Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment
Malkit Singh

LEGENDS AT DESI LIVE

MUSIC fans are in for a real treat next Saturday (23) at Forum in Birmingham with the Desi Live show.


The actionpacked line-up of great British bhangra legends including Malkit Singh, Apna Sangeet, Shin DCS, Premi Johal and Channi Singh of Alaap will deliver their greatest hits, at what promises to be a brilliant concert.

The music icons will be supported by AJD, Dipps Bhamrah, Tarli Digital and host Harpz Kaur. www.fatsoma. com/desilive

SAWHNEY’S HEARTFELT PIECE

Nitin Sawhney

A FORTHCOMING performance from Nitin Sawhney at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on December 5 is set to take on added resonance.

Apart from performing tracks from his albums Prophesy, Beyond Skin, Immigrants, and Identity alongside the Hallé orchestra, the music maestro will deliver a specially written piece documenting his experience of a heart attack earlier this year.

He has tried to capture the feelings, internal psychology and aftermath of the cardiovascular episode.

TRACKING INSTA SUCCESS

Vivek Agrawal

AMERICAN r’n’b singer Vivek Agrawal regularly delivers English-language versions of Bollywood songs on his Instagram account.

Some of the popular film tracks he has put a western spin on include Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai, Dil Deewana and Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai. He also creates a wide array of other songs including originals and fusion ones that mix up languages.

You can follow the talented star on Instagram: @Viagrawal

SEE NAYANTHARA IN NEW LIGHT

Nayanthara

SHE may be a major south Indian movie star, but many saw Nayanthara for the first time in 2023 blockbuster hit Jawan, opposite Shah Rukh Khan. This week, there is a chance to find out a lot more about the celebrated actress in a new documentary about her titled Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale, which has a Netflix premiere on her birthday, next Monday (18).

The film explores her journey from humble beginnings to finding huge success in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. It also explores her relationship with director Vignesh Shivan, with whom she tied the knot in June 2022.

SONG ABOUT SIKH GENOCIDE

Beant

TALENTED young British rap talent Beant has impressed music fans with his lyrically strong tracks.

The MC has just delivered his most personal release with Widow’s Song. He told me the song is inspired by the Sikh genocide in 1984 and the colony in Delhi, where widows who survived the massacre live.

He explained: “These women experienced harrowing, state-orchestrated violence and subsequently suffered years of torment, harassment, and abuse as they sought justice. Their story is one that, in my opinion, is not known enough. I hope to bring some attention and a different perspective to audiences. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of that genocide, providing a good opportunity to focus audience’s attention to it.”

Beant said he is trying to capture the pain of what happened and explore what Sikh philosophy and teachings say about events like this. Even though the events happened before he was born, the musician has had the subject close to his heart for a long time and spent many months working on the song.

“I hope my attempt does some justice to those personally affected by the violence. I’m keen to demonstrate the Sikh notion of chardi kala (rising spirits) while accurately portraying the events of the genocide.”

Beant is really happy with the song’s response and how it’s sparked conversations.

APPLAUSE FOR PAKISTANI QAWWALI GROUP

The Chahat Mahmood Ali Qawwali Group

THE brilliant Chahat Mahmood Ali Qawwali Group returned to Pakistan after an incredible 18 months that saw them play over 200 live shows across the UK.

The Pakistani music act has entertained many thousands of music fans and took their first big steps towards becoming a formidable force.

Midlands-based Abid Iqbal from Say Arts gave them a platform to show off their talent. He said: “What the Chahat Mahmood Ali Qawwali Group have achieved during their residency has been remarkable. They have worked incredibly hard, travelled all over the UK and gifted audiences’ unforgettable shows. They did all that while being away from their families. I look forward to bringing them back in February 2025 for a UK and Europe tour.”

WHY I WANT TO TALK WILL FAIL

Abhishek Bachchanin I Want To Talk

FORTHCOMING film I Want To Talk will be a huge box-office flop when it is released next Friday (22). Of course, lead star Abishek Bachchan has been on a downward trajectory for a long time, largely due to his poor film choices, but that isn’t the biggest problem associated with this comedy-drama.

The movie’s director, Shoojit Sircar, hasn’t had a major success since his 2015 film Piku and his career has had far more failures than successes. Another huge negative is its terrible title. I Want To Talk is too English for Bollywood fans, while the content will be too Indian for western audiences.

