"Actor: Nitin Sawhney"

• Goodness Gracious Me - Complete Series 3 | DVD | (17/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Goodness Gracious Me was never quite a classic comedy series, but it did achieve the goal of all such sketch shows: to make at least a couple of its characters part of the popular discourse. The show's best creations were those that served to let the rest of Britain in on a few of the in-jokes in British/Asian life. The bitterly competitive immigrant mothers boasting about the achievements of their first-generation children, the over-compensating, more-British-than-the-British Kapoor family and the obstinately patriotic Mr Everything Came from India. The sketch in which the latter passionately argues that Leonardo da Vinci was, in fact, Indian is a particular joy. Fine though these ideas were, Goodness Gracious Me also carried its share of padding. Hapless Romeo Mr Check Please is a less funny and less charming reading of The Fast Show's "I'll get me coat", and the kindest that can be said musical sketches is that they're not quite as lame as the ones on Smack the Pony. On the DVD: Goodness Gracious Me, Series 3 offers the standard episode selector, a song selector to direct the viewer to the unfunny musical parody of their choice, augmented by a simple yet brilliant idea that should be mandatory for all sketch show DVDs: another selector which allows you to watch all the sketches from the series featuring one particular character. The DVD also contains an interview with cast member Nina Wadia. No subtitles are available. --Andrew Mueller

• Goodness Gracious Me - Complete Series 1 | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The complete first series of the superb sketch show! Sending up British culture Asian culture and everything in between is the team of Meera Syal Sanjeev Bhaskar Nina Wadia and Kulvinder Ghir bringing together a series of unforgettable characters in an irreverent look at our multi-cultural society. Among the many characters featured in the first series are the determinedly English Cooper family (spelt Kapoor) the streetwise Bhangramuffins Asian superhero Sanjeev Austin -

• Nitin Sawhney - Prophesy | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Prophesy subtitles itself a "visual album" and that's a pretty accurate description. It consists of images shot in India, Australia, the USA, South Africa and England to accompany the tracks on Nitin Sawhney's fifth album, which was released in 2001. While not as universally praised as its predecessor, Beyond Skin, it still shows Nitin Sawhney to be an innovative songwriter and accomplished musician with an ability to mix and match musical styles from around the globe. This release marries images to the music while developing the album's underlying theme of the power of technology. The visuals vary from the rapid juxtaposition of images à la Philip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi on tracks like "Sunset" to more straightforward performance pieces, such as "Ripping Out Tears", which includes a rap from Pinky Tuscadero over distorted guitars and beats. The mellower "Moonshine" features the work of dancer Akram Khan filmed at the Palace Theatre in London. On other tracks the images form a more coherent narrative, as in the reflective "Acquired Dreams", with vocals from Natacha Atlas. Sawhney's global political message about over-reliance on technology is forthrightly put, but in essence Prophesy is a collection of beautiful images which provide both a backdrop to the music and a comment upon it. On the DVD: in addition to the images there is also a "Talking Album", which is essentially a repetition of the album but with interviews from collaborators and influences incorporated. There's also a section entitled "Around the World" containing acoustic versions of "Sunset", "Prophesy" (three times!) and "Moonrise", plus a slide show photo gallery over the track "Breathing Light". The promo video for "Sunset" is also included. The picture quality is good, as is the sound and the whole package is well presented. --John Whiddett

• Stop The War | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Features footage from the benefit concert in aid of the Stop The War Coalition recorded at the London Astoria on 27th November 2005 with performances from The Rachid Taha Band Brian Eno Nitin Sawhney Imogen Heap and special guest Mick Jones). Tracklist: Rachid Taha & Brian Eno: 1. Mamachi 2. Nokta 3. Kelma 4. H'asbu-hum 5. Medina 6. Shuf 7. Bent Sarah 8. Barra Barra 9. Safi 10. Yarayah 11. Habina 12. Rock El Casbah 13. Meftuh 14. Ida 15. Garab Imogen Heap 16. The Moment I Said It Nitin Sawhney & Brian Eno 17. Soundbites 18. Dark Oratorio 19. Prophesy