Shows
South Asian Films and BooksNaseeruddin ShahIn this episode, I talk to India's legendary actor Naseerudding Shah about his relationship with theatre and cinema and the relationship between these two mediums.2024-07-211h 08
South Asian Films and BooksAmitava KumarIn this episode, I talk with Amitava Kumar about his 2024 novel My Beloved Life, an absorbing, exceptionally moving novel that traces the arc of a man’s life, an ordinary life made exceptional by the fact that he has loved and has been loved in turn.2024-03-2337 min
South Asian Films and BooksYashica Dutt: Coming Out As DalitIn this episode, I talk to the award-winning writer Yashica Dutt about her book "Coming Out as Dalit." The book exposes the blurred lines between caste and race, for both are fabrications meant to preserve the power of a few and require the ideological purchase of the many. And for women, for whom 'purity' is a measure of status and value, the traps of caste are even more sinister, even deadly.2024-03-0452 minSouth Asian Films and BooksYashica DuttIn this episode, I talk to the award-winning writer Yashica Dutt about her book "Coming Out as Dalit." The book exposes the blurred lines between caste and race, for both are fabrications meant to preserve the power of a few and require the ideological purchase of the many. And for women, for whom 'purity' is a measure of status and value, the traps of caste are even more sinister, even deadly.2024-02-2952 min
South Asian Films and BooksSouth Asian Feminism and Youth ActivismIn this episode, I talk with four highly accomplished and widely published, US-based South Asian scholars, professors, creative writers, and performance artists - Dr. Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Dr. Shreerekha Pillai Subramanian, Dr. Shoba Rajgopal, and Dr. Pramila Venkateswaran - about their contribution to the June 2022 special double issue of the Journal of International Women’s Studies and WAGADU (A transnational journal of women’s and gender studies).2023-11-1859 min
South Asian Films and BooksShaunak SenIn this episode, I talk with the Indian filmmaker, Shaunak Sen, about his Academy Award-nominated best Documentary film "All That Breathes," which tells the story of two brothers who've devoted their lives to protecting and rehabilitating birds in northern Delhi.2023-10-1633 min
South Asian Films and BooksMohsin HamidIn this episode, I interview Mohsin Hamid, the award-winning British Pakistani novelist about his latest 2022 novel The Last White Man. Set in an unspecified city and country, this magic realist novel is about a white man who wakes up one morning to find himself changed to a darker skin color and a different, unfamiliar appearance.2023-08-3139 min
South Asian Films and BooksGeetanjali ShreeIn this episode, I talk with the award-winning Hindi language writer Geetanjali Shree, about her latest novel Tomb of Sand which won the 2022 International Booker Prize.2023-08-0957 min
South Asian Films and BooksDeepti NavalIn this episode, I talk with India's acclaimed and award-winning actress, writer, and painter Deepti Naval about her memoir "A Country Called Childhood" where she talks about growing up in Amritsar, India, her life as a student of art in New York, her return to India as an actor, a career which she combines with poetry and painting.2023-07-1851 min
South Asian Films and BooksTanmeet SethiIn this episode, I talk with Dr. Tanmeet Sethi, an integrative family medicine physician, and clinical associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Our conversation focused on her debut book, Joy is My Justice, which explores cultivating and practicing joy in the face of oppression and day-to-day hardships.2023-06-0135 min
South Asian Films and BooksKanu BehlIn this episode, I speak with the award-winning film director Kanu Behl, about his film Agra, his second feature film, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Director’s Fortnight. Written by Behl and Atika Chouhan, Agra is an exploration of sexual dynamics within a family and the deep dystopian fractures created in modern India fast shrinking into pigeon-holed spaces. Kanu's first feature film Titli was screened at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.2023-05-2546 min
South Asian Films and BooksVikram ChandraIn this episode, I talk to the award-winning novelist and professor at UC Berkeley, Vikram Chandra, about his critically-acclaimed mystery/thriller novel Sacred Games. Winner of the Hutch Crossword Award for English Fiction, and finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, Sacred Games is now the first original television series from India on Netflix.2023-04-2551 min
