{"id":213728,"date":"2014-03-21T15:03:48","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T09:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=213728"},"modified":"2014-03-21T15:03:48","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T09:33:48","slug":"intelligent-cinema-does-not-have-many-takers-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/intelligent-cinema-does-not-have-many-takers-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Intelligent cinema does not have many takers in India\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_213731\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-213731\" style=\"width: 280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-213731\" alt=\"Monica Dogra 31, ACTOR-singer \" src=\"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/monica.jpg\" width=\"280\" height=\"412\" data-id=\"213731\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-213731\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Monica Dogra<\/strong> 31, actor-singer<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<strong>Was Shaa\u2019ir + Func a strategic move towards indie music?<\/strong><br \/>\nI was a struggling artist in New York and came to India in 2005 with all my savings, which were sufficient to sustain my stay in Mumbai for three months. I met Randolph Correia at a party and Shaa\u2019ir + Func happened. We have recently released <em>Re:Cover<\/em>. We are called electro-rock, but we are experimental, heavy bass and a dance-music band.<br \/>\n<strong>Your uncle, Prakash Sharma, is a well-known <em>dogri<\/em> musician. Have you explored folk music as well?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy mother\u2019s side of the family is deeply into arts but I could never explore these roots since my parents split when I was 12. I was raised by a single father in the States and was deeply connected to music. So all my musical endeavours have been individual pursuits with no support from either side of my family. I would love to learn Hindustani classical music and also experiment with <em>dogri<\/em> folk music.<br \/>\n<strong>You\u2019ve described yourself as a feminist on various occasions. Where does this stem from?<\/strong><br \/>\nI was raised to be vocal. Maybe that is the American in me. Popularity and recognition make me feel obligated to bring certain issues to peoples\u2019 attention for the greater good of the society. In India, especially, there is a long way to go if we talk in terms of women\u2019s rights or empowerment. When you are being pushed down, you have to push against. Being opinionated or having a distinct individuality is not a very accepted norm in the East. I\u2019m a bit of a punk I guess!<br \/>\n<strong>Have you found your feet in the film industry?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m not yet familiar with the protocols of this industry. So I often get into trouble for divulging too much information.<br \/>\n<strong>Why hasn\u2019t <em>Fireflies<\/em> seen an Indian release yet?<\/strong><br \/>\nIntelligent non-commercial cinema does not have many takers here, although avenues are opening up. There should be a solid date of release by next month hopefully.<br \/>\n<strong>Having played the third wheel in <em>Severing Ties<\/em>, how do you deal with scruples in life?<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t put pressure on myself to be a certain way. What I want today, I might not want tomorrow. People face the dilemma of morality because they want their present, past and future to be the same. This leads to stagnation. One must accept that change is constant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monica Dogra is one half of popular indie band Shaa\u2019ir + Func. Having made her Bollywood debut in Kiran Rao\u2019s Dhobi Ghat, the actor-modelsinger has hosted STAR World India\u2019s musical television series The Dewarists and most recently featured on the cover of a men\u2019s lifestyle magazine. Monica has made cameo appearances in Rock On!! and David and will soon be seen in Fireflies and Ahmed Roy\u2019s Severing Ties <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":213736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[7766,7889,7890,7891,7892,7893,7894,5728,7895,7896,7897],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}