Musical Inspirations

By Pooja Chaudhary Watch: The latest By Gin and Rees movie from multi- Musical inspirations award-winning di- rector Madhur Our Bhandarkar is this week’s big Bollywood release Heroine, re- volving around the rise and fall of a top actress. Lead star Kareena Kapoor stars alongside Arjun Rampal and Ran- deep Hooda.

Appreciate: Those who like literature or as- piring writers should head over to Asia House in London next Tuesday (25) for an evening with award-winning authors Kish- war Desai and Anjali Joseph. They will be discussing their second books and why they are driven to write about controversial subjects. Log onto www.asiahouse.org for more.

Buy: One of the biggest classical music festi- vals of the year starts next Thursday (27) and runs until next Sunday (30). The Darbar Fes- tival in London will see established stars of the Indian classical music scene and up-and coming talents take to the stage for four days of incredible music, illuminating discussions and interesting demonstrations. You can buy tickets for individual events or can get a fes- tival pass. Visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk and www.darbar.org to find out more.

Sing-along: There will be a chance to sing along to some of the biggest Bollywood hits of the past few years this weekend with su- FROM a young age, our parents and dhol players like Johnny Kalsi with our culture and our music. We bhangra. It was also an honour to per singers Mohit Chauhan and Shafqat used to take us to the temple for would always take our full atten- gained knowledge of our traditional take music lessons from Ustad Nir- Amanat Ali’s not-to-be-missed concerts. Mo- worship where instruments were tion. This was the true inspiration music, instruments used, how they mal Sidhu. hit is the voice behind big anthems like the played for the congregation. for our percussion journey. are played, our culture and the mas- Stars of the 1990s English pop Rockstar songs and Shafqat has delivered These instruments included the When we were growing up, our sive part the accompanying tradi- and European music scene such as songs for movies including Ra.One and Jan- harmonium, tabla, dholak, sarangi parents used to listen to Ustad Nus- tional bhangra dance plays. This Michael Jackson and Timbaland are nat 2. To find out more about the shows at and dhamru. It was here that we rat Fateh Ali Khan – we used to opened a door for us as teenagers just the few artists who have in- DeMontfort Hall in Leicester on Friday (21) both learned we have a natural watch live performances of the late and provided us the foundation for spired our music when it comes to and Wembley Arena on Sunday (23), go to ability to understand music. great legend on national TV. All his the birth of VP Entertainments. grooves, bass lines and beats. www.kehkashan.co.uk Since our mother’s side were mu- performances were very touching Our appetite to perform the dhol In terms of current bhangra mu- sicians and came from a musical where emotions would run out of and other instruments was so great sic, Aman Hayer and Sukhshinder Laugh: Fantastic comedy show Fear Of A and dance performing background, control – from raagas to the use of that we began to learn the instru- Shinda are composition trend-set- Brown Planet concludes with shows at Soho it was simple for us to learn from a scales, the percussion and the choir ments ourselves. This caused a ting gurus who have majorly influ- Theatre in London on Friday (21), Mac Theatre young age. Our mother used to like his backing singers, everything great deal of racket, to the extent enced our music when it comes to in Birmingham next Monday (24) and Rear- keep us up to date on all the late was simply divine. It was more a that the neighbours complained. the modern Punjabi sound. don Smith Lecture Theatre in Cardiff next 1980s and early 90s bhangra tracks spiritual experience that provided Practice would be about six hours a When it comes to music produc- Wednesday (26). Award-winning Australian where we listened to DCS, Safri us with a milestone for setting ambi- day, but we felt that even this wasn’t tion, our prime inspiration is the comedy duo Aamer Rahman and Nazeem Boys, Alaap, Heera, Apna Sangeet tions, where one day we would want enough time. It was an honour to great AR Rahman, who has bought Hussain use their razor-sharp wit to tackle and many others. to be able to perform like that. watch per cussionists like Sunil a new wave of music talent to the subjects including Islam, immigration and Our collection was the true inspi- Being British born and bred, the Kalyan play live and later we took Bollywood music industry; this is racism. Log onto www.brownplanet.com.au ration and foundation for our mu- colourful folk heritage of Punjab lessons from his great father Guruji something which we, Gin and Rees, to find out more. sical ability today, as this was seen was also a massive inspiration to Tarsem Kalyan. want to achieve one day. as the fusion era from folk Punjabi us, from singers like Chamkila, Kul- High-profile singers like Jazzy B, Date: Single Muslims could meet music crossing into British bhangra. deep Manak, Surjit Bindrakhia to Sukshinder Shinda, Angrej Ali, Mas- Sanu Teh Changa by Gin & Rees ft someone special at a match- As we got older, a lot of weddings Malkit Singh. They taught us about ter Saleem and Nirmal Sidhu were Aslam Ali is out now. Log onto www. making event at Swadesh, The we were invited to had performers our roots and heritage; this was our always a thrill to watch and helped ginandrees.com and www.twitter. Piazza in Manchester on booked for the live entertainment, journey back in time to catch up us to learn what makes British com/Ginandrees to find out more. Sunday (23). There is a com- plimentary halal buffet and a chance to mingle afterwards. Restaurant review THE CHISWELL STREET DINING ROOM 56 Chiswell Street, London, EC1Y 4SA. T: 020-7614 0177; www.chiswellstreetdining.com Log onto www.muslimandsin- gle.com to find out more. PICTURE a quaint English countryside res- salad, a light starter, with the highlight being taurant and that gives you an idea of what the refreshing avocado ice-cream. Dance: If you love the brilliance the Chiswell Street Dining Room is like. For mains, I had another light dish of of Punjabi dance then balle But the restaurant is not in the Scottish salmon with french fries, which is a balle your way to Wolver- country but in the City, so it is a chance must for seafood lovers. hampton Civic Hall on to escape the hustle and bustle out- In contrast, my partner had a 300g Saturday (22) for Bhangra side. It is part of the Montcalm Lon- whitepark rump steak. The generous por- Wars. The explosive don City five-star hotel, winner of tion of tender, succulent meat went down a dance contest will see this year’s City Heritage Award. treat with the accompanying hand-cut chips 10 brilliant bhangra The dining room looks like a tra- and bearnaise sauce. dance teams com- ditional English tea room with ele- My partner was on a roll and opted for peting for the first gant photos on the wall and a quiet another huge course, the chocolate sundae. prize. The evening atmosphere. The service is formal It was crammed with brownie chunks and a will also include live and attentive, the type where waiters rich chocolate sauce. Despite the US-style performances from will fill your glass of water every time large portion, chocoholics will have no Saini Surinder, Gupsy Aujla, you take a sip. trouble finishing it. Benny Dhaliwal, Dev The menu offers classic British dishes I ordered the lemon and rasberry me- Dhillon, Raju Dinehwala including potted soused herrings and pan- ringue pie with rasberry sorbet which was and a guest appearance fried tranche of wild Atlantic halibut. smaller but had a nice range of flavours. from Sukshinder Shinda My partner began with the duck liver Overall, the Chiswell Street Dining (pictured). See www.clev- pate pieces which were tender and Room is definitely one for those who like ertickets.com to find out complemented by the sweet blob of to dine in style. more and pick up tickets. truffle meringue. I had the Dorset crab spring onion Nadeem Badshah