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8 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, April 23, 2003 I CONTACT US Jilill SAI" TOM LEHRER: I wish people Story ideas? Questions? Comments? who have trouble communi E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com eating would just shut up.” ■ PHOTOS BY AISHA AHKAWAU/THE GAMECOCK Above and right: Dancers clad in traditional ethnic costumes, such as the saris and lenghas shown above, dance to songs from Bollywood — India's answer to the American film powerhouse — Saturday during USC’s India Night. Bollywood hits lend musical theme to ICE’s India Night BY COREY GARRIOTT THE GAMECOCK Move over Hollywood; America is tired of your redundant big screen romances. It’s high time for rejuvenation —- fueled by the sound of music. In a word; Bollywood, that crazy Eastern film factory dear to the hearts of so many otherwise-nor mal people. A crowd of them showed up in national costume Saturday night to see the Indian Cultural Exchange put on India Night, its yearly celebration. You’d have thought it was a new and better dressed “Star Wars” showing. This year’s theme, of course, was “Bollywood Comes to USC.” Bollywood is India’s answer to the American film powerhouse in Los Angeles. It sounds like identi ty theft, but Hollywood, too, stole its name. Locals used the massive sign of the Hollywood Real Estate firm as a landmark, and it stuck. Bollywood itself hails from Bombay; hence the “B.” The in dustry began a tradition: There is now a Lollywood in Lahore, Pakistan. Also, Bollywood likes to pro duce musicals — lots of musicals. Only musicals. Musicals are armed to the teeth with ethnic costumes — enough to rival any historical-action flick. Gloriously overdone, no dress sur vives without sequins, no blouse without its midriff cut. The whole production would be for naught without the obligatory national heartthrob, of course! In a typical film — which means all of them, really — love conquers all with the inevitability of a geometric proof. And they sing a lot. Though ICE’s India Night aimed to import the glamour of Bollywood’s classic hits, the show began with classical Indian art forms. Traditional Indian dance em phasizes the facial expressions and minute movements of the dancer. The choreography itself draws attention to the lyrics. Nina Talukdar, who also sang the American and Indian national an thems, used it in her. “Tribute to Guru,” sung by Geetanjali Talukdar. She used subtle hand positions rather than the brandished elbows and jerky movements of modern dance. This is not to say that Eastern styles aren’t flamboyant, but they value smoothness of tran sition as much as Western cul tures crave pizzazz. Interestingly, most of the dancers wore bells on their ankles to keep direct time with the moving backbeat, absent in most other ethnic traditions. The result resembles what could be ancient, holy tap danc ing. “Bollywood Comes to USC” then moved to the 1970s, which saw the introduction of American filmmaking styles to the Hindi markets. The act “Pyar Ki Masti”— illustrated the changes with a medley of Eastern and some un fortunately chosen rap hits. The survival of a uniquely Indian style, even after the intro duction of Western methods, is proof that a nation can modernize without Westernizing. Bollywood films now feature better produc tion, but still remain emotional and happy. And, of course, that high and sweet female voice has only bro ken new octaves since the ’70s. “What’s considered a feminine voice in India is a very high voice,” said Runa Talukd'ar, ICE’s India Night chairwoman. Indian movie music is based on traditional forms. “Women that have a deeper voice show up more in pop music,” Runa Talukdar said. To showcase this evolution of Indian film, ICE punctuated the performances with several skits, each rendered in its native tongue. The costuming of the skits re flected that of the audience. In both, Indian women wore the intricate national costume: varia tions of cholis, famously short blouses; saris, rectangular cloth often wrapped around a choli or petticoat; and lenghas, long, full skirts. But the men wore oxford shirts and khaki pants. Ethnic clothes for guys are harder to find in America, Runa Talukdar said. She said it’s be cause guys don’t like to dress up. “Guys’ clothing often has to be ordered from India,” Runa Talukdar said. Even in India, the men wear Western clothes most of the time. “Even back home, when we’d go to a social function, women would wear their national clothes," said Nasir Sherazi, a fourth-year finance student. But men usually kept their Western f outfits on, he