Issue 939 Friday April 11, 2008 Price 70p

A well-known human-rights lawyer has slammed a council for its use of a life-size doll called Asim to promote racial harmony.

The doll, which has dark skin and some-times wears traditional Muslim clothes and jeans and a T-shirt at other times, aims to teach children as young as four about the cultural and religious similarities and differences between white and Asian peo-ple. It has been introduced in five primary schools in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, and is the brainchild of Central Scotland Racial equality Council as part of its Un-derstanding Ourselves, Understanding Oth-ers campaign.

But lawyer Aamer Anwar said the doll was an insult and has compared it to the reintroduction of the golliwog.

Stuffed: Scots’ harmony plan

BRITISH Muslim butchers fear they will be the latest independent business peo-ple to be slaughtered by supermarket chains.

Asda introduced its first fro-zen range of halal products to 83 stores across Britain this week. The American-owned company has also been running a pilot ha-lal meat counter in Small Heath in Birmingham. If successful, it plans to launch counters in more stores nationwide.

The supermarket is following in the footsteps of Tesco, which has a halal counter in its Slough branch which, chillingly for de-

si businesses, is referred to on Tesco’s website as ‘the only butcher that offers fresh organ-ic meat locally’.

Supermarkets are better able to discount food than their in-dependent rivals.

The loss of the halal butchers will be another blow to the great British high street.

Akram Ul-Haq is a media spokesman for the lady Pool Road Business Association in Birmingham and a butcher since the 1970s.

Haq said: “If the pilot is suc-cessful, there is no doubt that

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PROBLEM: Asim the doll

Supermarket’splan will kill off our small shops

shazia wahab: my apprentice fury SEE PAGES18-19

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Amitabh bowled over by bahu Ash

the greatbollywood

‘rip-off’ SEE PAGEs20-21

by zekra rahman

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www.easterneye.eueguideeguideEASTERN EYE February 27, 2009 22

Shah Rukh Khan explains the attraction of a film that celebrates the simple things in lifeby Zekra rahmanLike it or not, we are all fascinated by celebrities. From their glamorous life-styles to their personal tragedies, we want to know everything about them.

We want to get a glimpse into the extraor-dinary lives they live and whether they like it or not, they have the power to affect ordi-nary people’s lives. But how much are ce-lebrities aware of the role they play in peo-ple’s lives and do they take it seriously? And do they even care?

One man who takes his responsibilities as a celebrity very seriously is Shah Rukh Khan. In fact, he is so aware of the relation-ship between the ordinary and extraordi-nary that it led to him produce and star in recently released drama Billu Barber.

“My actual attraction to this film as a producer was not the clash, but the meet-ing, of two different cultures or status – you know, how they say east is east and west is west,” said Shah Rukh with a smile.

Charming and friendly, the king Khan met up with Eastern Eye in London to talk about this personal project that is perhaps the closest reflection of his amazing life. The film tells the story of the life of a strug-gling small-town barber called Bilas, played by ever-versatile Irrfan Khan, who lives with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two chil-dren. His life is completely changed when rumours spread about his apparent close friendship with a big-time actor Sahir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) who comes to town to shoot a film. Bilas’ relationship with all the people in his life suddenly changes when they hear about his friendship with Shah Rukh’s character.

“In the film, there is one character who is synthetic, plastic, glamorous, overly done-up, loud and in the public eye, and then there is this very simple, lovely non-entity kind-of status of an ordinary man. I won-dered what the effect of these two different alien worlds coming together would have and this led me towards producing this film,” explained Shah Rukh. “In the past, I have done films in a little village for 70 days, but I was curious to see, does it change the lives of people after I’ve left?”

This curiosity of how celebrity culture can affect the ordinary individual, which drew Shah Rukh towards Billu Barber, actu-ally stems back to a chance meeting he had with a village girl a few decades ago. “When I was in Darjeeling to shoot Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman around 20 years ago, I met a girl when she was 14-15 years old. Then I went back to the same place to shoot Main Hoon Na some 15-20 years later and the girl I met then was now a young lady with a child and was a well-known journalist.

“When she met me, she said, ‘I became a journalist because when I came to meet you the first time, the only people who were allowed close to you were journalists. So when

I was 14, I said I am going to be a journalist because I thought they are the only people who can meet special people.’

“She has written a book, which she gave me, and she showed me a photograph of her-self with me when she was 14. I wasn’t even a star then. But I realised that I have just changed the life of a person in Darjeeling and I didn’t even know. Maybe she would have become an astronaut or a teacher but she just took to this. So I just wanted to ex-plore that concept in the film.”

Just like the character he plays in Billu Barber, Shah Rukh comes from humble beginnings and he hasn’t forgotten where he came from. That is why he wanted the film to be about celebrating and embracing the ordinary and simple things in life, which a lot of people take for granted. “I get very taken by people when I see them leading a normal daily life – filmstars, politicians, media people, all of us have a certain extra ordinariness in our lives.”

While many people envy the life that Khan lives, he was more appreciative of the day-to-day things his fans go through, which, in his eyes, makes them more special and that is the message he is portraying in Bil-lu Barber. “Whatever you are, whatever you do, somewhere down the line your roots and your relationships are very important. You don’t have to contact your relations every day, but if you keep that rela-tionship in your heart it’s nice and it’s very special to be ordinary.

“It could be that you get to attend a festival which you always wanted to as a child,

because now as a journalist you can cover it, or you get to meet some people who you like in your line of work.

“Ordinary people wake up in the morn-ing, sit on the bus, take the Tube, go to their job, and politics happens in their jobs, and then they come back.

“And so then when there is a celebration, I feel they enjoy it much more.”

