Krakow is the new Bollywood destination

Posted In : Gossips
(added 05 Jun 2013)

Krakow is the new Bollywood destination

Ambassador Piotr Klodkowski, the Polish Ambassador to India, comes as something of a surprise. He talks about the Vedantas and the Upanishads with ease and his speech is heavily peppered with Hindi words. “The first Chair of Sanskrit was set up in Poland in 1893,” he said. "About 80 years ago, culture in Poland was heavily very rooted in Indian philosophy. Tagore was translated directly from Bengali into Polish." In town to celebrate the first anniversary of the Polish Institute of Culture here in India, the Ambassador talks about what he calls ‘cultural diplomacy,’ as a way to promote Indo-Polish relations. Home to some of the greatest musicians of all time, including Chopin and Henri Wieniawski, Poland has always set great store by art and culture. ‘Chitraanjali, Stefan Norblin in India,’ a documentary on the story of Polish artist Stefan Norblin will flag off the first anniversary celebrations in Bengaluru.

The Institute receives its funding from the Polish Ministry of Culture and the government of Gujarat. “Poland is a culture destination,” said Ambassador Klodkowski. Bringing Polish culture to India is the next step and the upcoming International Book Fair in Poland will promote Hindi translations of Polish literature. "We're hoping Hindi will be the main language at the fair," he added. The Indian film industry has also emerged as one with great potential, for the Ambassador talks at length about Poland being the next destination for Indian filmmakers. "I've met with Amitabh Bachchan several times and I offered him a Ganesha idol made of rock salt obtained from the salt mines of Poland," said Ambassador Klodkowski, adding, "It's a Namkeen Ganesha!" Movies and TV commercials are being shot at Krakow more and more frequently, he explained. "Krakow main square saw a bomb explode for a film shoot, something that didn’t happen even in World War II," he laughed.

(added 05 Jun 2013) / 848 views

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