Do you believe in magic?

This question was asked on air the other day. As it was on the BBC Asian Network, there was a huge response. One caller called in with a sworn statement of how an auntie was taken ill without any cause (virus maybe?), and when they threw away some flour and hair found in her hand bag, she was well again!

Then there was a doctor, who at a certain price will rid you of this ailment. And he said he had a degree from a certain university and was a “professional”.
Continue reading…

London based magazine Brit Asian has re-launched its website to attract new audiences, the editor told AIM magazine. The freely distributed entertainment magazine launched in Summer 2006 and focuses on Bollywood, British urban, Bhangra and general lifestyle features.

Editor Rick Parmar said: “I’m extremely excited by the new website as we fill the gap in British Asian tastes and trends online, bringing what we do in the magazine, but more rapidly to readers on a daily basis. We were the first and only magazine that brought to you the likes of Shilpa Shetty mixed in with exclusives from the likes of music artist Fergie, don’t expect anything less at Brit-Asian.com!”
www.brit-asian.com

by Anna Roxelana Ward

Many students would be daunted by the prospect of doing an intensive journalism course at the London School of Journalism (LSJ) during their summer holidays. Aasiyah Dana (pictured) has wasted no time since graduating this year from Queen Mary’s with a 1st in English Literature.

She enrolled on the four-week course which cost £1395 and is accredited by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). She is due to start her internship this September at The Guardian newspaper.

How did you find time to study and do work-experience in journalism while at University?

Discipline is everything! I guess it helps that I’m a perfectionist; it means that once I set myself a deadline I absolutely have to stick to it. I don’t think you can study literature or be a journalist half-heartedly; you really need to be passionate about it and I found this attitude helped me to create a balance so I could do both at the same time.
Continue reading…

The multi-million pound East London arts and events venue, Rich Mix, will officially launch on 9th October with a party featuring singer Jazzie B OBE.

The 62,000 sq ft venue was quietly launched in Spring 2006 and has hosted a series of events, shows and debates since. It was conceived as part of an attempt to rejuvenate the east of London and offer the area a major arts and media venue.
Continue reading…

Two writers and a producer, including the British novelist William Dalrymple, are aiming to turn next year’s Jaipur Literature Festival into the event in India to rival the UK’s Guardian Hay Festival.
Continue reading…

The Asia Editor for BBC World TV has left after 29 years at the corporation. Rita Payne told AIM magazine she still had a lot of energy and saw it, “as a new beginning rather than retirement”.

Born in the Indian state of Assam, Rita came to Britain in 1971 and started at the BBC’s World Service Radio News as a sub-editor. Prior to that she had worked as a freelance journalist.
Continue reading…

As General Musharaff relinquishes power in Pakistan, a theatre production with a related theme starts at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival this week.

The Dictator’s Wife, by Mohammed Hanif, is part of Invasian – a group of theatre companies featuring new British Asian writing at the Fringe. It is being produced by the Edinburgh based Wave Theatre.
Continue reading…

Scottish music producers Tigerstyle are releasing the first single from their forthcoming album – Mystics, Martyrs & Maharajas next month.

Balle! Shava!, the new single, features Jamaican dancehall artists Vybz Kartel, X-Factor contestant Nikitta and Punjabi singer Mangi Mahal. The duo say their aim was to fuse the traditional bhangra beats with contemporary dancehall. A video is forthcoming.

The single is being released by Nachural Records on 3rd September.

Radio 1 presenter Nihal will be moved moved from his weekend breakfast show to an afternoon slot, starting from the September.

The BBC youth music station today announced changes to its weekend schedule, which mean that from next month Nihal (pictured) will be on Radio 1 from 1-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Nick Grimshaw will take on the weekend breakfast show (Sat & Sun 7am-10am), currently Nihal’s domain.

Nihal said: “I’ve loved doing the weekend breakfast show, and now in under a year I’ve been given another amazing opportunity to speak to a whole new audience whilst hoping that the breakfast listeners come and check me out in the afternoons too.”

Pop singer Jay Sean will be headlining BBC Asian Network’s show at the annual East Londons event Under The Stars, organised by Newham Council on Saturday 30th August.

Presenters Adil Ray and Noreen will be accompanied by DJ Kayper, with performances from H-Dhami, Alyssia, Reenie, Metz&Trixm Bee2 featuring Nitasha, and more.

Asian Network, Head of Music, Mark Strippel said, “BBC Asian Network is proud to be involved again with this important cultural event. Under the Stars offers a great opportunity to spotlight some of the best contemporary Asian music around and positioning new talents such as Zeekay and 3Mix alongside artists like Jay Sean is a really important part of this event.”