However, the uncomplicated film with the simple message of appreciating the or-dinary received a backlash in India and came under attack a number of times. First the Mumbai hairdressers protested, saying that the film portrayed their profession in a negative light, and then there was contro-versy over the word Hajaam (barber) in one of the songs. Not wanting to offend anyone, Shah Rukh diffused the situation by remov-

u Award-winning film director Madhur Bhandarkar has vehemently denied rumours that his next film Jail is inspired by the life of Sanjay Dutt. He said the film, which stars Neil Nitin Mukesh, was not based on any-one’s life and has revealed that it will be shot in a real jail. “It is a common man’s perspec-tive about how someone gets into jail and how he gets stuck in a situation. It is about a middle-class family man working in the cor-porate sector and how after one sudden inci-dent, he goes to jail,” said Bhandarkar.

u Director-turned-actor Farhan Akhtar says he is not in competition with newcomer Imran Khan, despite them both being up for Best Newcomer awards at the vari-ous ceremonies. “The fact remains that people have appreciated both Imran and me. It’s their acknowledgment and recognition that should keep an actor in me going. Yes, if awards come by, then it’s an added bonus; so why would I mind that?” asked Farhan.

u Hrithik Roshan is looking forward to the release of his next film Kites. When he was asked about the electric chemistry between him and his Mexican co-star Barbara More in the steamy film, he said: “The sources of chemistry are the script and director. In Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar, a lot was said about the chemistry between Aishwarya and me – the point is that two competent actors can do justice to the chemistry. If it’s there in the script, it will be there.”

u Legendary actress Nanda recently revealed how an invitation to a wedding at filmmaker V Shantaram’s house resulted in her getting an acting break in Toofan Aur Diya (1956). “He called up my elder sister Meena and re-quested her to also bring me for the mar-riage but with a sari on. In the middle of the party, Shantaram came up to us and told Meena, ‘She is the heroine of my next film’. But when Meena said I looked too young to be a heroine of a film, Shantaram shot back, ‘The story of my film involving a brother and a sister demands a young girl and I am sure Nanda will fit the role perfectly’.”

u Rising star Sonam Kapoor says it was easy playing a local in her recently released film Delhi 6. “It was very easy. Delhi is my city. My lingo is very Delhi and while play-ing the character, I was just being what my dadi (grandmother) is or what my cousins are,” said Sonam.

u Actress Celina Jaitley says she had a har-rowing experience at New Delhi airport that resulted in her property getting damaged by security guards. “These guys don’t know how to behave with women. All the officer in charge could say was, ‘Sorry’? Also, they told me in no uncertain terms that they couldn’t repair what was broken. Moreover, the guys who did it were grinning in front of him. Someone ought to teach these cops how to behave with women,” said Celina.

u When he was asked why many music di-rectors use singers who can’t speak Hindi or Urdu properly, hit-making music producer Pritam said: “I think that it’s all a part of working with new voices and new textures. Personally, though I may be wrong, I find flawed diction quite cute. Unusual phonetics can make a song sound more appealing.”

Out Of the Ordinary

The Prowler

www.easterneye.eu EASTERN EYE February 27, 2009 23

delhi 6Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri, Waheeda Rehman Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Two production houses are planning to make films

based on the life of legendary actor/director Guru Dutt.

Shivendra Singh, who is due to direct one of the films,

has the support of Dutt’s family and apparently wants

Aamir Khan to play the lead in his version. The other di-

rector reportedly interested in bringing Dutt’s amazing

life to the big screen is Rakeysh omprakash Mehra.

Juhi

There have been a number of stories about non-resident Indians (NrIs) reconnecting

with their desi roots. Rang De Basanti director rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has tack-led the subject in his latest film and set it in the heart of a bustling city alive with dif-

ferent flavours and colours.An Indian who has grown

up in America, roshan (Ab-hishek Bachchan) brings his

ailing grandmother (Wa-heeda rehman) to Delhi, so that she can die peacefully in the country of her birth. ro-shan, who is a stranger to In-dian culture, embarks on a voyage of discovery that takes him back to his desi roots. Along the way he falls in love with a beautiful local girl, Bit-tu (Sonam Kapoor).

All style and no substance

this is a hugely disappointing film that really should have been a lot better. The poorer cousin of the much superior Swades, this film is let down big time by a dull screenplay that moves along at a snail’s pace. A film that threatens to spark into life ultimately doesn’t as Mehra succeeds in wasting a good cast, great setting and strong music.

Some great sequences and the odd touching moment get lost in a story that slowly sends you into a coma. What doesn’t help is a listless per-formance from the usually charismatic leading man Ab-hishek Bachchan and an end-ing that can best be descri-bed as sickly sweet.

Overall, you should avoid this disappointing film and rent out Swades instead.

Rising star Kangana Ranaut will make her debut in a Telugu film opposite south indian star Prabhas. After turning down a number of offers in Telugu cinema, she decided to accept director Puri Jagannath’s offer to star in the as-yet untitled drama. The star of Raaz 2: The Mystery Contin-ues, Gangster and Fashion has previously appeared in Tamil film Dhaam Dhoom.

All points bulletin

southern comfort

Arrest WArrAntONe actress who is

wasting her natural talent and raw sex appeal is riya Sen. She regularly

signs bad, low-budget films and it doesn’t look as if that will change any time soon because she has signed up to play a seductress in the not-so-great looking comedy Shaadi Of The Dead opposite Purab Kohli. That is why I’m issuing her with this week’s arrest warrant.

ing the world ‘Barber’ from the title and beeped out the word Hajaam from the song in the version shown in India. he hoped that people will look past the fact that the film is about a barber, and see it is being about a simple human being. “My belief is that it’s not hurtful, but if someone else feels that it is, I will change it.”

It is this awareness of his responsibilities towards his fans that prompted Shah rukh to postpone his shoulder surgery – he has since had it and is recovering at home – to come to London and attend the Zee Carni-val earlier this month. Fans from all over europe attended the three-day event to catch a glimpse of a superstar who has giv-en them so much joy over the years.

But despite mass adulation at events like the Zee Carnival, over a million fans and big-budget films, Shah rukh described him-self as an ordinary person. It was hard to take in, until he started talking about nor-mal, every-day things like taking his young children to school.

“Oh, I’m a very ordinary person,” he said. “I’ve lived that difference over the years. Nobody believes it, of course. everyone sees the exterior – the flashy clothes, the designer glasses, the private jets and luxury cars outside my house, but those are the perks of my job and I enjoy them as such. But in my house and within my own re-lationships, I am very, very ordinary. And I guard that very closely, consciously and strong-ly. But this is something I can’t let go of and may-be that’s why I keep per-forming the way I do.”

