Meet singing sensation San2 - debut single Nayo Lagda Number1 on iTunes World Chart

Exclusive from AsiansUK.com - The UK Asian Social Hub!

New singing sensation San2 secured his spot at Number 1
on the iTunes World Music chart!

The 22 year old from Nottingham released his first ever track to the world last Wednesday, and despite challenges from some of the biggest artists in the Asian music industry held the top spot throughout the week, to end on the ultimate high.

Fans across the world have been raving about the young stars incredible talent, as his soulful ‘urban’ qawwali, set the music world alight. As well as his newly adoring public, the industry as a whole has been enraptured by San2’s stunning vocals, with TV and radio presenters, artists. Even Bollywood music legend ‘Shaan’ has been spreading the word and sending messages of support.  During an interview with the BBC Asian Network, Shaan said "I've been listening to your radio station... I must especially mention a song I heard, San2... beautiful voice, beautiful song, wonderful singer, you must congratulate him!"
 

The young star, who has been singing since the age of 5, has been left astounded at the acclaim, and says of his new found popularity:

 

“It all feels like a dream. This time last week I was sitting at home nervously

wondering how people would react to the track. I have been amazed and

humbled by the love that everyone has shown me. I just want to thank

everyone for giving me a chance to sing and share my love of

music with them.”

San2 is the first artist to be signed to the newly formed Virtual Recordz Label, headed by Music PR guru Raj Ghai, who says of his first signing: “I knew that San2 was destined for great things the moment I heard him sing. Virtual Recordz was set up to find new talent and change the game. I truly feel that the release of ‘Nayo Lagda’ is the start of an exciting year for both him and the label. Virtual’s strapline is ‘Making Noise’ and that is exactly what San2 has done!”

Get More of San2: 
Twitter: san2music
Facebook: San2Music
YouTube: VirtualRecordz

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Band Baja UK | Brass & Dhol

Exclusive from AsiansUK.com - The UK Asian Social Hub!

Asians UK interview...

 

Band Baja UK

'A performance from Band Baja really will be a unique, and memorable experience' 

 

Band Baja UK specialise in performing at Asian Weddings, High Profile Events & Parties providing top quality entertainment and a class service!

They're as experienced team with musicians from a wide range of musical backgrounds including Jazz, Bhangra, Classical, Big Band, House etc... Band Baja UK specialise in popular Bollywood, Hindi, Punjabi and English songs creating a truly one-of-a-kind collaboration of musicians.

 

Incorporating Trumpets, Saxophones, Trombones, Euphonium, Percussion and more with the powerful sound of the Dhol. They can provide band sizes from 3 - 16 piece and completely tailor the band to suit your needs.

 

 

‘Band Baja are recommended by all main wedding providers and regarded as the best, top performing band in the UK.’

 

So Band Baja UK tell please tell Asian UK readers about the Inspiration behind it?

 

We have over a decade's worth of experience from many different genres, as DJ’s, event managing, entertainers and most of all, musicians. After playing with and seeing many different bands in the industry we saw that something different and more focussed was needed. Those experiences were great and sparked us to create Band Baja UK, something different, new, fresh.

 

Running officially since 2011 we have played at venues all over the length and breadth of the UK and have also performed internationally, through these travels and amazing 300+ shows we have been approached by some of the best wedding providers in the industry and are proudly recommended by them, in turn we are happy to point clients in their direction, regardless of if they make a booking with us or not, we enjoy helping people have a great wedding and if we can help in any way, we will.

We aim to provide the best quality entertainment and a great service, we understand the importance of entertainment at a wedding.  Other companies tend to have a band as a side project, but with BBUK, this is our only focus.

 

 

'A wedding is a once in a lifetime experience and we want to make it as fun and smooth as possible.'

 

 

www.facebook.com/bandbajauk      

www.twitter.com/bandbajauk

 

Bookings & enquiries:

Please email: info@bandbajauk.com

asian world - Bridging Diverse Cultures in Britain

Exclusive from AsiansUK.com - The UK Asian Social Hub!




 

www.theasianworld.co.uk

 

Since launching in August 2007 as a free monthly newspaper, the Asian World has remained true to its original format as it continues to serve its vast audience and has paved the way for cutting edge quality content.

 

Being the West Midland’s number one English read independent newspaper for British Asians, the publication provides a much needed platform for the Asian community to voice their views and opinions, therefore filling a gap in the print market.

The newspaper adheres to its slogan of ‘Bridging Diverse Cultures in Britain’, by offering an array of immediate local, national and international news for its loyal readers, sponsors and advertisers allowing to spread its distribution wings to different parts of the West Midlands.

Asian World ensures its readers in bringing diverse, fresh and vibrant news stories along with features and exciting columns. The paper aims to promote and reflect the wider Asian Communities through the content we create and always strive for new ways in providing quality news for all ages.
Now strongly in its fifth year, the newspaper has prospered receiving fantastic support from the local communities, professionals and everyone involved in the success of the newspaper enabling it to enter a window of opportunities to enhance productively.

Editor:
editor@theasianworld.co.uk

Contributors: Uzair Janjua, Dr. A Kumar, Fatima Mangera, Rassool-Amin, Pooja Sharma and Farhana Nazir, Haider Ali, Naveeta Bhatia & Shalim Uddin, Maesam Khan.

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Relevance Of Slumdog Millionaire To Asia

Came across the DVD of Slumdog, rewatched it and still thought this was a brilliant movie. However I still remembered how many Asians were deriding the movie as exploitation or showing poverty porn. First and foremost, its a bloody good movie, pass me the papadams. Secondly people, its a movie. Thirdly, its fiction, although it was based on 'real events' and 'real people'.

