'I used to hate the way Bollywood films depicted the south.'

'Whatever I have learnt is because of Sunny sir.'

'There was no time to do all the normal things that children do as they grow up.''One day, I was playing with dolls.''The next day, I was on a train looking for opportunities to sing at various recording studios.'

'I say no to 70 percent of the TV work because I cannot relate to it.'

And the two characters he really, really loves!

'It's next to impossible to cast two superstars in one film as the main lead, and that's why directors and writers don't even think about attempting it.'

'There were times when I thought of quitting but I have always believed in my talent.'

'Salman Khan should be booked under the National Security Act as he is destroying Indian culture.'

'But you have to keep in mind the entertainment value. It can't be preachy.'

'Fox makes films worth millions and millions of dollars. Fudging a few crores doesn't make much difference.'

'You can be fat, you can be thin, you can be fair, or not, you are whatever you are.''It is about being happy about yourself.'

'Hopefully, I will become more evolved as a performer in the future.'

'The most difficult thing in the world is to convince someone to put Rs 20 crore on your movie script.'

'Both Kangana and Rangoli really love me and that's because they give me so much of time and attention from their lives.'

'If anybody wants me to act in their film for free, just make me sing all the songs!''I don't even care about the script.'

'When films resonate with the audience, it gives you the confidence to take more risks.'

'Relationships have changed so dynamically that the 'woh' doesn't have to be a person.'

'It's very rare to see a woman's character so empowered in a cricket-based Web series,' says Sayani Gupta about her new show, Inside Edge 2.

'If everybody knows your name, that's success. Isn't that what society tells us? I experienced all that at a very young age. So how come I wasn't happy?' Lisa Ray wonders.

'Dabangg 3 has fallen in place. Even the fourth one has fallen in place.''This happens only for films like Rocky or Rambo.'

'Time is throwing something at you, one should grab such opportunities right away.'

'There are times when I have to convince myself to go on the sets to shoot.'

'I am constantly balancing, whether it's time with Saif, whether it's Taimur, whether it's with my mom-in-law, whether it's my own family, whether it's 30-35 days of doing brands, then 50 days of shooting a film... there's a lot going on...'

'Kabir Singh will be very special for me, but my goal is to make each character as memorable as Preeti.'

'How much longer do I have?''How many more opportunities will I get?'Akshaye Khanna shares his worries

'A lot of people struggle to become a part of this industry, but I was lucky that I did not have to really struggle.''My struggle started after becoming a part of this industry, and, Oh my God, the struggle!'

'I just have to go on set with conviction and honesty and portray the characters. Whether it is the consumption of alcohol or premarital sex or bad language or whatever that my character indulges in the film, are these the things I stand for? I don't know.'

'I am an entertainer and I love entertaining.'

'I have to pinch myself to believe that 10 years have just gone by.'

'After Gully Boy, many interesting projects started coming my way.''But things really changed with the Filmfare. Now, people notice me.''It's a good space, where you don't have to tell people who you are.'

'The day I am bored with acting, I will shift to something.'

Kamariya Hila Rahi Hai notched up 12 million views in two days!

'Thappad would have run even longer and better had the coronavirus not been there.'

'Listen to my songs if they make you happy at home.'

'With Malang, I knew I had a chance to give the audience a new version of myself which they hadn't seen before.'

'You should pick up household chores that requires physical activity.''I volunteered to mop the whole house, so my mum is very happy.'

'We are so busy in our lives, there is never any time.'

'Everyone's going to come out on few kilos (heavier).'

'Count your blessings, feel gratitude for the medical and essential services providers and police forces who are staking their lives to fight this invisible enemy.'

'If you are a performer, it's easier to sustain.''The day you think you are a star, it becomes difficult.'

