It’s set to be yet another vintage year for South Asian cinema at the BFI London Film Festival, with some of the best filmmakers from across the sub-continent presenting their creations over the two-week festival which begins 12th October.  The World Cinema segment of the 55th edition of the Festival …

(BBC – 29/09/11): Qawwal Maestro and Bollywood Singer, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan takes a journey back through his life as he chats to BBC Asian Network’s Sonia Deol. This red button programme includes exclusive rare footage of Rahat performing with his uncle, the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and …

The stars of Akshay Kumar’s new crossover production “Speedy Kings” descended on London this week to promote the film that is the latest in a long line of productions inspired by the twin South Asian Diaspora obsessions of Sport and Cultural Identity.  Whilst the genre is becoming increasingly stale – …

Hindus in Australia, America and India have been outraged by an Australian play that depicts the Hindu god Ganesh taking on Adolf Hitler in a swashbuckling fight over the use of the swastika symbol.   Ganesh Versus the Third Reich is yet to open at the Melbourne Festival, but news …

India’s holy cows are turning out to be vengeful deities, according to new figures showing the number of bovine attacks is on the increase.   New figures show seventeen cases of attacks on people in the first half of this year – more than the total number of bites since …

The long list for the 2012 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature has been announced with both established and debut writers vying for the $50,000 prize.     Notable debut works on the longlist are Bombay based journalist Manu Joseph’s ‘Serious Men’, along with Kishwar Desai’s acclaimed ‘Witness The Night’, …

The next James Bond movie is to be partially shot in India, according to a production company in Delhi. The BBC has quoted Rahul Soni of India Take One Productions as saying the government has granted permission to EON to film scenes for the as-yet-unnamed follow up to ‘Quantum of …

(Reuters – 05/09/2011): On some days when they were starting out, the Bansals would get on a motorbike to make the rounds of book warehouses around Bangalore, ride back to their two-bedroom apartment and package up orders for online customers. It was a humble beginning for Sachin Bansal and Binny …

Hearthrob Ranbir Kapoor had the fright of his life when he had to shoot a bike sequence with newbie Nargis Fakhri for ‘Rockstar’. Because he was required to ride pillion with Nargis who had just learnt riding a bike barely half an hour ago! Apparently, Director Imtiaz wanted to shoot …