A.R. Rahman's music to Mukesh Chhabra's film 'Dil Bechara' - New Asian Post

A.R. Rahman’s music to Mukesh
Chhabra’s film ‘Dil Bechara’
Composed by the Oscar-winning legend, A. R. Rahman, the entire
music album of Mukesh Chhabra’s upcoming film, Dil Bechara,
released today as a celebration of the legacy of the late
actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who will be seen starring in the
film along with debutante, Sanjana Sanghi.

The soundtrack to Dil Bechara comprises a diverse mix of songs
with the film’s eponymous title track, sung by Rahman himself.
It is a vibrant celebration of life’s ups and downs, diving
into the soul of a generation that wears its heart on its
sleeve. Maskhari, a lighthearted song about friendship,
features Sunidhi Chauhan and Hriday Gattani on the vocals,
while Shreya Ghoshal and Mohit Chauhan’s Taare Gin plucks at
the strings of new love. On Khulke Jeena Ka, an adaptation of
Rahman’s unreleased Tamil track Kannil Oru Thali, Arijit Singh
and Shashaa Tirupathi sing about the adventures of youth. Main
Tumhara, sung by Jonita Gandhi and Hriday Gattani, is a
pivotal song on the film’s soundtrack; a revelatory track tied
to the film’s mystery. Originally incomplete in the story,
Kizzie (Sanjana Sanghi) and Manny (Sushant Singh Rajput)—the
protagonists of Dil Bechara—are on a quest to complete this
very song.

Says A.R. Rahman, “Composing music doesn’t have any formula,
it is a thing of the heart. When I write songs, I let them
breathe for some time and then present it to the director. It
was a great experience collaborating with Mukesh Chhabra on
this film; his enthusiasm is infectious. This whole album is
carefully curated because the film has so much heart, and now,
memories of Sushant. It was a pleasure to work with lyricist
Amitabh Bhattacharya on this soundtrack of love. The songs are
eclectic and feature an amazing lineup of India’s top singers
and musicians. I hope you will like the album.”

Director of the film, Mukesh Chhabra says, “Befitting the
story of the film, its music album is an emotional
rollercoaster of romance, friendship and the odds pitted
against two young people in love. Having A. R. Rahman aboard
for the music of my directorial debut is a dream come true.
What’s amazing about the genius of Rahman in this album is
that it beautifies the narrative and takes it forward.”

A Hindi adaptation of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, Dil
Bechara is a story of Kizie and Manny, two ordinary people who
fall in love as a tragic turn of events close in on them.
Produced by Fox Star Studios, directed by Mukesh Chhabra and
starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi, Dil Bechara
will be streaming on Disney Hotstar on the 24th of July,
2020. Released by Sony Music India and composed by A. R.
Rahman, the music album of the upcoming film is available to
listeners now.

Bollywood “drive-in” cinema
makes   a comeback   during
pandemic
Bollywood cinema makes a comeback during the pandemic with the
UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF), in partnership with The
Bollywood Company, presenting two drive-in screenings of
‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’. Screenings will take place on
Friday 10th July and Saturday 11th July 2020 at Ponsbourne
Park, The Drive, Newgate Street Village, Hertford SG13 8QT.
Due to popular demand, two evenings have been booked so
audiences can get the chance to enjoy the unique, outdoor
cinematic experience.

Audiences will have the chance to enjoy the modern, cult
classic on the outdoor, big screen, hosted by open-air cinema
provider, High Rise Projections. The innovative, drive-in
cinematic project, conceptualised by UK Asian Film Festival
and The Bollywood Company (BollyCo), will meet current social
distancing requirements, with a venue capacity of 60 cars per
day. Parking spaces will be allocated on arrival at the venue.
Soft drinks and cocktails will be served by London’s premier
mobile cocktail bar and mixologists, Azure Bar Events; popcorn
and snacks will be available; and Indian street food will be
served by Exclusive Caterers.

The evening will commence with a live DJ Welcome Set by DJ
Shraii, BBC Asian Network presenter and Tour DJ for Arjun
Artist and others. The live entertainment line-up will also
comprise a socially distanced, flash mob dance performance by
The Bollywood Company. For the film screening, vehicles will
be provided with audio packs to listen in, car sizes maximum
4×4. Standard Entry is for a car with maximum 4 people, while
Club Car Entry is for a vehicle with maximum 7 people.

About Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Directed by one of Indian cinema’s most prolific female
filmmakers, Zoya Akhtar, and distributed by Eros
International, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara went on to become a
seminal classic after its theatrical release in 2011. With an
ensemble cast featuring Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Farhan
Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin, the buddy road trip
movie became a globally commercial success and garnered
critical acclaim for its performances, story, music, writing
and direction. After its theatrical run, the film was
nominated for and won several awards, including two National
Film Awards.

Impact of COVID-19 crisis on
BAME-led   Indies    in   UK
Television
A third of BAME-led TV production companies are facing serious
financial hardship as a direct result of the COVID-19
pandemic, new research has revealed. Organisations were also
found to be either in ‘financial distress’ or ‘financial
crisis’ and said that they would most like to see ring-fenced
funding for BAME-led* independents to support the post-COVID
recovery.

A study carried out at Birmingham City University’s Sir Lenny

Henry Centre for Media Diversity, assessed the impact of
coronavirus on independent companies led by Black, Asian and
minority ethnic professionals. Academics surveyed 20 UK
organisations to find out how their work and businesses had
been hit by the global pandemic. It showed that two out of
three organisations were losing money or commissions as a
result of the virus, with 29 per cent of businesses saying
they were either in ‘financial distress’ or ‘financial
crisis’.

Other findings from the report include:

     Nearly half of organisations (48 per cent) are worse off
     as a result of the pandemic
     The vast majority of BAME-led indies have been unable to
     access much needed development funds
     The vast majority of BAME-led indies have not received
     government financial support
     The vast majority of BAME-led indies have not applied
     for industry relief funds
     This is clearly a sector that wants and needs targeted
     financial support for BAME-led indies, specifically from
     the industry and more generally from the government.
     20 per cent of companies had         gained   commissions
     specifically related to COVID-19.

Marcus Ryder, multi-award winning journalist and Visiting
Professor at Birmingham City University’s Sir Lenny Henry
Centre for Media Diversity, said: “BAME-led indies must be at
the centre of any policies devised by broadcasters and the
government to help them survive an unprecedented global
pandemic. We believe this report is important in demonstrating
why that’s necessary.”

