India : Now a popular destination for Foreign Film Shoots

Firdaus Khan

More than 90 foreign film productions have been cleared for shooting in different locations in India over the last three years. Permission was granted to 22 foreign film productions in 2006, 27 each in 2007 and 2008 and 17 already in 2009. Of these, 33 productions are of UK based organizations, 17 of US origin. The other productions relate to France, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Russia, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Bangladesh and Pakistan among others.

Among recent productions are proposals from M/s Mashorba Films Ltd; UK titled “Indian Summer”, “Eat Pray Love” from M/s Waveland Pictures Ltd; London, UK featuring Julia Roberts. The Oscar winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” was granted permission in the year 2007 under the original title of “Q&A”. The celebrated movie “A Mighty Heart”, featured at the Cannes Film Festival, was approved for shooting near Pune in 2006 with the star cast of Angelina Jolie among others.

Goa, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Pune, Panchmarhi, Mumbai, Thane, Madh Island, Versova, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad are some of the preferred locations for foreign film shoots in India. The Indian Economy has been benefiting with the spinoffs of such foreign productions in India which provide an employment opportunity to locals, giving a fillip to hotel industry as also contribute export earnings of goods and service remittances.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has streamlined the procedure for granting requisite permissions for shooting in India. The permission process normally takes not more than three weeks. The production houses are required to apply for permission of feature films/tele films in India to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting with details of their chosen locations and the script of the production.

Eid ul-Fitr is a day long celebration

Eid ul-Fitr, often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It is celebrated after the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan, on the first day of Shawwal.

Eid ul-Fitr is a day long celebration and is sometimes also known as the "Smaller Eid" as compared to the Eid ul-Adha that lasts four days and is called the "Greater Eid".

Muslims are commanded by the Qur'an-e-Kareem to complete their fast on the last day of Ramadan and then recite the Takbir all throughout the period of Eid [Qur'an 2:185 ]

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting of Ramadan. This has to do with the communal aspects of the fast, which expresses many of the basic values of the Muslim community. Fasting is believed by some scholars to extol fundamental distinctions, lauding the power of the spiritual realm, while acknowledging the subordination of the physical realm.[2]

The Islamic tradition also associates events with the occasion. For example, on Eid al-Fitr, the angel Gabriel descended with white clothes for each of prophet Muhammad's grandsons.[5]

Namaz...

Muslims offering Namaz at an Iftar party, hosted by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on September 18, 2009.

Prayer and reading of the Qur'an-e-Kareem

In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an-e-Kareem. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qur'an-e-Kareem by means of special prayers, called Tarawih, which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an-e-Kareem (juz, which is 1/30 of the Qur'an-e-Kareem) is recited. Therefore the entire Qur'an-e-Kareem would be completed at the end of the month.

Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment, establishing a link between themselves and Allah through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involved the preparing of special foods and inviting people for the Iftar meal (the meal to open the fast).

In many Muslim and non Muslim countries with large Muslim populations, markets close down in the evening to enable people to perform prayers and consume the Iftar meal – these markets then re-open and stay open for a good part of the night. Muslims can be seen shopping, eating, spending time with their friends and family during the evening hours. A muslim should start fasting once reached the age of puberty, are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesess.

Fasting during Ramadan

The most prominent event of this month is fasting. Every day during the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world get up before dawn to eat Sehri or Sahari (it means something we eat at Sahar), the pre-dawn meal, then they perform the fajr (or Sobh) prayer. They have to stop eating and drinking before the call for prayer starts until the fourth prayer of the day, Maghrib. Muslims open their fast at Magrib (at sunset) prayer time or Iftari. Muslims may continue to eat and drink after the sun has set until the next morning's fajr prayer call. Then the process starts all over..

Ramadan is a time of reflecting and worshiping Allah. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual activities during fasting hours are also forbidden.[Qur'an-e-Kareem 2:187] Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised awareness of closeness to Allah. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control,[6] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat). However, a certain level of self-control can be lost by those who suffer from eating disorders.[7]

The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed.[8] While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood, many children endeavor to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling(musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.[Qur'an 2:184] More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 40 miles or 77km in a day as exempt.[7]

The elderly or those who suffer from a disability or disease and have no prospect of getting better in the future can pay the cost of Iftar for a person who cannot afford it, or else they can host him in their house and have him eat with them after sunset as a way of repaying for the days they could not fast. [Qur'an 2:184] A person who is observing Ramadan might break the fast accidentally, due to having forgotten it. In such an instance, one should spit out the food being eaten or cease the forbidden activity, immediately upon remembering the fast.

This can usually happen in the first or early days of Ramadan because that person might have not yet been acclimated into fasting from dawn till dusk.When Ramadan came to overshadow Ashura in importance, it took on some characteristics of the latter. According to a well-known hadith, the person who observes Ramadan properly will have all their past sins forgiven. According to another, "When Ramadan arrives, Heaven's gates are opened, Hell's gates are closed, and the Jinns are chained up" and who ever passes away will enter paradise.[9] There are exceptions in certain Muslim communities that deny practicing fasting in Ramadān such as Alevi people in Turkey.

Origins of Ramadan

The name 'Ramadan' had been the name of the ninth month in Arabian culture long before the arrival of Islam; the word itself derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like 'ramiḍa' or 'ar-ramaḍ' denoting intense heat [2], scorched ground and shortness of rations. In the Qu'ran-e-Kareem, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you".

According to the earliest hadith, this refers to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur.[3][4]

Sometimes referred to as "the night of power", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year, as it is the night in which the Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W.) .[5] Muslims believe it to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadān, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th (in Sunni thought) or the 19th, 21st or 23rd (in Shi'a thought). Ramadan ends with Eid ul-Fitr on the 1 of Shawwal, with much celebration and feasting. During the month following Ramadan, called Shawwal, Muslims are encouraged to fast for a further six days, known as as-Sitta al-Bīḍ, or "the white six." When fasting is over, Muslims go to Mosques in nice clothes to pray the first Eid prayer. They give out presents to the young ones and greet their friends and families. They then thank Allah for what Allah has given them.

Ramadan is the month of fasting

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Ramadan is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual.

During Ramadann, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about ten days each year as it is a moving festival depending on the moon. Ramadan was the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were claimed to have been revealed [Qur'an-e-Kareem 2:185] to the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (S.L.W).