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Never Mind the Bhangra

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14/08/2010

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Never Mind the Bhangra

Adil Ray takes a light-hearted look at the lack of brown faces in rock and pop.

4 Extra Debut. Adil Ray considers why there are so few Asian faces in British rock and pop music, in a light-hearted investigation. From August 2010.

Adil Ray takes a light-hearted look at how the lack of brown faces in rock and pop has mortified and marginalised generations of music-loving Asian kids in Britain. He talks to famous British Asians about why there have been so few Asians in popular music, and finds out why Bhangra and Bollywood can never be enough.

East Enders star Nitin Ganatra talks about growing up in the 1970s in a racist area of Coventry where his parents ran a corner shop. Comedian Paul Sinha remembers being a chess-loving academic kid who didn't care about liking cool music. Presenters Anita Rani and Hardeep Singh Kohli discuss being called a "coconut" - brown on the outside but white on the inside - for liking rock and indie music.

We also hear from newsreader Mishal Husain; writer Sathnam Sanghera and Goodness Gracious Me star Kulvinder Ghir about musical passions, parental tensions and the struggle to fit in and be accepted in Britain.

Helped by former NME writer and now editor of The Guardian Guide, Malik Meer, Adil charts the journey of Asians in British music from Freddie Mercury - who rarely mentioned his Indian heritage - through the rise of the Asian Underground to modern day superstars like MIA. We hear from Talvin Singh as well as upcoming artists Nadine Shah and Prash Mistry from Engine Earz Experiment.

Presenter and comedy writer Adil Ray was a key figure on the BBC Asian Network for nine years, most recently on the Breakfast Show which he left in June 2010. He has also been a regular on BBC Radio 5 live's Fighting Talk and presented various Radio 4 documentaries including the series Picturing Britain. He was a presenter on BBC Two's Arts show DesiDNA and the RTS award-nominated show Is it Cos I Is Black? for BBC Three. He has recently appeared on the BBC Two comedy show Bellamy's People.

Producer: Vernee Samuel
An AlFi Media production for BBC Radio 4.

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