BBC2 Big Dreams to highlight Asian community achievement
7th October, 2003
Celebrating the dynamic impact that Asian communities have had on the UK is one of the key themes running through BBC TWO’s season of Asian programmes this autumn. The Big Dreams season looks at Asian life in Britain and the crossover between the two cultures.
The series starts in the last week of October on BBC2.
Jane Root, Controller of BBC2 says: "The success and impact of Britain’s Asian communities is one of the great stories of today. Big Dreams is an exciting season, with a range of programmes from drama, comedy, and factual, which examine issues that in some cases are as relevant to being British as they are to being Asian."
The season showcases a range of writers, actors and documentary makers.
Tommy Nagra, Executive Producer of the BBC’s Asian Programmes Unit says: "The Big Dreams season is a great opportunity to highlight and showcase the wide range of interesting and entertaining programmes available to our Asian audiences and beyond."
HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE - THE ASIAN WAY
With more Asians than ever before in the list of the UK's richest people, Adrian Chiles examines the reasons for their spectacular success. He finds incredible rags to riches fairy tales of first generation immigrants and their children's efforts to build on their success.
In Derby, Adrian takes a master class in cooking with Britain's richest Asian woman, Perween Warsi. Not content with being just a housewife and dissatisfied with the quality of Asian food in the country, she set up her company supplying Asian food to our supermarkets.
Britian's second richest Asian man, Vijay Patel, based in Essex, bought one pharmacy and ended up with a chain of 21. He then set up his own drug company and hopes to rival the big boys like Glaxo. Run by himself and his brother Bhiku, their company, Waymade Pharmaceuticals is worth £300m and other assets add £40m to their wealth.
The Indian Beer King, Karan Bilimoria, set up his beer brand from scratch and now owns one of the fastest growing beer brands in the UK. Adrian joins him as he re-launches his new team Saatchi advertising campaigns.
In Glasgow, Charan Gill is known as the Curry King. He owns a chain of restaurants called the Harlequin group and has also diversified into property. Adrian visits one of Charan's Ashoka Shak restaurants and gets into the spirit on a night out at his Curry Karaoke Club. He sees how the idea of Asian fast food or 'Asian tapas' is going at the Ashoka Shak restaurant.
Raj Kundra's friends call him a 'glorified Del-Boy'. The 27 year old invites Adrian to visit his £5m mansion and takes him on a night out to a casino. Raj made his money importing pashminas and introducing the concept of fusion jewellery to the Western market.
THE JOY OF CURRY
Every week, two and a half million people flock to Britain's 9,000 curry houses. It is estimated that 70 million curries are eaten a year, making it a multi million pound industry and one of the biggest Asian success stories of our time. Narrated by Neil Morrisey, The Joy of Curry tells the story of how the humble dish has captured the hearts, minds and tastebuds of an adoring British public.
Celebrity curryholics including John Thompson, Terry Wogan, Anthony Worral Thompson and Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen recall tales of hot Vindaloos, rustling up Vesta's in the 70's and eating cold curry for breakfast. It takes a culinary journey back in time to the origins of flock wallpaper and the original spice girl, Madhur Jaffrey, but also features the Michelin star restaurants of today.
The Joy of Curry looks at the creation that is Chicken Tikka Masala, and the inextricable link of curry with the cold glass of lager, and it also features classic comedy clips from Red Dwarf, Auf Wiedershen Pet, The Good Life and Goodness Gracious Me.
The program will go out on Wednesday, 29th October. 8.00 - 9.00pm BBC 2.
YOU'RE BREAKING UP
In Bill Dare’s comedy You're Breaking Up Nitin Ganatra plays Deep, a man whose life spirals out of control in a series of mobile phone conversations.
Deep knows something that his girlfriend doesn't - she is pregnant. But how is he going to break the news?
INDIAN DREAM
Chris Bisson takes on his first lead role as Surender, an English teacher from a village in India who comes to England on holiday to visit the places that have inspired his favourite English writers. Indian Dream, winner of the BBC's prestigious Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award, is written by Avie Luthra.
Avie Luthra also wrote the contemporary version of the Seaman's Tale in BBC's Canterbury Tales.
What should be the trip of a lifetime is turned upside down when Surender loses his passport and is arrested at customs as an illegal immigrant. Frightened that he will have to stay in a detention centre, Surender takes flight ending up in the picturesque village of Sedgton.
