Pooja Pillai is an entertainment journalist with Asian Media Group, where she covers cinema, pop culture, internet trends, and the politics of representation. Her work spans interviews, cultural features, and social commentary across digital platforms.
She began her reporting career as a news anchor, scripting and presenting stories for a regional newsroom. With a background in journalism and media studies, she has since built a body of work exploring how entertainment intersects with social and cultural shifts, particularly through a South Indian lens.
She brings both newsroom rigour and narrative curiosity to her work, and believes the best stories don’t just inform — they reveal what we didn’t know we needed to hear.
Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor chose a quiet family evening over the much-awaited Guns N’ Roses concert in Mumbai this past weekend. Instead of joining the crowd at Mahalaxmi Race Course, she stayed home with her husband Saif Ali Khan and their children, enjoying a cosy music session together.
Kareena shared a glimpse of this private moment on Instagram. She posted a photo of Saif patiently teaching Taimur to play the guitar, with the young boy sitting on a stool, fully absorbed in learning. Kareena captured this from outside the room, framing the father and son in a warm, candid shot. She wrote, “Might have missed Guns N’ Roses… but I got my own band,” adding fire and heart emojis to the story.
Saif Ali Khan teaching Taimur guitar during a cozy family jam sessionInstagram Screengrab/Kareena Kapoor Khan
This intimate jam session highlighted a different side of the Kapoor-Khan family, one filled with simple pleasures and shared moments rather than the usual glitz. For Kareena, these moments clearly matter more than attending a big public event, no matter how exciting.
Meanwhile, the Guns N’ Roses concert marked the legendary band’s first performance in India in 13 years. The iconic lineup, including Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan, returned with their touring band for a high-energy show packed with classics like “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “November Rain.” The Mumbai crowd’s excitement was palpable, with Axl Rose expressing his happiness to be back on stage in the city.
Kareena Kapoor shares a rare glimpse of her husband and son bonding over musicInstagram Screengrab/Kareena Kapoor Khan
On the professional front, Kareena was last seen in Rohit Shetty’s action film Singham Again, sharing screen space with big names like Ajay Devgn and Deepika Padukone. Rumours suggest she may next star in Meghna Gulzar’s upcoming project, tentatively called Daayra, alongside Malayalam actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, though details remain unconfirmed.
While Guns N’ Roses rocked Mumbai, Kareena found her own kind of music and magic at home and sometimes, the best concerts happen right in your living room with loved ones.
BBC Asian Network is starting a new show called Asian Network Trending.
The show runs for two hours every week and is made for young British Asians.
It covers the topics that matter most to them like what’s trending online, questions of identity, mental health etc.
Amber Haque and the other hosts will share the show in turns, each talking about the issues they know and care about.
The network is moving to Birmingham as part of bigger changes behind the scenes.
Speaking up isn’t always easy. This show gives young people a space where their voices can be heard. That has been the quiet reality for a lot of British South Asians. Music on the radio, sure. Bhangra, Bollywood hits, endless remixes. But real conversations about identity, family pressure, mental health? Rarely. Until now.
From 27 October, Asian Network Trending goes live every Wednesday night—two hours of speech instead of beats. The first hour dives into trending news; the second hour goes deeper into family expectations, workplace racism, LGBTQ+ issues, and mental health stigma. And it’s not just one voice. Amber Haque and other rotating presenters keep it fresh.
Young British Asians finally hearing voices that reflect their experiences and challenges Gemini AI
What exactly is Asian Network Trending?
Two shows in one, really.
First hour: the hot takes. Social media buzzing? Celebrity drama? Immigration news? Covered while it’s relevant.
Second hour: the deep dive. One topic per week, unpacked with guests and people who know what they are talking about. Mental health, dating outside culture, career pressures, unspoken hierarchies, all of it finally getting the airtime it deserves.
Head of Asian Network Ahmed Hussain said the new show was designed to give space for thoughtful and relevant conversation. “It’s a bold new space for speech, discussion and current affairs that reflects the voices, concerns and passions of British Asians today,” he said.
Why go for a rotating hosts format?
You can’t sum up the “British Asian experience” with just one voice. A kid in Leicester whose family speaks Gujarati has a very different life from a Punjabi speaker in Southall. And a Muslim teen’s day-to-day reality isn’t the same as a Hindu’s or Sikh’s. Then there’s money, family pressures, school, work, and everyone is navigating their own path.
Why now? Why speech radio?
British Asians are visible, sure. Big festivals, business power, cultural moments. Yet mainstream media often treats the community like a footnote.
Music connects to heritage, yes. But it can’t talk about why your mum nags about you becoming a doctor when you want to study film. Radio forces engagement, intimacy, and honesty.
Surveys back it up. 57% of British South Asians feel they constantly have to prove they are English. 96% say accent and name affect perception. This show is a platform for those contradictions to exist out loud.
Who’s on air and why does it matter?
Amber Haque is first up, but the rotating system means different voices each week. BBC Three and Channel 4 experience under her belt helps navigate sensitive topics without preaching.
Representation isn’t just faces. It’s who decides what stories get told, who gets to question, who sets the tone. Asian Network Trending is designed to widen that lens, not narrow it.
What topics will the show cover?
Identity and belonging: balancing Britishness and South Asian heritage.
Mental health: breaking taboos in families.
Careers: that awkward "but why?" when you mention graphic design. The side hustle your parents call a hobby.
Relationships: the 'who's their family?' interrogation. The quiet terror before saying you're gay.
Community: the aunty and her "fairness cream" comments. The gap between your life and your grandparents' world.
Challenges and stakes
British South Asians aren’t all the same. Differences in religion, language, region, and class make their experiences varied and complex. Cover one slice and you alienate the rest. Go too safe and the younger audience won’t listen. Go too risky and conservative backlash is real.
Resources are tight. Speech radio costs money: producers, researchers, fact checks. Can it sustain deep conversations without cutting corners? That is the test.
What could success look like?
Not just ratings. Real impact: young people hear themselves articulated, families spark conversations, new voices get a platform, policymakers listen. Even a single clip prompting debate online counts. The proof is in engagement, in messy human response, not charts.
A mic, not a manifesto
This launch isn’t a cure-all. It’s a step, a loud, messy one. It hands the mic to people who mostly spoke filtered, cautious words. Let it stumble, argue, and surprise. Let it be uncomfortable. If it does that even sometimes, it has already done its job. Because for the first time, British Asian youth get to hear themselves, not through music, not as a statistic, but as real, living voices.
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