BookRisingMehfil 3 - CounterBlockbusters: On Subversive CinemaIndian popular cinema known as Bollywood has always been a dominant symbol of the nation. It constructs and legitimizes ideas of traditions, cultures and ethos, and most importantly, solidifies who gets to be Indian and who does not. In this episode, Amrita Ghosh welcomes Hussain Haidry and Alka Kurian to her mehfil to talk about a different India, one that we see represented in small, alternative and subversive cinema, and one that demands that we dismantle the politics of inclusion and exclusion that dominates Bollywood blockbusters today. Hussain Haidry, a screenwriter and film scholar Alka Kurian talk about our...2023-04-201h 04
South Asian Films and BooksLamia KarimIn this episode, I speak with Dr. Lamia Karim, a professor at the University of Oregon, about her new book, Castoffs Of Capital: Work and Love among Garment Workers in Bangladesh, a book that dispels stereotypes about garment workers in the global apparel industry. It draws on fieldwork in Bangladesh to examine how female garment workers experience their work and personal lives within the stranglehold of global capital. Anthropologist Lamia Karim focuses on relations among work, gender, and global capital’s targeting of poor women to advance its market penetration, showing how women navigate these spaces by adopting new subject fo...2023-03-1154 min
South Asian Films and BooksBarkha DuttIn this episode, I talk with Barkha Dutt, India's most well-known and leading broadcast journalist, about her 2022 book "To Hell and Back: Humans of Covid"2022-10-1754 min
South Asian Films and BooksZainab Fasiki: HshoumaIn this episode I talk with Zainab Fasiki, Morocco’s most radical and disruptive feminist who transgresses the taboo on sexuality and the female body through graphic activism. We also talk about her 2019 graphic novel entitled Hshouma (Shame).2021-11-0634 min
South Asian Films and BooksSonora Jha: Ep. 22Beautifully written and deeply personal, Sonora Jha's memoir follows the struggles and triumphs of one single, immigrant mother of color to raise an American feminist son. From teaching consent to counteracting problematic messages from the media, well-meaning family, and the culture at large, Sonora offers an empowering, imperfect feminism, brimming with honest insight and actionable advice.2021-05-241h 07
South Asian Films and BooksChitra Banerjee Divakaruni: Ep 21In this episode I talk with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni about her latest novel "The Last Queen," which is the story of the spectacular rise of the beautiful Jindan Kaur. Starting out as the daughter of the royal kennel keeper, she went on become Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s youngest and last queen; his favorite. And when her six-years-old son Dalip Singh unexpectedly inherited the throne, Jindan Kaur became Queen Regent of Punjab.2021-04-121h 05
South Asian Films and BooksJ. Geetha: Ep. 20In this episode, I talk with Dr. Geetha Jayaraman, a former journalist and a filmmaker who teaches film practice at the Culture Lab, Newcastle University, UK. Geetha’s debut feature film "Run Kalyani" won the Special Jury Award at the Kolkata International Film Festival and got awards in the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor categories at several international film festivals including Trichur, New York, and Montreal.
As a director, script writer and producer of a range of documentaries. Geetha produced the award-winning documentary ‘Algorithms." She also wrote a prize-winning script for "A Certain Slant of Light" which won the 2...2021-03-0658 min
South Asian Films and BooksSultana Siddiqui: Ep 19In this episode, I talk with Sultana Siddiqui, a Pakistani media mogul, and television producer and director, who is celebrated for her widely successful TV drama Zindagi Gulzar Hai. As the founder of Hum Network Limited, she is the first woman in Pakistan to establish a TV station.2021-03-0340 min
South Asian Films and BooksSameer Pandya: Ep 18In this episode I talk with Sameer Pandya about his debut novel "Members Only," where, when accused of reverse racism by white members of a posh tennis club, the novel's central character Raj Bhatt's life falls apart. Along the way, he wonders: where does he, a brown man, belong in America?