Shah rukh has a number of interesting projects coming up in 2009. his next venture on the big screen will be in the highly anticipated My Name Is Khan, directed by his close friend Karan Johar. All that is known about the top-secret project is that he will be playing the role of a person who suffers from As-perger Syndrome. he will follow that up with a superhero film and the sequel to Don: The Chase Begins.

Khan believes the roles he is choosing now shows how far he has come as an actor. But he said it was all about making sure he could connect with the audience through the character he portrays.

“There has to be a connection. The story I relate should be a good story to tell and the audience shouldn’t get fed up. It’s about the roles you choose. Five years ago, when I was younger, I may not have done a Chak De! India or a Billu, but today (those roles) are the ones that suit me.”

Billu Barber is on general release now.

FASCINATION: Shah Rukh Khan in Billu Barber; (left and bottom left) scenes from the film; and (below) with EE’s Zekra Rahman

eeguideguide

16 EASTERN EYE April 18, 2008 www.easterneyeonline.co.uk www.easterneyescotland.com

WomenZone

by ZEKRA RAHMANTHERE are some people who are in-stantly recognisable and Meera Syal is one of them. One of the most familiar faces in Britain, she has made it as an actress, comedian and writer.

A star of the stage and screen, Meera is married to fellow actor San-jeev Bhaskar and they have a son together. Mum-of-two Meera has balanced mother-hood with a number of inter-esting pro jects that include hit theatre play Rafta Rafta, TV shows Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No 42, the film Bhaji On The Beach and critically acclaimed novels Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee and Anita And Me.

Meera’s wide-ranging work has turned her into a hugely influential role model. That is why she was selected as a guest of honour at this year’s Tongues On Fire film festival, which celebrates the achievements of Asian women.

Eastern Eye spoke to Meera about work, family and being a role model.

In your work, you consistently explore the battle between duty and desire. Is this your signature style?The battle between duty and desire is pretty much in every Asian woman’s life. Obviously there was going to be a clash, which for my generation came when you chose your career or whether you did or didn’t choose your mar-riage partner. You could juggle all you liked, but they were the places where you had to cross the line or not. You had to stay true to what you were brought up with, try to please everybody, try to be respectful of your culture and then find personal happiness within that. And then you realised that some things aren’t actually cultural – they are bad habits that people lump under culture.

There was a lot of guilt involved in going through that process and you have to be quite ruthless and say, ‘My mother did this, but that doesn’t mean all Indian woman do this’. There were new kinds of women, new kinds of British-Asian women, and I had to find whatever I was – but I still desperately wanted to belong somewhere and keep what my parents bought, but not in the same way.

What has been your proudest achievement to date? Other than my kids, I would say my book Anita And Me getting on the national curriculum and being a recommended book at school – I think I’m under Modern Fiction.That was a fantastic feeling of ap-proval. I wrote a personal book about my and other people’s expe-riences. And I’m glad people think it’s important that young people should know about my experi-ences of growing up in this coun-try. It was a great honour for me and a positive step in education.

I also got a letter from the Uni-versity of Nottingham saying that Bhaji On The Beach is part of their cultural studies curriculum.

You mentioned your kids. How did becom-ing a mum the first time compare to the second time?It’s a lot easier the second time because you are a bit more relaxed, you don’t panic about things as much, you kind of know what’s coming. When they start teething you think, ‘oh yeah, I remember this’. Even though there

was a big gap between my children, I still remembered some of the stuff.

Is it easy or difficult to jug-gle family life with work? (Laughs) I learned to become an expert juggler – there is a reason why goddesses have all those arms. I think it is

the same for all working women – you are pulling favours and using your support net-work. I have always really regretted that I have never been near my parents and now my in-laws are not close by either, so I have always had to rely on hir-ing help.

Having said that, I’ve got really good help

by ZEKRA RAHMANTHERE are some people who are in-

You mentioned your kids. How did becom-ing a mum the first time compare to the second time?

SYAL TALKS ABOUT HER WORK, MOTHERHOOD AND WIGSWomen

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Mamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma MeeraMamma Meera

‘I had to findthe kind of

woman I was’WHEN a guy introduces an amazing girlfriend to his close friends, they get in-spired and hope one day to have a woman like that.

Women, however will rare-ly introduce an amazing boyfriend or potential part-ner to their mates until the deal has been well and truly sealed, because they believe one of them will steal him. That is because women seem to get more competi-tive than men in a high-pres-sure football match when it comes to the sport of dating.

While women will support each other through prob-lems and break-ups, when it comes to dating, it seems to be the case of every woman

for herself. In my experience, women will bitch about their closest friends, do subtle character assassinations of them or bamboozle men with misinformation, anything they think will keep their man away from their friends.

Though in the past I thought women fighting for me was great, I’m now get-ting sick of competitive women. I get an earful of un-wanted gossip, long-drawn-out telephone conversations with women trashing their ‘best friends’ and games that give me unnecessary stress.

The straw that broke the camel’s back happened re-cently. A close friend in her early 30s, with whom I had

always behaved impeccably, was threatened by me be-friending a female relation of hers. So she decided to draw a wedge between us through misinformation, even though I had no intention of hitting on her relation. I couldn’t be-lieve she would do that, so I tested the waters by suggest-ing I help one of her married friends professionally. Of course, my mate told me it was a bad idea, even though it would have helped her friend immensely.

I realised then that women had been maneuvering me away from other women, or at least trying to, for years. And somehow I don’t think it will stop anytime soon.

WHEN a guy introduces an for herself. In my experience, always behaved impeccably,

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?

17EASTERN EYE April 18, 2008 www.easterneyeonline.co.uk www.easterneyescotland.com

WomenZone

Husband and wife Ajay Devgan and Kajol play the leads in recently released film U, Me Aur Hum. Although the film has enough drama to keep you interested, most of us will watch it because this is the only insight we have into their relationship off-screen. If this couple, or even Ash and Abhishek, agreed to a fly-on-the-wall documentary in the style of MTV’s Newlyweds or Kerry Katona’s Crazy In Love, I would be the first person to watch it.

