C2 Entertainment The Epoch Times March 3, 2010

What the Audience is Saying. . .

Epoch Times Staff shen yun performing arts new york company in daegu, south korea

‘The performance of Shen Yun integrates modern, high-tech stage and backdrop to display the traditional Chinese culture and arts so well, enabling the dancers to comprehend and resonate with the connotation of the program. It is inspiring and thought-provoking HEARTBREAKERS: (L–R) Guitarist , keyboardist Benmont Tench, singer/songwriter , and guitarist . roger kisby/getty images to the younger generations.’ — Ms. Park Youn Jin, Dance professor Tom Petty Goes to the Vault in shen yun performing arts international company in rochester, n.y.

‘How I basically dictate whether the music Live Offering Spanning Decades is good, is if it touches me. It doesn’t matter Album Review: ‘Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers—The Live Anthology’ the genre. And trust me, when I tell you, the music touched me. It was beautiful.’ By DAVID GONZALES chronological order, so a song re- ber of exciting covers—displaying lent album tracks not often heard as corded in 1982 can be followed by their wide-ranging influences and well as a number of hits, including —Santos Maximo, Music producer Live concert albums don’t get much a song recorded in 2006. For one pleasures—including among oth- among others: “Refugee,” “Break- better than “Tom Petty & the Heart- thing, this shows how strong and ers: Thunderclap Newman’s “Some- down,” “Wildflowers,” “Even the breakers—The Live Anthology.” consistent Petty and the band have thing in the Air;” James Brown’s Losers,” and perhaps Petty’s great- Imagine four CDs of outstanding been throughout the years. For ex- “Good, Good Lovin’;” and Them’s est song of all, “The Waiting.” After shen yun performing arts international company in norfolk, va. music by Tom Petty and his long- ample, one of the album’s best per- (featuring Van Morrison) “Mystic all’s been said and done, “Tom Petty time band, the Heartbreakers, formances, an achingly poignant Eyes.” There’s also two instrumen- & the Heartbreakers – The Live An- spread out over 48 tracks recorded version of “,” is tal covers, Booker T and the MGs’s thology” takes its place as one of the ‘It is really nice to take a small peek at in concert between 1980 and 2007. taken from a 2006 concert, 21 years “Green Onions,” and of all things, greatest live albums ever made. The song selections span Petty’s sto- after it was first recorded. the theme from “Goldfinger.” If this isn’t enough for you, there another culture and feel a part of it. Coming ried career, from his breakthrough Petty and the Heartbreakers An album highlight is the tender, are also three other configurations 1976 debut album to the 2006 haven’t lost a step. They certainly acoustic-styled version of “Learning of the album, which includes a de- to something like this makes you realize that Grammy-nominated “Highway haven’t lost their appetite for adven- to Fly” played without drums and luxe box set containing 62 tracks on Companion.” turousness, as evidenced by a rous- featuring beautiful guitar and piano 5 CDs, a DVD of a previously un- the world is much bigger than our typical If it wasn’t already written in ing rendition of the classic “I’m a fills, augmenting Petty’s heartfelt released 1995 documentary, and a stone, this album leaves no doubt Man,” taken from a 2006 Florida vocals. The boys can also rock out, Blu-ray disc of all 62 tracks, as well circumference and that we are just all a part that Tom Petty stands tall as one of concert. Though “I’m a Man” was Exhibit A being a rousing, hard- as some other goodies. There’s also America’s premier music artists. first recorded by Bo Diddley and edged performance of an apparently a vinyl deluxe box set containing of life and humanity.’ The Heartbreakers aren’t too shabby then convincingly appropriated by original song not found on any Petty seven vinyl LPs. In addition, there’s either, with various members mak- bluesman Muddy Waters, Petty’s album, “Drivin’ Down to Georgia.” a 48-track digital album available —Mary Moore, Interior design student ing their own, well-respected mark speeded-up version is based on that While there are extended solos on for download. in the music world, most notably of the groundbreaking 1960s group, a number of songs, they’re never to guitarist Mike Campbell and key- the Yardbirds. the point of self-indulgence but add David Gonzales writes on music, The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2010 World boardist Benmont Tench. Aside from “I’m a Man,” Petty and energy and depth. and lives and works in the San Fran- Tour. For more information, please visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org. The songs aren’t arranged in the Heartbreakers perform a num- The album contains some excel- cisco Bay Area. Hollywood Films Dubbed for India do Roaring Business

