Category: Arts & Culture

Japan: New Ways To Grow Old

When it comes to old people, Japan is a world leader. More than a quarter of its population is over the age of 65 and it currently has 66,000 centenarians, more than any other country. In this 2 part series Toshiko Katayose and Aki Maruyama Leggett explore some of the innovative ways in which Japanese people are adapting to living longer and consider what lessons other countries might learn from Japan’s super-ageing society. (2 x 27′)

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

First broadcast BBC World Service Feb 2018

Radio Choice: The Daily Mail, The Times and the Sunday Times

Nigeria: Shooting It Like A Woman

Award-winning screen director Tope Oshin celebrates a new generation of Nigerian women film-makers currently reinventing Nollywood, the largest and most prolific film industry in Africa.

Tope pays tribute to the popular and inspirational film-maker Amaka Igwe who died in 2014 and meets some of the key women now shaking up gender stereotypes and winning awards. These include the formidable and outspoken Mildred Okwo, director of the political satire The Meeting, Michelle Bello, director of the hit romcom Flower Girl, Kemi Adetiba who directed last year’s box office winner The Wedding Party and Remi Vaughan Richards whose drama Outspoken cast a searing spotlight on the issue of child brides. (27′)

Broadcast as part of the BBC 100 Women season

Associate Producer Nadia Denton

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

First broadcast BBC World Service Oct 2017  

 

 

Read the Spectator review by Kate Chisholm

 

Hope Speaks Out

Media headlines often fuel fear about refugees. But what happens when refugees pick up the microphones and tell their own stories?

Larry Macaulay and fellow broadcasters from Germany’s pioneering Refugee Radio Network demonstrate how they are using community radio to create dialogues, share experiences and build a new future. (1 x 27′)

First broadcast  February 2017 BBC World Service

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

 

Radio choice: Radio Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, The Church Times.

Read The Spectator Review

This programme’s insight into global issues through culture is the World Service at its best – Charlotte Runcie, The Daily Telegraph 11/2/17

Spider Webs of God

Zarah Hussain talks about the Sufi inspiration behind her intricate geometric art and her latest installation at the Barbican Centre, London.  (7’20)

 

The Secret History of Yoga

 

Yoga ears composite 3

 

Hearing ear

To mark UN International Yoga Day Mukti Jain Campion sets out to explore the roots of modern yoga practice and uncovers an extraordinary multicultural history in which early 20th century European ideas of health, fitness and the cult of the Body Beautiful became intertwined with Indian nationalism and the revival of Indian interest in its own traditions of physical culture. Out of this heady mix emerged a new generation of yoga innovators who transformed an obsolete and frowned-upon practice of Indian holy men into something that would appeal to masses of ordinary people around the world. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast BBC Radio 4 June 2016 & BBC World Service July 2016

Contributors include: Mark Singleton Author, Yoga Body: The origins of modern posture practice Dr Jim Mallinson Yoga historian, School of Oriental and African Studies, London Dr Manmath Gharote, Lonavla Yoga Institute, India Dr Suzanne Newcombe, The London School of Economics

Readers: Tim Pigott-Smith and Denise Stephenson

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

 

Radio Choice: The Times, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail

   Mukti Jain Campion’s fine documentary about the gaps and changes in our perception of yoga – Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph 17/06/16

 

What’s behind the five popular poses loved by the world? 

An Indian in Bloomsbury

 

Photo by Marilyn StaffordMukti Jain Campion celebrates the life of Mulk Raj Anand, the founding father of Indian Literature in English and author of the classic novel Untouchable. Anand was a follower of Gandhi and a passionate campaigner for Indian independence, but, surprisingly, his literary career actually began amongst the fashionable intellectuals of The Bloomsbury Group in 1920s London. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast   February 2004  BBC Radio 4

Readings by Roshan Seth

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

 

Powerful and revealing– Sue Arnold, The Observer

 

Contributors include: Dr Alistair Niven, Susheila Nasta, The Rt. Hon. Michael Foot, Pankaj Mishra, Dominic Rai of the Man Mela Theatre Company

Radio Choice: The Independent, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mail, The Observer

Radio 4 Pick of the Week

Photo courtesy of Marilyn Stafford

Lights, Camera, Akshun!

 

lcaAs Bollywood celebrates its centenary, Sanjeev Bhaskar reveals how three of the most influential figures of early Indian cinema began their careers on the stages and screens of London’s West End: screenwriter Niranjan Pal, producer/actor Himansu Rai and actress Devika Rani. Their films include the pioneering feature-length silent epic The Light of Asia which received a Royal Command screening at Windsor Castle in 1926. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast  November 2013  BBC Radio 4

Contributors: Stephen Hughes, Ian Christie, Lalit and Kusum Joshi, Joyojeet Pal, Cary Sawhney and Kishwar Desai

Readings by Sagar Arya

Associate Producer Suman Bhuchar    Producer Mukti Jain Campion

Radio choice: The Radio Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Times and the Observer, The Metro

One of those short but intriguing features that takes a subject you think you know all about and subverts your expectations  – the Spectator review

At just 30 minutes, Lights, Camera, Akshun! has more to inform than many programmes twice the length, plus the distinct advantage of a presenter, Sanjeev Bhaskar, who sounds genuinely fascinated by the archive material it contains. –  The Stage review

 

Beyond The Takeaway

 
bttBritish Chinese can be found living in every corner of the British Isles. We’re the third largest ethnic minority here and we’re now the most highly educated, working in all the professions. Yet the stereotypes of us are as nothing more than takeaway owners or inscrutable kung fu experts still persist and we remain the hidden minority. Why? – Presenter David Ka-Shing Tse  (5 x 14′)

First broadcast March 2004  BBC Radio 4

A fascinating five-part look at the lives of the British Born Chinese –The Sunday Telegraph

 

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Week

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Bone in the Kebab

 

bitk“Theatre should be like a bone in the kebab: unexpected, and with bite.”– Jatinder Verma, Director Tara Arts

To mark the 25th anniversary of the pioneering company Tara Arts, Mukti Jain Campion presents two programmes exploring the distinctive contribution of British Asian theatre.(2 x 28′)

First broadcast February 2002  BBC Radio 4

Contributors: Jatinder Verma, Sudha Buchar and Kristine Landon-Smith, Shobana Jeyasingh, Nina Wadia, Sir Richard Eyre, Vincent Ebrahim, Naseem Khan and Dominic Rai.

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

An enthralling survey of British Asian life over the past quarter of a century – Paul Donovan, The Sunday Times

 

1: Acting Ourselves From its explicitly political beginning in the wake of the killing of a Sikh schoolboy in Southall, Tara Arts has charted the story of the Asian presence in Britain, warts and all.

2: Ghetto Blasters? The British Asian theatre scene has never been a more vibrant showcase for British Asian theatre talent, talent which is now reaching out to new audiences through TV and film as well as the stage.

Radio Choice: The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times,The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Time Out, Radio Times

Radio 4 Pick of the Week

Character Assassins

 

caWhy did Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Inspector Morse have to die? And has Rebus really gone for ever?  Fiona Lindsay visits the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and cross-examines famous authors who have killed off their most popular creations. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast September 2010   BBC Radio 4

Contributors include: Ian Rankin, Colin Dexter, Joanne Harris, Laura Thompson, David Stuart Davies and Roger Llewellyn.

Readings by Andy Turvey

Producer Chris Eldon Lee

Radio Choice: The Radio Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Independent

Radio 4 Pick of the Week