Latest news with #British-Asian
Mint
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Gurnaik Johal's 'Saraswati': A complex debut that misses the mark on majoritarian politics
British-Asian writer Gurnaik Johal's ambitious debut novel Saraswati begins with Satnam (a Punjabi Londoner), one of the novel's main characters, staring at a well he has just inherited from his dead grandmother at their ancestral Punjab village. Miraculously, the longdried well has suddenly spouted water, a development that the jetlagged Satnam momentarily perceives as 'a trick of the light", before acknowledging that he really was staring back at his own face. 'But here it was, water: a reflection. He looked down at himself looking up." By the time you finish the novel, you realise that among other things, this opening salvo is a nifty bit of foreshadowing. For Satnam's little family well soon becomes the conduit for a Hindu nationalist plot to resurrect the mythical river Saraswati. This water, conjured out of nothingness, functions as the novel's vanity mirror, used by Johal to reflect the motives and machinations of every single major character on display here. And there is no shortage of major characters, as Satnam discovers the existence of far-flung relatives across the globe, products of a 19th century inter-caste marriage between their ancestors, Sejal and Jugaad (whose story is fleshed out in short flashbacks separating the novel's longer 'real time" chapters, not unlike the 'Inset" flashback chapters in Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games). There's Nathu, the asexual Kenyan archaeology professor, Harsimran the Bollywood stunt double, Mussafir, connected to a guerrilla eco-terrorist group upset at the fact that existing rivers are being diverted to the newly anointed 'holy river" Saraswati. We also meet Katrina and Jay, a couple who meet on the island of Diego Garcia after a surprise donkey invasion of the runway their plane was supposed to land on. Also read: Why writer Yashpal's feminism provokes thought 50 years on These characters and the realms that they find themselves traversing, are representative of a very specific, trans-continental 21st century novel practised by the likes of David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas), Hari Kunzru (Transmission), Kim Stanley Robinson (The Ministry for the Future) et al. Saraswati, like the other novels of this subgenre, takes E.M. Forster's 'only connect!" exhortation from Howards End to its logical endpoint—in these novels, connections and collisions (economic, cultural, moral) are both form and content. Every single event in these novels, basically, is an echo of an earlier mistake, an earlier loss, an earlier era. Johal's novel emulates these in its narrative structure. Saraswati's ensemble cast of Sejal and Jugaad's descendants, too, are drawn to the mythical river in ways that spell out their semantic purpose in the plot—the archaeologist 'excavates" both his own and the river's past, the journalist connects the dots in Sejal's family tree only to forge meaningful connections of her own along the way, and so on. This is a structurally efficient way to construct a novel. Johal is clearly a gifted writer, and one of his obvious strengths is the clear-eyed exploration of 'old world" vs 'new world" economies. In the novel, after the prime minister, Narayan Indra, declares the Saraswati river to be the site of an ancient Hindu civilisation, a new and bustling market for dug-up 'Saraswatian" artefacts opens up, for example. 'A large market had emerged around the buying and selling of ancient artefacts, and it was his team's job to date and register each find, determining its authenticity and, where possible, its providence, before it was sold on. The work meant that our apartment building was supplied with extra security: many traders would stand to lose a lot of money if your father's team deemed their finds inauthentic. Others were angry that the team was authenticating too many items, driving the market price down." There's so much going on in the passage above—the surveillance state, mercantile mischief, the economic opportunism that inevitably follows chest-thumping political speeches. Johal deserves credit for stringing together these hefty, idea-dense passages that tackle everything from the auditory landscape of the Punjabi language to the vagaries of the caste system to the growing anti-immigration movement spreading across much of the Western world. Johal is also very good at depicting contemporary online registers—the voice note that Satnam uses to break up with his London girlfriend is pitch-perfect, for example. However, this gleeful ventriloquist's act becomes a weakness when it comes to the character of Indra and his cohorts. They come off as repetitive and somewhat cartoonish in their speech patterns. Also read: Frederick Forsyth's 'Jackal' is back in 2025 Part of the problem is that we only ever engage with Indra when one of the other characters is watching a speech on TV. And the speeches are utterly consumed by the idea of the Saraswati and by extension, the glorious Hindu civilisation of the past. In Johal's rendering, Indra is high on his own supply, so to speak. 