The Oscar nominated film Water, starring Lisa Ray and John Abraham, opens in the UK on 1st June.

Seven year old Chuya is a widow in 1930 India. Despite her age, her parents send her to live in the House of Widows in a Holy City where her presence galvanizes the other inhabitants. Shakuntala, thirty, devout and intelligent, has a crisis of faith that drives her into the world of radical politics. Kalyani, eighteen, innocent and beautiful, finds the courage to embrace the love of the fiery and idealistic Narayan. The upheaval is permanent and it reflects nothing less than the changing face of India itself: Ghandi is on the move, freeing India from the British, and from religious interpretations that impede moral and social progress.

The film is directed by Deepa Mehta and features powerful acting, especially by Lisa Ray. Definitely worth seeing.

Following on from its successful run at the Soho Curzon and the Sundance Film Festival, Sadik Khan’s film Tanju Miah was awarded a Royal Television Society prize last week.

It won Best Post-Graduate Factual award at the annual Student Television Awards. The full winners were announced at the awards ceremony at the Barbican London on Friday 4th May 2007.

Sadik is now working on his next project: The Last Thakur. You can also view a collaboration between him and Talvin Singh on YouTube.

Student Zakir Hossain has become the first filmmaker of Bangladeshi origin to be included on the British Film Catalogue for his debut feature The Auction. The 86 minute long feature has been made to raise awareness of forced marriages.

The film centres around young Runa Begum, a British Bangladeshi girl who goes with her father to Bangladesh on holiday. Her holiday turns into a nightmare when her father sells her to her uncle, who forces her into marriage to his son who is several years younger than Runa.

The young Luton based writer and director hopes to take his film around film-festivals and secure a screening in the near future.
More on the film here.

Out of the recently released, which film - Jag Mundhra’s Provoked or Mira Nair’s Namesake - has done better? Well it depends where you look.

Provoked’s distributor Eros International recently sent out a press release touting that it had crossed Namesake’s weekend box office takings in the UK, £140,204 with 35 prints as opposed to Namesake’s slightly lower £125,084 box-office takings, which was available to watch in 59 screens by contrast.

But Provoked, which stars Aishwarya Rai, is amusingly enough doing worse in India. The Namesake has earned nearly three times as much as Provoked, at around Rs 4 crore there. Similarly, in the United States Namesake has earned nearly $9 million so far, more than recouping its investment.
You can read a review of Provoked at AssetsWorld:

The script is appallingly banal and cliched. The ‘characters’ are one dimensional. Everyone overacts and the message is brought down on the viewer like a ton of bricks in a bulldozer at every turn. The beautiful Aishwarya emotes like mad but she is horribly miscast in the role of a victim and a prisoner.

What did you think of either films?

Last week the famous Madame Tussauds unveiled its latest Bollywood wax figure - Shah Rukh Khan. Unsurprising really, considering his popularity. Surely he should have been added ages ago?

These are some of the pictures taken for AIM magazine by journalist Jaspreet Pandohar. She will be writing later this week for us on the growing economic power of Bollywood in the UK. Will it be another Indian Summer in the UK? Look out for that and more pictures.

Racial hatred between rival gang members spills over to four young kids on a treasure hunt for an ancient mystical sword stolen thousands of years ago from India.

That is the basic storyline for ‘A Really Big Adventure’, a unique stage and film hybrid play that looks at issues of prejudice within communities. Along with tackling hate crime, the characters also have to contend with not falling foul of the booby traps and dangerous puzzles along their way to retrieving an ancient artifact of great power.

Produced by The Filim Company and Tower Hamlets Crime Reduction Service, this production will play at the Brady Arts Centre in East London on April 25th - 29th. More information: filim.co.uk

Mira Nair’s highly anticipated film The Namesake, based on an award-winning book by Jhumpa Lahiri, will be released on UK screens later this week. You can watch the trailer from below.

Applications are now open for trainees to the Film London Company Placement Scheme for new entrants into the Film and TV industries, with a range of production companies offering six-month paid work placements. Now in its second year, the training scheme aims to attract applicants from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and other under-represented groups.