However, a few celebrity couples probably wish they had avoided mixing love and work. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s Eyes Wide Shut might have revealed too much about their personal life. Jennifer Lopez’s Gigli, which she featured in with then-boyfriend Ben Af-fleck, showed how dull they were together.

But if a studio managed to get the four Bach-chans in a blockbuster with lots of romance, turmoil and great songs, we could see what life is really like Chez Bachchan. Well, almost!

THE cricket season is going to be hotting up in the subcontinent as the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off. Eight teams, owned by some of India’s business leaders, companies and Bolly-wood stars, have spared no cash in signing up the top stars. So that will be plenty of action, hot players, glamour and celebrities to keep the girls interested! Without the England foot-ball team to follow in Euro 2008, sporting en-tertainment won’t be missing with the IPL.

THE SUMMER OF CRICKET

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

I’MI’MI’MI’MI’M in Las Vegas this weekend to in Las Vegas this weekend to in Las Vegas this weekend to in Las Vegas this weekend to in Las Vegas this weekend to watch Britain’s best-ever boxer, watch Britain’s best-ever boxer, watch Britain’s best-ever boxer, watch Britain’s best-ever boxer, watch Britain’s best-ever boxer, Joe Calzaghe, take on America’s Joe Calzaghe, take on America’s Joe Calzaghe, take on America’s Joe Calzaghe, take on America’s Joe Calzaghe, take on America’s Bernard Hopkins. If I don’t Bernard Hopkins. If I don’t Bernard Hopkins. If I don’t Bernard Hopkins. If I don’t Bernard Hopkins. If I don’t run off with George ‘Swoo-run off with George ‘Swoo-run off with George ‘Swoo-run off with George ‘Swoo-run off with George ‘Swoo-ney’ Clooney while I’m ney’ Clooney while I’m ney’ Clooney while I’m ney’ Clooney while I’m ney’ Clooney while I’m there, I’ll tell you about there, I’ll tell you about there, I’ll tell you about there, I’ll tell you about there, I’ll tell you about it when I get back. I’m it when I get back. I’m it when I get back. I’m it when I get back. I’m it when I get back. I’m expecting to bump into expecting to bump into expecting to bump into expecting to bump into expecting to bump into the entire cast of the entire cast of the entire cast of the entire cast of the entire cast of Ocean’s 11Ocean’s 11Ocean’s 11Ocean’s 11Ocean’s 11 when I’m when I’m when I’m when I’m when I’m there – it’s where there – it’s where there – it’s where there – it’s where there – it’s where they live, right?they live, right?they live, right?they live, right?they live, right?

LOST IN LAS VEGAS

over the years – I have got friends who sort out favo-urs and your childcare. It’s difficult for all working

women. Unfortunately, in this country, it’s not made

easy because childcare is so expensive and it’s not easy to

find places in good nurseries. There’s a lot more this country could do to make it more child friendly – that would help working women.

How important is it for you to keep wor-

king as well as be a mother?It’s a bit hard to admit as a

mother, because I love my kids and I wouldn’t do without them, but doing just that all day every day is not enough. I need to have a creative outlet because I go a bit

loopy otherwise. It’s like get-ting older – I am still hun-

gry about my work and I want to

challenge my-

self, but I won’t make myself ill over it. It’s seeing the bigger picture and realising that if I don’t meet this deadline, then no one dies. I have a nice week-end with the family, I watch The Simpsons and nobody’s died.

How seriously do you take being a role model?To some extent, it’s something that’s put upon

you. You don’t choose to be one. When you are in a field of a very few people, you tend to look for other peo-ple who are doing it because you think if they can do it, I can do it too. So I take it seri-ously to the extent that

I choose my work carefully, I try and give something back and I support different caus-es. I try to go into schools and give talks be-cause I know that’s the kind of thing I would have appreciated when I was younger. But ul-timately, you also have to work and balance that with getting jobs and paying the bills.

What’s the biggest mistake you think you have made in your life?Probably not buying a long, dark black wig when I was 22 and going for all those audi-tions! Every time I walked in, people would always say you don’t look Indian enough, so you’re not getting this job. I think it was my mad hair. I look really different with wigs – it would have been such a simple thing to do. I could have bought one of those gorgeous Madhuri Dixit wigs and I probably would have got the jobs.

What do you think of the Tongues On Fire film festival?I think it’s brilliant. Harvinder [Nath]and Pushpinder [Chowdhry] who started the whole thing, did it all out of love and without funding. They have created something that has become a little fix-ture in the calendar and really brings out new talent. And it gives us the chance to see new talent and new film-makers we wouldn’t see otherwise. I urge everybody to find out more about it – you will really see stuff that sur-prises you.

What will you be working on next?I’m writing an independent film at the moment and also a series for ITV. I’m also shooting a new comedy drama at the end of April.

Do you have any unfulfilled career ambitions? Yeah, I want to work with loads of people. There are a lot of people in the independent film circuit in India who really interest me, for instance, a really fantastic woman director Tanuja Chandra is a really interesting talent. There are peo-ple in the UK, like Mike Leigh, who I would like to work with.

In Hollywood, there is a direc-tor called Christopher Guest who

works in improvisation and does fantastic work. There’s a lot of new

talent. I just like working on a lot of interesting stuff with new people.

over the years – I have got friends who sort out favo-urs and your childcare. It’s

self, but I won’t make myself ill over it. It’s seeing the bigger picture and realising that if I don’t meet this deadline, then no one dies. I

SYAL TALKS ABOUT HER WORK, MOTHERHOOD AND WIGS

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DRAMA IN REAL LIFEDRAMA IN REAL LIFE

Planet DiStar

with Divya Patel

EASTERN EYE April 18, 2008

WomenWomenZoneZoneZoneZone

PlanetDiStarDiStar

with

www.easterneyeonline.co.uk www.easterneyescotland.com14 EASTERN EYE October 17, 2008

THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND THE SOUND OF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONOF LONDONMusician Nitin Sawhney explains the logic behind his latest project

Album: Bas KarArtist: Ominous DJsRelease date: Out now

Another typical bhangra CD with familiar beats, lyrics and melodies means that most of the up-tempo tracks on this album will go down well on the dance floors and at weddings. However, the downside of this album is that almost all the songs sound the same as each other and lack an identi-ty of their own. The only tracks that stand out are Marna Se featur-ing Kuldeep Manak, which has a drum ’n’ bass feel and the instru-mentals at the end of the album. Not the greatest offering from the Ominous DJs, but if you are a bhangra fan, you might as well add this very basic bhangra album to your collection.