Once there, he discovers that the local amateur dramatic society is missing a Puck for its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. By pretending to be the local doctor's cousin, Surender auditions for and wins the part. But Sedgton is a village which is not at all fond of immigrants, especially the illegal kind. Can Surender play Puck, woo the prettiest girl in the village and keep his true identity a secret?
Indian Dream also stars Doon Mackichan as Penny, director of A Midsummer Night's Dream; Nitin Ganatra as Dr Rajiv Reddy; Koel Purie as his sister Neeraj and Anthony Calf as David, producer of the play.
BIG DREAMS: THE ENTREPRENEURS
The various rich lists that are compiled are littered with rags to riches tales of Asians with an eye for a business opportunity. They have made their fortune with the help of entrepreneurial thinking.
In the first of two documentaries looking at the achievements of Asians in the public eye, The Entrepreneurs tells four stories of how Asian businessmen and woman have achieved success in British society through taking chances and risks in order to make money.
The Jatanias are the second richest Asian family in Britain. They made friends with the multinational companies and made their money in trading.
Kirit & Meena Pathak have the largest curry factory in the world. They have cashed in on Britain's love of curry and are a household name.
Geetie Singh started out as a waitress and made her fortune by opening Britain's first chain of organic pubs with her work partner Esther Boulton. Geetie has won numerous business awards.
And Zahid Din has made his million by selling fast cars. He started selling them from his spare bedroom three years ago, and he is now a millionaire with one of the highest turnovers in luxury cars in Britain.
The Entrepreneurs documentary will be broadcast on Tuesday 21st October, 11.20 - 12.00 midnight BBC 2
BIG DREAMS: BREAKING THE MOULD
With British Asians successfully making their mark in traditional professions such as Medicine, Law and Business, today there is a new generation of British Asians who are breaking the mould.
In the second of two documentaries looking at the achievements of Asians in the public eye, Breaking The Mould tells three stories of how British Asians have achieved success in society by breaking new ground and making their mark in unchartered professions.
After the box office hit Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha has become a film director of international renown.
Shazia Mirza gave up the day job as a teacher to become Britain's leading female Muslim stand up comedian.
And Parmjit Dhanda, a working class boy from Southall and son of a hospital cleaner, is the MP for Gloucester and one of only eight Asian Members of the House of Commons.
Breaking The Mould documentary will be broadcast on Wednesday 22nd October, 11.20 - 12.00 midnight BBC 2.
For more information on these programs, contact Sarah Boswell at the BBC. Tel: 0121 432 8315.
The series starts in the last week of October on BBC2.
Jane Root, Controller of BBC2 says: "The success and impact of Britain’s Asian communities is one of the great stories of today. Big Dreams is an exciting season, with a range of programmes from drama, comedy, and factual, which examine issues that in some cases are as relevant to being British as they are to being Asian."
The season showcases a range of writers, actors and documentary makers.
Tommy Nagra, Executive Producer of the BBC’s Asian Programmes Unit says: "The Big Dreams season is a great opportunity to highlight and showcase the wide range of interesting and entertaining programmes available to our Asian audiences and beyond."
HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE - THE ASIAN WAY
With more Asians than ever before in the list of the UK's richest people, Adrian Chiles examines the reasons for their spectacular success. He finds incredible rags to riches fairy tales of first generation immigrants and their children's efforts to build on their success. In Derby, Adrian takes a master class in cooking with Britain's richest Asian woman, Perween Warsi. Not content with being just a housewife and dissatisfied with the quality of Asian food in the country, she set up her company supplying Asian food to our supermarkets.
Britian's second richest Asian man, Vijay Patel, based in Essex, bought one pharmacy and ended up with a chain of 21. He then set up his own drug company and hopes to rival the big boys like Glaxo. Run by himself and his brother Bhiku, their company, Waymade Pharmaceuticals is worth £300m and other assets add £40m to their wealth.
The Indian Beer King, Karan Bilimoria, set up his beer brand from scratch and now owns one of the fastest growing beer brands in the UK. Adrian joins him as he re-launches his new team Saatchi advertising campaigns.
In Glasgow, Charan Gill is known as the Curry King. He owns a chain of restaurants called the Harlequin group and has also diversified into property. Adrian visits one of Charan's Ashoka Shak restaurants and gets into the spirit on a night out at his Curry Karaoke Club. He sees how the idea of Asian fast food or 'Asian tapas' is going at the Ashoka Shak restaurant.
Raj Kundra's friends call him a 'glorified Del-Boy'. The 27 year old invites Adrian to visit his £5m mansion and takes him on a night out to a casino. Raj made his money importing pashminas and introducing the concept of fusion jewellery to the Western market.