'The earth is not so solid as it looks; we feel you rushing, we feel you with each unstable step. Come before us, great mother, mother of all rivers, and let us flow with thee. Praise Bharati! Praise Mahavidya! Praise Mahavani! Arya, Brahmi. Praise Bijagarbha, Veenapani! Oh, Sarada, Vageshwari. Sing for Gayatri, for Satarupa, she who has seven forms." Don't get me wrong, the passage cited above works at a superficial comedic level. But the problem with Saraswati's Hindutva depiction is that we seldom see beyond the satire and the symbolism. When we're with any of Satnam's ensemble cast of relatives, we're shown motivations, provocations, vulnerabilities; the stuff of inner lives. But with Indra or any of his very vocal followers, Johal restricts himself to PR-speak—campaign speeches, news channel debates, etc. The novel's concluding act of violence aside, there is hardly any depiction of the ravages of majoritarian politics. When Charlie Chaplin's Hitler analogue Adenoid Hynkel bounces a comically large globe off his backside in The Great Dictator (1940), folks laughed because physical comedy does not require footnotes. But as Chaplin himself noted in his memoir decades later, had he known of the full scale of the Holocaust's devastation back in 1940, he would have either abandoned the scene or made it very differently. Because of these discordant notes, Saraswati is neither an unqualified success nor a bad novel per se. The novel's depiction of majoritarian politics is what I would call a 'noble failure"—it mistakes the warm-up act for the concert itself and there's no shame in that, especially for a novelist not yet 30 years of age. I am quite sure that Gurnaik Johal will write a transcendentally good novel someday. Saraswati, however, doesn't quite have the substance to back up its stylistic brilliance. Aditya Mani Jha is a Delhi-based writer. Also read: When Bill Clinton praised India's cultural diversity
New Indian Express
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Cinema Without Borders: Playing a part—In Camera
Naqqash Khalid's directorial debut, In Camera , might focus on the work life of a struggling British-Asian actor but kicks off with the angst and existential anxieties of a well-established name in the business. He is not inclined to play a 'two-dimensional' cop, doing the same thing every episode, in yet another season of a murder-mystery series that has otherwise earned him good money and the love of the people. 'But I will turn irrelevant in two years,' he tells his agent, desperate to do a film of consequence instead. Absorbed in his own self, he also fails to acknowledge the greeting—nice working with you—of Aden (Nabhan Rizwan), the upcoming actor playing a corpse. Aden is himself in search of pertinence and purpose in life between attending acting workshops, auditions, taping sessions and photoshoots. He is caught in a cycle of public scrutiny and rejections while managing to do an odd bit part, such as this one, even wearing his own shirt to the set and, in return, told rather indifferently to submit a dry cleaning invoice to compensate for the soiled attire. There's something heedless, frosty and mechanical about the profession that is supposedly driven by heart, mind, and soul. Khalid spotlights the film business in the UK with a visibly inventive, irreverent, and independent sensibility that eschews the conventional form and modes of narration. There's not much of a story or drama anyhow, more a slice of everyday life of Aden as he moves between his home and work. A surreal record of the misery in the mundane that plays with the collective fragmented realities and feverish imaginations. Khalid showcases things with a darkly humorous and deadpan touch—be it the staccato, measured conversations Aden has with his doctor flatmate Bo (Rory Fleck Byrne) who is fighting demons of his own or the matter-of-fact chat with the banker about the tenuous state of his account. The most caustic portrayal is of the auditions—exposing the prejudices, hypocrisies, cultural straitjacketing, lack of diversity and inclusivity as well as crass commercialisation rampant in the British film industry. There's one for a toothpaste ad where he gets picked up for being a regular guy, an everyman, because 'that's what the brand is all about'. All he must do is smile widely and show off his pearly white teeth. 'Smile. Say the words on the page. It's not so hard,' Aden tells his new fashion manager flatmate Conrad (Amir El-Masry) when he enquires about what it is like to be an actor. The irony is that it is not so simple and straightforward at all. Rizwan brings out its complexities and nuances with urgency and empathy even as we see his Aden transform through the course of the film—from a stoic, straight-faced presence to an animated, assertive one. 