The COVID-19 pandemic and growth of the Black Lives Matter
Movement has shone a light on equality and representation
across a number of sectors, including the media.

The Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity was launched in
March, with the aim of examining representation across the
industry including journalism, acting, film, TV and radio in
both front-of-house and behind the scenes roles.

* The research categorised a company as being BAME-led where
it had a CEO, MD or other senior leaders from a BAME
background.

Click here to download a copy of the A survey of BAME-led
Indies in UK Television and the impact of COVID-19 report.

Ramadan in lockdown part of
Collecting COVID project
The Museum of London is collecting images, objects and shared
experiences of Ramadan in lockdown as part of the Collecting
COVID project. The aim to reflect how the Muslim community
experienced Ramadan during lockdown by sharing images, objects
and first-hand experiences to ensure future generations of
Londoners will be able to learn about and understand this
extraordinary period. Ramadan this year was from the 23rd
April to 23rd May, at a time when London and the rest of the
UK were at the height of lockdown. With restrictions in place
such as social distancing and the closure of mosques,
communities were unable to celebrate the festival in their
usual way.

The museum has captured this through different strands
including collecting an audio recording of the public calls
for prayers at the Musallaa an-Noor mosque in Hackney,
documenting the experiences of young Muslims in West London
and working with seven groups of families or households from

various London boroughs.

Aisling Serrant, Community Engagement Manager at the Museum of
London Docklands, who is leading on the family strand of the
project said: “Some of the key parts of Ramadan, such as
spending time with family and friends and visiting the mosque,
have not been able to take place this year or had to be
adapted to virtual or socially distant means. It was important
to capture the experiences of families at this time as it was
an unprecedented experience for the many Muslims living in
London. We are in the process of collecting a range of items
ranging from photographs, film and audio recordings and
physical objects to tell the stories of these families.”

While the project is ongoing with objects and experiences
still being collected, a few reflections from participants
have been collated for release now:

Nafisa from Waltham Forest said: “Ramadan this year was in
some ways strange but in many ways more meaningful, focused
and somehow we were more spiritually connected even though we
were ‘disconnected’ from the wider community. My main
reflections were how there is beauty in everything and
pleasure in simple acts, how we can stop and take stock of our
friends and family and be grateful always for the peace we
live in despite the uncertainty of the world and to continue
to pray, do small, consistent good deeds and remember God in
good times too.

I hope future generations looking at our experience will
ponder and reflect on their own lives, their own relationships
and be grateful for the little things and find value in non-
material things. That they will see that whatever life throws
at them, it is important to find the silver lining. To have
hope in the darkest of times and to take resilience, strength
and comfort from our stories.”

Iffath from Croydon said: “I am an Anaesthetic Nurse and

wanted to take part in the Museum of London’s collecting
project in order to represent the frontline NHS staff who
embraced this challenging Ramadan and allow future generations
to learn that fasting in PPE was challenging physically,
however, mentally it strengthens your mind and helps you grow
as a person. My main reflections of celebrating Ramadan in
lockdown were how important it is to slow down in life, absorb
the beauty around us, and finally, that there is always so
much more we can do for our community.”

The Collecting COVID project is hoping to collect both
physical and digital objects, reflecting the voices and
experiences of a broad range of Londoners. From those working
on the front line to those quietly working in the background,
from parents turned home-school support to young people online
gaming, the museum wants to collect objects from those that
can tell the story of London in lockdown.

About the Museum of London

The Museum of London tells the ever-changing story of this
great world city and its people, from 450,000 BC to the
present day. Our galleries, exhibitions, displays and
activities seek to inspire a passion for London and provide a
sense of the vibrancy that makes the city such a unique
place. You can explore the Museum of London with collections
online – home to 90,000 objects with more being added.

For further information visit www.museumoflondon.org.uk.

Raja Kumari releases ‘Peace’,

a mantra of positivity and
optimism
The trailblazing rapper, singer, songwriter and dancer Raja
Kumari today released ‘Peace’, the new single from her
forthcoming album debut on the Mass Appeal India label. An
unexpectedly chill-tempo jam coupled with dreamy immersive
beats; ‘I got peace all around me, ain’t no drama these days’
a reflective Kumari affirms in the single that marries Khari
Brown’s layered production with Elvis Brown’s distinctive
lyrics.

The Indian-American music trailblazer takes the listener on a
euphoric journey through her tranquil headspace, processing
reality through her songwriting, accompanied by a cinematic
video depiction featuring her revelling in nature as a visual
reflection of her enlightenment. Delving into the themes of
manifestation, optimism and spirituality, the R&B single is
ultimately hopeful, empathetic, and supremely welcome at a
moment when it’s easy to start feeling like everything looks
pretty uncertain and unsettling.

Tough topics to wrap one’s head around, for sure, but Raja
Kumari seems undaunted by the prospect, she elaborates,
“Mentally, I knew I had to reset in order to focus on myself
and my family, and this song was written as a mantra of
positive affirmations for peace in my life. We shot this video
in the middle of quarantine. Although I’m used to having a big
crew on set to handle everything from location scouting to
glam and makeup, all I had in LA was me and Shawn Thomas
(long-time director and collaborator) and the help of my
manager and assistant (all socially distanced with masks!). It
definitely was a challenge to start from the beginning again,
doing all the styling and hair and makeup myself. The video
was shot between Antelope Valley and Mt Baldy, the beautiful
scenic area behind my parent’s home. Solitude had been a huge

theme in the beginning of quarantine and as the world opens
up, I wanted to encourage people to look within themselves to
find true inner peace.”

Devraj Sanyal, MD & CEO of UMG, India & South Asia states,
“These last three and some months have been the worst phase in
the world with uncertainty and negativity like we’ve never
experienced before. So, for us to have a song of positive
manifestations by Raja Kumari is a welcomed one not just for
our roster, but for the world at large. Every time I hear
‘PEACE’ I feel an incredible sense of calm and I’m sure you
will too. It’s classic Raja and it’s a fun one too, with the
usual trappings of her inimitable style and song. ”

About Mass Appeal India

Based in Mumbai, Mass Appeal India is the first global
extension of the Mass Appeal brand, a multi-media
entertainment platform dedicated to amplifying India’s
burgeoning hip-hop culture on a global scale. In partnership
with Universal Music Group, Mass Appeal India signs and
collaborates with the brightest stars from India’s fastest
growing music scene and works with brands and content creators
to connect India’s unique culture with a worldwide audience.