Album: I Got UArtist: Delinquent feat KcatRelease date: Out now

You must have gone through a phase where you have to listen to a particular song at least once a day. The latest single from Delinquent certainly has this addic-tive effect, which is the reason why it is sweeping clubland and commerical radio at the moment. The heavy bassline, com-bined with soulful vocals of Kcat, will have you tapping your feet as soon as you hit play. The bassline banger features a cracking mix from electro dance king Paul Emanuel, and Delio D’Cruz adds his carnival vibe with the Supa Funky mix. Already a huge summer anthem in Ibiza and Aiya Napa, this is a must-have single that is going to be a staple track in the bassline movement.

EXPOSUREwith

Lucky Singh

14 EASTERN EYE October 17, 2008

Album: Bas Kar

EXPOSURE

Diwali, known as the Festival of Lights, is one of the most popular Indian festivals amongst members

of Britain’s Asian community.

But it is also a festival that contains a message for all of us, whatever our faith.

Diwali is a wonderful festival.It is a time when the family is centre stage.

It’s also a time for celebration and reflection!

Please feel welcome to discuss all the available options with our sales team 0207 650 2000

�

Diwali 2008

www.easterneyeonline.co.uk www.easterneyescotland.com EASTERN EYE October 17, 2008 15

act of the week

See where he is DJing at www.bollyparty.co.ukwith DJ San-j Sanj

YES, it’s true that I am not presen-ting my Central Show on Club Asia any more. The weekday programme that I have hosted since May 2005 has now made it into the broadcasting ceme-tery. Although I had fun doing it, my fondest memories are of the warmth and love I got from the listeners. Ultimately, that is what keeps a presenter going.

However, I haven’t left Club Asia, I’m not emigrating, get-ting married (I’m already mar-ried, thanks) or joining a rival station. I’m actually in the proc-ess of establishing a new week-end show on Club Asia. I can’t give much away, but all I can say is watch this space or listen to the airwaves.

This change has been a long time coming for me, as there are not enough hours in the day for me to fulfill all my projects. The first one to be tackled now that I have a little more time is my album. Before you laugh, I started recording it way back in 2001 and seriously, I want to complete and release it before the decade ends.

The last album I released was Bombass in 1995. Boy, that was

almost 14 years ago – that’s like two seven-year itches, the same time Ram and Sita spent in the jungle and three UEFA World Cup tournaments. Doesn’t time go fast? I had better rush, I have got work to do and I’m sure you have as well.

My Top 5, based on requests and response when DJing1. Oop Cha rugg-ed mix by DJ Ed (new entry)2. Speaker Baja from the sound-track C Kkompany (down one)3. Balle Shava by Tigerstyle (down one spot) 4. Singh Is Kinng from the soundtrack Singh Is Kinng (non mover)5. Shake It Up by DJ Sav V (new entry) Stop, look and listenFor all the Eastside Londoners who trek west to Cafe Chai (in Ealing) every Friday for a dose of Bollywood, save yourself the trouble and come down closer to home on Saturday, October 25. I’m hosting Diwali Diva & Desi Don at IG1 Bar & Lounge. For more information, log onto www.bollyparty.co.uk

UNDERGROUND artist Asi Khan, who represents the desi scene in Norway, has done everything from producing and DJing to being part of a seven-member band. Now an MC, he is promoting himself in the UK and the US because he feels they are better markets for his music. The 21-year-old spoke to Eastern Eye about the desi hip hop scene in Norway and why it’s easier to get a record deal outside his home country.

Tell us about your latest song?It is called Ajj Dinn Vaddiya, and is about the one day you are feeling lucky. This track fea-tures Shaz, who also grew up in the same area of Oslo as me.

What’s been your biggest achi-evement so far?To be played on the Bobby Friction show. I had someone from the BBC trying to get hold of me for two-three weeks. I was Artist of the Week, the Week’s Newcomer and one of the Top 5. That was real cool, to see people in the UK appre-ciating my music.

What are you working on next?I’m trying to fix a mix tape I’m going to release on the Internet and hopefully shoot a video for one of the tracks on it.

What’s the biggest challenge in trying to get a record deal?The hip-hop scene is under

development in Norway, so I’ve been appreciated better by listeners outside the country. The market for desi hip-hop is better outside Norway and if I want to get signed, I should try to get my music out in the UK or America. But I’m not only doing this to get signed as soon as possible. I believe in learn-ing from this journey I’ve start-ed. I want to stay in Norway and make the desi scene there grow bigger.

Why should a record label sign you?Desi music is getting more and more influenced by hip-hop music. Asian rappers are already making their fan bases out there and a lot of them can make it independently, without being signed to any major la-bels. The labels will come to us – maybe not right now, but very soon. Just let this desi hip-hop grow a bit bigger.

Check out Asi Khan on www.

myspace.com/asikhan

by ZEKRA RAHMANWHENEVER Nitin Sawhney releas-es an album, everybody expects him to deliver music that will stimulate the mind.

That is why it will come as no sur-prise that his eighth studio album is another socially and politically charged one about London after the 7/7 bombings. Titled London Under-sound, it features a mix of established and unknown artists of different age groups, who share their unique experi-ences of how London has changed since the July bombings.

Eastern Eye caught up with the world-class musician and cultural pio-neer to find out more about his album and his views on London, racism and the British-Asian music scene.

Tell us about the idea behind your new album London Undersound?Firstly, it is trying to get across a whole lot of different ideas and feelings about how London has changed over the past few years. Secondly, it is about working with a number of different collaborators to get across their expe-riences on the city, particularly in terms of its political and sociological landscape and soundscape.

