Classically Reimagined; Muslim International Film Festival; Bradford Literature Festival; Paro – Raindance and JLF London 2026
It’s that time of year and we look at music, film and book festivals, both coming up and just gone…and starting this evening is…
South Asian Sounds (July 1-5)
Classically Reimagined – Listening to a glorious future
WORLD-RENOWNED pianitst Rekesh Chauhan brings together several like-minded musicians to create ‘Classically Reimagined’ – a concert that is something of a first and will take place during the Southbank Centre’s South Asian Sounds festival tomorrow.
Chauhan told www.asianculturevulture.com: “I can’t think of anywhere better to bring together all the musicians which I’ve worked with.
“The Southbank stage becomes more than a venue; it is a platform big enough to hold a decade of collaborations, premieres and reinterpretations – it’s our meeting point both literally and metaphorically.”
He explained what unites the musicians is a shared relationship with Indian classical training, even as each artist brings a different style and background.
There’s Nicki Wells, a classically trained Indian vocalist, Praveen Prathapan, known quite simply as the flute guy, Alok Verma and Janathan Karunakaran on drums, Dayna Fisher plays bass guitar, while Ashaa Sasikaran and Nishla Smith also add their vocals.
The shared tradition and training allows them to be adventurous and innovative and crucially understand each other.
Chauhan continued: “It allows us to be really free, really be improvisational. I find that everyone connects to the music – there’s an ambition to this and we’re really excited about the future.”
This is not only virtuosity but a step into a future that is still being formed – it’s a statement about heritage, access and connection and an invitation to be part of something in earliest manifestations – celebrating the musical heritage of distant lands but reshaping them for an international and western audience. The Southbank Centre says: “Experience an unprecedented fusion of world music with the soulful essence of songs including ‘Kesariya Balam’ (Rajasthani folk), ‘Heer’ (Punjab) and the mesmerising melodies of Qawwali hits ‘Tere Bin Nai Lagda’ and ‘Sanson Ki Mala’” Chauhan has worked with Grammy Award winning artists and composed The Commonwealth Symphony.
South Asian Sounds started this evening (July 1) with Anmol Mohara, whose Nepal‑infused percussion and contemporary composition inaugurate – while Raghu Dixit lights up the Queen Elizabeth Hall with his trademark big melodies and genre‑crossing joy. The London Bollywood Orchestra, featuring Priyani Vani Panditt, adds orchestral sweep with raga‑to‑Bollywood classics. The weekend builds to major showcases: Hariharan’s soulful fusion evening and Talvin Singh’s Shradhanjali, an electrifying homage to Zakir Hussain. Together, these artists headline a festival that honours heritage while boldly shaping the future of (British) South Asian sound.
See our Reel with Chauhan talking about ‘Classically Reimagined’… (will be added)
Classically ReImagined on Thursday, July 2 at 7.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
Info/Tickets: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/rekesh-chauhan-classically-reimagined/
Muslim International Film Festival (London) – July 2-5
‘Ish’ and ‘Ghost School’ – British filmmakers screenings
THERE are two films acv has already covered in this festival, which is now in its second edition and is centred around Leicester Square in Central London.
The British debut feature, ‘Ish’ gets a screening ahead of its UK release at the end of next month (July 31). Made by 2020 Turner Prize co-winning artist Imran Perretta, this is an affecting study of young friendship between two Muslim heritage schoolboys. Pop star Joy Crookes essays a sister role in her first big screen showing. The boys are surveilled, picked up and interrogated by the police…
Based on a personal story, Perretta weaves a subtle tale of innocence lost and how two boys, both emerging adults and best friends, react. It had its world premiere at Venice last year and we talked to Perretta about it both there and at home when it had its UK premiere at London Film Festival last year.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DP4K91DAnrS
Also featuring is ‘Ghost School’ – made by another UK based filmmaker. Seemab Gul’s debut feature is another personal tale but set against the backdrop of schools in Pakistan that exist for a time and then disappear. Yes, the central protagonist sets out to find out why her school has vanished… Gul talked to us when it screened at the UK Asian Film Festival in May. (See our Instagram interview with her then).
https://www.instagram.com/p/DX6z1-bC6lW
Muslim International Film Festival – MIFF – https://themiff.net/
Bradford Literature Festival July 3-12
Pragya Agarwal & crime writing icons
THERE are many South Asian authors and personalities appearing at this festival, now in its 12th edition and taking place in a revitalised town centre that acv has documented in its coverage of Bradford 2025 City of Culture.
Among the authors and public figures appearing this year are Humza Yousaf, Pragya Agarwal, Saeed Khan, Nafeez Ahmed, Akram Khan (Cern physicist), Dr Nafjah al Kuwairi, Jawid Mojaddedi, Nabila Rashid, Naz Shah, Rim-Sarah Alouane, Tasneem Chopra
Many will look forward to listening to author Pragya Agarwal (pictured above) whose pioneering work on inequality, bias and motherhood has drawn widespread global acclaim.
Crime authors AA Dhand and Abir Mukherjee join together for a session where the former will launch his latest, ‘The Kingpin’.
Bradford Literature Festival (July 3-12) – https://www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk/
And two festivals gone but not forgotten…
Raindance Film Festival (June 17-26)
‘Paro’ screening and Jane Fonda documentary ‘Gaslit’ award
HIGHLIGHTING a little talked about issue and bringing it to the attention of the wider public in the UK was a triumph for the producers of the film, ‘Paro:The Untold Story of Bride Slavery‘.
Mumbai-based filmmaker activist and lead actor and producer Trupti Bhoir turns her focus to the subject of bride abduction and auction…
She said around 60K women and young girls are sold every year in her native India.
Often – as is happens in the film – girls are kidnappedand then sold to be married…
Bhoir’s film, which is directed by Gajendra Ahire, is in a Haryani dialect and charts the plight of Chaand, as she innocently falls for a wandering Sufi poet-musician as a teenager; he is quickly disposed of and Chaand finds herself sold and trafficked into a wedding with a much older man. Initially, she plays the dutiful wife but on her husband’s death, she is thrown out by her own step sons and unimaginable violence is inflicted on her – she survives only to be abducted again by Rashid (Tara Shah Badussha) with a child. Separated from the little one and beaten, she slowly makes a different life for herself and this is where the story begins to take a turn…
In the post screening Q&A, many were astonished to know such practices still exist – the film is based on true testimony and is set in the 1990s/2000s before mobile phones. In India, such brides are referred to as Paro.
Also screening at the festival, as a European premiere was the Jane Fonda ‘Gaslit’ documentary – it charts coastal devastation in Texas and Louisiana and community displacement to great effect with narration from folks who fight back against the petro-chemical industry in the area. Fonda, 86, gets on the road herself and talks to these beleaguered communities, who offer resistance and hope – many of them black or Latino or poor white – and already marginalised. This won the Raindance Documentary Award and former acv special presenter Attika Choudhary hosted the post screening Q&A, which included debutant feature documentary director, American Katie Comosy. The film was backed by Greenpeace USA.
Both these films are well worth catching and illustrate the power of filmmaking through telling people’s stories – real or fictional.
Paro – https://www.instagram.com/parothemovie/
Gaslit – https://gaslitdoc.com/
Raindance Film Festival – https://raindance.org/festival/
And finally…
Jaipur Literature Festival (June 5-7)
William Dalrymple, Sanjoy K Roy & Namita Gokhale and crime writing icons Abir Mukherjee and Vaseem Khan share their secrets with us …
Well…
Our short interviews will be posted to this page when they are available through our YouTube and Instagram channels shortly.
Do subscribe/follow to keep up to date.
