Heat and Dust + sitar performance (15)

To celebrate the start of our South Asian Heritage Month 2025 programme, the opening screening of Heat & Dust will be preceded by a live sitar performance by internationally acclaimed sitarist Jonathan Mayer, and a pre-recorded introduction by guest curator Anupma Shanker. To mark the occasion, our wonderful neighbours from Masala Zone are generously providing complimentary cocktail samosas for all ticketholders to enjoy before heading into the screen.

Adapted by the British American novelist and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from her Booker Prize-winning novel, and winner of Best Screenplay at the 1983 BAFTAs, Heat and Dust is a sensual and evocative Merchant Ivory classic that traces the intertwined stories of two English women living in India more than fifty years apart.

Anne (Julie Christie), a young historical researcher, inherits letters written by her great aunt Olivia (Greta Scacchi) and becomes obsessed with their revelations of her past in colonial India. Flitting between the present-day and the 1920s, examines the parallel journeys of self-discovery of the two women, as well as the eternal, seductive allures of the mystical wonder that is India.

About Anupma Shanker:

Anupma Shanker is a British-Indian film curator and archives researcher with a deep and evolving interest in marginalised and minority screen narratives from, of and about the past. Her curatorial practice is focused on bringing to light films and filmmakers that remain overlooked, inaccessible and undiscovered but can offer valuable insight, wisdom and guidance in contextualizing the difficult but urgent discourses about the myths and realities of shared/contested histories, heritage, identities and memories. Website

About Jonathan Mayer:

Son of the late Kolkata composer John Mayer, Jonathan began his musical training at the early age of 5. His teachers have included Clem Alford (the first ever European sitar player), Pandit Subroto Roychowdhury of Senia Gharana and Wajahat Khan (direct descendent of Mia Tansen the great musician, one of the nine jewels in Moghul court of Emperor Akbar). Jonathan has performed all over the world and his works have been performed and commissioned by The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, Docklands Sinfonia, among others. Jonathan is the co-founder of First Hand Records Ltd and Artistic Director of Zeroclassikal. Website

About Masala Zone:

Masala Zone Covent Garden uniquely combines authentic Indian culinary and visual provenance - proper Indian food, spanning regions, types of food & cooking styles, and exciting interiors. Dishes are from the true sources of Indian food – the gourmet homes & street stalls across India’s regions. Menus cover a panoramic range of Indian cuisine – such as 18 different types of grazing small plates, delicious home thalis and a galaxy of proper regional curries. The individual interiors are a sophisticated display of Indian art & tradition infused with contemporary design. Website | Instagram