they found it difficult,” he says “After you get out of college, you don’t get many opportunities to meet new people.” Around 80 to 90 per cent of Minder’s users are from the west, and the rest distributed all over the world As Mokhtarzada emphasises, it is a safe and user-friendly platform All profiles are verified with a selfie and GPS location “I came to hear about Minder from my cousin who had been using it for a few months,” says Fariha Rahman, 24, a nurse from the US She met her husband Nafis Islam, 29, on the platform “I thought of it as a joke at first… but nonetheless, I started using it When Nafis and I first matched, it felt like an instant connection We always had something to talk about and shared our truest feelings with each other The marriage took place two years after we matched.” The difference between Minder and other dating apps like Tinder and OK Cupid is that with Minder, the end goal is very ostensibly marriage This means that often, the flirting resembles a screening process, as men and women minutely examine each other to see whether potential partners tick all the right boxes “We started talking after I messaged him—I thought the tie [he wore] in one of his photos was unique… so I complimented his fashion sense,” says Saba Azizi, 28, a family medicine resident from the US who is engaged to Hadi Shirmohamadali after six months of dating “He started asking a multitude of questions… it was very much like a one-sided interview, like he was suspicious and wanted to weed me out But I guess my answers continued to be acceptable so he kept asking until it wore him out.” Like most people on the platform, Azizi joined it because of the lack of other options “Online dating was a necessity for me because of my work schedule and location,” she says “I tried looking for social events with other Muslims in bigger cities within driving distance, but none of them were happening on the weekends I was free.” In future, Mokhtarzada wants to innovate on the selection process so users can be matched based on more than just looks “What are you passionate about? Are you both ambitious? I want to help people find compatible, meaningful relationships,” he says @LEISURE SERIES Khaki confidant Richie Mehta humanises the police in Delhi Crime, his new series on Netflix ecember 16, 2012 Delhi A 23-year-old woman was raped and brutally attacked in a moving bus while she was returning after watching a movie with a male friend The friend, too, was assaulted While the girl fought for life in Safdarjung Hospital, the public raged in protest; the Delhi Police raced against time to capture the six culprits Seven years later, Delhi Crime, a seven-episode Netflix series conceptualised and directed by Indo-Canadian director Richie Mehta, captures the Delhi Police’s investigation into the crime Mehta was in Delhi at the time and was shaken by the incident “It was not something that could be taken personally It was an attack on everybody in a way, I believe,” he says “Nobody could get the facts straight You not know what source to go to And then, by evening, it was on every news channel That is when you realised what had happened.” Everyone wondered how it could happen—the mechanics of it, the morality of it, the ethics and the power “The anger comes from within you How can we let this happen? I was thinking what I would have done How much you intervene—do you get killed? It becomes like the Medusa complex Do I not walk on the streets where this could happen?” It was complicated For Mehta, the feelings culminated on New Year’s Eve 2012, when he went to Jantar Mantar and saw six effigies hanging from a tree “That was the most chilling thing [I had seen],” he says “This was not as a filmmaker, this was as a person You not know what to with it It just sits in a swirling space.” That visual, now, has found an apt place in the series climax Mehta was treading a fine line Though the incident has inspired many movies and shows, the filmmakers have often been criticised for being insensitive For instance, Leslee Udwin’s documentary for BBC, India’s Daughter, was panned for featuring an interview with one of the accused “The evolution of the project was unique in my point of view,” says Mehta “The possibility of doing this came to me through somebody I knew in the Delhi Police.” The journey of the show, earlier planned as a film, began when former Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar introduced Mehta to the investigation papers “He said, ‘If you want to something as a story, it could be something interesting and some- 70 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 GETTY IMAGES D BY PRIYANKA BHADANI AT EVERY STAGE, THE QUESTION ALWAYS WAS IS IT WORTH DOING, IS IT THE RIGHT THING TO DO, RIGHT UP UNTIL WE STARTED SHOOTING -Richie Mehta, director thing positive could come from it But read all the information,’” says Mehta “I did not want to it as a human being, but thought it could help me deal with it I would spend weeks and months reading and re-reading them (the documents) and trying to understand the events surrounding them.” Mehta later met some of the officers involved, over and over again He started to know these people, and developed compassion “I realised that we have a point of view as citizens that they are the people who actually fight for us to ensure that law and order is maintained and justice is achieved What they feel about this? What about the women fighting this for us?” The incident of that night and the investigation became intertwined in the process “At every stage, UNLIKE THE HYPER-MASCULINE COPS OF HINDI FILMS, DELHI CRIME HAS OFFICERS TRYING TO CRACK THE CASE EVEN AS THEY NAVIGATE THEIR PERSONAL LIVES TOP COPS Stills from