After years of Asian films mimicking Hollywood plot lines, American film companies are now looking East. Western film companies are not only looking for a new story line, they are are also looking at expanding their audience and probably igniting a whole new genre of multi cultural films.

The latest cross cultural cinematic tie up is between Twentieth Century Fox and the Star entertainment and media group. The 50:50 joint venture will produce Asian-language films for worldwide distribution. The AFP reported that the new company, Fox Star Studios, will initially begin work in Mumbai India, the home of Bollywood, with later plans to expand into China and Southeast Asia. Both companies are units of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Fox star studios is not the first multi cultural cimematic tie up between Asia and Hollywood. Large movie moguls such as Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures have all ventured East to indulge in this emerging genre.

Major Hollywood studios producing Asian movies include Sony Pictures Entertainment with its Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, which invested in Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning kung fu hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Later in 2007 Sony Pictures Entertainment produced its own Bollywood musical, “Saawariya.”

(more…)

Its the end of the Ganesh festival, the celebration of the elephant God. Revered across Asia, Ganesh or the  remover of obstacles, comes at the right time, when Asia needs him the most.

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is a day on which Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. The festival, celebrated mostly in India, typically lasts for 10 days, in which devotees keep and pray to a clay idol of the Ganpati. On the last day, devotees chant ‘Ganpati bappa Moriya’ and dance while immersing the clay idol in water, making him one with nature.Worshiped in India, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Bali and Japan where currently chaos rules, Ganesh appears in different avataars across south east Asia. Spread by Indian traders who took the remover of obstacles on their varied voyages, Ganesh appears on temple motifs, currency notes and art.

(more…)

Its played with passion behind pagodas, in wat (temple) courtyards, at the Asian games, and in most countries around the world but Sepak Takraw still needs to make it to the Olympics. The equivalent of playing volleyball with your feet, sepak takraw, or kick volleyball in Malay is an indigenously Asian game, played throughout Southeast Asia.

Played by kicking a rattan ball over a badminton high net, the game is a combination of gymnastics, football, volleyball and a bit of kung fu thrown in for good measure. Rules and the point system are similar to volleyball, there are three members to a team, two teams and players can use their head, body, legs or any other part for volleying and smashing the ball except their hands. Thailand is till date, the world champion in sepak takraw.

(more…)

Asia houses more than 2.5 billion people, one-third of the world’s population, is passionate about sports, yet the region has little to boast of in world Olympic history. Most Asian sports include, athletics, swimming, weight lifting, archery, and badminton. Japan, China and South Korea are the only nations in Asia to have hosted the Olympics and together with North Korea are the only South and East Asian nations to take part in the winter Olympics.

On the eve of the XXIX Summer Olympics 2point6billion.com takes a walk down memory lane, tracing the Olympic history in Asia -

(more…)

Get your pinhole cameras or laptops ready. This Friday, August 1, a total solar eclipse will occur as the moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth for the first time in more than two years. The solar eclipse which will start in Northern Canada will race across the roof of the world before alighting in northern Siberia, where it will skip across central Russia and central Asia and head into Mongolia and northwestern China. The totality is expected to last a maximum of two minutes, 27 seconds, at 1021 GMT, near Nadym, in northern Russia. The record duration for totality is seven and a half minutes, AFP reported. (more…)

Contrary to popular belief, China is creative. Its just not creative according to the western definition of creativity. Its less about individual self-expression and more about ingenuity. It requires social approval, and is adopted and practiced by groups. Even as it provokes admiration, it is more real and less abstract in its form and expression, making it accessible. It is indeed a tool, a strategy for economic reform, says Kunal Sinha author of Ogilvy and Mather’s new book - ‘China’s Creative Imperative - How Creativity is transforming society and business in China’.

Leave aside images of rows of fake Louis Vuitton handbags replace them instead with shelves of self-painted shoes, designer skyscrapers, hand-made paper swans, indigenous baby baskets or chic clothes, Eastern Art is all about standing out from a crowd and functionality. For art to survive in the region it needs to be different, unique, bold and serve some kind of practical purpose for the user - whether it be designing shop signs from old plumbing or using old plastic advertisements as rain sheds.

(more…)

The Beijing Summer Olympics is just 17 days away, and Asia has been practicing hard to make their presence felt. Winning a gold medal at the Olympics, is not just a matter of pride for the athlete or the country, but also an indicator of their economic and political growth - and Asia is out to prove that this will be the Asian Century.

While host nation China, is expected to bag the most gold amongst its Asian counterparts, Japan and South Korea will not be far behind. Japan will be pinning their hopes on Judo, swimming, wrestling and gymnastics. “We are targeting gold medals in two digits and a total of more than 30 medals. That is the bottom line,” said Tomiaki Fukuda, head of Japan’s delegation to Beijing.

(more…)

Decades after Buddhism was brought to the Middle Kingdom, 2point6billion.com is helping another Indian religion come to China - Cricket! On Saturday, the Bashers Cricket Club, a Shanghai-bred, 2point6billion.com sponsored cricket side joined together for a day of family fun and cricket at the Dulwich Field in Pudong. The club, a collection of expatriate men from England, South Africa, America, New Zealand, India and Australia are members of the Shanghai Cricket Club with teams in both a 35-over league and a Twenty20 one. Saturday was a chance for the Bashers to get together and thank their sponsors, fans, and supporters for another successful season, and take part in a friendly, yet spirited inter-squad match.

Although it didn’t originate in China, Cricket is gaining popularity in the country. The nation became an International Cricket Council affiliate member in 2004, and hopes to have 720 teams by 2009 and 20,000 player and 2,000 coaches by 2015 according to the Chinese Cricket Association. (more…)

A growing consumer demand in India and China means that citizens will not only be spending their disposable income in shops, but will also be surfing online for the hottest deals. A recently concluded Master card survey said that by 2010, China will reign as the highest online shopping turnover at about US$1.4 trillion while India will clinch the No 2 spot. Both countries are expected to displace japan which currently rules the online market, Thaindian reported.

�The rising population of upper-middle-income urban elites is likely to boost the online shopping markets in China and India significantly. Domestic consumer spending in the two countries is poised to pick up strongly, underpinned by the rapid pace of urbanization, robust economic expansion and rising spending powe,� the China Daily quoted the survey, as saying.

(more…)

American in theme, Sex and the City has been devoured by Asian women who all secretly desire to be like Carrie Bradshaw and her entourage. Living vicariously, single in a cosmopolitan city, Manolo heeled and smart-talking, the girls are envied by Asian women who have watched the episodes endlessly and see a glimmer of themselves in at least one character.

“I was surprised to find that Carrie and I shared so many problems as career women in big cities. I also met my Mr Right, but love and marriage don’t seem to be as easy as they were for my parents generation,” a Shanghai woman in her thirties told the Shanghai Star.

But can Asian women live the same lives? “Compared with women in New York, I think love affairs in Shanghai are more complicated. Unlike Carrie many local women take whether a man has an apartment, job or good education into consideration when they pick boy friends. I think in Shanghai few female lawyers would date a bartender like Miranda did in the show,” she added.

Across the Himalayas, society is no different. Although many Indian women claim they live life on their own terms, 30-to-40 year-old, successful, smart, sexy equivalents in India live a different reality.

Mumbai and Shanghai may be like Manhattan when it comes to the real estate index, but look at the relationship index, and what goes on here might make Miranda go on a stiletto-stabbing spree - Times of India.

(more…)