How much of an Asian culture vulture, are you? Test your knowledge with our annual quiz (2021)…

Ready, sitting comfortably…no cheating, please try to answer without looking up or using the internet but if you have to – use 🔎 on acv and on our Youtube channel – good luck!

By Suman Bhuchar

IT’S THAT time of the year again when we ask you to take the Asianculturevulture quiz and test your wits and knowledge of Asian arts and culture and find out if you are truly an asianculturevulture, an aficionado or just a vulture! Enjoy & share with friends…

Film

1 Which film received the Best British Independent Film Award?
a) After Love
b) Bank Job
c) A Night of Knowing Nothing
d) I am Belmaya
e) Flee
For an extra point please name the director who also received the Best Director and The Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director)

2 Which film closed this year’s London Indian Film Festival?
a) Brick Lane
b) My Beautiful Laundrette
c) The Warrior
d) Flight
e) Majdhar
For an extra point, who wrote the film?

3 Name the short film based on the life of a Pakistani activist and directed by Oscar winner, Orlando Van Einsiedel?
a) Writing With Fire
b) Into Dust
c) Women of My Billion
d) Rehana
e) Mulaqat
For an extra point, name the Pakistani activist

4 Which actor, activist, rapper, producer has had his short film included in the Oscar long list?
a) Riz Ahmed
b) Dev Patel
c) Adeel Akhtar
d) Nikesh Patel
e) Sacha Dhawan
For an extra two points name the film and his earlier nomination? (Editor clue: it’s related to music)

5 Name the director of the film, ‘Granada Nights’, dealing with self-discovery while nursing heartbreak?
a) Sam Masud
b) Abid Khan
c) Mattie Do
d) Gauri Shinde
e) Aneil Karia

Film (International)

1 “For the first time in my career I was on a set and everyone was brown like me which made me feel good” Who said those words?
a) Riz Ahmed on the set of Mogul Mowgli
b) Antonio Aakeel on making Granada Nights
c) Ramin Bahrani on the set of The White Tiger
d) Samira Makhmalbaf while making Takhté siah (The Blackboard)
e) Priyanka Chopra Jonas while shooting The Matrix Resurrections

2 Which film received the Cannes Golden Eye Award for ‘Best Documentary’ at 2021 Cannes Film Festival?
a) Rahul Jain – Invisible Demons
b) Payal Kapadia – A Night of Knowing Nothing
c) Todd Haynes – The Velvet Underground
d) Ajitpal Singh – Fire in the Mountains
e) Ajoy Bose/Peter Compton – The Beatles in India

3 Who didn’t get the job as the ‘foreign reporter’ in the film, ‘Bell Bottom’ directed by Ranjit Tewari and starring Akshay Kumar? (Ed: clue – she is a contributor to ACV)
a) Attika Choudhary
b) Natalie Barrass
c) Momtaz Begum-Hossain
d) Suman Bhuchar
e) Shay Grewal
For an extra point please tell us where was it filmed

4 Which film set in India in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolitions had its world premiere at London Film Festival 2021?
a) Pedro by Natesh Hegde
b) 7 Days by Roshan Sethi
c) Flee by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
d) Dostojee by Prasun Chatterjee
e) Ram ke Naam by Anand Patwardhan

5 The Indian Horror film, ‘Chhorii’ (‘Girl’) is a remake of a Marathi language film, Lapachhapi. Who plays the lead role of Sakshi?
a) Janhvi Kapoor
b) Anushka Sharma
c) Nushratt Bharuccha
d) Mita Vashisht
e) Ileana D’Cruz

Theatre

1 Which British Asian hit play marked its 25th anniversary with a new production?
a) Journey to the West by Tara Arts
b) East is East by Ayub Khan Din
c) My Beautiful Laundrette by Hanif Kureishi
d) Backbencher by Amina Atiq
e) Bombay Dreams by Meera Syal
For an extra point who produced & staged the original production? For an extra, extra boffin point – who played the original paterfamilias in the original production 25 years ago? (Ed clue: there is a piece about that production published this year).

