Ammar Kalia

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    Had enough of Radio 2? 10 of the best online radio stations
    • Jan 31

    Had enough of Radio 2? 10 of the best online radio stations

    These weeks of locked-down working and living at home mean, for many, immersion in our housemates’ Zoom meetings through the walls, neigh...
    Hear me out: why Maid in Manhattan isn't a bad movie
    • Jan 19

    Hear me out: why Maid in Manhattan isn't a bad movie

    2002 was a bumper year for romcoms. Banking on the commercial safety of a saccharine love story, studios splashed out on everything from ...
    ‘We try to be devoid of cynicism’: the secret to The Goes Wrong Show's success
    • Dec 24, 2020

    ‘We try to be devoid of cynicism’: the secret to The Goes Wrong Show's success

    “There’s nothing political about these shows, nothing really edgy in there.” Far from a criticism, Henry Shields, the co-founder of the M...
    The 50 best TV shows of 2020, No 7: The Last Dance
    • Dec 14, 2020

    The 50 best TV shows of 2020, No 7: The Last Dance

    Michael, Scottie, Dennis, Phil and Steve. Like the members of a new, wildly popular boyband, these names are permanently etched in my min...
    Daytime dream: The Chase is the undisputed king of quizshows
    • Nov 25, 2020

    Daytime dream: The Chase is the undisputed king of quizshows

    There is a certain alchemy to the creation of a hit quizshow. Since the foundational premise is always the same – punters lining up to an...
    'A tool for systemic change': jazz comes to Channel 4 for Black History Month
    • Oct 22, 2020

    'A tool for systemic change': jazz comes to Channel 4 for Black History Month

    ‘Jazz was born out of oppression,” the pianist Ashley Henry says, from a velvet booth at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London. “Music was a...
    ‘Real life but better looking’: ultimate teen soap Hollyoaks turns 25
    • Oct 22, 2020

    ‘Real life but better looking’: ultimate teen soap Hollyoaks turns 25

    A car breaks down and explodes, a shirtless teen ejects a floppy disk, the police give chase to a man on a motorbike and there is a fight...
    Jude Law live for 12 hours – The Third Day: Autumn pushed boundaries, but was it good?
    • Oct 22, 2020

    Jude Law live for 12 hours – The Third Day: Autumn pushed boundaries, but was it good?

    The Third Day is perhaps the strangest show on television. Written by Utopia’s creator, Dennis Kelly, its three initial episodes – aired ...
    ‘Downton Abbey on the water’: why TV's Below Deck is still making waves
    • Oct 22, 2020

    ‘Downton Abbey on the water’: why TV's Below Deck is still making waves

    In the summer of 2011, eight tanned and smiling twentysomething cast members boarded the superyacht Honor for a six-week charter around t...
    The art of tantra: is there more to it than marathon sex and massages?
    • Sep 21, 2020

    The art of tantra: is there more to it than marathon sex and massages?

    Make a cursory web search for the term tantra and you will be confronted with thousands of results providing “tips on how to practise tan...
    'This show is just the start': inside the BBC's all-person-of-colour A Suitable Boy
    • Jul 21, 2020

    'This show is just the start': inside the BBC's all-person-of-colour A Suitable Boy

    ‘This is an Indian story,” says Tanya Maniktala, “so it’s about time it was told by us.” The 22-year-old actor is speaking by video call ...
    'I’ve seen how uprisings have come from pain': Idris Elba on Black Lives Matter
    • Jul 16, 2020

    'I’ve seen how uprisings have come from pain': Idris Elba on Black Lives Matter

    “History maketh the man,” says Idris Elba. The actor is quoting his late father, a man who he has spent the past two years playing a vers...
    Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Womad 1985: the qawwali star invokes rapture
    • Jul 16, 2020

    Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Womad 1985: the qawwali star invokes rapture

    Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice is quite unlike any other. At turns heavy and hulkingly powerful, yet also nimble and pointedly precise, hi...
    My streaming gem: why you should watch Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
    • Jul 16, 2020

    My streaming gem: why you should watch Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

    Clocking in at three and a half hours long, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is a remarkably swift Bollywood experience. In fact, the 2001 film c...
    ‘It’s like we just fell on to this planet’: the rise of psych-rockers Khruangbin
    • Jun 30, 2020

    ‘It’s like we just fell on to this planet’: the rise of psych-rockers Khruangbin

    Onstage, the Texan trio Khruangbin are a strange sight to behold. At their sold-out show at London’s near-5,000 capacity O2 Academy Brixt...
    My pandemic epiphany: I loved becoming a fitness junkie
    • Jun 30, 2020

    My pandemic epiphany: I loved becoming a fitness junkie

    Ever since my gym teacher stood, arms folded, laughing at my inability as a four-year-old to tuck myself into a ball and perform a somers...
    Bootsy Collins: 'We're all funky, just not all of us know it'
    • Jun 16, 2020

    Bootsy Collins: 'We're all funky, just not all of us know it'

    At the age of 17, William “Bootsy” Collins packed up his homemade bass guitar and left home to tour the world with James Brown. He was he...
    Lil Dicky on Dave: 'Everything the show says about my penis is true'
    • May 30, 2020

    Lil Dicky on Dave: 'Everything the show says about my penis is true'

    ‘I couldn’t ignore this thing that was the driving force of my childhood and my neuroticism,” Dave Burd tells me over the phone from Los ...
    The 100 greatest UK No 1s: No 10, Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through the Grapevine
    • May 26, 2020

    The 100 greatest UK No 1s: No 10, Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through the Grapevine

    It can be hard to grasp the depth and breadth of Marvin Gaye’s career. He seems to have lived one of those kaleidoscopic lives that could...
    The Zoom boom: how video-calling became a blessing – and a curse
    • May 21, 2020

    The Zoom boom: how video-calling became a blessing – and a curse

    Just before lockdown, 29-year-old Ala Uddin became ill with coronavirus-related symptoms and had to self-isolate in his London flat. “For...
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