About Raja Kumari

Indian-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer Raja
Kumari is a force of nature. A fearless, charismatic
personality and natural-born storyteller, her mission is to
create art that blends her Indian roots with her American
upbringing. Her music is a sonic bridge between East and West
that fuses the rhythms she absorbed as a trained classical
Indian dancer with her love for hip-hop.

Kumari made her initial impact on global pop music as a
sought-after songwriter. The creative force behind hits like
Fall Out Boy’s multiplatinum smash “Centuries,” Iggy Azalea’s

“Change Your Life” [feat. T.I.], Fifth Harmony’s “Like Mariah”
[feat. Tyga], music for the hit Fox show “Empire,” and
numerous anthems for Gwen Stefani have earned her acclaim and
accolades across the board. Notably, she received a GRAMMY®
nomination for her work with Azelea and a BMI Pop Award for
her work with Fall Out Boy.

Emerging as a disruptive force in hip-hop in her own right,
Kumari released her debut EP, The Come Up, in 2016. Her solo
material has received acclaim and attention from the likes of
Billboard, Paper Magazine, Idolator and Complex and has been
featured overseas by the likes of Rolling Stone, Vogue,
Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and GQ in India. Recently she
performed on the Red Bull Tour Bus tour which showcases
breakthrough artists throughout India, and performed as a
guest on Amazon Prime’s digital reality show “The Remix”.
Sharing the stage with Academy Award-winning composer A. R.
Rahman on tour last year at the SSE Arena Wembley, as well as
at the 2017 IIFA Awards at MetLife Stadium, Raja continues to
collaborate with other artists throughout the world and was
recently featured on the international banger “Vamos”, which
cracked over 10 million YouTube views in under one week.

Raja Kumari’s talents extend beyond the studio, having
recently co-starred in the acclaimed movie Gully Boy. She also
is the host and curator of her own Apple Music Beats 1 show,
The New India, where she spotlights some of India’s brightest
new talents.

She is a series judge and mentor on MTV Hustle, India’s first
rap-reality show, which debuted in August 2019, and will
return once again reprise her role as a judge and mentor on
the panel when the show airs later this year. Kumari is a
global face of MAC Cosmetics and the first female rapper to be
signed to Nas’ Mass Appeal. Last year she became the first
India to host the “American Music Awards Red Carpet Live and
also to perform at the Formula One (F1) Singapore Grand Prix.
More recently she hosted REVOLT’s Internationally Known Raja

where she shared her curated mix of the hottest music videos
and artists from India’s exploding hip hop scene, as well as
“So Far: Raja Kumari”, a documentary detailing her journey as
a songwriter in LA and her battle facing stereotypes and
stigmas to find success

Eagerly    awaited     biopic
Shakuntala Devi to release on
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime Video announced the global premiere of the
eagerly awaited Hindi title, Shakuntala Devi on the streaming
service will be on 31st July 2020. Directed by Anu Menon
(Waiting, Four More Shots Please S1) and produced by Sony
Pictures Networks Productions and Vikram Malhotra of
Abundantia Entertainment, the biographical drama stars
National Award winning actress Vidya Balan in the lead,
essaying the role of the globally renowned Indian mathematics
genius, who was popularly known as the ‘human computer’.

Shakuntala Devi also stars Sanya Malhotra (Dangal, Badhaai
Ho), who will be seen playing the role of Shakuntala Devi’s
daughter with whom the genius enjoyed a complicated but
extraordinary relationship, alongside Jisshu Sengupta
(Mardaani 2) and Amit Sadh (Breathe, Kai Po Che) in pivotal
roles.

The screenplay is written by Anu Menon and Nayanika Mahtani,
while the dialogues are penned by Ishita Moitra. Prime members
in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide can watch
the endearing story of Shakuntala Devi starting 31st July

2020.

About Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video is a premium streaming service that offers
Prime members a collection of award winning Amazon Original
series, thousands of movies and TV shows—all with the ease of
finding what they love to watch in one place. Find out more at
PrimeVideo.com.

About Abundantia

Founded in 2013, Abundantia is India’s premier content company
focused on developing and producing progressive, insight-based
and uniquely Indian stories for a global audience. Operating
across Film, TV and Digital platforms, Abundantia’s first
title, Baby, met with spectacular success in 2015 and its next
film, Airlift (2016), was a massive hit at the box-office,
earning unprecedented critical and audience acclaim.
Abundantia notched up another winner with Toilet-Ek Prem Katha
and also boasts of titles like Chef – the remake of Jon
Favreau’s Hollywood indie by the same name as part of its
filmography.

In 2017, Abundantia created a buzz in the digital space with
India’s premiere Amazon Original, Breathe. The second season
of the show, which marks the digital debut of movie star
Abhishek Bachchan, will be released on 10 July, 2020. In March
2019, Abundantia also announced its latest series, THE END,
which has Indian superstar Akshay Kumar leading the cast.
There is an active pipeline of digital content under
development at Abundantia, which includes a serialized drama
based on the book Men Who Killed Gandhi, and a multi-season
procedural crime-drama series on the bestselling Rita Ferreira
books.

Commonwealth  Short Story
Prize 2020 won by Kritika
Pandey
Kritika Pandey was announced as the winner of the 2020
Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her story ‘The Great Indian
Tee and Snakes’ on 30th June 2020.      The 2020 Prize, which
attracted over 5000 entries from 49 countries, was judged by
an international panel of writers, representing each of the
five regions of the Commonwealth. Chaired by Nii Ayikwei
Parkes, the 2020 panel comprised South African writer and
musician Mohale Mashigo (Judge for Africa), Executive Director
of the Singapore Books Council William Phuan (Asia), Canadian
author Heather O’Neill (Canada and Europe), Trinidadian
scholar and writer Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw (Caribbean), and
Australian writer and arts organiser Nic Low (Pacific).

‘I’ve experienced every possible emotion ever since I received
the news. At times, I’m overwhelmed with joy, gratitude, and a
sense of fulfilment or reeling with disbelief. At other times,
I’m devastated by the fate of my fictional characters who seem
all too real to me, a feeling compounded by the tragedies
presently unfolding around us. However, more than anything
else, this prize strengthens my will to write. It tells me
that all those days when I lock myself in my room to stare
into a computer screen, unsettled and unsure, might just be a
worthwhile way of engaging with the world. It reminds me that
I must, therefore, continue to inquire into the human
condition, to make sense of existence, to listen carefully, to
resist, and to hope,” said Kritika Pandey.

