Storytelling through the female gaze; Recreating history via costumes

Hello,

Investors are no longer gunning for gold. 

A combination of Donald Trump’s recent win in the US elections and a strong dollar have brought the bullion’s historic rally to a screeching halt, sending gold into its worst week in over three years. 

Sounds like a good time for a jewellery shopping spree? You wouldn’t be alone in that thought. On the retail side, gold in India is now cheaper than in popular gold-buying hubs like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Singapore, falling to 73,300 rupees per 10 grams earlier this week. 

The US election results have had ripple effects far beyond the country’s borders, namely, what Donald Trump’s reelection means for US’ commitments to global climate goals. 

Climate leaders have made their way down to Baku, Azerbaijan for the UN’s biggest climate conference, COP29. This time, the question’s all about money: who pays for energy transitions for smaller economies, and how much?

Tensions notwithstanding, global organisations are largely in agreement on the need for urgent action, including G20, which is set to show unity on climate action and global trade rules as it meets in Brazil next week. 

Lastly, if you didn’t have weekend watch plans lined up before, Netflix has you covered. 

In a move to cash in on the live sports streaming race, the streaming giant hosted a live showdown between former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and social media influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul, which ended with Paul coming out on top. 

Users watching the show live, however, were in for a disappointment as a significant outage played spoilsport, sparking a meme fest on X and sending #Netflixcrash trending among users. 

Definitely not the one-hit KO they were expecting!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Storytelling through the female gaze
• Recreating history via costumes
• Where classic and modern tastes collide

Here’s your trivia for today: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is a well-known phrase from what collection of 282 laws?

Entertainment

Storytelling through the female gaze

Many films in recent years, including Parched, Raazi, Lipstick Under My Burkha, and Qarib Qarib Single have portrayed strong women characters. The common thread: these have all been written or directed by women. 

In a panel discussion at the 6th edition of the Dehradun Literature Festival, director, producer, screenwriter and editor Leena Yadav, writer-producer Sutapa Sikdar, and screenwriter Atika Chohan talked intersectionality, tokenism, and what it takes to create nuanced, well-rounded female characters.

Challenging norms:

• Yadav of Parched fame talked about the discomfort in being boxed into the category ‘women writer', while Sikdar highlighted the challenge of women having to prove themselves as masters of the craft of storytelling.
• At the literature festival, journalist, author and film critic Anupama Chopra brought attention to the Bollywood of the 1940s and 1950s where films helmed by male filmmakers like Bimal Roy portrayed strong women characters, adding that women have begun to reclaim space and narrative focus in the last 15 years.
• Women writers and actors stand apart in their attempt to create more grey characters that are willing to push boundaries beyond neat boxes of character archetypes. For instance, Yadav, through her movie Parched, turned the spotlight on rural women and how their sexuality is both coveted and despised. 

Art and Culture

Recreating history via costumes

From Mughal-e-Azam to Bajirao Mastani, period dramas have evolved into more than just historical narratives. In this context, costume design is integral in setting the historical backdrop and enhancing the depth of the characters. It allows viewers to connect with the time, place, and culture of a narrative while deepening their understanding of the characters.

In a panel discussion titled ‘The Contours of Period Cinema: Characters, Costumes and Narratives’ at the Dehradun Literature Festival, Veteran costume designer Pia Benegal and actor Rajit Kapur discussed the ins and outs of costume design, emphasising its contribution to nuanced storytelling.

Historical fashion:

• The power of accessories to make a character stand out cannot be undermined. Citing an example from Zubeidaa, Benegal shares that it was the jewellery that made the lead actresses Karisma Kapoor and Rekha look like royalty from a certain era. 
• In a sneak peek behind the scenes of The Making of the Mahatma, Benegal highlighted the extensive planning that goes into costume design. She created a grid of what Gandhi looked like in India and how his choice of clothes changed when he moved to South Africa.
• For an actor like Kapur, props also help add more detail and depth to any character. While props are given by the production team to align with the setting and narrative, it is up to the actors how they want to interact with these objects.   

Wine and Food

Where classic and modern tastes collide

Located in Hotel Diplomat, NOE draws you with its swathes of green and colonial vibe—a welcome departure from outlets in malls and food hubs. 

The food served at NOE has a variety of dishes in a creative format, blending classic tastes with a modern flair. Complementing it is the restaurant's cocktail programme—centred around elevating the highball cocktail experience using high-quality spirits and handcrafted sodas, tonics, and in-house juices. 

Flavour bomb:

• While the menu has a ton of options for lunch and dinner, one can also choose from an all-day dining menu, which contains winners like a sweet and savoury Pear and Sumac salad, Prawn and Carrot, and Leek and Tamari, with grilled koji-marinated leeks with a tangy tomato tamari sour cream and burnt milk whey.
• The cocktail programme, featured thrice on Asia’s 50 Best Bars Top 100 list, had a few hits and misses. While the The Tea and Whiskey cocktail hit the perfect balance, Tamarind and Tequila missed a few flavour notes. 
• The dessert menu is another masterpiece in innovation, with highlights including Biscoff and Chai, a vanilla cardamom sponge cake with Biscoff mousse and masala chai whipped cream cheese, spiced ginger sable and Biscoff gelato, and Berry and Lemon, a seasonal berry compote with fresh clotted lemon cream.

News & updates

• Feeding doubts: Strong U.S. economic and inflation data continue to reshape the debate among Federal Reserve policymakers over the pace and extent of interest rate cuts as investors on Friday further downgraded their expectations for a rate reduction at the central bank's December meeting.
• Leak: Turkey's Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) has fined Amazon.com's gaming platform Twitch 2 million Lira ($58,000) over a data breach, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.
• New leadership: Kering SA is considering naming Balenciaga Chief Executive Officer Cedric Charbit as CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, replacing Francesca Bellettini, who took on a bigger role at the struggling French fashion group in 2023.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is a well-known phrase from what collection of 282 laws?

Answer: The Code of Hammurabi.

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