Delhi Crime the question always was is it worth doing, is it the right thing to do, right up until we started shooting,” says Mehta “It can only be done if something very positive can come from it If not, we pull the plug.” It seems to have been a worthwhile effort It is not an easy show It shakes you Mehta has been careful not to include graphic details of the crime, but he lets us imagine And that becomes even more frightening But Delhi Crime is not just about these feelings The show fictionalises the effort of the cops Their difficulties—from not having a vehicle to travel to the crime venue to struggling with a power cut Their fear—is it safe to travel to a Naxalite-prone area to catch hold of one of the culprits? The politics that unfolded with the case, and how the investigating team was affected by the goriness of the crime It scratches beneath the surface Mehta has put the deputy commissioner of police, South Delhi, at the forefront Shefali Shah as Vartika Chaturvedi plays the part of DCP Chhaya Sharma, who carried out the actual investigation with her team, in 2012 At the initial stage of research, Sharma was not in Delhi She was in Mizoram and Mehta spoke to her many times on the phone “She would guide me to meet different officers for different things,” he says Over time, he developed a friendship with every cop he met Unlike the hyper-masculine cops of Hindi films, Delhi Crime has officers trying to crack the case even as they navigate their personal lives Shefali’s Vartika is trying to dissuade her teenage daughter from going abroad for higher studies, while cracking crimes that have no precedent Rajesh Tailang’s Bhupendra is nursing a back pain and hunting for a groom for his daughter as he struggles to hitch a ride to the hospital Rasika Dugal’s Neeti, a new IPS entrant in the force, is talking to a probable suitor even while taking care of the victim’s family day in and day out “I wanted to humanise these people,” says Mehta, who thinks that everyone opened up because there was no pressure on anyone to reveal details at any point “The response that I got was, ‘Nobody ever talks to us like this, without accusatory looks or anger’.” Mehta has discovered a different side of the police force He has almost fallen for their commitment, which people never see, or perhaps, fail to understand These people, he says, are on the frontline maintaining law and order in the state It is not a surprise then that they have become the subject for his next project as well He is already working on the next season of the show It will have the same team investigating another crime in Delhi MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 71 @LEISURE PEOPLE TODD SAMPSON documentary maker and TV host AAYUSH GOEL BY PRIYANKA BHADANI ROYAL VIEW Manu S Pillai’s debut novel, Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore, is all set for a screen adaptation The book, published by HarperCollins India, has been optioned to Arka Mediaworks, the studio behind the Baahubali franchise “I am delighted that Arka has optioned The Ivory Throne, and will summon their phenomenal expertise and creative abilities to try and bring alive this remarkable tale of power and princely politics on screen,” said Pillai After spending his early years in Canada, where he climbed many a mountain summit, Todd Sampson embraced the corporate life, working in advertising firms The adventurer in him never took a backseat though Sampson took to investigating interesting aspects of life with the Discovery documentary, Redesign My Brain, followed by Body Hack, which studies extraordinary people on the planet The second season of Body Hack premiers on Discovery Channel India on March 25 He speaks to THE WEEK from Bondi, Australia Excerpts: The concept of Body Hack is such that you have to put yourself through a lot Are you always up for that challenge? It varies Sometimes you are tired and you not want to be there But, it is my job I will it The best way to understand people is to at least try and walk in their shoes And, that is why it is exciting An incident where it was extremely COVERING A WIDE RANGE AFP Alia Bhatt is on a films’ roll She recently announced joining the cast of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Inshallah “Dream with your eyes wide open, they say, and I did Sanjay Sir and Salman Khan are magical together & I can’t wait to join them on this beautiful journey called Inshallah,” she tweeted Alia, whose next release is Kalank, will also be making her southern debut with S.S Rajamouli’s RRR 72 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 SPY ON SCREEN Someone said, if Bear Grylls (adventurer), Louis Theroux (documentary filmmaker) and Brian Cox (particle physicist) had a love child together, it would be Todd Sampson (Laughs) I am a big fan of all three I would like the idea of not being compared to one of them because I think the format of Body Hack is unique It combines science, adventure and sociology But I am flattered by the reference ON A HIGH NOTE Pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram, 13, won The World’s Best, an American reality show, and brought home $1 million in prize money The Chennai resident joined A.R Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory to learn to play tabla when he was eight, and later switched to the piano Currently being trained by his father, Varshan Satish, Lydian can also play the guitar and mridangam PTI You travelled to six regions for this season Your most difficult episode? The most difficult would be the snipers in Iraq They are basically hunting the Islamic State I have no notional association of wanting to kill anyone To get in their mind and to not judge them was very