An upcoming play exploring the British Asian drag community, uncovering the untold stories of men who don female personas by night, will be the company’s most provocative yet, its artistic director said.
Miss Meena and the Masala Queens follows the story of drag queen Miss Meena, whose nightclub has fallen on hard times. Just as a new face arrives with a glimmer of hope, however, Miss Meena finds himself in a moral dilemma.
Director Pravesh Kumar, who is also artistic director of Rifco...
Highlights
Most Bond fans can picture the moment. After riding a digger along a moving train, Craig's 007 jumps from the excavator into the wrecked carriage and calmly adjusts his cufflinks. The grey Tom Ford suit he wears through that Istanbul chase, the opening sequence of Skyfall (2012), is now expected to fetch £20,000 to £40,000. The lot includes the shirt, tie and cufflinks, and it is one of about 400 pieces in Propstore's James Bond auction, which ends on October 27.
| Lot | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Daniel Craig's grey Tom Ford suit, Skyfall (2012) | £20,000 to £40,000 |
| Ana de Armas's Paloma dress and sandals, No Time to Die (2021) | £20,000 to £40,000 |
| Complete set of 14 Jonathan Cape first-edition Ian Fleming Bond books | £20,000 to £40,000 |
| Dr. No (1962) British quad poster | £8,000 to £16,000 |
| Octopussy (1983) SFX model unit clapperboard | £4,000 to £8,000 |
The Fleming set covers all 12 novels and two short-story collections, each rebound in leather and housed in a matching slipcase. The Dr. No poster arrives at a fitting moment. The film premiered at London's Pavilion cinema on October 5, 1962, the date fans now mark as Global James Bond Day, which fell this week. "Bond has meant something to generations of film fans," said Propstore's Alastair McCrea, who curated the collection.
Look at the cheapest lot on the list and you find the one with an Indian story. Octopussy was the first Bond film shot partly in India. Roger Moore's 007 filmed in Udaipur in 1982, at locations including the Lake Palace, Jag Mandir and the Monsoon Palace. Tennis star Vijay Amritraj made his film debut as Bond's MI6 ally Vijay, greeting 007 at the water's edge by playing the Bond theme on a pungi. Kabir Bedi played the villain's bodyguard Gobinda, and has called himself the first Indian actor cast in a Bond film.
Director John Glen has recalled that he hired a snake handler with pythons for Amritraj's Pinewood interview, after the tennis player admitted he was afraid of snakes. In Udaipur, the snakes bolted from the heat of the arc lights, and Amritraj joined the crew in grabbing them.
One caution: the clapperboard is described as coming from the model unit used for miniature-effects sequences, and nothing in the listing ties it to the Udaipur shoot.
Craig's suit goes on sale while the job he left is still unfilled. Amazon MGM says the search for the next Bond "is underway," and producer Amy Pascal has called casting news by the end of 2026 "a good bet." Denis Villeneuve is directing and Steven Knight is writing, with Amazon looking at a 2028 release. Jacob Elordi and Callum Turner are among the names most often linked, but no actor has been announced.
One name keeps coming up on Eastern Eye's side of the conversation. Riz Ahmed pitched himself to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in March. "Traditionally, actors playing James Bond have not looked like me," he said, before joking about the height requirement and holding up a childhood photo. His Prime Video series Bait, released the same month, stars him as Shah Latif, a struggling British Pakistani actor who lands a Bond audition. Ahmed told Rolling Stone why the role carries such weight:
"We wait for new James Bonds like we wait for new monarchs."
Eastern Eye has followed his campaign for the role and how Bait plays with the idea of an Asian 007.
The two deadlines now run side by side. The auction closes on October 27, and if Pascal's "good bet" pays off, the next 007 could be named before the year is out.