'I am not a shadow,' he declares. Things reach a poignant point when he agrees to play a role in real life, one which helps him earn for a supposedly good cause—to help two distraught souls overcome loss and grief and heal themselves. But is it really that simple? There is also a confrontation with his own roots and belonging as he squares up with the West's highly coloured imagination of a hijacker from the Middle East and takes a ride with a cabbie who tells him that he wants to go back home and not be buried in alien soil. It brings the matters of identity politics to the forefront after having seemingly buried deep inside his consciousness. Fittingly then we end up with him being successful but still not being acknowledged for himself. Even as Aden is referred to as the brown version of a star, a new brown actor tells Aden that it was nice working with him. Perfect way to bookend a film that is essentially the loop of struggle, arrival, success and persistence of chauvinism.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Calling The Split fans! 'Paused' spinoff series gets an exciting update
It's good news for The Split fans, with spinoff series The Split Up reportedly moving forward on production. A spinoff of the popular legal drama was announced by the BBC last February, but in September, Deadline reported that the broadcaster had "paused indefinitely" on the project. In an exciting update, Broadcast Now has now reported that The Split Up is currently in pre-production, with filming due to start this October. Related: The Split Up will be filmed and set in Manchester and, similar to the original series, will follow a family of legal experts: the Kishans. "Kishan Law is a British-Asian high net worth family law firm in Manchester, noted for its clientele and its reputation," the official synopsis states. "They are the 'go to firm' for Manchester's elite, who come to them for their excellence, integrity, and discretion. "But the future and legacy of Kishan Law hangs in the balance when a family secret from the past comes to light, throwing their professional and personal lives into turmoil." Related: The Split creator Abi Morgan is involved with the spinoff series but hasn't penned the script. Instead, Ursula Rani Sarma has written the series – whose recent credits include Sky's dark comedy series Delicious. During an interview with Digital Spy in December last year, Morgan was asked about a possible crossover with The Split and The Split Up, and she didn't rule out the suggestion. "Yeah, I think we're talking about that," she told us. "I think it will be a show that will very much stand on its own, but invariably, it's lovely to have built that audience, and we're excited to see that audience hopefully come to the new version of the show. Who knows?" The Split Up doesn't have a release window on BBC One and BBC iPlayer yet. at at Pandora at at at at at Apple at at at You Might Also Like PS5 consoles for sale – PlayStation 5 stock and restocks: Where to buy PS5 today? IS MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 THE BEST IN THE SERIES? OUR REVIEW AEW game is a modern mix of No Mercy and SmackDown
The Guardian
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Reeta Chakrabarti: ‘I love dancing in a really bad disco mum kind of way'
My parents came to the UK in 1960 from Calcutta, as it was then, in India. My father was a doctor. In Birmingham, I was often the only Indian girl in my class. There are ways that you're marked out in the playground. There was quite a lot of teasing. You had to navigate your way – you learn to be pleasing to people. That's how I coped. The UK in the 1970s was a harder place when it came to race. I was aware of the far-right, football hooliganism, racism on the streets. On occasion, somebody, usually a man, would scowl at me or make a face, unprovoked. I sort of understood – but sort of didn't. I absolutely loved Oxford University. It opened me up. I'm very fond of Birmingham, but it's not a place of beauty, and Oxford really is. There weren't many British-Asian students like me. That didn't stop me having a good time. There was prejudice from certain individuals, but it was more their problem than mine. When I started out in journalism I had more of a black-and-white view of things. Doing my job for so long has made me see the enormous complexity of everything. I've come to understand it's a very difficult world to understand. The advice I give to people? Say 'yes' to things in your career. Even if you're quaking with fear, put a bright, brave face on. You won't regret it. I don't like resentful people. I deliberately don't remember bad things people have said to me. If you harbour these things, you only do yourself harm. My husband, Paul, and I met at university. I think the secret to a happy marriage is each allowing the other person to be themselves and understanding that, as you grow older together, you're going to become different people. It sounds so easy – but it's really not. I love dancing in a really bad disco mum kind of way. That happens in the kitchen, when I'm cooking – which is not often, as my husband does most of it. I had appendicitis, dramatically, in the autumn of 2021. I was in Rome, passed out from the pain, and was rushed to hospital. I lay in A&E for a while and couldn't get anyone to help me – I don't speak Italian. I started to think, 'Oh well, I've made it to my late 50s and Rome isn't a bad place to go.' But they sorted me out. My greatest achievement? My three children. I've had a wonderful career. I'm about to publish a novel. But I don't put any of those things ahead of my family. I believe in lifelong learning and developing, and in not having regrets or itches that you wished you'd scratched. Writing a novel at this stage of my life has been good for me. Finding Belle by Reeta Chakrabarti is published by HarperFiction on 8 May at £16.99 or £15.29 at