How would you say London has changed since 7/7?I think London has become more par-anoid. There are writers like Noam Chomsky and John Pilger who touch upon the idea that if you create an at-mosphere of fear, then people go run-ning to the government for help. As a result, we have seen a lot of our civil liberties curtailed. There is a lot of stuff that has come through in London, which we weren’t willing to accept a few years ago and as a result, there is an increase in paranoia and racism.

But there are aspects of hope. Peo-ple are using the Olympics to celebrate the cultural diversity of London. It’s an interesting time because we are at a crossroad as a nation, of either accept-ing people’s diversity or becoming en-trenched in racist perspectives.

Do you think the songs on the album reflect this change?I didn’t want to make this a heavy, in-tense album but there are aspects of it that do. I wanted it to be an album that was very listenable and was more thought-provoking rather than slamming people over the head saying, ‘this is what I want you to think’.

How compatible were the experiences of the collaborators you fea-tured on London Under-sound?They all have per-spectives on how they feel about London. It has got a large cultural range and age demo-graphic as well as a mix of celebrities and people who are unknown. I think their views were quite com-patible. I sat down and talked to them all before, individually and independently, about it. I think from there, a picture of London does emerge from the music. It has its own flow and narrative. I believe people who hear it will be able to hear me in there, but it’s also an anthology of a lot of different artists.

Creativity is personal. Do you think it is possible to communicate other people’s ideas without colouring them with your own?Yeah, I do. I also do colour them with my own because I am making an al-bum. I like to engage with people in

different ways. I haven’t really got a set agenda that I am trying to say, ‘I want to achieve this’ before I make the al-bum. The idea is to put together some-thing and then find the cohesion in the work. From a Hindu philosophical way of thinking, I think that things have their own flow and I try to follow that as naturally as I can.

Of the people you worked with on the album, who inspired you the most?I did feel very excited by the piece with Natty. I think it was a very good start-ing point to touch upon what hap-pened with 7/7 and the killing of [Bra-zilian] Jean Charles de Menezes.

I think it was quite a pivotal mo-ment for London because until then, the city felt quite removed from the justifications of the war. Afterwards, a lot of Muslims felt under seige from the way the media attacked them. It showed how we haven’t moved on from the institutional racism that sur-rounded the Stephen Lawrence affair. The fact that no one was punished for what happened is testimony to the fact that we have allowed something to happen in terms of what we tolerate from a racist perspective.

What were the challenges of tying to-gether the different perspectives?Everyone was really open and honest in their contribution, so it was not so much of a challenge. But at the same time, to create cohesion and to follow the vocabulary of the music was a challenge. I did go through a lot of ide-as with this one because I wanted to create something fresh that could em-brace diverse types of music but also create a feeling that emerged from the album. I think I was thinking more cinematically than usual and that’s come out in the album.

Are there any songs that portray how London’s different Asian communities responded to each other after 7/7?What I didn’t want to do was to get into very specific issues. But there have been issues which have come about. There are tensions between Hindus and Muslims because Hindus are wor-ried about being labelled in the same way as Muslims. I think that’s bulls**t, because I am a Hindu. I think it’s very

important that we say racism is racism. I think the album speaks for itself in terms of celebrating cultural diversity. We all should respect each other, re-gardless of our cultural heritage. It’s difficult to make those specifics work in a way that creates an accessible al-bum. It can alienate and isolate people who otherwise would listen to it.

How did your experience as a British-Asian in London influence the music?It feeds into everything I do. Tracks like Bring It Home sound like a drum ’n’ bass track but it’s actually in a six-beat cycle, the third section is in ek taal and I have used tihais in the way that the vocals are constructed. Then there’s a track called Ek Jaan, which is in Hindi and there is a tarana in Day Break and [Indian dancer] Anoushka Shankar is part of the album. So there are all those aspects of my heritage, but then I also feed on my experiences of London and the diversity within it. I grew up as fla-menco artist, jazz pianist and classical musician who also plays the tabla and sitar, so my background is bought into the way I structure the music.

Do you think music can shape the way we look at each other?Music is a very powerful language. I don’t try to preach to people, I just throw out ideas and really, it’s more ca-thartic than anything. I’m just express-ing what I feel. At the same time, I re-spect bands like Public Enemy who came out with Fight The Power and NWA with F**k The Police. They were people who actually had something to say. It’s part of the responsibility of art-ists to look at what’s going on in the world and challenge it.

How would you say the British-Asian music scene has changed since 7/7?Since 7/7, there has been a real shift. There is a lot of fear as to what people will think of the ‘other’. People are very fearful of music from other cultures at the moment – it is subliminal but it’s there. There is not enough embracing of musicians from an Asian back-ground. I really like people like Bobby and Nihal, who do a lot of work to pro-mote Asian artists in this country, but I don’t think it’s enough. There needs to be a shift in the mindset of the main-stream. I would like to see Asian bands being nominated at the Brit Awards. You wouldn’t see that because there is

a lot of racism against Asian bands and musicians. People want to

marginalise them and catego-rise them in a way that isn’t

fair.

What advice would you give to young British

Asians who as-pire to be like you?I would say, don’t try and be like me (laughs).

Try and find your own voice, your own

identity and don’t let anyone ever compro-

mise who you are. It’s a difficult time right now for

the music industry because of the whole download thing.

It’s very hard to break through, but if you stick to what you believe

in and your own identity, people will hear your voice eventually.

What is next for you?We have a full-scale tour of the coun-try and we are also going to be touring Europe. We are also playing at the Electric Proms in October. In addition, I am currently writing four film scores and a video game for Orchestra. I am DJing quite a bit too. I’ll keep going and do what I do.

London Undersound is out now.

14 EASTERN EYE August 29, 2008 www.easterneyeonline.co.uk www.easterneyescotland.com

by ZEKRA RAHMANLIKE a diamond in the rough, D-Boy is a hidden treasure that has been waiting to be discovered.

The past few years have seen the tal-ented music producer in a studio mak-ing potential chartbusters with some of the best singers around. Fast for-ward to the present and all that hard work has been translated into his great debut album Playback Volume 1. A golden collection of blinging tunes, the album features estab-lished artists next to exciting newcomers and songs that will make you press rewind.

