‘Tina’s Mouth’
Book editor Anjali Singh acquired Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and translated her later graphic novel Chicken With Plums from French. She’s soon publishing a graphic novel written by my college buddy, filmmaker Keshni Kashyap:
Singh also plans to publish an original graphic novel tentatively called Tina’s Mouth, written by Keshni Kashyap, a screenwriter, and illustrated by Mari Araki. Still in production, the book is a fictional account of the life of a teenage South Asian Indian-American girl who goes to a wealthy prep school. Although the book is inspired by Persepolis, Singh described it as “Clueless meets Ghostworld. But it’s also a sweet and introspective look at an over-the-top wealthy Indian-American community of intellectuals, doctors and kids driving SUVs and imitating hip-hop culture.” [Link]
[Tina’s Mouth] tells the story of 16-year old Tina Malhotra, her foul-mouthed Mormon best-friend Alexandra, and Tina’s family. Tina, a sensitive and intelligent punk rock girl, begins to understand her place in the world vis-à-vis her parents and family, the (extremely wealthy) Indian community they belong to (but differ from), and the privileged world of Yarborough Academy, where she goes to school. Keshni Kashyap is a 32-year old screenwriter and filmmaker in Los Angeles, and author of the self-published book Tina’s Mouth, on which this new graphic novel is based… [Link]
NYT weddings says Singh’s now-husband wooed her aurally, apropos for a language person:
With his recorder in hand, he narrated his perambulations on a single day through Tokyo. He taped the deliberate rhythms of fishermen at the Tsukiji fish market as they cut tuna with their handsaws, the ambient hum of sports fans erupting into a roar at a Yakult Swallows baseball game, and the metallic clatter of a pachinko parlor… “It was a huge romantic gesture… he is saying, ‘I’m taking you with me on my day.’ ” [Link]
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Anjali Singh, Keshni Kashyap |
on Thursday, April 10th, 2008, 2:54 am in Film, Literature › 
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Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Mememememe!
This is so exciting; I can’t wait to read it! Thanks for the heads-up.
This looks good. Love it already. Excited. Somebody buy film rights for a good director. Make sure you blog and review it when it comes out so I can remember to buy a copy.
I loved “Persepolis”, can’t wait for this one.
Lovely and intersting. I swear, I am more excited by the graphic novels than the tepid lit-crit the publishers publish these days.
*Seriously, I so don’t have any relation to the Coastal desi uber-elite, except growing up to teach some of them. How pretty the young women and how good, strong and white the teeth of the young men! I was all quietly small-town and midwestern growing up, desi-wise. Reading about Lahiri’s world and prep-school desi types is interesting for me. It’s like a foreign country.
**A graphic novel outside this particular subgroup of a subgroup would be interesting. Are there any, fellow readers?
It’s a tangent to the current conversation - but it is interesting that an indian representing indians in cartoons does not use the same technique as would a non-indian. for example - the panel showed above would be used to represent a white, blonde family [except for the sikh dude in the window of course]. Another example of the same is an african comic strip called ‘Bogi Benda’ that I came across a long while back. But for the hair representaton - color did not figure prminently as a feature.
this isnt implying moral superiority for indians. we are as leech-ish as anyone. i’m sure, if kashyap were to represent different races - she would use color or some cultural oddity to represent the ‘other’.
there are some urban graphic artists who get it - but you pretty much have to grow up a certain way* to be color blind. i kind of remember this ex’s nieces who never had problems with my name - although their parents did.
*so T, the fate of the world is in your mighty hands :-)
fyi - some of you might like to check out julie doucet’s giant plotte.
I think that’s a photo of a guru. And on the left, maybe Krishna.
Yeah that looks like a picture of a Sikh Guru, with a Hindu Goddess on the left.
Its very exciting to see another graphic novels form a South Asian point of view. I have to admit that I was a tad disappointed that the artwork wasn’t done by a South Asian: ( Despite that, I think the art is gorgeous and evokes a very honest and personal point of view. Well done, can’t wait to get my copy: )
I just read that, and that really resonates with me, after having to cope with long-distance relationship trauma.
Very lovely style of illustration in Tina’s Mouth, btw.
I hadnt realized earlier that this was being illustrated by Mari Araki until you highlighted it. the presentation is nuanced and to summarize to my earlier point, it reflects a multiculti’s view of the world. I like that.