Returning to the scheme are Diverse Productions, Number 9 Films and Tigerlily Films; whilst new companies to participate include F&ME (Film & Music Entertainment), Headline Pictures, Ipso Facto and Warp X.

Set up in response to industry demand, the scheme seeks to support, assist and improve recruitment across the sector and attract new entrants to the workforce. Film London will work with companies to look at their recruitment practices and co-ordinate bespoke training plans for each trainee and their mentor.
More details on Film London website

At AIM magazine we were tempted to see the new British-Asian flick, Don’t Stop Dreaming, just because the trailer itself was so bad that reviewing the film would have been an absolute joy. Alas, we have been denied.

On the BBC Online site Poonam Joshi trashes the film and takes out all the fun of us doing so. She says:

But try as you might, there is nothing to recommend Don’t Stop Dreaming. Singer Taz stars alongside Sunil Shetty and Michelle Collins in this embarrassingly hackneyed story of wannabe singers going for their dream. An unrivalled contender for the worst Brit-Asian film ever made.
…
Technically it’s flawed on every level, with poor camera work, inept editing and suspect lighting. The characterization, which veers firmly towards caricature, is further marred by gut-wrenchingly bad dialogue, a narrative that lacks any depth and stilted acting. Taz’s soundtrack is possibly the only redeeming feature. Shame the same cannot be said for his acting, which is utterly cringe-worthy. But then, he’s in good company.

The cast of Don’t Stop Dreaming will want to head for the hills, adopt a new identity and deny ever having any involvement in this film. Cheap, incompetent, unfunny and crude, the film’s greatest achievement is that it ever got a cinema release.

We like our reviews brutal and to the point so thanks for that Poonam, even if you took the wind out of our own sails.

The delightful comedy ‘Zohra’ easily won the Tongues on Fire short film competition at the ICA in London, on Tuesday 20th March. The 15 minute film is directed by Kemal Akhtar and based on real life events. It is set in 1960s Karachi and London and follows the sudden departure of of an eighteen year old girl, Zohra, from the Pakistani city to a new country. It shows her excitedly trying to negotiate a new world with some surprises and interesting encounters.

Flower Girl by Rajan Khosa took second place while Those Were The Days by Mandeep Singh Jutla was judged third. The Tongues on Fire film festival continues until the end of the month.

Featuring an impressive cast of Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Rebecca Pidgeon, Nandita Das and Robbie Coltrane, the repeatedly postponed date for the film Provoked’s release has now been set - to Friday 6th April.

Provoked is the true life depiction of Kiranjit Ahluwalia (played by Aishwarya Rai), the Asian woman who overturned the British judicial system’s interpretation of “provocation” in the case of physically abused women. It was a landmark victory for women subjected to domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse.

The film, based on Ahluwalia’s autobiography Circle of Light, by Rahila Gupta, follows her lonely struggle in an abusive 10-year marriage, her retaliation through the murder of her violent husband and the efforts of activists Southall Black Sisters to bring her justice.

Only last week AIM magazine revealed that Sacha Dhawan had been nominated for a Royal Television Society (RTS) award. Guess what?

Our congratulations to him for winning the ‘Breakthrough award - on screen’. The full list of winners are here.

Pooja Shah the former Eastenders star has signed to play Amy, the lead female role in the independent British action film Ten Dead Men.

She joins a cast and crew of top British talent including Brendan Carr, Terry Stone and Lee Latchford-Evans. The producer-director team of Phil Hobden & Ross Boyask earlier made the cult favourite Left For Dead. Ten Dead Men will be shot across the South of England in Eastbourne, Brighton, Bovingdon and the West-End.

Shah also appeared in the hit comedy Bend It Like Beckham. In addition she has featured in films such as Cash & Curry, Jesus The Curry King and on numerous TV shows such as Holby City, Strictly Dance Fever and more.

The film is being sold at Cannes 2007 and will be released internationally this year and next.
www.tendeadmen.co.uk

Can films churned out of Bollywood make “the grade”? In other words are they good enough to win international awards? Clearly not, judging by the complete lack of anything Bollywood in the Oscar nominations (if you don’t count Deepa Mehta’s Water).