2 Which play dealt with Gandhi’s early life in London and was part of the trilogy Out West?
a) True Brit by Vinay Patel
b) The Overseas Student by Tanika Gupta
c) Rice by Michele Lee
d) Love in the Time of Corona by Hassan Abdulrazzak
e) Waking/Walking by Suhayla El-Bushra

3 Which South Asian female led company celebrated its 30th anniversary this year?
a) Clean Break
b) Kali Theatre Company
c) The Thelmas
d) Vᾰn Thanh Productions
e) Mashi Theatre
For an extra point, name the two original founder members of said company

4 Who adapted The Importance of Being Earnest as an online coproduction between the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield & The Dukes, Lancaster?
a) Yasmin Whittaker-Khan
b) Yasmin Wilde
c) Yasmin Khan
d) Yasmeen Khan
e) Dr. Yasmin Khan
And for an extra point name the director of the show

5 Who wrote and starred in ‘Evening Conversations’ which was part of the Footprints festival at Jermyn Street Theatre?
a) Hannah Kumari
b) Anjana Vasan
c) Shaheen Khan
d) Meera Syal
e) Sudha Bhuchar

Well done you’ve come this far and here’s a brief treat for you courtesy of Rifco, Leave the Plastic on – a digital series of satirical comedy sketches
https://www.rifcotheatre.com/watch/leave-the-plastic-on

Literature/Books

1 Which Bollywood and Bond actor whose mother was the nun, Sister Palmo released his autobiography earlier this year?
a) Ashok Amritraj
b) I.S. Johar
c) Kabir Bedi
d) Bhasker Patel
e) Sacha Dhawan
For an extra point name the title of the biography

2 Which British poet who was considered for the Poet Laureate appeared at the Manchester International Festival 2021?
a) Moniza Alvi
b) Daljit Nagra
c) Rupi Kaur
d) Tariq Latif
e) Imtiaz Dharker

3 Which novelist’s book set during the Partition of India appeared in the Observer’s Top Ten debuts of 2021?
a) Melody Razak
b) Caleb Azumah Nelson
c) Zoe Iqbal
d) Kavita Puri
e) Natasha Brown
For an extra point name the title of the novel, and for an extra, extra boffin point name the inspiration for the book

4 Which acv contributor and craft expert has written a book on how to find happiness in colour?
a) Ashanti Omkar
b) Momtaz Begum-Hossain
c) Rebecca Atwood
d) Tasha Mathur
e) Devika Banerjee
For an extra point name the title of the book

5 Which author recently had his book about the legacy of colonialism presented as a documentary on television?
a) Sathnam Sanghera
b) William Dalrymple
c) Anita Anand
d) Anita Rani
e) Amandeep Singh Madra
For an extra point name the title of the book

Dance

1 Which BBC Young Dancer became a Sadler’s Wells Associate this year and presented her piece, ‘When Life Gives you Melons” as part of a Mixed Bill?
a) Sarah Kundi
b) Seeta Patel
c) Vidya Patel
d) Urja Desai Thakore
e) Arunima Kumar

2 Which dancer /choreographer company celebrated a 21st anniversary of producing work?
a) Aakash Odedra Company
b) Akademi
c) Akram Khan Company
d) Nina Rajrani Dance Creations
e) Mavin Khoo associates

3 Which coming festival had a sneak preview of events at the Manchester International Festival this year?
a) Sama Arts Festival
b) Saudha Arts Festival
c) Sufi Festival
d) Salaam Festival
e) Savera Festival

4 Which Asian personality appeared on the British television show, ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ this year?
a) Nina Wadia
b) Naga Munchetty
c) Mark Ramprakash
d) Laila Rouass
e) Sunetra Sarkar

5 Which South Asian Dance Company launched the first ever online dance film festival this year?
a) Akademi
b) Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company
c) Big Dance
d) Kadam Dance
e) Phizzical

