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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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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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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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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“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.

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The Slumdog Millionaire cast were not afraid to strut their stuff on the Oscars red carpet. More pictures…

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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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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).

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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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.

*Note, this is not an AIM magazine interview

by Shazanna Safdar-Karim

From the get go this film will grab you. Powerful opening scenes demand the audience’s attention within seconds. Boyle’s name may be familiar to you from works such as Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. His latest creation, based upon the novel, Q&A by Vikas Swarup, will not disappoint.

Exposing the gritty underworld of India, the film explores the alleged fraud of Jamal, a young slumdog well on his way to winning 20 million rupees on Who Wants to be a Millionaire in India. En route to powering through the Indian game show, Jamal also captures the nation’s heart.
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Budding filmmaker Laila Khan is searching for child actors in her first venture. The Luton based director says she is writing, producing and directing a “very sensitive film” about a transgender man and is looking to cast youngsters in key roles.

“The film is about a transgender individual, a man who explains how he was feeling through a series of flashbacks. My intention is to encourage people to change their perspective. One should try to understand what makes people what they are before we judge them,” she says.

She is looking for a child actor between six to eight-years-old; seven to 11 years old to play the role of the school bully; two girls, six to eight-years-old; and a group of boys for a gang scene. Also required for parts is a mature male actor between 24-37 years and children between the ages of 7-12 as extras.
Further info: laila_187@hotmail.com or globalpictures_enquiries@hotmail.com

A Bollywood film starring Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan is in contention for a Bafta award.

The period epic Jodhaa Akbar is competing in the Best Foreign Film Category.

It is directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, whose previous film Lagaan was nominated for an Oscar in 2001 as Best Foreign Language Film.
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The hotly anticipated film Slumdog Millionaire opened in North America this weekend to financial success.

The film sees British actor Dev Patel (from Channel 4’s Skins) play Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”
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The London Film Festival has announced a major event for this year’s calendar titled: UK and India:The Shape of Things to Come.

Co-sponsored by the UK Film Council, it will explore the implications of the recent UK-India co-production treaty.
www.lff.org.uk

Director Smita Bhide’s debut feature film, The Blue Tower, has been nominated for Best UK Feature at the Raindance Film Festival this year.

The film’s stars include Manjinder Virk (Britz), Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker), Indira Joshi (Kumars at No 42), Madhav Sharma (Coronation Street) and Abhin Galeya (The Bill’s Arun Ghir, pictured) as the hapless hero, Mohan.
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