Independent radio production company All Out Productions has signed up Steve Chandra Savale, member of legendary rap outfit Asian Dub Foundation, to present Ragastani for the BBC Asian Network’s Asian Network Report strand.
The commission is All Out’s second for the Asian Network.
The first programme, Chicken or Fish?, presented by former Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati, focussed on the industrial dispute at Gate Gourmet following the sacking of many of its Asian workers.
Ragastani, a 1×30 minute documentary, will examine the complex relationship Asians have with Black culture, a year on from the riots between Black and Asian youths in the Lozells area of Birmingham. Taking to the streets to talk to those directly affected, as well as speaking exclusively to some of the UK’s leading lights in Black and Asian popular culture such as Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawney, Steve’s investigation will lead him to consider why links at a community level between the two minorities continue to be acrimonious, despite a close musical and cultural relationship.
David Cook, Managing Director, All Out Productions, says, “This is a powerful yet sensitive documentary dealing with an issue often overlooked by today’s media. To be making such a hard-hitting documentary for the Asian Network is a great privilege for All Out. Ragastani represents exactly the kind of stand-out journalistic programming that has made us so successful in recent years, and welcoming an expert like Steve on board is the icing on the cake.”
Ragastani is an All Out production for BBC Asian Network for the station’s Asian Network Report strand. The was produced by Peter Sale for All Out Productions and is due for transmission towards the end of 2006.