by Jaspreet Pandohar
Freelance writer and Filmmaker

Having bought a controlling stake in Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks studio, rumours of billionaire-industrialist Anil Ambani’s buyout of MGM Studios dominated movie industry news in early 2010.

But despite his colossal power, the boss of Reliance Big Pictures company doesn’t get the prize for being the first Indian to make waves in Hollywood.

That credit goes to Ashok Amritraj, the one time professional tennis player turned movie mogul who this year celebrates 30 years in the industry and production of 100 films in Hollywood.

The film producer was in London recently for one in a series of celebratory events honouring his landmark achievement.
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Rifco Arts, the theatre company behind popular productions such as The Deranged Marriage, There’s Something About Simmy and Where’s My Desi Soulmate are launching their biggest show yet from tomorrow.

The show will tour around the country until 17th July.
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The media industry rallied around the BBC Asian Network and 6 Music yesterday by nominating them for a large clutch of awards.

The Sony Radio Academy Awards announced yesterday that Asian Network had been nominated for best speech programme and best news special.
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The writer of the controversial play Behzti return to the Midlands this week with a new play after a break of five years.

In December 2004 Gurpreet Bhatti was forced to go into hiding when threats from Sikh extremists forced the Birmingham Rep to shut down Behzti.

There were numerous protests in Birmingham over the play. Its critics said it insulted Sikhism by depicting rape in a Gurdwara.
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A new magazine written by youngster and for youngsters launched in the difficult area of Tower Hamlets in late March.

Live East, the first magazine of its kind in East London, will replicate the model of its hugely well-regarded Brixton-based sister publication Live South, which has a track record with improving lives and offering opportunities to young people in South London since 2001.
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We’re taking a break! Wrong timing, perhaps, but AIM Magazine is going on a short break until the end of March.
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Updated April 2nd: We’re back!

In early April a new festival celebrating Indian culture will be launched by London’s Southbank Centre.

Called ‘Alchemy’, the festival will feature a full programme of music, dance, literature, food, debate and fashion.

Events will range from a rare classical concert by celebrated composer A.R. Rahman to the very best UK Bhangra, to an evening of music and chat with the Grewal Family from Channel 4’s hit docu-drama The Family.
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After four years as Senior Reporter at Eastern Eye, Aditi Khanna has left the newspaper to go freelance. She will do some shifts on national newspapers as well as the BBC, telling AIM she was looking to develop more skills in online media.
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by Kieran Yates
Freelance Journalist

Nitin Swahney is one of the most prolific Indian composers, musicians and producers alive today.

But Monday’s performance at London’s Barbican Centre however, was something new even to me.
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The BBC’s director-general Mark Thompson yesterday acknowledged that the radio stations BBC Asian Network and 6Music were indeed going to be closed.

The corporation officially launched its Strategy Review, proposing that the Asian Network cease as a national digital service.

But the station could be replaced by a network of local services, with reduced hours, that will operate on analogue as well as digital licenses.
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by Sunny Hundal
Editor

Over the years I have been a constant critic of the BBC Asian Network. The station has been the subject of complaints over its confused music policy, not focusing enough on news and current affairs and not doing enough to develop new talent.

But it’s biggest problem has always been poor management. That is now evident more than ever before, given that its management seem to have failed spectacularly to internally make the case to keep the station.

But BBC Asian Network’s survival is important, and there are several reasons why. Here are some:
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by Sunny Hundal
Editor

By Friday afternoon, once the Conservative shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey had “welcomed” the leaked report in The Times, it looked like the BBC Asian Network’s fate was sealed.

The draft report has been widely seen as a response by BBC executives to strong pressure by the Conservative party to get the corporation to cut spending.

They ask why, at a time when the commercial sector is reeling from a downturn in the advertising sector, is the BBC not sharing some of the pain.
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A young PR agency founded by a 26-year entrepreneur was yesterday named ‘Newcomer Company of the Year’ at Asian Voice newspaper’s annual Public & Political Life Awards.
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The Financial Times newspaper’s US economic editor, Krishna Guha, is leaving to join the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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Rumours that BBC Asian Network is going to be shut down have grown stronger today after a report leaked to the The Times newspaper.