That did not escape the notice of acclaimed actor Naseeruddin Shah, who told BBC Asian Network’s Inderpreet Sahota last week that, essentially, Bollywood films were crap.

“I really don’t think we make films that can match those from other parts of the world. And I am not referring to Hollywood - we make copies of Hollywood,” he added. Comparing Bollywood to other film industries, Mr Shah said: “We can’t match the types of films made in Iran for example, Poland, Japan, Mexico or Brazil, Vietnam or Korea.

“These countries are producing the most incredible movies and we are still plodding on with our boy-meets-girl safe, old formula. That is the reason I think our films aren’t taken seriously”.

No mincing of words there then.

The film distributor Eros International has pushed back the date for the release of Provoked. The film, starring Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews, is based on the real life story of Kiranjit Alhuwalia. More here.

Ahluwalia was convicted of murdering her husband in 1989 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Her cause was taken up by the group Southall Black Sisters and the sentence was eventually quashed in 1992. The court accepted her plea of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

The film has been directed by Jag Mundhra. An Eros International spokesperson said it would now be released on 6th April 2007.

Injustice, a controversial multi-award winning documentary film investigating the rising number of black people who have died in police custody, will be screened on Wednesday 7th February at 7:30pm at Rich Mix, East London. This screening marks the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade and is part of the Red Room’s ongoing mission to present work that challenges the status quo.

The film tells the remarkable story of a group of women who came together to achieve justice for their loved ones. In 1969 David Oluwale became the first black person to die in police custody in Britain, by 1999 this figure had reached beyond one thousand, (this figure does not include those who have died in prisons and mental institutions or immigration detention centres). Not one police officer has been convicted for any of these deaths.

This is a film by Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood with Q + A,
This is a free event: no need to book
Wednesday 7th February 2007, 19.30 @ Rich Mix, 35 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA
www.theredroom.org.uk | www.injusticefilm.co.uk

The Clore Leadership Programme is an initiative of the Clore Duffield Foundation, and their aim is to help to train and develop a new generation of leaders for the cultural sector in the UK. Each year they assist a number of Clore Fellows to undertake an individual programme of learning, work, research, training, and secondment, designed to develop their leadership skills and experience.

The Clore Leadership Programme is designed to help develop the knowledge, skills, networks and experience of potential leaders across a wide range of cultural activity. This year they will also be offering a Film Fellowship, funded by Skillset and the UK Film Council, which will be someone of high potential from the public sector agencies supporting film.

The closing date for applications is Monday 19 February 2007. For further information see their website: www.cloreleadership.org

Birds Eye View (BEV) film festival presents six days of inspiration and celebration, showcasing the very best work from British women filmmakers.

In its third year, BEV presents its 2007 programme of innovative and original events including international feature films, shorts, documentaries, master classes, ‘bring a baby’ screenings and director Q&As. BEV aims to push the boundaries with innovative multimedia ideas including live music and silent films and exploration of the intersection between fine art and film.

International Womens Day (8 March) marks the opening night gala, introduced by Jerry Hall, which includes a selection of shorts from the best new talent around the world and a live performance from Mercury Prize Nominee, Zoe Rahman of her original composition to short film She Falls, followed by a party in the NFT Filmcafé with Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac. The closing night Gala film, Sherrybaby + Q&A with director Laurie Collyer, stars Golden Globe nominee, Maggie Gyllenhaal as a mother who struggles to rekindle her relationship with her daughter.

And there is plenty more! See their website.

Buena Vista International (UK) will release Roger Michell’s film Venus across the UK and Ireland on January 26th 2007 starring Peter O’Toole, Leslie Phillips, Richard Griffiths, Vanessa Redgrave, and newcomer Jodie Whittaker.

A wry, affectionate coming of very-old-age story, Venus reunites the team behind both the acclaimed film The Mother and the award-winning television series The Buddha of Suburbia: director Roger Michell, writer Hanif Kureishi and producer Kevin Loader.