By SUREN RAO of the dubbed films’ success begged atten- 363 prints released in English and dubbed Epoch Times Staff tion,” he said. in Hindi also did very well bringing in INR “Avatar” earned a record INR 10 million 400 million ($8.64 million) at the box office. MUMBAI, India—When James Cameron’s ($216,000) for its paid previews across The Hindi version, “Slumdog Crorepati,” magnum opus opened in India, a small over- India—the highest for any Hollywood film bested the English version in sales by 30 zealous group of Hindus apparently took ever. The film then created a record by gross- percent. offense to the term Avatar, which in San- ing INR 67.5 million ($1.5 million) on open- Sony Pictures Entertainment (India), skrit means reincarnation or descent from ing day itself, making it the biggest Friday which dubbed Gandhi for the first time in a higher realm to a lower realm. opening for any Hollywood film in Indian 1982 in six Indian languages, is now invest- According to this group, they felt they had history. ing more in this recipe. Managing direc- proprietary rights over the word Avatar, and The epic action adventure raked in a whop- tor Kercy Daruwala says, “It’s an old trend, to taint its meaning for the purpose of fic- ping INR 220 million ($4.75 million) in its which was later revived in the mid-90s with tion on-screen could be offensive to Hindus. opening weekend, which not only makes “Lost World.” It has huge commercial po- The controversy died a natural death when it the highest ever weekend take for a Hol- tential now. Most metros contribute extra people were transported into another virtual lywood film, but it beat “2012,” “Titanic,” revenues from dubbed films, with Hindi reality world, which had no connection with and “Spider-Man 3” combined. The number contributing the majority share.” Hinduism. of 3D screens has also increased from 12 The next in the lineup from Sony Pictures, screens to over 50. which is considering dubbing into Bengali Mr. Vijay Singh, CEO of Fox Star Studios too, are “The Stepfather,” “Zombieland,” ‘Avatar’ was released in India says, “The movie is being appreci- and “Did You Hear About The Morgans?” ated across all age groups and languages. Smita Jha, associate director entertain- across India in English, Even theatres in the interiors, where the ment and media practices at Pricewater- film is being shown in Hindi in 2D for- houseCoopers, comments: “At 50–60 films Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. mat, have been doing fantastic business, a year, the English film market in India is as also theatres in Tamil Nadu and Andhra not very big yet, but it is growing. Increased Pradesh.” multiplex penetration in Tiers 2 and 3 cities, “Avatar” surprised the trade pundits and And given the recent spate of Hollywood and dubbing combined with local promo- the Indian movie industry with a movie films like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “X-Men tions will fuel the growth of foreign films that the world is calling a phenomenon. In Origins: Wolverine,” “Ice Age 3,” and “2012” in India.” fact, the opening of the film in India ranked beating out “Bollywood” at the box-office, Industry experts, however, warn that not among the top 10 countries for a weekend’s looks like B-town has got some strong all dubbed films do well. Films with a bigger performances, beating the likes of tradition- competition! brand and star, value work. Action, horror, ally better performing countries like Taiwan, Warner Brothers also released “Ninja As- thriller, adventure, romance, and sex-ori- Singapore, New Zealand, Sweden, Holland, sassin” in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu along ented films are the best bets as they bring and Hong Kong. side its English version. The view is that revenues from smaller towns. Animation What is interesting is that “Avatar” was English films, which have a more limited and alternative content also work. A film released across India in English, Hindi, viewership in India compared to locally can be dubbed for as low as $2,000 or as Tamil, and Telugu. Dubbed films started made films, can pull in bigger audiences much as $150,000 to $175,000. to be taken seriously when the likes of “Ana- if they can be delivered in languages more “AVATAR” TAKES INDIA: Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan (L) and his wife Aishwrya Rai Bachchan While the rest of the world prefers subti- conda,” “X-Men,” and “Spider-Man” fetched Indians can understand. Even people con- smile during the Indian premiere of the film “Avatar” in Mumbai on Dec. 15. str/afp/getty images tles, Indians would rather see a dubbed film. higher returns in their dubbed versions versant with English often prefer to watch Though purists might object to the dubbed compared to their English releases. dubbed versions of English films, finding versions and find them hilarious and crass, Dhiraj Shah at Big Entertainment believes it difficult to follow American or British box office take for a Hollywood film in In- biggest earnings came from ‘X-Men’ and ‘Ice the number of dubbed language versions of that the dubbed market always had poten- accents. dian history after “Spider-Man 3” in 2007. Age 3,’ both of which gave us good collec- Hollywood films is likely to multiply. They tial. “‘Gandhi,’ ‘Jurassic Park,’ and ‘Titanic’ Sony Pictures Entertainment (India) fol- Mr. Singh from Fox says: “Big Hollywood tions. … The market itself is growing and in are here to change the way Indians see Hol- all did great business in their dubbed ver- lowed a similar formula, releasing “2012” films do very well in dubbed versions. If it’s the next five years, dubbed English films will lywood Films and possibly create a demand sions. Yet, it was completely overlooked until in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, in addition to a big movie, then almost two-thirds of collec- contribute even more to the overall pie.” for the same aesthetics and technical finesse a few years back when the sheer magnitude English. The film had the second highest tions come from the dubbed versions. Our Fox Star’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” with in their own regional films.