The corporation is due to announce an overhaul of services next month.

The newspaper reported this morning that BBC director-general Mark Thompson will signal that ‘an era of expansion’ would be over. One of the drastic cuts to be recommended would be shutting down BBC Asian Network entirely.
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“They’re smart, they’re ambitious and they’re everywhere” — they are India’s mobile elite of professionals, making their mark as engineers, bankers, entrepreneurs and executives across the world.

In a new series for BBC Radio 4, producer and presenter Mukti Jain Campion finds out what lies behind their success and the impact they are making in India as well as abroad.
The three part series will be aired between Monday March 1st and Wednesday March 3rd at 11am.
Listen online for 7 days after broadcast

The Scotland based comedy Fags, Mags & Bags has returned to Radio 4 for the third time after picking up awards for its quirky humour and good writing (episode below).

The series is written by and stars Sanjeev Kohli, as newsagent and confectioner Ramesh Majhu.
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Indian media conglomerate Viacom18′s Hindi entertainment channel Colors has been launched on Sky digital.

The 24 hour channel will be available free-to-air at launch and later be added to the View Asia package. We wrote more about the company and the channel earlier here.

Viacom18 Media is a joint venture between US based Viacom and Mumbai’s Network 18 Group.

A landmark exhibition which opened last month in London’s East End is showcasing beautiful photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – stretching over 150 years.

Titled ‘Where Three Dreams Cross’ – it features over 300 works by 70 artists covering historic and contemporary photography from the subcontinent.
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AIM Magazine has been granted access to some of the striking photographs featured in the ‘Where Three Dreams Cross‘ exhibition.
Here are some of the photographs on display.

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Author and writer Anjana Gosai was named Beauty Journalist of the Year at the annual Beauty Journalism awards last week.

The 32 year old writer from north London said: “To be recognised amongst my peers, including beauty editors whose work I have admired for years and to have my work commended by top people in the industry makes me feel very humbled.”

She won the award for an article on skin lightening written for fashion mag Asiana. She has also written for a range of national newspapers and magazine.

Anjana’s first book, The Ultimate Guide to Beauty, was published last year.

by Poorna Shetty
Freelance Writer

Call me nostalgic, but there’s something about the process of producing a magazine that I’ll always love.

When I was editor of Asiana, it was a combination of frantic scrabbling during deadline week while the printers yelled on the phone for pages, culminating in the moment that made it all worth it – the first delivery of magazines smelling of freshly-minted paper containing all our hard work.

Going freelance was a choice not a byword for voluntary redundancy, and since then I’ve managed to travel the world and write for The Guardian, The Sunday Times Travel and The Daily Telegraph. Working in your pyjamas with all of the money and none of the office politics – no regrets.
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Ms Amarat Sehgal is a graduate in Media Technology and has been a creative writer for over two years. Having experienced the high’s and low’s of many adventurous relationships, she has decided to share her experiences.
You can follow the series exclusively here on AIM over the next six weeks.

by Amarat Sehgal
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I looked at my phone for the fifth time, checking to see if there were any missed calls or messages.
Nothing! And there was zilch for the next 3 hours too.

I knew Danny was in the pub again, I could even name the pub too. He was watching the Chelsea match and as always, he drank far too much.
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The 12th annual Asian film festival – Tongues on Fire – will host its launch this week.

It will close with the premiere of acclaimed director Sangeeta Datta’s Life Goes On. But the festival opens on 5th with an awards ceremony and lasts until 14th March.
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He may have been unsuccessful in winning the Ealing and Southall seat from Virendra Sharma, but Tony Lit is not giving up on his political aspirations.

The former managing director of Sunrise Radio, now its Sales Director, has been short-listed and is now among six candidates fighting to be the Conservative Party’s official candidate neighbouring Hayes. The announcement was made late last week.

Others running against him include Gurmaj Dhillon, a former Treasury official who has advised the Tories on police reform; Lindsey Hall, Westminster councillor and Naman Purewal – Deputy Chairman of Feltham and Heston Conservatives.