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Members of Lords involved in serious misconduct at Westminster, watchdog warns
Peers have been behind serious misconduct against parliamentary colleagues, it has been revealed at Westminster, in the face of a Tory call to gag complainants. Baroness Manningham-Buller, who chairs the House of Lords Conduct Committee, said a rule change argued for by Conservatives would serve only to prevent genuine victims of harassment from coming forward. While in some instances details had not been made public, as the complainant wished to remain anonymous, the independent crossbencher and former MI5 chief told the House there had been 'serious cases' involving peers. Lady Manningham-Buller made her comments as she rejected a bid to remove the entitlement of members of either House to bring a complaint of harassment against a peer, following a review of the conduct rulebook. The proposal was made by Tory former minister Lord Hamilton of Epsom, after a Conservative colleague was suspended from the House for three weeks for twice calling a British-Asian peer 'Lord Poppadom' as they shared a taxi on an official trip. Baroness Meyer had also touched a Labour MP's hair braids without her permission. Lord Hamilton has claimed she was a victim of a 'miscarriage of justice' and suggested the complaints were politically motivated. The Conservative peer said: 'It's no doubt in my mind that the code of conduct, as it's now worded, is leading to miscarriages of justice and I think we should be very mindful of this. 'Also the problems that, actually, there are party political politicians in this House. I was recently told of a case by a colleague that actually there are people refusing to go on parliamentary trips now or indeed share a taxi with a member of the opposition party in case that can be used against them. 'That is a problem. If the onus is actually put on the complainant to say that they've been upset by some remark that somebody's made, this can be exploited very much in terms of party political advantage.' But Lady Manningham-Buller said: 'I would like to assure the House that the members of the conduct committee are fully alive to the possibility of politically motivated complaints, as are the commissioners. 'We understand that we work in a political environment and we have robust processes for identifying and rejecting frivolous or vexatious complaints. 'But in truth I suggest the risk identified by Lord Hamilton is more imaginary than substantial.' She added: 'I would suggest that all Lord Hamilton's amendment would achieve would be to prevent genuine victims of such harassment from complaining. 'And let me be clear, there are victims. Even though allegations by members of either House against noble Lords are extremely rare, there have been cases where serious misconduct has occurred. 'In some cases the details are not in the public domain, because the complainant wished to remain anonymous, but I can assure the House there have been serious cases involving noble Lords.' Earlier in the debate, other Tory peers had likened the case of Lady Meyer to a playground argument. Conservative former Cabinet minister Lord Lilley said: 'Surely the presumption is that we are old enough and sensible enough to deal with offensive remarks made by other colleagues without running off to teacher and saying 'please miss, please miss, Ginny insulted me on the playground'.' He added: 'It's ridiculous that one member should bring that sort of minor incident before this procedure.' Tory peer Lord Balfe said: 'I was appalled by the report on Baroness Meyer, where really it seemed that a playground scrap had been elevated into a great controversy.' Liberal Democrat Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer said she was 'disappointed but perhaps not surprised' by Lord Hamilton's proposal. She said: 'It suggests that if we suffer or our colleagues suffer something that involves harassment we should just keep quiet. 'That smacks to me of the worst aspects of English public school life, hopefully a thing of the past in schools now, but in Lord Hamilton's mind where not grassing on one's fellows is more important than ensuring intimidating behaviour is stopped. 'Cruel or bad behaviour thrives in a culture of secrecy and we should have none of it in this House.'