Kritika Pandey’s winning story, ‘The Great Indian Tee and

Snakes’, tells of an unlikely friendship which reaches across
religious divides, set against the background of a tea
seller’s stall. She writes of two young people trying to solve
an age-old riddle of human existence: how can love overcome
the forces of hatred and prejudice? Pandey says, ‘I created a
strong-willed character of a Hindu girl who chooses to love a
Muslim boy, even though she knows that she is not “supposed
to”.’

The award was presented by the Chair of the 2020 judging
panel, acclaimed Ghanaian writer and editor, Nii Ayikwei
Parkes in an online ceremony. An extract from the story was
read at the ceremony by award-winning Bollywood actress Swara
Bhasker.

                The Great Indian Tee and Snakes & Other
                Stories
                by Kritika Pandey, Innocent Chizaram Ilo,
                Reyah Martin, Brian S Heap & Andrea E. Macleod
                Published in Paperback
                Publisher: Paper + Ink (1 July 2020)
                Language: English, 102 pages
                ISBN-10: 1911475452
                Guide Price: £4.99
Click to buy Paperback

Synopsis

This collection is titled after the overall 2020 winner by
India s Kritika Pandey a sharp, unsparing tale of two young
people whose paths cross briefly before they are separated by
hatred and prejudice. The other winning stories by Innocent
Chizaram Ilo (Nigeria), Reyah Martin (Scotland), Brian S. Heap
(Jamaica) and Andrea E. Macleod (Australia) are haunting and

poignant tales of different realities, both starkly familiar
and at a slight, dreamlike remove.

‘The Great India Tee and Snakes is a gut-punch of a story,
remarkable because, in spite of its fraught subject matter, it
never neglects the beauty of the world in which the story
unfolds. Kritika Pandey infuses the tale with empathy and
balance, allowing the characters to inhabit themselves fully,
while dragging the narrative to its inevitable end. It’s a
story that asks important questions about identity, prejudice
and nationhood, using metaphors with devastating effect, while
still brimming with its author’s revelry in the possibilities
of language. Its charged conclusion is all the more shocking
given that most of it is set at a tea seller’s stall and its
energy derives from a few looks between a boy and a girl. My
fellow judges and I loved the story when we first read it, and
love it more each time we read it. Congratulations to
Kritika!,” said Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Chair of the Judges.

About Kritika Pandey

Kritika Pandey is a Pushcart-nominated Indian writer and a
final year candidate for a Master of Fine Arts at the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a recipient of a
2020 grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation. Her works are
forthcoming or have appeared in Guernica, The Common, The
Bombay Literary Magazine, Raleigh Review, and UCity Review,
among others. She has won the Harvey Swados Fiction Prize, the
Cara Parravani Memorial Award, and the Charles Wallace
Scholarship for Creative Writing at the University of
Edinburgh.

About the Commonwealth Short Story Prize

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize, now in its ninth year, is
one of the world’s most dynamic literary honours. Spanning
fifty-four countries, it is awarded for the best short fiction

from the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and
Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Commonwealth Short
Story Prize 2020 regional winners are: Africa winner Innocent
Chizaram Ilo (Nigeria), Canada and Europe winner Reyah Martin
(United Kingdom), Caribbean winner Brian S. Heap (Jamaica),
and Pacific winner Andrea E. Macleod (Australia).

In partnership with Commonwealth Writers, the literary
magazine Granta publishes online all the regional winners of
the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, including ‘The Great
Indian Tee and Snakes.’

For further details about the Commonwealth Short Story Prize
visit https://www.commonwealthwriters.org/

Hina Khan stars in ZEE5
Global’s first tech-horror
film ‘Unlock’
ZEE5 Global premieres its unconventional thriller in Unlock,
starring Hina Khan and Kushal Tandon, directly to its
streaming services this month. Directed by Debatma Mandal,
Unlock also features former Miss India World 2015, Aditi Arya.
Produced by Wind Horse Films and Krasnaya Corporation, Unlock
is a story about a haunted app that grants one’s darkest
wishes but with consequences. The plot revolves around the
protagonist, Suhani, who finds herself in possession of a
deviant mobile app while trying her best to not lose the man
of her dreams, Amar, to her roommate Riddhi.

The official trailer showcases glimpses of what the malicious
app is capable of. The sequence of events portrayed in the

trailer depicts the platform’s unique take on the dark genre
and sets a spine-chilling experience for viewers. Actor Hina
Khan shares, “Technology is changing so fast and its reach is
growing immensely. With ‘Unlock – The Haunted App’, we are
showcasing the dark side of the web which a lot of people are
unaware of. I’m glad for this association with ZEE5 and
excited about this interesting film.”

Actor Kushal Tandon shares, “The genre of the dark web is not
explored in Bollywood and is extremely synonymous to the times
we are living in. The reality is getting blurred with digital
advancement and, who knows, soon we will have an assistant
voice as our best friend!”

About ZEE5 Global

ZEE5 is the digital entertainment destination launched by Zee
Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), a global Media and
Entertainment powerhouse. The platform launched across 190+
countries in October 2018 and has content across 17 languages;
Hindi, English, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,
Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, and now also five
international languages -Malay, Thai, Bahasa, German and
Russian. ZEE5 is home to 100,000 hours of On Demand Content
and 60+ live TV channels. ZEE5 offers features like 16
navigational languages, content download option, seamless
video playback and Voice Search.

The ZEE5 App can be downloaded from Google Play Store or the
iOS App Store. ZEE5 is also available on www.ZEE5.com. The app
is also available on Samsung Smart TV, Apple TV, Android TV,
Now TV, Roku devices and Amazon Fire TV.

New Digital London Indian
Film Festival, 25th June –
5th July 2020
The   Bagri   Foundation   London   Indian   Film   Festival   and
Birmingham Indian Film Festival have joined forces to offer a
spectacular showcase of films and “In Conversation” interviews
by leading South Asian talent from 25th June to the 5th July
2020.

This includes the UK Premieres of much awaited films including
Bollywood Director Prakash Jha’s upward mobility schooling
drama Pareeksha, the searing gangster feature Moothon and the
‘American Pie’ style comedy The MisEducation of Bindu, among
others.

