Queen (soundtrack)

Queen is the soundtrack album by Amit Trivedi, to the 2014 Hindi film of the same name directed by Vikas Bahl and starring Kangana Ranaut in lead role. The album features eight tracks in a different array of genres. It was released digitally on 30 January 2014, and physically on 2 February 2014 at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai, attended by the cast and crew of the film and preceded by Trivedi's performance.

Trivedi travelled to European cities like Amsterdam and Paris in search of inspiration for the album, while also working on four different film projects at the time. The album received positive reviews from critics. All the tracks are composed by Trivedi and written by Anvita Dutt, with the exception of "Ranjha" written by Raghu Nath, composed by Rupesh Kumar Ram and the producer of the film Anurag Kashyap.

Development

Amit Trivedi composed the music soundtrack simultaneously working on four other ones like Ghanchakkar, Lootera, Bombay Talkies and Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot in a time span of 5 months. The film based on a woman's self-discovery while travelling; Trivedi also travelled to Europe in Amsterdam, the film's shooting location so that he could understand the vibe and musical demand of the place in accordance with the local philosophy of "free living [..] especially in their [European] nightclubs". During the visit he also spent time in Paris and bonded with the locals there while working over music. Trivedi completed Ghanchakkar and Lootera before Queen.

Queen: The Story of an American Family

Queen: The Story of an American Family is a 1993 partly factual historical novel by Alex Haley and David Stevens.

It brought back to the consciousness of many white Americans the plight of the children of the plantation: the offspring of black slave women and their white masters, who were legally the property of their fathers.

A miniseries adaptation called Alex Haley's Queen and starring Halle Berry in the title role aired on CBS on February 14, 1993.

Historical background

The noted author Alex Haley (1921–1992) was the grandson of Queen, the illegitimate and unacknowledged daughter of James "Jass" Jackson III (the son of a friend, but not a relative, of Andrew Jackson) and his slave, Easter.

The novel recounts Queen's anguished early years as a slave girl, longing to know who her father was, and how it gradually dawned on her that he was her master. After the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 and the subsequent abolition of slavery, Queen was cast out. Jass Jackson would not acknowledge her as his daughter, afraid of compromising the inheritance of his legitimate children and goaded by his wife, who despised Queen. After many adventures, often unpleasant, she married a reasonably successful former slave by the name of Alec Haley, and had one son by him (Simon Haley). Both, Alec and Queen, had a son, each from previous relationship.

Races of StarCraft

Blizzard Entertainment's bestselling real-time strategy game series StarCraft revolves around interstellar affairs in a distant sector of the galaxy, with three species and multiple factions all vying for supremacy in the sector. The playable species of StarCraft include the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth who excel at adapting to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoids obsessed with assimilating other races in pursuit of genetic perfection; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities, attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophical way of living from the Zerg. Each of these races has a single campaign in each StarCraft real-time strategy game. In addition to these three, various non-playable races have also been part of the lore of the StarCraft series; the most notable of these is the Xel'Naga, a race which features prominently in the fictional histories of the Protoss and Zerg races.

The original game has sold over 10 million copies internationally, and remains one of the most popular games in the world. One of the main factors responsible for StarCraft's positive reception is the attention paid to the three unique playable races, for each of which Blizzard developed completely different characteristics, graphics, backstories and styles of gameplay, while keeping them balanced in performance against each other. Previous to this, most real-time strategy games consisted of factions and races with the same basic play styles and units with only superficial differences. The use of unique sides in StarCraft has been credited with popularizing the concept within the real-time strategy genre. Contemporary reviews of the game have mostly praised the attention to the gameplay balance between the species, as well as the fictional stories built up around them.

Kaya (Mijikenda)

Kaya (plural makaya) is a sacred forest of the Mijikenda people in the former Coast Province of Kenya. The kaya forest is considered to be an intrinsic source of ritual power and the origin of cultural identity; it is also a place of prayer for members of the particular ethnic group. The settlement, ritual centre, and fortified enclosure associated with the forest are also part of the kaya. In the present day, the kaya is also referred to as a traditional organizational unit of the Mijikenda. Eleven of the approximately 30 separate kaya have been grouped together and inscribed as the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Geography

More than 50 kaya have been identified within the Kwale, Mombasa, and Kilifi counties. They measure between 30 to 300 hectares each. These are scattered over a coastal stretch of 200 kilometres (120 mi) in the southern coastal plains area of Kenya, between the towns of Mombasa and Kilifi. While visitors are not allowed to enter most makaya, Kaya Kinondo, a 30-hectare forest on Diani Beach, allows visitors and falls under the auspices of the Kaya Kinondo Ecotourism Project.

Kaya (given name)

Kaya (IPA: [kaˈja]) is a common given name in several cultures.

See also

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke (Japanese: もののけ姫, Hepburn: Mononoke-hime, "Spirit/Monster Princess") is a 1997 epic historical fantasy anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was animated by Studio Ghibli and produced by Toshio Suzuki. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijo, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori and Hisaya Morishige.

Princess Mononoke is set in the late Muromachi period (approximately 1336 to 1573) of Japan with fantasy elements. The story follows the young Emishi warrior Ashitaka's involvement in a struggle between forest gods and the humans who consume its resources. The term "Mononoke" (物の怪 or もののけ) is not a name, but a Japanese word for a spirit or monster.

Princess Mononoke was released in Japan on July 12, 1997, and in the United States on October 29, 1999. It was a critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film in Japan of 1997, and the highest-grossing there of all time until Titanic was released later that year. It was dubbed into English and distributed in North America by Miramax Films, and despite a poor box office performance there, it sold well on DVD and video, greatly increasing Ghibli's popularity and influence outside Japan.