UK soul sensation Corinne Bailey Rae provides music for the VENUS soundtrack, which includes both songs from her debut album and tracks composed for the film score.

The Satyajit Ray Film Foundation is hosting a film competition along with the British Council, British Film Institute and Nehru Centre, with an award of £1,500 for the winner.

The film, of no more than 30 minutes running time, should express and inform aspects of the experiences of South Asians (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) either within their own countries or the Diaspora. All submissions must have been completed within two years prior to the closing date. Previous entries cannot be sent.

More on the competition from their website.

Bafta has teamed up with the mobile network Orange to create 60 Seconds of Fame - a new short film competition that celebrates creativity in grass roots film.

The winning film, on the theme of “celebrate”, will be featured during the BBC One coverage of
The Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony on 11 February 2007 – when it will be
seen by millions of people. Regional winners will attend the awards ceremony, rubbing shoulders
with some of the world’s most famous actors, writers, producers and directors.

If you’re over 16 and you’ve got access to film making equipment, you’re in. You can submit your mini-masterpiece until 4 January 2007.

orange.co.uk/bafta

Released in cinemas on Friday, Mischief Night is the latest in the long slew of films on modern multi-cultural Britain. A Notting Hill style romance, this isn’t. Set in Yokshire, Tina Crabtree (Kelli Hollis, pictured) is forever running after her three unruly children. A park separates Tina’s neighbourhood from the Pakistani community where Tina’s long forgotten friend Immie Khan (played by Ramon Tikaram, pictured) lives with his family.

As the clock ticks down to Mischief Night, which is annually designated as a special night where any mischief and mayhem is allowed, the Crabtree’s and the Khan’s are unaware that their worlds are about to collide.

There is also the local drug-dealing gangster, played convincingly by Christopher Simpson, a fanatical Imam (complete with an eyepatch and jihad videos!) trying to take over the mosque, and there are the illicit love affairs.

This gritty comedy has some wonderful acting and lots of great swearing. A politically correct film it isn’t either.

Christopher Simpson will soon be seen in the film adaptation of Monica Ali’s book Brick Lane. His earlier television work includes White Teeth, based on Zadie Smith’s novel and Second Generation.

Ramon Tikaram is currently playing Gaddafi in Gaddafi the Opera, the Asian Dub Foundation at the London Coliseum in September. He also played the leading role in the film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, directed by Mira Nair and more recently Take 3 Girls directed by Baz Taylor.

There is something mischievous about American-Indian actor Kal Penn that makes him suited to teenage comedies. Real name Kalpen Modi (and pictured on the left), the actor was last seen in the popular teenage film Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. He also had a brief role in Superman Returns as a sidekick to Lex Luthor.

Even though there was no suggestion of him going away, the irrepressible actor is back. In 2002 he played a support role in Van Wilder, a film that didn’t do too well in cinemas but became wildly popular on DVD. So the studio decided to extend the franchise to Van Wilder II but this time Kal Penn takes the lead.

In Rise of Taj, Penn continues with his previous character as an Indian student (with a thick accent to boot). This time he heads to Oxford University to continue his studies and ends up showing the “stuffy Brits” how to party. You can’t accuse the Americans of stereotyping then. You can watch the trailer from their website. The film also stars British actor Kulvinder Ghir as Kal Penn’s dad.

Next year he will be seen on Mira Nair’s film The Namesake and on Fox Television’s action series 24. The only way for him is up, despite the dodgy accent.

Film websites are abuzz with the news that the film remake of Dallas, the popular 80s TV series, may not even go ahead now. At the very least much of the cast will be replaced. It is being directed by Gurinder Chadha.

The magazine Empire says:

The film is now on hold and director Gurinder Chadha has to recruit a whole new cast – and may not even stay on board herself.

So what’s brought on this sudden bout of cold feet? Those old standbys of costs and brand recognition, surely the cornerstones of all great art! The studio is worried that the kids won’t recognise Dallas and the current cast had pumped the budget up to more than $65 million, with executives panicking that the box office might not support the outlay.