After being challenged by the global pandemic, the festival
has    morphed     into    an    online     offering     with
www.LoveLIFFAtHome.com as the UK and Europe’s largest showcase
of Indian Subcontinental cinema, showcasing the UK’s lockdown
audiences a free programme, filled to the brim with great
movies including rarely seen classics such as Kerala stalwart,
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s BFI Sutherland Trophy winner
Elippathayam (Rat-Trap), Bengali master, Buddhadeb Das Gupta’s
epic award-winning tale Uttara (The Wrestlers) through to the
visually ravishing widescreen vista of Sturla Gunnerson’s
documentary Monsoon.

By complete contrast are new conversations with some of
India’s hottest Bollywood talent including Ayushmann Khuranna
who talks candidly about his rapid rise to fame from Vicky
Donor to latest hits Article 15 which world premiered at the
festival last year, through to the pan-Indian heroine of all
seasons Vidya Balan, who discusses her new short film Natkhat
and the importance of safeguarding women’s rights, while

acclaimed character actor Adil Hussain gives rare insights
into his craft.

The festival finishes with conversations by some of the
world’s best loved Indian talent including Hollywood star
Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, Love Sonia) and Canadian
director Deepa Mehta (Fire, Earth, Water) talking about their
careers. Each of these unique conversations will be available
online peppered throughout the festival giving our audience
exclusive access to some A-list talent.

Mixing it up further, the festival explores issues around
Black Lives Matter and racism with a rare screening of the
timeless, Mississippi Masala. Starring a young Denzel
Washington and Sarita Choudhury, Mira Nair’s classic film
explores issues of race, class and privilege as an Indian
woman born in Africa and raised in America, falls in love with
a black African American man in rural Mississippi.

On Saturday 27th June 8pm to midnight UK time, the festival
will present an exclusive UK premiere of Prakash Jha’s family
film Pareeksha. Inspired by real events, the film starring
Adil Hussain explores one teenager’s passion to study, in
spite of being poor and the lengths a father will go, to
seeing his son’s aspirations come true. This inspiring film
highlights some of the gaping social inequalities facing many
low income families around the developing world.

The acclaimed film Moothon directed by Kerala child actress &
film star turned director Geetu Mohandas, is produced by
Cannes darling Anurag Kashyap; a gritty, fast paced, slum
gangster story with a surprising LGBTQ+ romance seeded within,
exploring conflicting emotions of love and loss.

The MisEducation of Bindu directed by Prarthana Mohan is a
coming of age comedy, starring Hollywood rising star Megan
Suri, indie actor David Arquette and Priyanka Bose who also
stars in Pareeksha. Tackling issues such as bullying, fitting

in and identity, the film focuses on the peculiar and chaotic
world of teenage misfits as the naïve Bindu arrives in an
American high school and disastrously gets a crush on the
wrong boy.

The Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition

The Satyajit Ray Short Film Competition showcases the best of
South Asian and Diaspora cinema from emerging filmmakers. This
year’s competition consists of 8 films from countries
including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The programme this
year includes the UK premieres of TIFF hit ‘Darling’ in which
a dreamy trans girl vies for the spotlight at an erotic dance
theatre in Lahore, ‘Roqaia’, where a young girl finds herself
in the middle of media frenzy after surviving a terrorist
attack and ‘Migratory’, which was made during the Covid-19
lockdown.

The festival runs from 25th June to 5th July 2020 and some
films are strictly time limited showings so please check the
festival website for details. Feature and short films will
only be available in the UK while the exclusive interviews
will be viewable world-wide.

Cary Rajinder Sawhney MBE, Executive & Programming Director of
the festival says: “We are delighted that we have been
successfully able to move the festival into a digital offering
during the UK lockdown and especially want to thank the
generous film companies, actors and directors who have
contributed their time and effort to help us achieve this high
quality free site, which we aim to evolve into the future so
that more people across the UK can view Indian indie cinema.
As well as classic LIFF films, we have some amazing new UK
premieres that will continue LIFF’s reputation for showcasing
the best of South Asian cinema.”

Film Festival Schedule

Thu 25th June – In Conversation with Ayushmann Khurrana – 6pm

onwards – GLOBALLY VIEWABLE
Thu 25th June – Satyajit Ray Short film competition – UK ONLY
–
ALL DAY from 6pm to end of festival 5th July
Fri 26th June – Moothon 8pm-10pm UK Time – UK ONLY – TIMED
Sat 27th June – Pareeksha 8pm to 12 midnight – UK ONLY – TIMED
Sat 27th June – In Conversation with Adil Hussain – GLOBALLY
VIEWABLE from 6pm
Sun 28th June – Natkhat – UK ONLY – ALL DAY
Sun 28th June – In conversation with Vidya Balan – GLOBALLY
VIEWABLE from 6pm
Sun 28th June – One Crazy Thing – UK ONLY – ALL DAY
Tue 30th June – In conversation with Pratibha Parmar & Shabana
Azmi – GLOBALLY VIEWABLE
from 6pm
Wed 1st July – In conversation with Deepa Mehta – GLOBALLY
VIEWABLE from 6pm
Thu 2nd July – Mississippi Masala – UK ONLY – ALL DAY
Thu 2nd July – Mira Nair – GLOBALLY VIEWABLE from 6pm
Fri 3rd July – Moothon 8-10pm UK Time – UK ONLY – TIMED
Sat 4th July – The MisEducation of Bindu – UK ONLY – ALL DAY
Sun 5th July – In conversation with Freida Pinto – GLOBALLY
VIEWABLE from 6pm
Sun 5th July – Breaking Barriers: The Casteless Collective –
UK ONLY – ALL DAY

Click to watch on www.LoveLIFFAtHome.com

About the Bagri Foundation

The Bagri Foundation is a UK registered charity, inspired by
unique and unexpected ideas that weave the traditional and the
contemporary of Asian culture. The Foundation is driven by
curiosity, a desire to learn and supports a myriad of exciting
artistic programmes that challenge, engage and inspire.
Through a diverse programme of film, visual arts, music,
dance, literature, courses and lectures, the Bagri Foundation
gives artists and experts from across Asia, or those inspired

by the continent, wider visibility on the global stage.
www.bagrifoundation.org

Siddharth Roy Kapur acquires
rights to East India Company
tale
Indian producer Siddharth Roy Kapur has launched one of the
most ambitious television series to date, based on the
duplicitous rise of the British Empire’s East India Company in
India. His production house, Roy Kapur Films, announced that
it has just acquired the audio-visual rights to William
Dalrymple’s masterpiece bestseller, ‘The Anarchy: The
Relentless Rise of The East India Company‘.

