Twice nominated for a style award in the category of make-up and hair-style, Charmaine says she listens to qawaali a lot and is fascinated by the depth in it. But otherwise, is fond of listening to all kinds of music. Says she, “I enjoy anything current.” Having been a student of music for a short while, she also appreciates classical music.
Charmaine’s favourite qawaals include the late Nusrat Fateh Ali and Ghulam Farid Sabri. About Nusrat Fateh Ali she says, “He had a great command over this genre. His alaap was beautiful and he had considerable sufi knowledge. There was tremendous feeling, depth and originality in his renditions.”
Charmaine does not subscribe to the school of thought that finds Nusrat Fateh Ali’s qawaalis unauthentic. Says she, “I’ve only heard his pure qawaalis so I think it’s not so much the maestro’s problem as it is the listeners, if that they don’t hear the real stuff.
“In the end, it is the consumer that brings down standards. They get what they want to hear. Till a couple of years before his death, Nusrat Fateh Ali only sang beautiful, pure qawaalis, and that is what I always listen to.”
As for Western music, Charmaine claims she listens to all kinds, and ‘loves Sting’ especially. She thinks he is a remarkable performer.
A great fan of Indian movies, Charmaine is an even greater admirer of Sharrukh Khan’s, who she finds ‘extremely entertaining’. Says she. “By and large, Indian movies are aesthetically beautiful.” Her favourite Hindi film, not surprisingly, is Devdas, a film that has earned fame for its visual qualities, although she hastens to add that all Sharrukh movies are her favourite.
Equally fond of watching English movies, Charmaine admits apologetically, “I watch them, like them and then forget about them!” Nonetheless, she does concede that she loves “old movies, as they have so much character”. One of her all-time favourites is the Julie Andrew’s musical she saw decades ago — Sound of Music — while Grace Kelly flicks are also amongst her cherished movies. She also recalls thoroughly enjoying the wild-west blockbuster of the sixties, Mackenna’s Gold.
Unlike most women, Charmaine does not have a penchant for English romantic movies, although she enjoys mushy Indian films. Says she, “I prefer thrillers when watching western flicks, maybe because they always have a positive ending, and one of my favourites is Seven, starring Brad Pitt.” The other suspense films she ranks among her favourites are Terminator, Bourne Identity and Nicholas Cage’s The Rock.
She laughs “I am also fond of James Bond movies, particularly those starring Sean Connery — I think he was the best Bond ever” and adds sheepishly, “I also love the Star Wars series.” However, she is quite emphatic that her all-time favourite is The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.
Not surprisingly, considering her predilection for thrillers, Charmaine has a partiality for suspense novels and Robert Ludlum is one of her favourite writers. Says Charmaine “I was fascinated by the way he wrote, although I haven’t read him recently.”
However, thrillers are not the only genre of books that Charmaine reads. She is very into self-help books as well. One of her favourites is The Road Less Travelled which she describes as “philosophical and very enlightening”. Although Charmaine is of the opinion that books have never been instrumental in changing her life — as she puts it “Experiences have changed my life, rather than books” — she admits that they have made her “more aware” and given her an insight into others minds.
The book that Chamaine raves the most about though, is The Greatest Minds And Ideas Of All Time by Pulitzer Prize-winning philosopher and historian, Will Durant. Written by the author of Story of Civilization, the book, says Charmaine covers people that the writer found to be the most influential in the world, giving justifications for his selection. Says she “It’s quite a thin book actually, considering the amount of information you get in it. Durant devoted his life to the writing of this book. I read it a month ago and found it very inspiring.”
Charmaine describes herself as a person who loves to read positive things, be they interviews and features in newspapers and magazines — she claims Dawn is her staple diet — or books; see beautiful art and listen to soothing music. As an artistic person, she says she receives inspiration from them.
However, she admits that she doesn’t read books as much as she knows about them. Explains Charmaine, “I get a lot of input from people who read — particularly from those who read self-help books — so often get away with the information without reading it myself.”
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Qawaali
FAVOURITE MOVIE: The Fugitive
FAVOURITE BOOK: The Greatest Minds And Ideas Of All Time by Will Durant.
Twice nominated for a style award in the category of make-up and hair-style, Charmaine says she listens to qawaali a lot and is fascinated by the depth in it. But otherwise, is fond of listening to all kinds of music. Says she, “I enjoy anything current.” Having been a student of music for a short while, she also appreciates classical music.
