Theme: Expressions of desire, passion and resistance launched by marginalized people have constantly been nourished within the space of South Asian spiritual traditions, theater, performing arts, and cinema. In the past, these marginalized people included traveling bards, Bhakti and Sufi singers, gender-bending theater performers and even candid female nautch performers and courtesans. Speaking lucidly and expressively about their bodies and desires, these colorful and sensuous characters surpassed their limited contexts and often broke barriers with their voices, bodies and performance. Contemporary artistes and film-makers are inheritors of these rich traditions as well as translators of these earlier forms within modern contexts.

What is the continued importance of these marginalized voices that speak so eloquently about intimacy, desire and gender fluidity in our contemporary world? What thresholds can such marginalized voices cross, and what limitations are they unable to surpass? And what do such marginalized voices tell us about the deep interconnections between gender, sexuality, music and performance? Addressing some of these questions, this special event at I-VIEW FILM 2010 features film-makers Rituparno Ghosh and Vishal Bhardwaj in conversation with Rachel Cooper of the Asia Society & Museum. The conversation is accompanied by performative illustrations by the legendary Kathak dancer Nighat Chaodhry and Bharatanatyam/contemporary dancer Parijat Desai.

About the Speakers:
Rituparno Ghosh is a seven time National Award Winning Director, and two times Golden Leopard Winner from India. He is also known as the specialist in human relationships and the female mind. Rituparno is one of the best known Bengali film-directors of our times, whose auterial motifs transcend the boundaries of local & global, masculine & feminine, popular & critical. He has worked to knit together script-writing, lessons learnt from his days in the flashy advertising industry, haunting melodies, along with his passionate understandings of unique gender expressions, desire and intimacies in South-Asia to bring forth a body of work which forever has altered the contours of world cinema.

Vishal Bhardwaj: is perhaps best known for juxtaposing the rural/ urban Indian landscape with his adaptations of Shakespeare's Macbeth (Maqbool) and Othello (Omakara).  This Bard of India hails from a family steeped in music composition, and in 1997 received the R.D. Burman Award for New Talent in Music for "Maachis.” Vishal's directorial talent is influenced by legendary Polish film-maker Kryzstof Kieslowski, and the literary works of Ruskin Bond. His intellectual genius spans multiple artistic genres making him one of the preeminent auteurs from India.

Rachel Cooper: has been at the Asia Society since 1993 and is the Director for Cultural Programs and Performing Arts. She has extensive experience in the presentation of traditional and contemporary Asian and Asian-American performing arts and the development of interdisciplinary programs.

About the Performers:
Nighat Chaodhry: is a name that is indelibly linked with Kathak – in Pakistan and around the world. Recipient of the Solidarity of Pakistan Award, Pakistan National Council for the Arts critical appreciation award, Nigar Award for Excellence in Performing Arts, and the Maharaj Kathak Dance Award, Chaodhry has been hailed as ‘just stunning’ by Pakistan’s most read daily Dawn.

Parijat Desai: Parijat Desai and her dance company performs an elegant and exciting blend of bharata natyam and modern/postmodern dance. Working at the intersections between movement techniques, choreographer Desai evolves a South Asian American aesthetic while exploring themes of spirituality, struggle, and transformation.

Note: Light food and refreshments will be served after the event.