Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Singer and actress Karen David released her debut single Magic Carpet Ride this week with an accompanying video.
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Monday, May 18, 2009
The 2009 Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition was won by Nikesh Shukla (Yam Boy) and Laura Taflinger for their film The Great Identity Swindle, it was announced last week.
“It fuses perfectly the mediums of poetry, cinema, comic books and music resulting in a hilarious study of Asian culture in contemporary Britain. I feel I learnt more about this protagonist’s life in sixty seconds than I do at the end of most Hollywood blockbusters,” said one of the judges.
The one-minute short is part of moti roti’s 60 x 60 project, where established and emerging artists from the South Asian Diaspora – twenty each from Britain, India and Pakistan – present their personal perspective on what ‘home and boundaries’ mean to them.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A Bangladeshi born filmmaker and science teacher has taken to online videos to promote science, while taking a subtle pot-shot at ‘mystics’ who use tricks to con people out of money.
Alom Shaha has made a half-hour film titled ‘Why Science is Important’, thanks to funding from various sources, which aims to tell youngsters why they should bother with science.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
by Jaspreet Pandohar
Freelance journalist
He’s played a rude boy nemesis to Sacha Baron Cohen in Ali G Inda House, a post apocalyptic survivor in 28 Days Later, a homeless heroin addict in The Feral Generation and even a cocky MC in Eastenders. However, Ray Panthaki’s latest screen role sees him in an altogether more sensitive guise.
In City Rats, the British born actor portrays a frustrated young artist obsessed with making a disabled prostitute his muse. A far cry from the recent slate of Gangster obsessed flicks churned out by the British film industry, the dark comedy weaves together a collection of urban tales featuring eight troubled Londoners struggling for recognition and approval amongst a diverse society.
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Sunday, April 19, 2009
The International Buddhist Film Festival comes to London in May, offering films from across the world with a Buddhist touch – from documentaries to Hollywood blockbusters.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Riz Ahmed, the acclaimed actor from the Channel 4 drama Britz, hits cinemas in April with the independently made feature film Shifty.
Described as “sharply scripted, witty, urban thriller”, it is set on the outskirts of London and follows the life of a young drug dealer, the charismatic Shifty, played by Riz.
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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Director Gurinder Chadha started filming her latest venture this week, with the feature film slated to release in cinemas across the UK early next year.
It’s a Wonder Afterlife is being billed as a cross between My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the British horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead, and will star the Indian actress Shabana Azmi alongside Sendhil Ramamoorthy (Heroes) and British actors Shaheen Khan (Bend It Like Beckham) and Ray Pathanki (Eastenders) among others.
The film is a supernatural comedy about an Indian mother who takes her obsession with marriage into frightening territory.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Film company Stormglass Productions are casting for an English language film in London and require junior artistes and extras for various roles.
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Monday, March 16, 2009
Two films released in cinemas next month, by the same director, will tackle mixed heritage relationships and homosexualty among Asian families.
Writer and director Shamim Sarif made both films with the same lead cast: actresses Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth.
I Can’t Think Straight is a romantic comedy featuring love between an Indian and a Palestinian woman living in London.
It also stars Nina Wadia. (trailers below)
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Friday, March 6, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto is likely to become the highest paid Indian actress in the world.
Soon after the eight Oscar winning performance in Los Angeles, a spokesperson announced she had signed up for Woody Allen’s next film.
She will join A-list Hollywood stars such as Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins for the yet untitled project, which will be filmed in London.
Interest in the actress remains sky-high as she adorned the front cover of Vogue India this month.
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Monday, February 23, 2009
“My kids are too old to remember this now but, when they were much younger, I swore to them if this miracle ever happened, I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, and that’s what that was.”
Danny Boyle, explaining why he was bouncing up and down, when accepting his award.
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“There are certain places you never imagine standing – the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here.”
From writer Simon Beaufoy’s acceptance speech.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Slumdog Millionaire cast were not afraid to strut their stuff on the Oscars red carpet. More pictures…
Monday, February 23, 2009
With an eight Oscar haul, the Slumdog Milionaire cast was constantly making journeys to the podium to receive their Oscars. Here are some pictures from the award ceremony itself.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
I’ve been planning for some time to see the film Slumdog Millionaire. I have lived in Bombay and have seen the reality, and even now I’m a frequent visitor to that city.