Roy Kapur, who has produced ‘Dangal’, India’s highest grossing
film of all time, and most recently produced the Priyanka
Chopra Jonas-starrer, ‘The Sky Is Pink’ and the acclaimed
Netflix Original, ‘Yeh Ballet’, is now looking to produce one
of the biggest international TV productions in history,
harnessing his 15 years of cinema experience to collaborate
with varied international minds and creatives for this global
production.

‘The Anarchy‘ was recently listed by former US President
Barack Obama as amongst his Top 10 Recommended Books of 2019.
Encompassing a period of more than two hundred years, from
1599 to 1802, it traces the relentless rise of The East India
Company against the decline and fall of the storied Mughal
Empire. It provides a remarkable account of how a provincial
trading start-up, run by thirty people from an office only
five windows wide in a nondescript London building, became

rulers of an entire sub-continent; in the process establishing
the richest and most powerful empire in the history of the
world. Now, more than ever before, has the telling of the
history of British colonialism around the world become so
significant.

                 The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East
                 India Company
                 by William Dalrymple
                 Published in Hardcover (10 September 2019)
                 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
                 Language: English, 576 pages
                 ASIN: B07VPR8LS1
                 ISBN-10: 1408864371
                 ISBN-10: 1408864398
                 Guide Price: £13.65 – Kindle Edition | £20.69
– Hardcover | £9.49 – Paperback
Click to buy Kindle Edition | Hardcover Edition | Paperback

In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young
Mughal emperor and forced him to establish in his richest
provinces a new administration run by English merchants who
collected taxes through means of a ruthless private army –
what we would now call an act of involuntary privatisation.

The East India Company’s founding charter authorised it to
‘wage war’ and it had always used violence to gain its ends.
But the creation of this new government marked the moment that
the East India Company ceased to be a conventional
international trading corporation dealing in silks and spices
and became something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial
power in the guise of a multinational business. In less than
four decades it had trained up a security force of around
200,000 men – twice the size of the British army – and had
subdued an entire subcontinent, conquering first Bengal and
finally, in 1803, the Mughal capital of Delhi itself. The

Company’s reach stretched until almost all of India south of
the Himalayas was effectively ruled from a boardroom in
London.

The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the
world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be
replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based
thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows
wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his
most ambitious and riveting book to date, William Dalrymple
tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been
told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first
global corporate power.

Roy Kapur, former MD of The Walt Disney Company India and
current President of the Producers Guild of India, will be
bringing together a diverse, international team of writers to
create a series of ambitious scale and quality. It is his
conviction that this is a story that needs to be shared with
the world now more than ever before, as the alarming social,
political and economic consequences of imperialism and
colonialism have finally come into the public consciousness.

Siddharth Roy Kapur says, “I believe that stories that are
compelling, relevant and authentic have the potential to
resonate with audiences across all nationalities and cultures.
William Dalrymple’s epic tale of The East India Company is one
such story. While a debate rages today around the world about
the increasing power of giant corporations and powerful
individuals to wield control over minds and nations, what
could be more relevant to global viewers than the true story
of the takeover of an entire subcontinent by a small trading
company! We are delighted to be working with William to bring
to life this fascinating tableau of incredible characters,
each playing off the other in their quest to exercise dominion
over what was then the richest subcontinent on the face of the

Earth.”

The author, William Dalrymple, who is also on board as a
consultant for the project says, “I don’t think I have ever
written a book more obviously crying out to be adapted than
The Anarchy and I can’t think of anyone in India better to
adapt it than Siddharth Roy Kapur. I’m very excited looking at
the initial treatment note, talking about the various ways to
bring this book alive and to bring the characters I’ve been
living with over the last 6 years onto the screen, so that
everyone else can see them in flesh and blood. It’s an
incredibly exciting moment and I have high expectations of
this project!”

About Roy Kapur Films

Roy Kapur Films is helmed by Founder and Managing Director,
Siddharth Roy Kapur, an eminent film producer and President of
Producers Guild of India. He is also Co-Chair of the CII
National Media and Entertainment Committee. Roy Kapur Films’
first production, The Sky is Pink, starring global superstar
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim, was the
only Asian film to be selected for the Gala Premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2019, followed
by BFI London Film Festival and Busan Film Festival. More
recently, their musical drama for Netflix, Yeh Ballet,
released worldwide to great acclaim.

Former Managing Director of The Walt Disney Company India,
Siddharth’s filmography includes some of the highest-grossing
Indian films of all time as well as genre-defining, critically
acclaimed films. Siddharth has been regularly featured in
Variety’s Top 500 list of Influential People in Entertainment
Globally and Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation Asia
Inaugural Class of Young Leaders, among numerous other
accolades for his leadership and achievements.

About William Dalrymple

William Dalrymple, the acclaimed historian and art historian,
is the bestselling author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White
Mughals, The Last Mughal, which won the Duff Cooper Prize, and
the Hemingway and Kapuściński Prize-winning Return of a King.
A frequent broadcaster, he has written and presented three
television series, one of which won the Grierson Award for
Best Documentary Series at BAFTA. He has also won the Thomas
Cook Travel Book Award, the Sunday Times Young British Writer
of the Year Award, the Foreign Correspondent of the Year at
the FPA Media Awards and been awarded five honorary
doctorates. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of
Literature, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Society of
Edinburgh and has held visiting fellowships at Princeton and
Brown.

He writes regularly for the New York Review of Books, The New
Yorker and The Guardian. In 2018, he was presented with the
prestigious President’s Medal by the British Academy for his
outstanding literary achievement and for co-founding the
Jaipur Literature Festival. Williams lives with his wife and
three children on a farm outside Delhi.

Aditi Rao Hydari & Jayasurya
star in ‘Sufiyum Sujatayum’
Malayalam film ‘Sufiyum Sujatayum’ starring Aditi Rao Hydari &
Jayasurya makes its global premiere on Amazon Prime Video on
3rd July 2020. Directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas, Sufiyum
Sujatayum is produced by Vijay Babu under his banner of Friday
Film House.

