AP, PARIS: As the rousing overture reaches its operatic climax, the curtains part and Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god, descends from the rafters.

"Padmavati," currently playing at Paris' gilded Theatre du Chatelet, is not your typical operatic fare. It's equal parts straight-laced European opera and Bollywood blowout, with a cast that includes a top French mezzo-soprano, scores of classical Indian dancers and a live tiger.

The director is hit Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose pathos-filled 2002 musical "Devdas" became a crossover international blockbuster and made him hot Bollywood property.

Utpal Borpujari says Pakistani film Khuda Kay Liye, set for release in India on March 28, takes an analytical yet dispassionate look at what is probably the biggest question facing the Muslim world post 9/11.

No one knows what might act as the spark for a particular creative process. It could be a larger societal issue in some cases and an intensely personal emotion in some others. For Pakistani filmmaker Shoaib Mansoor, it was more of the latter. But the result was something that tackles a much bigger social question facing the world in general and the Muslim society in particular.

Carlos Saura, the acclaimed Spanish filmmaker who was in India recently, threw up some interesting possibilities.
 
A fire burns bright in the centre of a sparkling black floor as young men and women dressed in cascading red and black glide to the tune of Fado, arguably one of the most popular genres of Portuguese folk music. And that’s just one of the many images that Spain’s creative genius, 40-odd films old Carlos Saura, brings alive in his musical-documentary, Fados (2007).
 

MUMBAI: The city was in two moods on Wednesday—love and hatred were thick in the wintry air. There was the annual, mushy, buying and selling that precedes Valentine's Day and there was the day-long wait-and-watch ordeal as news of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray's arrest spread.

Even as shops closed across the city and Valentine-eve shopping came to a standstill, the message from many Mumbai couples who have reached across the north Indian-Maharashtrian divide was clear: we do not subscribe to such politics.

Join us for mast romantic songs throughout the day!

Vikram Bhatt has roped in Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj for a soundtrack for his new Hindi film '1920'. This marks Pandit Jasraj's filmi debut.

The music is by Adnan Sami and includes Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Kailash Kher and Shubha Mudgal. Hopefully, the tracks shall bring classical renditions to the mainstream! It remains to be seen. All recordings have been completed except Pandit Jasraj's. 

The lyrics are by Sameer.

Have your say. Do you think Pandit Jasraj ought to enter Hindi filmi jagat?