It’s a warm weekday lunchtime in May when I meet Hassan Redif (aka Hass or J Junior) and Bekir Remzi (aka Ramsey) in the bar of Trent Park Country Club, located at the far end of the Piccadilly Line in Oakwood. The pair are relaxed and in casual attire, with Ramsey tapping at his watch […]
Turkish soap operas have been appealing to global audiences for some time, but seldom have any generated the levels of fandom that Diriliş Ertuğrul (Resurrection Ertuğrul) has. Even more significantly, it is the first to have seriously penetrated the UK. From talks up and down the country, to arranged travel tours to the set, there […]
With two degrees under his belt, former male model Mem Ferda could have secured a steady, well-paid job. Instead the South Londoner plumped for the life of an actor and all the risks that this brings. And he’s never looked back! The first thing that strikes you when you meet Mem is his height. At […]
There has been a big buzz around Yardie, the directorial debut of screen legend Idris Elba, which hits UK cinemas this weekend. Giving a close-up view of Jamaican culture, the film also features two Turkish Cypriot actors: Akin Gazi and Adnan Mustafa, who play onscreen brothers Arif and Engin. Based on Victor Headley’s bestselling book […]
When Sıla Gençoğlu returns to the stage at Indigo at The O2 on 17 May, it will have been a little over a year since her last concert in the capital. Simply known as Sıla, the 37-year-old from Denizli, southwest Turkey, made an immediate impact with her self-titled debut album back in 2007. She’s […]
For the past 18 months, Ediz Mahmut has been treading the boards at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. This weekend his stint as part of the ensemble on the hit musical 42nd Street comes to an end. We caught up with Ediz, who goes by the stage name of Eddie Myles, to find […]
When my editor asked me to pick my favourite ten songs by legendary band MFÖ in advance of their London concert on 18 March, I didn’t think it would be this hard. The band formed in 1980 – more than a decade before I was born – and they still comprise of the original […]
By implication when you rock with the greats, you too must also be great. During his forty year career, Harun Kolçak worked alongside many of Turkey’s finest musicians and artists, including Erkin Koray, Onno Tunç, Erol Pekcan, Zerrin Özer, Aşkın Nur Yengi, and İskender Paydaş. Last month, Istanbul-born Kolçak month lost his three-year battle […]
Reality TV shows are like marmite: you either love them or hate them. Those featuring semi-naked participants that jump into bed at every available opportunity generate even stronger opinions, with opponents claiming such programmes objectify contestants, while others label them as “sneak porn” due to their overtly sexual nature. So when Figen Cetinay found out […]