Music

1 Which musician & Brit Award nominee of Bangladeshi heritage appeared on BBC Asian Network celebrating Bangladesh’s 50th independence year?
a) Sohini Alam
b) Shapla Salique
c) Joy Crookes
d) Tanita Tikaram
e) Lucy Rahman

2 Which composer & pianist received the Ivor Novello Impact Award 2021?
a) Rekesh Chauhan
b) Nitin Sawhney
c) Lang Lang
d) Zoe Rahman
e) Mishka Rushdie Momen

3 Which artist worked with 40 artists and musicians to create a series of short films, ‘Silent Spaces’ reclaiming England’s and London’s iconic and cultural spaces?
a) Soumik Datta
b) Souvid Datta
c) Sangeeta Datta
d) Amyt Datta
e) Anuradha Datta

4 Which Indian classical ‘khyal’ vocalist passed away in 2021 who formed a formidable duo with his brother?
a) Dagar brothers
b) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
c) Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
d) Pandit Rajan Misra
e) Pandit Ravi Shankar
For an extra point name the brother he sang with?

5 Which artist received the Eastern Eye Arts Culture and Theatre Awards for her ‘outstanding contribution to the creative industry’ in 2021
a) Patricia Rozario
b) Sparsh Bajpai
c) Danielle de Niese
d) Kiri Te Kanawa
e) Wilhelmenia Fernandez

Congratulation’s you’ve made it to here – so pause and enjoy this treat.
Madame Gandhi video treat – waiting for me
https://youtu.be/-bNdmBeQHI4

Art

1 Name the photographer whose retrospective took place at the Photographer’s Gallery this year?
a) Mahtab Hussain
b) Vivek Vadoliya
c) Sunil Gupta
d) Suki Dhanda
e) Simrah Farrukh
For an extra point name the title of the show

2 Which British Asian artists created the artwork for the film release of ‘The White Tiger’ on Netflix? (There are two of them)
a) Chila Kumari Burman
b) Inkquisitive
c) Hardeep Pandhal
d) Shaw
e) Vik Kainth

3 Which building façade in London features the art installation ‘Bangla’ to mark 50 years of independence of Bangladesh?
a) Rich Mix
b) Tate Britain
c) Idea Store, Whitechapel Library
d) National Portrait Gallery
e) V&A Museum

4 Which exhibition has been curated by assistant curator, International Art Amrita Dhallu at the Tate?
a) Lubaina Himid
b) Life Between Islands
c) Lucian Freud
d) Petrit Halilaj
e) Hogarth and Europe

5 Which artist conceived and presented ‘Eart: A Manifesto of Possibilities’ at the Manchester International Festival 2021
a) Rasheed Araeen
b) Rashid Rana
c) Faiza Shaikh
d) Zoe Iqbal
e) Shanaz Gulzar

Radio /Television

1 Name the regular Asian character in the Radio 4 soap, ‘The Archers’, which celebrated its 70th anniversary this year?
a) Usha Gupta
b) Kamlesh Bahl
c) Maya Sondhi
d) Zainab Masood
e) Satya Gupta
For an extra point name the actor who plays the character, and for a boffin, boffin point name the person who originally played her

2 Which British comedian won the ‘Best Entertainment Performance’ at this year’s BAFTAS?
a) Jeff Mirza
b) Shazia Mirza
c) Guz Khan
d) Asim Chaudhry
e) Romesh Ranganathan
For an extra point name the title of the show

3 Which British Youtuber has created the character of Kokila Ben?
a) Faryal Makhdoom
b) Harnaam Kaur
c) Shay Grewal
d) Parle Patel
e) Carry Minati

4 Which comedy deals with the creation of a Muslim punk band?
a) And Just like That
b) We are Lady Parts
c) The Long Goodbye
d) Emily in Paris
e) Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
For an extra point, name the writer and director of the show

5 Who played the role of Karen in the ITV drama ‘Innocent’?
a) Anjana Vasan
b) Priyanga Burford
c) Rani Moorthy
d) Jacqueline Fernandez
e) Anjli Mohindra

Well done for getting right down to the bottom… there are 62 points on offer in all!

The answers will be out on January 3.

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