“Our endeavour is to create something which leaves behind a

lasting impact and Sufiyum Sujatayum is a film made exactly on
those lines. The theme of the movie is one that hasn’t been
explored very often. The story is nuanced and complex, yet
underlines one simple, universal truth – that love knows no
rationality or bounds. There would not have been a more
perfect choice than Aditi Rao Hydari and Jayasurya for the
respective roles as both are known to do justice to every
character that they portray. The music makes the movie a
fitting tribute to the all-important emotion of love. With the
movie releasing on Amazon Prime Video we are glad that the
film will reach a global audience allowing them to revel in
Malayalam cinema,” commented producer Vijay Babu.

“Sufiyum Sujatayum is a special film for me. I been lucky to
work with some incredible people across India, and this film
marks my debut as the leading lady of a Malayalam film,” said
Aditi Rao Hydari.

Synopsis

Sujata (mute – played by Aditi Rao Hydari) is in love with her
neighbour, a Sufi priest (Dev Mohan) but her father gets her
married off to a well-do-to NRI, in Dubai. Ten years have
passed since and she thinks that she’s left that love in her
past, until one day, she gets a call. Her husband (Rajeev –
played by Jayasurya) decides to bring her back to the village.
What follows, forms the crux of Sufiyum Sujatayum, a musical
love story.

“The Malayalam film industry is known for rolling out good
stories,” said Jayasurya, one of the biggest superstars in the
Malayalam film industry. “Sufiyum Sujatayum too keeps up with
the tradition and depicts a story of a beautiful girl with an
incomplete love-story. I play the role of the husband to
Aditi’s character. An interesting and nuanced role of a
husband that knows of his wife’s love for another man, and
tries to find ways to keep his family together. There’s a lot

that we’re trying to convey through the film and one will have
to watch the movie and be part of it to know how beautifully
these sequences take place“.

The film is shot by cinematographer Anu Moothedath and edited
by Deepu Joseph. The soulful music in the film is composed by
the talented M Jayachandran with lyrics penned by Hari Narayan
and songs sung by Sudeep Palanad. The film is brought together
by executive producer Vinay Babu.

Sufiyum Sujatayum released on Amazon Prime Video on 3rd July
2020.

An Extraordinary Life: A
Biography of Manohar Parrikar
Over the last two decades, the exploits of one man, an IIT-
Bombay alumnus, changed the way mainstream India looked at Goa
and the political goings-on in the country’s smallest state.
An Extraordinary Life traces the life and times of Manohar
Parrikar through the informed voices of his relatives,
friends, foes, bureaucrats and IIT contemporaries. The daily
battles of a gifted individual are brought to the fore as he
encounters love and vices. But more importantly, it showcases
his rise in politics from the son of a grocery store owner in
a nondescript town, a sanghachalak in Mapusa town, an
Opposition MLA and leader, to a chief minister (on multiple
occasions) and, finally, to a defence minister.

Pegged as a ‘Zero-to Hero’ story, this is the story of the man
who changed the way mainstream India looked at Goa and the
political goings-on in India’s smallest state. Manohar
Parrikar came from a humble background and rose to become one

of the most sought after leaders of Goa, where he undertook
the role of chief minister four times. A nuanced and sensitive
narration of the life and times of Manohar Parrikar, this book
will be an insightful and captivating read, complete with the
informed voices of his relatives, friends, foes, bureaucrats
and IIT contemporaries. The authors, Sadguru Patil and
Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, have written and interviewed the
politician many times over the course of their careers,
closely followed his rise in politics and witnessed the many
battles he had to undergo in his life.

“Manohar Parrikar was a towering personality, who defined an
era in Goa’s politics, after the turbulent 1990s which
produced 13 chief ministers in a decade” says co-author
Sadguru Patil. He adds, “A four-time Chief Minister and
Defence Minister, he had the talent, intellect and the drive
to achieve, perhaps even more“.

Commenting on the book, Mayabhushan Nagvenkar says, “The
biography is in part, a lively scrapbook of his Tom Sawyer-
like childhood and youth, as well as a no-holds-barred report
card of his subsequent political journey, through the voices
of people who knew him, many of them intimately.”

                An Extraordinary Life: A Biography of Manohar
                Parrikar
                by Sadguru Patil, Mayabhushan Nagvenkar
                Format: Kindle Edition
                Publisher: Ebury Press (22 Jun. 2020)
                Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
                Language: English
                ASIN: B08BG66JL7
                Guide Price: £16.99
Click to buy Kindle Edition

Milee Ashwarya, Publisher, Ebury Publishing and Vintage
Publishing, Penguin Random House India, says, “Manohar
Parrikar was a popular, astute and grassroots leader of the

BJP who served as the Chief Minister of Goa for multiple
terms, as well as the Defence Minister of India. An
indefatigable and spirted politician, he chose to work until
his last days, and left a mark wherever he went. An
Extraordinary Life by Sadguru Patil and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar
chronicles the life and impact of Manohar Parrikar in Indian
politics“.

About the authors

Sadguru Patil

A popular journalist by-line in the Goa media, Sadguru Patil
has been working for leading Marathi newspapers since 1995. He
was chief reporter with Dainik Gomantak and is now the Bureau
Chief with the Goa edition of Lokmat. He has extensively
covered politics and all major political developments in Goa.
For ten years now, Sadguru’s incisive weekly political column
‘Saripaat’ has had an avid following. Sadguru has interviewed
Manohar Parrikar on at least 20 occasions while he was in
different roles: as an Opposition MLA, Opposition Leader,
Chief Minister and Defence Minister. Sadguru lives in Panaji.

Mayabhushan Nagvenkar

Known   for   his   irreverence    and   occasional   spells   of
unemployment, Mayabhushan Nagvenkar has been a journalist for
nearly 22 years working out of Mumbai, Delhi and Goa. His by-
lines have appeared in Tehelka, Hindustan Times, The Asian
Age, Associated Press, BBC, Firstpost, The Guardian, Daily
Pioneer, Deccan Herald, Himal, Scroll, etc. He ran a popular
blog, Penpricks, which critiqued media reportage in Goa.
Currently, he is the Goa correspondent for the Indo-Asian News
Service. He has covered politics in Goa extensively for 11
years and currently he lives in Anjuna.