Please Join us for an American Folklife Center Summer Music Jam: Klezmer led by Howard Ungar and Seth Kibel

September 12, 2019, 7:00 to 9:00 pm 
Veterans History Project Information & Welcome Center (LJ-G51) 
Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

The American Folklife Center's series of informal jams to celebrate our living folk traditions, and to bring to life the collections from our vast ethnographic archive continues in 2019. This jam will be led by Howard Ungar and Seth Kibel. So grab your violin, clarinet, trumpet, or other instruments, and come on over to the Library of Congress for the Klezmer Jam.

Seth Kibel is the leader, clarinetist, and composer for The Alexandria Kleztet, an innovative award-winning klezmer band he founded in the Baltimore/Washington area. The band has released four albums that all recieved the Washington Area Music Award for best album upon their release. In addition to his activities with The Kleztet, Seth has fronted a variety of swing and jazz groups, including Bay Jazz Project.

Klezmer trumpeter Howard Ungar founded the DC Klezmer Workshop. Howard has been playing klezmer trumpet since he attended his first KlezKamp in 1999 and has attended many KlezKamp, Yiddish New York, and KlezKanada festivals. He is a founding member of the DC based klezmer band Mrs. Toretsky’s Nightmare, who have played at numerous weddings, bar-mitvahs, and holiday events. You can also hear him playing trumpet with the DC based Machaya Klezmer Band at the Washington Folk Festival and other venues around town. 

This event is co-sponsored by the DC Klezmer Workshop

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Find more information at this link!

Homegrown Concerts from the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress

Les Filles de Illighadad
Tuareg Music and Song from Niger 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019, 12:00 PM, No Tickets Required
Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building

Fatou Seidi Ghali, lead vocalist and guitarist of Les Filles de Illighadad, is one of the only Tuareg female guitarists in Niger. Sneaking away with her older brother's guitar, she taught herself to play. While Fatou's role as the first female Tuareg guitarist is groundbreaking, it is just as interesting for her musical direction. In Tuareg society, woman have traditionally been musicians, but not guitarists. They have been deeply involved with tende, a form of music centered on a drum traditionally made out of a mortar and pestles. Tende rhythms also deeply informed the development of Tuareg guitar music, which is mostly the province of men. In a place where gender norms have created these two divergent musics, Fatou and Les Filles de Illighadad are reasserting the role of tende in Tuareg guitar. In lieu of the djembe or the drum kit, so popular in contemporary Tuareg rock bands, Les Filles de Illighadad incorporate the traditional drum and the pounding calabash, half buried in water. They are thus reclaiming the importance of this forgotten inspiration of Tuareg guitar and asserting the power of women to innovate using the roots of traditional Tuareg music.

Fatou Seidi Ghali, Alamnou Akirwini, Fitimata Ahmadelher, and Abdoulay Madassane Alkika are from Illighadad, a secluded commune in central Niger, far off in the scrubland deserts at the edge of the Sahara. The village is only accessible via a grueling drive through the open desert and there is little infrastructure, no electricity, and no running water. But what the nomadic zone lacks in material wealth it makes up for deep and strong identity and tradition. The surrounding countryside supports hundreds of pastoral families, living with and among their herds, as their families have done for centuries.

Visit the concert page at this link for more information.

Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Please join us for a day-long symposium:

Women Documenting the World
Women as Folklorists, Ethnomusicologists & Fieldworkers
Thursday, September 26, 2019 
9:30 am -5:00 pm
Mary Pickford Theater, James Madison Building, Library of Congress

The American Folklife Center launches its multi-year initiative to highlight, explore, and celebrate the contributions of women as ethnographic fieldworkers and scholars with Women Documenting the World, a day-long program of talks, interviews, and discussions on Thursday, September 26. 

The free event, which is open to the public, calls attention to the role of women in establishing many of the foundational collections that enrich the American Folklife Center archive as well as other ethnographic archives throughout the world. It features presentations by contemporary researchers who are currently engaged in both national and international fieldwork, and includes brief presentations by American Folklife Center staff about important fieldwork collections in the American Folklife Center archive that were created by women, and that are too often overlooked.

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov

Find further information at the link!