challenging The one that probably blew my mind the most was India—arguably one of the most fascinating, colourful, eclectic cultures on the planet It is the only country I have done twice on my show I did Bollywood stuntmen for the first season and now sadhus for the second PTI difficult to break into a community? The Matsés of Amazon For 450 years, they have lived in the wild In the beginning, they were not really keen to let us in I ended up taking the frog poison (they believe it gives them superhuman powers of perception), which nearly killed me When I survived that, their level of respect and openness changed completely Netflix will soon have a political espionage series from India Produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, Bard of Blood is based on Bilal Siddiqi’s book by the same name Emraan Hashmi, who is headlining the show, took to Twitter to share photos on the last day of the shoot The seven-episode series revolves around an expelled Research & Analysis Wing agent, Kabir Anand, who takes up teaching Shakespeare before being called back to spy duty COMPILED BY SUSAMMA JOY KURIAN MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 73 LAST WORD SANJAY MANJREKAR Batsmen’s game W ith the cricket World Cup due in a few weeks, the timing of this article is not great, but then I was never known for good timing even as a batsman, so what the heck! Every time I watch 50-overs cricket, I realise that it is my least favourite format Yes, the World Cup is just round the corner and it is the biggest, flagship event in cricket But, that is not because it is 50-overs cricket, but because it is the World Cup, and it comes once in four years Barring the starting few overs and the death overs—which are the six overs at the end, as Harsha Bhogle rightly calls it—it is a non-aggression pact between two teams No team is really desperate to take the initiative in these 35 overs or so phase; the bowling team is happy to concede four to five runs an over, while the batting team is happy to pick four to five runs an over Anyway, what I truly dislike about 50-overs cricket is the ridiculous imbalance it has; it is such an easy game for the batsmen, but oh-so-tough on the bowlers This imbalance exists even before the game starts, because of the basic rules When a batsman is batting well, he can keep batting the whole 50 overs; a bowler cannot bowl more than ten, even if he is bowling the spell of his life Yes, I know T20 cricket also sets limit on bowlers, but because of its very short duration, all the action in it is compressed So a little event has a massive impact on the game A couple of dot balls for instance, and the batman is as nervous as the bowler, and this brings in some balance in T20s But in 50-overs cricket, well, if you are not finding your touch as a batsman, no problem, take your time, take an over or two or even more to get into the “groove” That is is why I not care much about top run-getters in ODIs First, they are mostly openers, and once you have some clout in PHOTO AP 74 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 the team you can ensure that you are opening the innings in 50-overs cricket When I went to Australia in 1992, I was at the top of my game But, I failed in the first two ODIs and I was thinking what is happening here! How is that even possible? After that, I proceeded to get two consecutive 50s and thought to myself, “OK, that is more like it.” For batting greats like Tendulkar and Virat, getting 100s in ODIs would be the easiest thing to at the international level And, that is why I have always believed that the true greatness in Tendulkar’s feat of hundred 100s were his 51 Test hundreds, not his 49 ODI hundreds You will find in Test matches, so also in T20s, bowlers getting ‘man of the match’ awards as much as the batsmen But, this is not the case in 50-overs cricket If Tests are about batsmen defending or getting runs and bowlers trying to get batsmen out, 50-overs cricket is mostly about picking ones and twos, and hitting the odd boundary Yes, even today, it is mostly about ones and twos In T20s, well, the batsman is under pressure to hit a six of two balls, and as the bowler is in denying that, pressure is equally divided Fifty-overs cricket, as I see it now after all these years, is for batsmen to make a name for themselves Know any legendary one-day bowler? No And yes, it is also ten overs too long So many little innovations have been tried to infuse life in 50-overs cricket, when the simplest thing to is to make it 40 overs That will reduce the middle-overs’ boredom, and most importantly batsmen will have lesser time in their comfort zone, and with it, less imbalance in the game But, the World Cup will be 50-overs cricket, so along with finding out who is going to be the champion, let us also see which batsman is the man of the series in this World Cup Manjrekar, a former cricketer, is a commentator • editor@theweek.in 76 The Week RNI No 36122/1982, Registered No KL/EKM/756/2018-20, Licence No KL/CR/EKM/WPP-20/2018-20 Licensed to Post Without Prepayment Published on Friday 22nd March 2019 ... find out MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 17 18 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 19 COVER STORY JAYALALITHAA EXCLUSIVE EMPRESS OF MALADIES A person’s sense of humour is often the first... the four valves in the heart It regulates blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle When oxygen-rich blood fills the atrium, the mitral valve 26 THE WEEK • MARCH 31, 2019 Though there... were leaked to the media by a clerk What remains to be seen is whether the war will end on June 24, the deadline for the commission to submit its report MARCH 31, 2019 • THE WEEK 31