Sameer Pandya is the author of the story collection The Blind Writer, which was long listed for the PEN/Open Book Award. He is also the recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship. His fiction, commentary, and cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Atlantic, Salon...2021-02-0351 min
South Asian Films and BooksRamin Bahrani: Ep. 17In this episode, I speak with Prof. Ramin Bahrani, director of his latest film The White Tiger based on Aravind Adiga's 2008 Booker-prize winner novel by the same name. The film stars Bollywood actors Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkumar Rai, and in his debut role, the new actor Adarsh Gaurav.2021-01-2136 min
South Asian Films and BooksFowzia Karimi Ep 16In this episode, I interview Fowzia Karimi, an award-winning author of her illustrated debut novel, "Above Us the Milky Way." Fowzia Karimi was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. She immigrated to the US in 1980, after the Soviet invasion of the country. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, California. Her work explores the correspondence on the page between the written and the visual arts.She is a recipient of The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, and has illustrated The Brick House by Micheline Aharonian Marcom and Vagrants and Uncommon Visitors by A. Kendra Green.2021-01-2154 min
South Asian Films and BooksVijay Seshadri Ep 15In this episode, I talk to Vijay Seshadri about his latest book "That Was Now, This is Then." As a winner of the Pulitzer prize in poetry, Seshadri has three other collections of poetry: Wild Kingdom (1996), The Long Meadow (2003), and 3 Sections (2013), which won him the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Seshadri has an MFA from Columbia University and teaches poetry and nonfiction-writing at Sarah Lawrence College.2021-01-0155 min
South Asian Films and BooksNitasha Kaul - Ep. 13In this podcast I interview Nitasha Kaul, a London based academic, writer and poet, about her new book "Future Tense". In addition to fiction, she writes and speaks about topics that cover the political economy, Bhutan, Kashmir, nationalism in India, gender and identity. Nitasha's first novel "Residue" was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. "Future Tense" is her second novel.2020-12-1253 min
South Asian Films and BooksSeshadri Audio RawSeshadri Audio Raw by Alka Kurian2020-12-041h 19
South Asian Films and BooksAvni Doshi Ep.12For this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Indian American novelist Avni Doshi about her debut novel "Burnt Sugar" (also known as "Girl in White Cotton"). Born in New Jersey, Doshi received a BA in Art History from Barnard College in New York, and a master's degree in History of Art from University College London. "Burnt Sugar" has been shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.2020-11-0951 min
South Asian Films and BooksFatima Bhutto Ep 2In this podcast I talk to Fatima Bhutto (@fbhutto) about her brilliant new book "New Kings of World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop," where she discusses the rise of a new cultural movement sweeping across the world, displacing mass-produced, Western cultural products. https://www.amazon.com/New-Kings-World-Dispatches-Bollywood/dp/1733623701/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=new+kings+of+the+world&qid=1571179358&sr=8-12020-10-1439 min
South Asian Films and BooksAyad Akhtar Ep. 11In this episode I interview playwright and author Ayad Akhtar about his new book "Homeland Elegies: A Novel". Akhtar's writing covers various themes including the American-Pakistani experience, Islam, identity, immigration, nationalism, globalization, and economy. In 2013 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play "Disgraced."
Please enjoy2020-09-2642 min
South Asian Films and BooksFawzia-Afzal Khan Ep. 10In this podcast I interview Fawzia Afzal-Khan, author of "Siren Song," which is an important and timely feminist intervention in the study of classical music and a cogent challenge to the prevailing anti-secular orthodoxy in the academy. In this complex and sensitive study...of the careers of artistes like Malka Pukhraj, Roshanara Begum, Reshma, and of the newer music and musical space offered by Coke Studio, Afzal-Khan shows us the multiple ways in which women performers negotiated and continue to negotiate their way through the numerous challenges thrown their way in the wake of the partitioning of the subcontinent and...2020-09-081h 05
South Asian Films and BooksJapleen Pasricha Ep 9In this podcast, I talk to Japleen Pasricha, the founder-editor of "Feminism in India," the country's leading digital feminist media platform.2020-07-0232 min
South Asian Films and BooksNamita Gokhale Ep 8In this interview, I speak with Namita Gokhale, the founder-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, about her latest novel Jaipur Journals.2020-04-0744 min
South Asian Films and BooksKavita Krishnan Ep 7In this interview, I talk with Kavita Krishnan, India's leading feminist and Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, where I discuss her new book "Fearless Freedom," published in 2019.2020-03-3055 min
South Asian Films and BooksNandita Das Ep 6In this interview, I speak with Nandita Das on her book "Manto & I," which is based on her 2018 biopic "Manto," South Asia's leading author, playwright and scriptwriter Saadat Hasan Manto.2020-03-1651 min
South Asian Films and BooksArundhati Roy Ep 5In this episode I talk to Booker Prize-winner Arundhati Roy about her latest book "My Seditious Heart," which is a 1000-page compilation of her complete non-fiction work to date.2019-12-0251 min
South Asian Films and BooksShabana Azmi Ep 3In this episode of #SouthAsianFilmsAndBooks, I talk to Shabana Azmi, India's leading actress and feminist activist who has successfully straddled art and commercial cinema.2019-11-1236 min
South Asian Films and BooksShonali Bose Ep 4In my latest podcast on #SouthAsianFilmsAndBooks, listen to my interview with India's most formidable feminist filmmaker Shonali Bose talking about her trilogy: The Sky is Pink, Margarita With a Straw and Amu.2019-10-2051 min
South Asian Films and BooksAmitav Ghosh Ep 1On the day of the world's very first Global Climate Strike, Alka Kurian talks to Amitav Ghosh about his new novel "Gun Island" a book about a world ravaged by climate change.2019-09-1948 min