Nitin Sawhney was born in south London in 1964 and grew up in Kent, learning piano, guitar, sitar and tabla from an early age. He studied law, then accountancy at Hertfordshire University, where he met Sanjeev Bhaskar, with whom he created the comedy team the Secret Asians and later Goodness Gracious Me. He quit comedy to focus on music, and since 1993 has released 13 studio albums, including the Mercury prize-nominated Beyond Skin. Sawhney also scores films, TV programmes and stage shows. His latest album, Identity, is out now.
1. Theatre
The Time Traveller’s Wife at the Apollo theatre, London
This musical with a score by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart was a lot of fun. As a fan of science fiction I was interested to see how the time travel part worked, but the story is more about the romance between the two leads, Clare and Henry, the latter of whom keeps disappearing off and reappearing at different times in Clare’s life. Dramatically it works well and there’s some great staging, especially when somebody vanishes onstage. The cast was very enjoyable and Joanna Woodward, who plays Clare, has a touch of Joss Stone about her voice.
2. TV
This series with Jennifer Aniston as a top US news anchor has been very interesting. The previous two seasons dealt with #MeToo and other current issues. This season – we’re up to the last episode and it’s on a bit of a cliffhanger – they’ve been looking at media corruption and how corporations and oligarchs can influence what’s being talked about in the news. Jon Hamm plays a character called Paul Marks, who’s pretty obviously based on Elon Musk. It raises questions about integrity and shows the power battles that can occur in the top echelons of news stations. It doesn’t always hit the mark but it’s definitely a good watch.
3. Restaurant
Jikoni is a small restaurant in Marylebone with a homely atmosphere that’s serving some of my favourite food in London. The owner, Ravinder Bhogal, is of Kenyan-Indian origin and her cooking has a fusion element to it, bringing in Arabian as well as Indian and African influences and making them work together seamlessly. The ingredients are fresh and carefully sourced. It’s hard to think of a favourite dish but the mango and golden coin curry is delicious and Ravinder has an amazing way with aubergines, which I don’t normally like. Her flavours are fantastic.
4. Dance
English National Ballet: Our Voices at Sadler’s Wells
My mum was a Bharatanatyam dancer – an Indian classical form of dance – so I’ve always had a strong love of the form. I go to a lot of shows including, recently, this programme in three parts at Sadler’s Wells. The first piece, Theme and Variations, was choreographed by George Balanchine, but I was really interested in seeing Andrea Miller’s interpretation of Stravinsky’s Les Noces. It was outstanding. I left with a sense of having been immersed in a twilight world.
5. Film
I saw a screening of this new Leonard Bernstein biopic at Tate Modern. Dramatisations of conductors’ lives tend to go over the top, and there are some crazy over-the-top scenes here, but of course Bernstein could be overdramatic at times. The story is a very sad one. Bernstein was gay and the film shows him constantly having these indiscretions in front of his wife, played by Carey Mulligan. And yet they seemed to have a phenomenal bond. Bradley Cooper has done a brilliant job of imitating Bernstein and Mulligan is outstanding. The ageing is unbelievable too: the makeup artist should be given an Oscar.
6. Music
Jason Singh, Royal Albert Hall, part of the Journeys festival
Jason Singh is an amazing beatboxer and sound artist. I booked him for the Journeys festival last month and he performed alongside three other musicians: tabla player Aref Durvesh, guitarist Giuliano Modarelli and Danny Keane, who plays cello and jazz piano. They worked very well as a team. Jason did a brilliant beatbox solo at one point, but it wasn’t any kind of conventional beatboxing. It was much more about sounds and flavours and cinematic atmospheres. I don’t think anyone in the audience knew what to expect, but they did a great job of drawing the audience along.