The concert starts at 6.45pm and ends at 10.30pm at Central Park, East Ham in East London.

Between March and June 2008, five artists worked with over 300 young people from six West London Boroughs to produce fresh and innovative artworks in digital media. Using a variety of media including video, photography, sound and animation – the art works celebrate an urban landscape rich in individual stories, shared challenges and multiple possibilities for the future.
Continue reading…

Sometime ago, when I was a part of the advisory council for the BBC’s local radio, I opposed the proposition that there be a separate channel for the Asian listeners in this country.

My humble opinion didn’t matter and the organisation went ahead and created a channel – the BBC Asian Network – which is available only digitally.

Now I’m glad that there is such a channel, as they tackle some difficult issues every morning in their phone-ins and the documentaries they make.

I often take part and listen to these debates, but have always been astonished at how resistant to change and integration some groups of Asians are despite having lived here for generations.
Continue reading…

Wirral artists The Singh Twins will launch their animation film today, titled The Making of Liverpool, to celebrate the city’s history.

Supported by the Arts Council of England, The Making of Liverpool brings 800 years of Liverpool’s history to life through an animated exploration of one of the artists’ well known public commission paintings (‘Liverpool 800: The Changing Face of Liverpool’) which was officially unveiled to Prince Charles on the occasion of Liverpool’s 800th anniversary in 2007.
www.singhtwins.co.uk

by Suman Bhuchar

The news that Sanjeev Bhaskar was going to appear as King Arthur, in a quintessentially British Musical, Spamalot – was greeted with raised eyebrows amongst the Asian theatre circles.

On the one hand was the “good on yer” great to have an Asian face in the West End, playing an iconic historical British figure, on the other, can a man who plays, Sanjeev Kumar in The Kumars at No. 42 really pull it off?

Continue reading…

A new senior mentoring scheme to promote diversity amongst senior commissioning, programme-making, on-screen and management roles was launched this week with support from across the television industry.

A twelve-month scheme by the Cultural Diversity Network (CDN) – an industry coalition of broadcasters and programme-makers which includes Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, ITN, Skillset, Bafta and PACT.
Continue reading…

Continue reading…

Channel 4’s sister station e4 is running a competition to find someone to front a presenting gig in Miami. An Indian student currently studying in Britain has made it to one of the finalists.

Karthik Nagesan, aka Great Looking Guy, has done some modelling in India and now works as a software engineer in Bristol. He has also done presenting on local Indian channels and some in the UK on sattelite TV.
Full list of finalists

Meneka Das’s independent film Little Box of Sweets will get its London premiere next week at the prestigious Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).

Written and directed by Ms Das, who has worked as a actress and singer, this is a gentle coming of age tale set near the city of Allahabad, in Northern India amongst of the Indian Christian community.
Continue reading…

Journalists Sathnam Sanghera and Anealla Safdar are among Channel 4’s Generation Next talents who have been commissioned to present 3 minute documentaries for the broadcaster.

The season of short films – called Bright New Wonders – will see the presenters working with budding new directors who haven’t yet had the opportunity to make a film for broadcast TV.

Anealla Safdar’s 3 minute film, which explores the misrepresentation of Muslims in the media, will air on Wednesday, August 6th at 7:55pm.

British bhangra producers RDB (Rhythm Dhol Bass) pictured here with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and American rapper Snoop Dogg.

They were brought together for the music video to a track produced by RDB for the Bollywood film Singh is Kinng. The film, which releases next week, stars Kumar as the lead, with Snoop Dogg making a cameo appearance.

The London based musician and performer Nikesh Shukla releases his debut album today, after spending a year in Kenya creating an eclectic array of sounds that he calls a “stripped-down acoustic anti-folk series of short stories set against a background of acoustic guitar and poetical raps”.

Formerly part of the duo, the D’Archetypes, and earlier referred to as Yam Boy, Shukla says the album amalgamated his three main influences: Public Enemy, Jeffrey Lewis and Asha Bhosle, but “without a bhangra tune in sight.”

The 30 year old poet has also had his writing featured on BBC2, Radio 1 and 4, Resonance fm, Tell Tales and Transmission Magazine. As part of D’Archetypes, he has previously performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Soho Theatre, The Big Chill, Rise Festival, London Mela and Glastonbury.

On the subject of his new album, he says: “There’s a wide variety of themes here, from the loss of my culture to rap to the possibility of monkeys overruling the earth.”

Kidologies and Amazing Fantasies is out today through Friendly Neighbourhood Records on CD and MP3.
- www.myspace.com/nikeshshukla