The Culture Section

Embassy of India

Beijing July 22, 2009

Dear Friend,

Events : Aug 2009

On behalf of the Embassy of India, please accept our greetings and best wishes of the season! The following are our forthcoming activities:

Our Culture Wing will be holding the following events in Aug 2009:

I. Indian Music performance – Sitar [Aug 6 – Thursday, 1730 hrs ]

The Sitar is a stringed musical instrument in Hindustani (north Indian) classical music. The performer, Mr. Kengo Saito, is of Japanese origin and a resident of France. He has been learning Indian Classical music for 10 years and has performed in France and abroad. He has learnt the Sitar from famous teachers in India. For details, please visit his website at: www.myspace.com/kengosaito. A small note about the Sitar is attached.

II. Photo Exhibition : “India : A Celebration of Humanity ” [Aug 24 – 28, 0930 - 1700 hrs ]

Around 30 photo exhibits will be on display depicting Indian people going about their daily life. The photographer, Mr. Li Li, is the First Secretary (Information) at the Chinese Embassy in India. He has taken the photographs during his stay in India.

III. Film show : “Hum Saath-Saath Hain” (We Stand United) [Aug 27 – Thursday, 1630 hrs]

This 3 hour movie (with English subtitles) is a 1999 Bollywood family drama with many colorful songs. The story centers on a family with three sons, played by leading actors and actresses of Indian film industry. The summarized story is attached below.

IV. Documentary show : “Healing The World” [Aug 31 – Monday, 1745 hrs]

This 20 minute documentary (in English) depicts India’s medical tourism which introduces various destinations in India where foreign patients go for traditional Indian treatment and their experience.

Note : The films are being shown on a non-commercial basis and for promotion of Indian culture.

You and your friends are cordially invited to the shows. We would request for your confirmation to be sent to Ms. Sarah (Ph: 65683218, Fax: 65681918) or culturesection@gmail.com. There is no charge for the event. Looking forward to seeing you,

With warm regards,

Culture Section

Embassy of India

Beijing

Music performance: The Sitar

The Sitar has its origins in the 12th century long-necked lutes of western Asia and from the Veena family of Indian musical instruments. Amir Khusro, a famous Sufi poet of medieval India is said to be the creator of the Indian Sitar. The sitar is one of the most important concert instruments of North Indian classical (Hindustani) music. It is a plucked stringed instrument which uses strings along with a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber so as to produce a very rich and harmonic sound effect. The sitar became a youth phenomenon through the work of Pandit Ravi Shankar beginning in the late 1950s and later through his association with the Beatles in the 1960s.

Film story : Hum Saath-Saath Hain (We Stand United)

The first half of the movie is pure family fun and full of love. The eldest son, Vivek (Mohnish Behl), meets Sadhna (Tabu). Sadhna is immediately attracted to him. She meets him first at his parents anniversary party. She is immediately taken by the love he has for his parents, despite Mamta (Reema Lagoo) not being his biological mother. Sadhna's father goes to visit Ramkishen (Alok Nath), explaining that he took Sadhna to the party so she could meet Vivek and asks for Sandhna's marriage proposal. Ramkishen is overjoyed, being as the family was worrying about Vivek's marital life. Vivek on the other hand is not looking forward to this union.

Vivek lost the use of his hand to save his younger brother's lives many, many years ago, and thinks his hand would be too much of a burden on Sadhna. But Sadhna continues to stick by her decision. Vivek is touched by her dedication to him, so the two are then married.

So now we move onto the sweet childhood love story of Prem (Salman Khan) and Preeti (Sonali Bendre). These two have had a crush on each other since they were little kids, but have never ever spoken of their love for each other. Although it is quite obvious, neither are exactly sure of the other's feelings. It doesn't really matter because they are to have an arranged marriage. Their engagement is finalised after a hilarious comedy scene in which Vinod (Saif Ali Khan) and Sapna (Karishma Kapoor) pretend to be Prem & Preeti, acting like they like each other. Vinod and Sapna are the youngest couple and are very fun-loving and flirty with each other. The three brothers also have a sister, Sangeeta (Neelam) who is married and has a daughter and she lives with her husband's brother and family.

The twist to the story comes when Sangeeta's brother-in-law throws his brother out of the house without any share in the property and this leads three of Mamta's snobby friends along with Sapna's father into persuading Mamta to separate the three brothers to prevent a similar situation where Vivek might throw out Prem and Vinod. They convince Mamta into thinking that if the three brothers live in the same house with all of their wives and future kids, then fights and complications will occur. This leads to a tangled web of problems and sadness. Sadhna also becomes pregnant in the midst of all the trouble. Vivek and Sadhna move to Rampur to finish their factory. Sangeeta's brother-in-law has loss in his business and other family problems then he realizes the mistake he did. He accepts Sangeeta and her husband back. Sangeeta explains to her mother how Vivek had helped her during crisis. Mamta's brother explains to her that she's not being fair to Vivek and she doesn't have trust in the values she gave her sons. Mamta realizes her fault and calls Vivek and Sadhna back. Sadhna's baby is born. Prem and Vinod also get married.

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