About Penguin Random House India

Penguin Random House India is the largest English language

trade publisher in the subcontinent, publishing over 250 new
titles every year and with an active backlist of over 3000
titles. With a strong fiction and non-fiction list, it
publishes across every segment including biography, travel,
business, politics, history, religion and philosophy,
lifestyle, cookery, health and fitness, sports and leisure,
visual books and children’s books. The children’s titles are
published under the Puffin imprint.

Penguin Random House India’s illustrious list includes Booker
Prize-winning novels and winners of virtually every major
literary prize, including the Nobel Prize, the Magsaysay
Award, the Jnanpith Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Several of PRHI’s authors are
also recipients of the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan,
India’s highest civilian honors.

Penguin Random House India is also the exclusive distribution
partner for several leading local and international publishing
houses in India and the sub-continent.

Abhishek Bachchan in Amazon
series ‘Breathe: Into The
Shadows’
Abhishek Bachchan stars in Amazon original crime thriller
series ‘Breathe: Into The Shadows’, created and produced by
Abundantia Entertainment, which will be released on 10th July
2020. The series will witness Amit Sadh reprising his role as
senior inspector Kabir Sawant alongside popular actors Nithya
Menen and Sayami Kher in prominent roles. ‘Breathe: Into The
Shadows’, created and directed by Mayank Sharma, has been

written by Bhavani Iyer, Vikram Tuli, Arshad Syed and Mayank
Sharma.

Speaking on the reveal, actor Abhishek Bachchan said “The
thrill of making my digital on-screen debut with Amazon
Original Breathe: Into The Shadows has finally kicked in with
the recent announcement that was made last Friday. The love
and support I have received since we announced the launch date
of the show has reinstated my belief of constantly evolving in
order to connect with newer audiences. I am ecstatic to launch
my first digital series that is a perfect example of the
exciting, genre-defining content that we are now able to
consume at our convenience. I am definitely looking forward to
the days to come as we slowly unfold Breathe: Into The Shadows
to the world.”

The series is created and produced by Abundantia Entertainment
and will launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in over 200
countries and territories worldwide on 10th July 2020.

About Abundantia

Founded in 2013, Abundantia is India’s premier content company
focused on developing and producing progressive, insight-based
and uniquely Indian stories for a global audience. The company
has an exciting slate of films for 2020 and beyond, top-lined
by a film on math genius, Shakuntala Devi, starring Vidya
Balan and Sanya Malhotra which will have its world premiere on
Amazon Prime Video, the Hindi remake of the super hit South
film Bhaagamathie – titled Durgavati, starring Bhumi Pednekar
and Newton director, Amit Masurkar’s next, Sherni starring
Vidya Balan.

A Dutiful Boy: A memoir of a
gay   Muslim’s  journey   by
Mohsin Zaidi
‘A Dutiful Boy: A memoir of a gay Muslim’s journey to
acceptance’ by Mohsin Zaidi is a coming of age memoir about
growing up queer in a strict Muslim household. Mohsin grew up
in a poor pocket of east London, in a devout shia Muslim
community. His family were close-knit and religiously
conservative. From a young age, Mohsin felt different but in a
home where being gay was inconceivable he also felt very
alone.

Outside of home Mohsin went to a failing inner city school
where gang violence was a fact of life. As he grew up life
didn’t seem to offer teenage Mohsin any choices: he was
disenfranchised from opportunity and isolated from his family
as a closet gay Muslim.

But Mohsin had incredible drive and became the first person
from his school to go to Oxford University. At university came
the newfound freedom to become the man his parents never
wanted him to be. But when he was confronted by his father and
a witch doctor invited to ‘cure’ him Mohsin had to make a
difficult choice.

Mohsin’s story takes harrowing turns but it is full of life
and humour, and, ultimately, it is an inspiring story about
breaking through life’s barriers.

A Dutiful Boy: A memoir of a gay Muslim’s
                journey to acceptance
                Published in Hardcover (20th August 2020)
                Publisher: Square Peg
                Language: English
                288 pages
                ASIN: B07YD4KJQQ
                ISBN-10: 1529110149
                Guide Price: £9.99 – Kindle Edition | £13.19 –
                Hardcover
Click to buy Kindle Edition | Hardcover Edition

About the author

Mohsin Zaidi grew up in a devout Muslim community in East
London. He was the first person from his school to go to
Oxford University where he studied law. Mohsin has worked at a
UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague and at the UK’s Supreme
Court. Today he is a criminal barrister at one of the top
chambers in the country and works on a number of high profile
cases. He is an advocate for LGBT rights, BAME representation
and social mobility. He is on the board of Stonewall, the UK’s
biggest LGBT rights charity and is a governor of his former
secondary school.

Alpesh   Chauhan  appointed
Music Director of Birmingham
Opera
Birmingham Opera Company, has today announced that conductor
Alpesh Chauhan will join the organization as Music Director
from 1 July 2020. Chauhan will stand alongside Artistic

Director Graham Vick leading the company on its mission to
make great opera for all the peoples of Birmingham.

Birmingham born Alpesh was Principal Cello with the CBSO Youth
Orchestra. He entered the Royal Northern College of Music in
2008 to study the cello before pursuing the prestigious
Master’s Conducting Course. Highlights of Chauhan’s career
include a subscription concert with the London Symphony
Orchestra at the Barbican Centre and his BBC Proms debut with
the BBC Philharmonic, a production of Turandot in Valencia at
the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía as well as regular
appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
where until 2016 he was Assistant Conductor.

For the past five years Alpesh has enjoyed a fruitful
relationship with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma,
who awarded him the title of Principal Conductor and with whom
he has performed and recorded staples of the great symphonic
repertoire, including a complete cycle of Brahms’ symphonies.
He regularly appears as a guest with acclaimed British
orchestras including across the UK and further afield
internationally. Chauhan made his UK opera debut in 2019 with
Birmingham Opera Company, the CBSO and director Graham Vick
for Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which won a Royal
Philharmonic Society Award. He is a finalist in the
International Opera Awards 2020.

A keen advocate of music education for young people, Alpesh
has worked with ensembles such as the National Youth Orchestra
of Scotland and the symphony orchestras of the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Northern College of
Music. He is a patron of Awards for Young Musicians, a UK
charity supporting talented young people from disadvantaged
backgrounds on their musical journeys.

On the appointment Graham Vick, Artistic Director, Birmingham
Opera Company said: “From the word go it was clear to me that
Alpesh not only was an outstanding conductor with great