said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com BOOK REVIEW Author places focus on weak characters utviL b miumuHi" By YuriKaparlov ★★outof#*'*** BY BRIAN RAY THE OAMECOCK “Devil’s Midnight” could be a gripping, 180-page novel about Russian witches and Satanists in the 1920s. But let’s face it: The whole Bolshevik Revolution thing is a fa cade to make it less Anne Rice and more historical fiction. We don’t need 300 pages of tissue paper. Give us the warlocks and women riding their broomsticks. Granted, Yuri Kapralov has done his homework and developed an encyclopedic knowledge of Russian culture and history. But this novel is littered with monotonous passages describing one “decisive” battle after anoth er, and winds up lacking culture. There are only so many ways you can say machine-gun fire broke out and there were explosions on the horizon. Kapralov saturates the English language of war im agery in the first 75 pages. This story is really about Russian cinema queen Nata Tai and her quest to destroy a cult of Satanists while safeguarding a sa cred meteorite that has special powers. Tai outshines every character in the novel, but she appears in only half of the scenes. We don’t even read about her duty to guard this mystic meteorite until halfway through the book. Kapralov shrinks Tai down to a minor character in the narra tives of two military men, both of whom come across as immature, dull and cliched. Then, halfway through the novel, he blows her up to protagonist proportions. She’s alive and physically well at the end, while her favorite lover, Alexey, lies on his deathbed, ty phoid-ridden. Despite ail tneir armored-loco motive battles and explosive en counters, Alexey and Yuri — the novel’s soldiers/narrators — con tribute little to the actual plot. Their combined scenes pale in comparison with the single mo ment in which Tai watches a wa terfall in the Caucasus Mountains as she remembers her first trip as ♦ REVIEW, SEE PAGE 9 THEATER REVIEW ‘Crucible’ends theater season with style “THE CRUCIBLE” Theatre South Carolina out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY CARRIE PHILLIPS AND TUG BAKER THE GAMECOCK Almost everyone remembers being forced to read Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” in high school. What everyone seems to forget is just how good it is. Theatre South Carolina’s pro duction of Miller’s masterpiece provides a strong finish to what has been an unforgettable season of drama and leaves the audience eagerly anticipating the fall’s of ferings. ing their high school literature classes, the story of “The Crucible” concerns the Salem witch trials of the late 17th cen tury and uses the historical back drop as an allegory for the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings and rampant McCarthyism of the 1950s. When a group of village girls falls ill af ter the local preacher discovers them dancing in the woods, each girl in turn accuses townspeople of witchcraft in order to avoid punishment herself. Eventually, half the town is arrested, and the ploddingly obdurate justice sys tem is too blind to see that it is all an elaborate hoax. The cast itself seems like a best-of-Theatre-South-Carolina ensemble. Kay Allmand and Pamela Vogel do abrupt turn abouts. In their last roles in “Stpp Kiss,” they were lovers, PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Zach Hanks, left, plays John Proctor In Theatre South Carolina’s production of “The Crucible.” Pamela Vogel, center, plays Elizabeth Proctor, and Moriah McCarthy, right, plays Betty Parris. ^ and now they are set against each other as home wrecker and noble housewife, respectively. Steve Fenley — as the obstinate Deputy Governor Danforth — combines the perfect mixture of pomposity and wit to create a highly memorable character. Patrick Mullins as the Rev. John Hale didn’t really fit into his role very well until the second act, but he deserves high praise for doing such a fine job with what Is, arguably, the most difficult role in the play. . The only weak spots in Friday night’s production occurred when R.I.G. Hughes, in his sec ond production of the season, struggled with his lines at every turn, and, in one scene, seemed to forget them altogether. Zach Hanks excelled in his leading role as John Proctor Friday evening. While the pre posterous nature of the witch trials is apparent to all in the au dience, Hanks’ Proctor is the one who truly gives voice to the argument against the madness and rallies the audience behind him. As his foil, Brian Schilb plays the part of the Rev. Samuel Parris to near-perfection. While he starts as the main villain of the piece, by the second act, ♦ CRUCIBLE,’SEE PAGE 9