The EE Arts, Culture and Theatre Awards (ACTAS), were handed out in a glitzy ceremony on Friday (May 23) at The May Fair Hotel in Mayfair, London and saw the latest TV star meet a director who first had his hand in bringing ‘Doctor Who’ successfully to the screen more than 60 years ago…
By Suman Bhuchar
DIRECTOR Waris Hussein was given the EE Outstanding Contribution to the Creative industries Award for his ground breaking work in film and television.
Hussein was accompanied to the event with his husband, Jean Paul Nancy, whom he thanked.
He said: “I appreciate the fact that I have been able to do what I’ve done and people are hopefully going to follow in my footsteps.
“I was the first brown face, to face a white consortium of faces at the BBC where they were choosing directors and they wanted to put me into radio.”
He continued: “I said you will be wasting your money and my talent.
“I did end up at Television Centre and the first ever show, I got was called ‘Doctor Who’.”
This was 1963 and Hussein was nearly 24 years old then, and his producer, Verity Lambert, told him: “You’ve got to make it work.” The rest, as they say, is history!
Hussein, 86, went on to direct many films and television series and won a BAFTA for ‘Edward and Mrs Simpson’ (1978) and worked with many big stars, including Dame Sybil Thorndike in the TV film, ‘A Passage to India’ (1965); Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor for ‘Divorce His-Divorce–Hers’ (1973) and singer Barry Manilow in the musical film, ‘Copacabana’ (1985) for which he won an Emmy.
Hussein met Varada Sethu, the current companion of the present doctor, Ncuti Gatwa.
Sethu received the EE (EE) Award for Film, TV & Drama, Best Female Actress for her portrayal of Belinda Chandra, in Series 15, of ‘Doctor Who’ which started on April 12 this year.
Sethu said she was not at all prepared for the news, although she had a guest lead in the series before. (She appeared in the episode, ‘Boom’, in Series 14). People of colour were making progress in the arts, she felt, as they were being offered space and storylines.
The EE Award for Film, TV & Drama Best Male Actor was awarded to Rishi Nair for his sensitive portrayal of the new vicar, Alphy Kottaram in the ITV, series ‘Grantchester’.
The BBC series ‘Virdee’ picked up two gongs: one for AA Dhand for Best Scriptwriter and another for the lead, Staz Nair as a Trailblazer Award.
In theatre, the award for Best Director went to Adam Karim for his fine portrayal of ‘Guards at the Taj’ (Orange Tree Theatre) and Best Male Actor went to Mikhail Sen for his role in the ‘Merchant of Venice 1936’ while Meera Syal received the Best Female Actress Award for Theatre for her towering performance as Queenie in ‘A Tupperware of Ashes’.
Composer Niraj Chag received the award for Contemporary Music, while Soumik Datta got it for Traditional Music.
The EE Award for Emerging Artist in association of Arts Council England was presented by its Chief Executive, Darren Henley, CBE to Saachi Sen, a songwriter and singer, who also performed two tracks for the audience.
The EE Award for Dance was presented to ‘Songs of the Bulbul’ by Aakash Odedra and Rani Khanam for “creating an experience that bridges cultures and speaks directly to the soul.”
including Suman Bhuchar (furthest right).
The EE Award for Arts was given to Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican for his curation of the exhibition, ‘The Imaginary Institution of India 1975-1998’ which was “giving voice to marginalised narratives and reshaping how Indian contemporary art is seen globally”.
The EE Special Award was given to Professor Partha Mitter for his Lifetime of Dedication to South Asian Art History, while the Outstanding Scholarships in the Arts award went to Susan Stronge, senior curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum which recently curated, ‘The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence’ exhibition there.
In the Literature and Writing category, there were four awards.
The writer Cauvery Madhavan won the Fiction Award for her novel, ‘The Inheritance’ .
The Award for Non-Fiction went to former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu for his searing memoir: ‘Turmoil: 30 Years of Policing, Politics and Prejudice’.
The Award for Crime Fiction went to debut author Ram Murali for ‘Death in the Air’, while the Award History Book was given to Professor Nandini Das “for her outstanding contribution to historical scholarship” with her book ‘Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire’.
Best Presenter was won by news anchor and author, Reeta Chakrabarti and the EE Award for Community Engagement went jointly to the Bradford Literature Festival and to Bradford City of Culture for “works that positions Bradford as a vibrant city of Culture”.
A total of 21 awards were presented at the evening hosted by broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake, who made a plea for rich Asians to support the event.
The EE ACTAS began in 2016 to highlight the rich South Asian creative sector in the UK.
All pictures: ©SumanBhuchar
Coming – Meera Syal reacts to a question from Arthanayake about diversity in the arts on winning the Best Actress award … (Instagram)