THE JOY OF CURRY
Every week, two and a half million people flock to Britain's 9,000 curry houses. It is estimated that 70 million curries are eaten a year, making it a multi million pound industry and one of the biggest Asian success stories of our time. Narrated by Neil Morrisey, The Joy of Curry tells the story of how the humble dish has captured the hearts, minds and tastebuds of an adoring British public. Celebrity curryholics including John Thompson, Terry Wogan, Anthony Worral Thompson and Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen recall tales of hot Vindaloos, rustling up Vesta's in the 70's and eating cold curry for breakfast. It takes a culinary journey back in time to the origins of flock wallpaper and the original spice girl, Madhur Jaffrey, but also features the Michelin star restaurants of today.
The Joy of Curry looks at the creation that is Chicken Tikka Masala, and the inextricable link of curry with the cold glass of lager, and it also features classic comedy clips from Red Dwarf, Auf Wiedershen Pet, The Good Life and Goodness Gracious Me.
The program will go out on Wednesday, 29th October. 8.00 - 9.00pm BBC 2.
YOU'RE BREAKING UP
In Bill Dare’s comedy You're Breaking Up Nitin Ganatra plays Deep, a man whose life spirals out of control in a series of mobile phone conversations.
Deep knows something that his girlfriend doesn't - she is pregnant. But how is he going to break the news?
INDIAN DREAM
Chris Bisson takes on his first lead role as Surender, an English teacher from a village in India who comes to England on holiday to visit the places that have inspired his favourite English writers. Indian Dream, winner of the BBC's prestigious Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award, is written by Avie Luthra. Avie Luthra also wrote the contemporary version of the Seaman's Tale in BBC's Canterbury Tales.
What should be the trip of a lifetime is turned upside down when Surender loses his passport and is arrested at customs as an illegal immigrant. Frightened that he will have to stay in a detention centre, Surender takes flight ending up in the picturesque village of Sedgton.
Once there, he discovers that the local amateur dramatic society is missing a Puck for its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. By pretending to be the local doctor's cousin, Surender auditions for and wins the part. But Sedgton is a village which is not at all fond of immigrants, especially the illegal kind. Can Surender play Puck, woo the prettiest girl in the village and keep his true identity a secret?
Indian Dream also stars Doon Mackichan as Penny, director of A Midsummer Night's Dream; Nitin Ganatra as Dr Rajiv Reddy; Koel Purie as his sister Neeraj and Anthony Calf as David, producer of the play.
BIG DREAMS: THE ENTREPRENEURS
The various rich lists that are compiled are littered with rags to riches tales of Asians with an eye for a business opportunity. They have made their fortune with the help of entrepreneurial thinking. In the first of two documentaries looking at the achievements of Asians in the public eye, The Entrepreneurs tells four stories of how Asian businessmen and woman have achieved success in British society through taking chances and risks in order to make money.
The Jatanias are the second richest Asian family in Britain. They made friends with the multinational companies and made their money in trading.
Kirit & Meena Pathak have the largest curry factory in the world. They have cashed in on Britain's love of curry and are a household name.
Geetie Singh started out as a waitress and made her fortune by opening Britain's first chain of organic pubs with her work partner Esther Boulton. Geetie has won numerous business awards.
And Zahid Din has made his million by selling fast cars. He started selling them from his spare bedroom three years ago, and he is now a millionaire with one of the highest turnovers in luxury cars in Britain.
The Entrepreneurs documentary will be broadcast on Tuesday 21st October, 11.20 - 12.00 midnight BBC 2
BIG DREAMS: BREAKING THE MOULD
With British Asians successfully making their mark in traditional professions such as Medicine, Law and Business, today there is a new generation of British Asians who are breaking the mould. In the second of two documentaries looking at the achievements of Asians in the public eye, Breaking The Mould tells three stories of how British Asians have achieved success in society by breaking new ground and making their mark in unchartered professions.
After the box office hit Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha has become a film director of international renown.
Shazia Mirza gave up the day job as a teacher to become Britain's leading female Muslim stand up comedian.
And Parmjit Dhanda, a working class boy from Southall and son of a hospital cleaner, is the MP for Gloucester and one of only eight Asian Members of the House of Commons.
Breaking The Mould documentary will be broadcast on Wednesday 22nd October, 11.20 - 12.00 midnight BBC 2.
For more information on these programs, contact Sarah Boswell at the BBC. Tel: 0121 432 8315.