In between an increasingly packed schedule, D-Boy invit-ed Eastern Eye into his studio

for an exclusive interview to talk about his latest single Love-

less, the new album and his tal-ents away from music.

What can we expect from your new album?(Jokes) Erm, a free Superdrug vou-cher? If you like hip hop and r’n’b, Bollywood and new music, it will appeal to you. If you want some-

thing different, then Playback is the one for you. I took all my ideas

for all the albums I have worked on for the last few years and made it into Vol-ume 1. Volume 2 will be even more ex-perimental and will take more chances.Volume 1 has tracks that I’m hoping people will love listening to. My Love Aaja Aaja by Sharifa Shi is one song that was rinsed on Club Asia and Radio 1. Nach Ke became quite a big Asian track that was playlisted on Choice FM and Radio 1xtra. People who buy Playback are also buying into a new approach to music. The album is about being true to oneself and doing what I’m doing with-

out compromising.

Why did you call it Playback?Playback is a unified ex-

pression. It comes from the playback

microphone that was used in

early Bolly-

Album: LailaArtist: Shahin BadarRelease date: Out nowOne of the greatest mysteries in the Brit-ish-Asian music industry is why Shahin Badar has not released a solo album. De-spite being one of the most talented sing-ers around, doing mega collaborations with cutting-edge artists and having some great material, she has never had a solo re-lease. All that has finally changed with her great new album Laila. Loaded with songs that draw on diverse in-fluences ranging from Bollywood and Middle Eastern music to western dance floor sounds, the action-packed album has enough surprises to keep you interested until the end. On the downside, some of the songs sound a little dated and a few are a little too ex-perimental. But don’t let that stop you from giving this one a spin.

Album: Playback Volume 1Artist: D-BoyRelease date: Out nowAfter his first two impressive singles, fans had high expectations of D-Boy’s debut al-bum Playback Volume 1. And the ace music producer has delivered with this chart-top-ping album that features a wide selection of up-coming and established artists. A cross-section of musical genres, from r’n’b to grime and bhangra, means that there is a tune for everyone. One song that stands out is Tu Bataja, featur-ing the vocals of Des-C. The cutting-edge song mixes up classical sounds with an addictive beat and sounds fresher than any tune that’s out there at the moment. Grab a copy of the smashing al-bum because compilations like these don’t come along often.

EXPOSUREwith

Lucky Singh

14 EASTERN EYE August 29, 2008

Album: Laila

EXPOSURE

Eid 2008

Ethnic Media Group are publishing a Special Eid Section on 26th September 2008 within

Eastern Eye and Eastern Eye Scotland

Do not miss out on this amazing opportunity to reach out to the Muslim community,

during the auspicious month of Ramadhan.

To join our celebrations call us now on: 0207 650 2000

THE VOICE OF BRITISH ASIANS

The music producer talks about his debut album and what he looks for in a woman

The juiceIn praise of FatburgersRapper, producer and hip-hop icon Kanye West is planning to open a chain of ‘Fat-burger’ fast-food restaurants across his home town of Chicago. The first restaurant is due to open next month (September) and the rest from January onwards.

West is not the only hip-hop star to have shown interest in the restaurant. The Beast-ie Boys, Notorious BIG and Ice Cube have all made references praising the fast-food chain in their songs.

Rockcorps: A win-win situationHip-hop star Busta Rhymes has added his star power to the Orange Rockcorps pro-gramme, which gives youngsters of today a

chance to give something back to the com-munity. In exchange for four hours of work which will benefit the community, partici-pants will be given a ticket (which cannot be bought or won) to a concert at Royal Al-bert Hall on September 26, being headlined by Busta Rhymes, with other acts to be an-nounced in the next few weeks.

Rockcorps is popular in the United States and has been running there for four years now. It uses the services of popular artists including Kanye West, Kelis and Nas. For this event, 60 projects are being organised across the country.

The bling factorIt has been announced by Forbes that 50 Cent is now the highest-earning star in hip

15EASTERN EYE August 29, 2008 www.easterneyeonline.co.uk www.easterneyescotland.com

wood recordings and I am a massive early In-dian music fan. SD Burman, RD Burman, AR Rahman are all my influences. The playback mic was only used for playback singers, who would use this one mic in a booth. The whole idea was about one mic and different voices, so the whole album was done on one micro-phone. The album is about love, life and music, but with only one mic.

Do you have a favourite song on the album?Yes, a song called Too Late by Sharifa Shi. It is about a person being with someone and realis-ing what would happen if they lost them. I love it because it’s got jazz piano, tabla, the strings, mind-blowing lyrics and all the elements of the kind of music that I love.

You have produced and featured on many songs and worked with big names. Why have you been keeping such a low profile?I’m not good at marketing myself. Not many people know that I won a songwriting award from the British Academy and I have done things that have already crossed boundaries.

But I want people to discover me for them-selves rather than having my face thrown out there. I want people to think, ‘Who is this per-son? Do I like him?’ and then to decide, rather than my music being played on the radio until they are trained to like it.

Now people want to know who I am, they want my signature on the front of things. Over the past few years, I have had people come to the studio and been really disappointed that I can sing and perform live. They say, ‘If you can do what you can do, why don’t you do it’? Playback is almost a realisation process of me as a person and a producer as well. I think now is the right time to exploit my production and talent.

Tell us about your latest single Loveless?When I did the instrumental, I thought about the issues we all go through with being Asian, and what happens when you find someone who happens to be from another culture or religion. I have seen a lot of relationships fizzle out be-cause of those differences. It’s about the pres-sure that our generation have on us about find-ing someone we want to be with but can’t for family issues and reasons you don’t think about when you fall in love. I put the idea across to AG Dolla and he understood it and had a personal story to tell. And my younger brother Sef was more than happy to jump on the track as well.

Your first single Nach Ke was a very desi track, unlike Loveless. Was it a conscious decision to go between genres?It was done on purpose. I don’t want people to think I am a generic producer and artist. I like

being part of the music, visuals, videos, film and photography – they are all things that I have grown up around. I don’t want to limit myself as a producer. I would like people to understand that I can do more than just a bhangra bounce like Nach Ke.