A better strategy would have been to dump it onto a streaming site, but they likely didn’t have anyone willing to pay for it, largely due to all those red flags.

CHARLI’S BRAT POWER

Charli XCX

CHARLI XCX having an incredible impact in 2024 was recently illustrated by ‘brat’ being named as the Collins Dictionary’s word of the year.

What started off as an eye-catching title for her sixth studio album spawned a ‘brat summer’ movement that inspired social media trends, fashion, and inner confidence. She also redefined the word to incorporate, elements like, ‘confident, independent and hedonistic’, which resonated with people globally.

That momentum of a hit album, global ‘brat’ movement, superb songs, awards and sold-out arena shows will continue this week on iconic American comedy show Saturday Night Live. The half-Indian British pop sensation will host the episode on Saturday (16) and be the special musical guest. This means that fans will get to see Charli show off her comic acting skills and perform some of her hit songs. UK fans can catch her live at O2 Arena in London on November 28.

More For You

Comment: Populist right thrives amid polarised migration debate

DIVISIVE AGENDA:Police clash withprotesters outside Epping councilafter a march from the Bell Hotelhousing asylum seekers last Sunday(31)

Getty Images

Comment: Populist right thrives amid polarised migration debate

August is dubbed 'the silly season’ as the media must fill the airwaves with little going on. But there was a more sinister undertone to how that vacation news vacuum got filled this year. The recurring story of the political summer was the populist right’s confidence in setting the agenda and the anxiety of opponents about how to respond.

Tensions were simmering over asylum. Yet frequent predictions of mass unrest failed to materialise. The patchwork of local protests and counter-protests had a strikingly different geography to last summer. The sporadic efforts of disorder came in the affluent southern suburbs of Epping and Hillingdon, Canary Wharf and Cheshunt with no disorder and few large protests in the thirty towns that saw riots last August. Prosecutions, removing local ringleaders, deter. Local cohesion has been a higher priority where violence broke out than everywhere else. Hotel use for asylum has halved - and is more common in the south. The Home Office went to court to keep asylum seekers in Epping’s Bell Hotel, for now, yet stresses its goal to stop using hotels by 2029. The Refugee Council’s pragmatic suggestion of giving time-limited leave to remain to asylum seekers from the five most dangerous countries could halve the need for hotels within months.

Keep ReadingShow less
Media’s new hate figure?
Naga Munchetty

Media’s new hate figure?

NAGA MUNCHETTY should feel secretly pleased that after Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, she has become the number one hate figure in the media, especially for white women feature writers who earn less than her £360,000.

Naga apparently gets cross with junior staff who don’t do her toast right – it apparently has to be burnt the way she likes it.

Keep ReadingShow less
tulip-siddiq-getty

Tulip Siddiq

Getty Images

Comment: Why Asian women in politics can’t afford a single misstep

HERE’S a list of Asian women politicians who have got into trouble in recent years for one reason or another – Rushanara Ali, Tulip Siddiq, Suella Braverman, Priti Patel, Baroness Pola Uddin and Rupa Huq.

Is it that they are held to higher standards than others? Or do some allow their greed to get the better of themselves, especially when it comes to expenses?

Keep ReadingShow less
VJ Day at 80: How India’s fight altered history’s arc

The Cross of Sacrifice and outline of the tennis court at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Kohima

VJ Day at 80: How India’s fight altered history’s arc

AS THE King and prime minister lead the 80th anniversary commemorations of VJ Day on Friday (15), this may be the last poignant major wartime anniversary where the last few who fought that war can be present.

Everybody knows we won the second world war against Hitler. But how many could confidently explain the complex jigsaw across different theatres of the wider global conflict? The anniversary is a chance too for the rest of us to learn a little more about a history that most people wish they knew better.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kemi Badenoch’s identity politics

Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch’s identity politics

THE headline in the Daily Telegraph read: “Kemi Badenoch: I no longer identify as Nigerian.”

The Tory leader, Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke, was born in Wimbledon on January 2, 1980. But her parents returned to Nigeria where she grew up until she was 16. She returned to the UK and is now married to Hamish Badenoch and the couple have two daughters and a son.

Keep ReadingShow less