1980s VHS Video Cultures and British Asian Lives: A Panel and Audience Discussion

Image credit: Dee Patel

The 1980s was a period of coming of age for many first generation British-born South Asians. Amidst their interaction with popular cultures from Britain, America, East Asia and elsewhere, popular Hindi cinema from India (aka "Bollywood") viewed through the practices of VHS cultures in the home and in public settings was also part of this mix.

This panel and audience discussion will be an opportunity to revisit some of these moments through the presentations and stories of four artists, cultural producers and educators from the West Midlands.

Rajinder Dudrah is Professor of Cultural Studies and Creative Industries at Birmingham City University. He will be presenting on watching Bollywood films on Sunday afternoons in a British pub of the 1980s.

Dawinder Bansal is a British theatre producer who uses cultural heritage and modern stories in her theatre productions. She will be drawing on her personal experiences of growing up in her parents' corner shop which sold electrical supplies and rented VHS video films in Wolverhampton.

Boy Chana has been a successful music journalist of British bhangra since the 1980s and is also as a DJ who plays a range of South Asian music. He will be drawing on his memories of listening to and spinning Bollywood tracks from the period.

Sima Gonsai is an independent filmmaker based in Birmingham. Originally trained in Indian classical dance her work specialises in directing dance film. Inspired by her upbringing in performing 1980s Bollywood dance in her hometown Blackburn, her film presentation will speak to this context.

mac in partnership with Flatpack: Assemble and Birmingham City University