Why is it that when a movie portrays disturbing images on the screen, there will be citizens and politicians yapping that its a dishonour, a disgrace, a slap in the face to national pride and/or to national dignity. People, its a MOVIE. The only kind of films that you may get offended if they portray your country or its people wrong is IF its a DOCUMENTARY - repeat after me, D-o-c-u-m-e-n-t-a-r-y, now go look it up in the dictionary. If its a documentary, its should be like a snapshot of history, go and refute it if it never happened or did not paint a full picture.

If its not a documentary, then its a movie, even if its based on real events, its still a movie. You may not agree with the story being told, but you cannot stop others from enjoying them. Asian nations have this huge bloody chip on their collective shoulders - every time a movie comes out that ruffled their senses, be it a swipe on some shoddy past history or capturing pockets of disenfranchised people/community or highlighting corruption and other bad behaviour of certain people, etc... Asians will protest that it paints its people, its country and/or its history in the wrong shade.




I mean c'mon... Zhang Zhiyi in Memoirs of A Geisha also got complaints??!! I agree when Japanese government totally whitewashed the Nanking Incident from their history books, that you should be angry, you should never alter history. Do you think any film makers will even dare do a picture about King Bhumibol of Thailand? If you do, you better never step foot in Thailand. If you asked me, I would like to make a movie about how Thailand basically negotiated with the Japanese, and sold their neighbours (Malaysia and Singapore) to the abattoirs when they allowed Japanese troops to cut through Thailand and into Malaysia and Singapore in exchange for the country not to be attacked by the Japanese - pragmatic yes, reprehensible, a bigger yes.

In the West, the most amount of protests will come after every religious movie. Doesn't matter if its Jesus or Moses, there will be people disagreeing. Disagree ok, go and rant and rave at home or to your friends, why take to the streets? By doing the latter you are trying to impose your your beliefs on others, the same way if you don't agree with gays and lesbians lifestyles, there is no need to go to the streets, if you don't agree to some being Buddhists, does it mean you go to the streets as well? You can argue your case but remember there is a line in presenting your case and stuffing things down other people's throat.

If Slumdog Millionaire was TOTALLY FICTITIOUS, i.e. these slums never did existed, I doubt very much it would have been such a big hit. Its the knowledge that these things are present even till today, its that gritty bit of reality that not many want to face up to, its the desperate lives of many that the rest wants to get out of their minds, its the hordes of begging children crowding you when you go to work every day - you want to desensitise yourself from the realities in order to carry on your daily lives. You cannot seriously be empathetic every day, every hour, every minute with the down-trodden, the poor, the sick, the broken... when they are around you all the time - its an open wound that no one wants to see and be commented on, look at the pus!

The detractors called Slumdog "poverty porn", c'mon... so if its Rambo then its "violence porn", if its a chick flick would it then be "romance porn"? Global audiences might be accustomed to thinking about India in terms of a country divided by extravagant wealth and dismal poverty, but Indians themselves still seem uncomfortable with that reflection. That seems to be the crux of the matter, Asians generally are not yet comfortable to see their surrounding, their people or history being portrayed in a not too flattering manner - misplaced pride or lack of self identity or lack of confidence in national identity or ...



If there were movies about the going-ons in Petaling Street or Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman after midnight, we should be OK with it, if there is a movie about police corruption or brutality in Malaysia, we should be OK with it ... but I rather want it to be called a documentary though!

Good movies will cause people to be entertained, great movies will cause people to reflect and remember. Slumdog should be the catalyst where the people responsible may finally do something to help eradicate or at least reduce the abysmal poverty in India. These slums cannot be allowed to exist in this day and age, its inhumane, our pets have better lifestyle. The slums are not just in India, its everywhere, in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and even Malaysia. We should not close an eye to injustice, we need to uphold human dignity.

The scenes where children are maimed or blinded to be better beggars was a stark reminder to all Asians, because we all know its true and not just in India. There have been too many cases of kids being kidnapped by gangs, smuggled to another country and have their limbs amputated to be beggars - you know and I know its out there but to be forced to come to terms with it is not something we want to confront. The poverty in the movie is tainted with the infernal caste system and religious bigotry - both being huge issues in many countries. Be open, start to deal with it, open up people's minds about it - education and information.

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan said: “if SM projects India as a third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations.” Yes Ami baby, we all know that, its not just India, don't go nationalistic on people.

There is the chasm between a country’s self-perception and projection and any reasonable measure of its achievements - in particular China and India, both countries are proud and yet coming to terms with globalisation and being an economic force at the same time. Trying to find their feet amidst the global stage - be open, take a backseat to reflect and don't take things personally.

Many Bollywood filmakers derided Slumdog as pandering to Western curiosity - hey, to film the slums probably cost Danny Boyle very little, its right there, no artificial stage or backdrop, its there ... the bloody song and dance (which I loved) at the end of the movie probably cost a lot more than the all the filming done in the slums! Fact - around half of Mumbai's population live in slums and authorities in the state of Maharashtra have long been under pressure to improve conditions there.

The movie has a lot of relevance to Asia as a whole because this continent has more than its fair share of social injustice, plenty of disenfranchised groups, desperate poverty .... Slumdog is not just a movie about India.



That's the serious bit, back to the movie, its a bloody great movie. It has the underdog factor, gritty mini-stories within the movie. A truly great movie will make you feel empathetic with the main characters - Danny Boyle did a marvelous job, you feel for the characters, you know what they were thinking, what their priorities were, why they kept on going.

Yes its a bit about love but more than that, its about the triumph of the human spirit against adversity. In life, we all will face our fair share of adversity, some more than others, that's a given and a definite. How each of us respond to them, is still up in the air. As bad as things are in this world, God will give you the armory and grace to face them: "My grace is sufficient.