What motivates you?The fact that my parents allowed me to sacrifice my education because they believe in what I do. And that alone is enough for me to wanna work extra hard to prove myself and show them it can lead to positive things.

What are you working on now?I’m working on material for a new girl group in Mumbai and on Playback Volume II. I am re-editing an anima-tion photography video for my fourth release after Des-C’s video Tu Bataja. It combines animation, photography and live music.

But the next move is Tu Bataja, which is going to be the unexpected release of the album. Des-C is known to be a Punjabi singer, but I asked him to try and do it in Hindi and he did a great job. Such a huge number

of Asians in the UK speak Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu but there is no inbetween. I believe this is the in-between song. The recep-tion to the track has been so good.

In addition, I have just done two tracks for Hard Kaur’s new album, a new track on Sef’s al-bum and one for a new boy band from Oxford.

Do you think music is becoming an accepted career for young Asians?Music has been in our culture and society for God knows how long, but whether it is respected or not is a different question. It’s almost like some people see it like a mockery as well. All my cousins and friends are established account-ants, run their own law firms and businesses and have their own nightclubs. Then there is me making music and still working my butt off to reach the next level and that is hard. I’m lucky because I have an understanding family and a few of my friends are so supportive. I didn’t just wake up and start making beats. I have done the whole ‘working for corporates’ thing and I have given that up. With that I have also given up ‘social status.’ All the aunties want to know, ‘Are you an accountant and how much do you make a year?’ And that’s one of the reasons I believe my marital status is still single.

So for your female fans, tell us what you look for in a woman?Most importantly, my ideal partner would have to be understanding and intelligent. Intelli-gence is such an attraction. When you talk to someone you can have a conversation with, it is so much more attractive than someone who looks amazing. And, hey, if you are intelligent and you are attractive then that’s just a bonus – a gold-star package!

act of the week

A TEAM of talented producers and DJs, including Moss Da Boss, Freddo, Mr V, Booda and Burga Boy, are in the process of producing compilation album Bhangra vs Bassline. Eastern Eye spoke to one of the producers Moss Da Boss to find out more about making music and his journey in the industry so far.

How did you first get involved in music?I started DJing at my local youth club. Then I moved to parties and gigs, clubs, radio shows and then to production.

Tell us about your latest song?I have many songs that I am working on, but one in particular is called Meh-

booba (Gabbar Singh mix), produced by myself and an artist called Booda, a leg-end in his own right. Also watch out for Boomin featuring L Kareem and Killa.

Who are your musical inspirations?Where do I start? Quincy Jones, RD Bur-man, Todd Terry, Masters at Work, AR Rahman, Kalyandji Anandji and of course, Dr Dre.

What is the biggest challenge in trying to get a record deal?Going through the red tape and the pol-itics, which take you away from making music. Patience is a virtue.

What has been your biggest achieve-ment so far?I have had many achievements but they may not all be big. One exception is I had an artist from Bradford signed up to Chrysalis, one of the top five music pub-lishing companies in the UK. At the time, the only two Asian artists signed up to them were my artist and Talvin Singh.

Where will you be performing at next?We have performed at a few Melas and gigs but we are looking forward to our album tour in October.

Why should a record label sign you?We can provide versatile, quality pro-duction and serious commitment.

Check out their music at www.bhangraniche.com

Six things D-Boy wants to do...A movie soundtrack: I want complete con-

trol over a soundtrack for a film. I have

done music for adverts already but a

soundtrack for a big-budget, artistic film

with a great script is my next step.

Acting: I would like to get back to my dra-

ma roots and touch up on the performance

side of things, so being proactive in a film

is another unfulfilled ambition.

Produce a track for an American hip hop

artist: I have always wanted to go to the

United States and work with US artists and

make some really good r’n’b, because I

grew up on a mixture of new jack swing

and r’n’b as well as Bollywood music. I

would also love to work with M.I.A.

A qawwali album: I want to do a focused

qawwali album with real musicians in the

right way.A collaboration with Stevie Wonder: If I

could work with Stevie Wonder, I would do

an album full of classic reworks of songs

and have original vocals from him.

A TV programme: I would like to devise

concepts for unified music programmes,

not just desi programmes, because we as

British Asians are not easily defined – we

listen to everything.

The music producer talks about his debut album and what he looks for in a woman

hop. In the last year, he earned $150 million (£75m) compared with Jay-Z, who earned only $82m (£44m). Third on the list was Diddy with $35m (£18m). 50 Cent has earned his money not just through selling albums but from his G-Unit clothing line, record label, video games and movie projects, not to mention the $100m he earned from selling his share in VitaminWater to Coca Cola. The rapper also stars in the film Righteous Kill with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, which comes out on September 12.

Hot issuesJay-Z vs Noel GallagherJay-Z (pictured) has continued to take potshots at Oasis star Noel Gallagher. The dispute started

when Gallagher hit out at Jay-Z for headlining at Glas-tonbury, saying: “I’m not having hip hop at Glaston-

bury. It’s wrong.” Jay-Z responded by sing-

ing one of Noel’s songs

and playing the guitar

during his festival perform-ance. In addition, in a su-prise appear-

ance at a Kanye West concert in New York earli-er this month, Jay-Z attacked Gallagher’s com-ments in his new song Jockin’ Jay-Z.

Five hot tunes1. John Legend feat Andre 3000: Green Light2. Fonzworth Bentley feat Kanye West and An-dre 3000: Everybody3. Common feat Pharrell Williams: Universal Mind Control4. Robin Thicke: Magic5. Jay-Z: Jockin’ Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh)

The look outIronik’s worldUp-and-coming British artist Ironik (pictured) will release his debut album on September 29. It features the 2007 summer Channel U hit sin-

gle So Nice, and the 2008 smash Stay With Me, which reached No 11 on the digital sales chart and then peaked at No 5 in the UK charts. Ironik is also giving 1,000 fans a chance to have their name on the in-side cover of his album. For more informa-tion, visit www.my space.com/dji-ronik

ABOUT A D-BOY

NO COMPROMISE: EE’s Zekra Rahman with D-Boy