But now, as a visitor I can avert my eyes from the painful reality. So I’m a bit reluctant to watch that painful reality on the big screen, in all its misery.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The UK Film Council, supported by UK Trade and Investment, (UKTI) is taking the first ever UK export delegation to Mumbai from 16-21 February to meet with Mumbai companies and attend the FICCI Frames Entertainment Conference from 16-19 February.
It is also organising a seminar at Frames on co-production between the UK and India, making best use of the new treaty, and promoting the UK’s strength within international film sales.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
by Jaspreet Pandohar
Freelance journalist
Jai Ho! That was the triumphant sound ringing out across London’s Covent Garden on Sunday afternoon as I stepped onto the red carpet outside the Royal Opera House.
It was a song I’d literally been dancing to the evening before at one of London’s newest Bollywood club nights, it seemed almost surreal watching the likes of Hollywood A-listers Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Sharon Stone glide past to the rhythm of A R Rahman’s award-winning anthem.
But somehow the melodious tune didn’t seem out of place reverberating around the prestigious venue in the cold winter air. Like the Indian maestro’s legendary scores, it formed the perfect soundtrack to the Orange British Academy Film Awards. Not only the most prominent event in the British movie calendar, the glitzy occasion turned out to be a great night for Anglo-Indian relations and world cinema.
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Monday, February 9, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire took the Bafta awards by storm yesterday, winning an incredible seven awards, including Best Film.
The results were not unexpected, however it was a surprise the British/Indian film managed to soundly beat the critically acclaimed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt.
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The annual Karachi Film Festival is in danger of going under forever unless new funds are found. That was the plea last week of founder Hasan Zaidi who is asking for donations to help sustain a slimmed down version of the film festival.
In an appeal sent out to supporters, he said that the festival had been scheduled for February but the global recession meant many of the sponsors had pulled out at the last minute.
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Friday, January 23, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire has become the first British film with a heavy Indian presence to scoop as many as 10 Oscar nominations.
The Academy Awards announced yesterday that it was also in contention for the prestigious Best Picture award.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which stars Brad Pitt, lead the field with 13 Oscar nominations.
Young actor Dev Patel (pictured) said he was amazed. “When we first began working on the film I don’t think any of us ever imagined that we might end up attending the Oscars ceremony as a result.”
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
British film Slumdog Millionaire managed the rare feat of increasing its takings and shooting to the Box Office top spot in its second week of release.
Nielsen EDI, the industry body that monitors figures said it was the most successful second weekend ever recorded for a film that had not substantially increased the number of cinemas it was screening at.
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Friday, January 16, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire shocked the film world today by receiving 11 nominations for Bafta awards, it was announced today.
It is competing against other films in these categories: Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Music, Production Design and Sound. Danny Boyle is nominated for Director, Dev Patel for Best Leading Actor and Freida Pinto receives a nomination as Best Supporting Actress.
A vigorous debate has also blown up in India over whether it is being favoured because it has a white director.
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
Leicester Square, London, was the host to the premiere of the Bollywood flick From Chandni Chowk to China on Monday night.
Directed by Nikhil Advani (Kal Ho Na Ho) and starring Akshay Kumar, with Deepika Padukone playing his romantic interest in the film, it also features Mithun Chakraborty, Gordon Liu (Kill Bill Volume One and Two) and Roger Yuan (Batman Begins, Bulletproof Monk).
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The British film Slumdog Millionaire has made a bigger than expected splash in the UK following its success in the United States.
The film won four prestigious Golden Globe awards last week at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Bollywood composer AR Rahman got the biggest cheer of the night with an award for Best Original Score. He became the first Indian to win a Golden Globe.
Slumdog Millionaire also scooped up awards for Best Drama, Best Director (Danny Boyle) and Best Screenplay. The Globe wins also make it more likely that it win an award at the upcoming Oscars.
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Journalist and film-maker Jobeda Ali has made a film about our journey to try and find out more about the Hijab. The film was made for Current TV.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
*Note, this is not an AIM magazine interview
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