SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with distinctive content to entertain all Australians
25 October, 2024
Media releases
Join the cultural celebrations of Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas and Tihar across the SBS network with an exciting collection of content that includes original drama Four Years Later, new podcast My Regional Diwali, a feast of cooking shows, audio content in nine languages, and more.
L-R: Shahana Goswami in Four Years Later, Anupam Sharma in Brand Bollywood Downunder, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Bride and Prejudice, and Ranveer Brar in The Wandering Chef.
SBS has something for all Australians during this year's Festivals of Lights, with a bigger than ever cross-network offering to celebrate Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas and Tihar. From now until November, SBS is sharing a distinctive and curated collection of movies, documentaries, recipes, articles, cultural explainers, student resources and festival guides. The Festivals of Lights are celebrated by over a billion people globally, including by more than one million Australians of South Asian heritage.
SBS Managing Director, James Taylor said, SBS is proud to share the rich and vibrant celebrations of the Festivals of Lights across the network, enabling all Australians to engage in the diverse festivities that are grounded in unity and joy.
This includes special Diwali and Deepavali collections on SBS On Demand and World Movies, SBS Food shows and recipes highlighting India's diverse regional culinary heritage, and audio content via new destination channel SBS South Asian with programs in nine languages.
SBS Audio will offer a new podcast series, My Regional Diwali, which features conversations with regional Australians to understand how they celebrate Diwali. The My Diwali podcast returns with another insightful season, with new interviews with South Asian sportspeople, politicians and artists including cricket royalty, former captain of the Australian women's cricket team, Lisa Sthalekar, and Australian Bollywood star, Pallavi Sharda. SBS Hindi will present a healthier take on Diwali, featuring culinary expert Sandeep Pandit, sharing recipes for sugar-free Diwali sweets. SBS Audio will also publish cultural explainer videos on the celebration, run audience competitions, produce guides on community festivals, and share community news in Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu via new destination channel SBS South Asian.
SBS Spice, the English-language digital channel for Gen Z, South Asian Australians, will release new audio and video series, Chosen Family,for those celebrating away from home. The series explores how young people are finding a sense of identity and belonging in Australia, giving voice to students studying away from home, interracial couples, and queer and trans people on how they create their own special Diwali traditions and how they make the festival personal.
A curated shelf of fun and vibrant titles inspired by the festival will be available to binge on SBS On Demand. This includes SBS's commissioned original drama Four Years Later, which tells the difficult love story of newlyweds Sridevi and Yash who are separated after their wedding in India when Yash is offered a medical traineeship in Australia. Iconic feature documentary Brand Bollywood Downunder celebrates Bollywood cinema with stars Anupam Kher, Farhan Akhtar and Ashutosh Gowariker. Laugh out loud with Meet the Patels, a comedy following an Indian-American man who embarks on a quest to find a wife the traditional Indian way.
An SBS World Movies movie marathon kicks off on Friday 1 November with a non-stop line up of feel-good cinema. Beloved Bollywood remake, Bride and Prejudice, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Martin Henderson and Naveen William Sidney Andrews, sees a mother eager to find suitable husbands for her five daughters (5:25 pm); award-winning visual masterpiece Last Film Show follows 10-year-old Samay and his newfound fascination of film (7:30 pm); Maja Machronicles a mother's journey of self-acceptance, caught between family expectations and her own truth (9:35 pm); and popular dramedy, India Sweets And Spices, starring Sophia Taylor Ali, Rish Shah and Ashritha Kancharla sees a college freshman return home and upend her family's well-ordered life with her brash new independence (12:05am).
Over in SBS Food, audiences are in for a treat including the return of David Rocco's Dolce Indiaon Monday to Friday at 1:00pm (14 October to 28 October); Hidden Flavours of India: North Eastfilmed in picturesque north-east India with new episodes Monday to Friday at 4:30pm (14 October to 1 November). Chef Ranveer Brar searches for forgotten recipes in The Wandering Chefwith new episodes Monday to Friday at 5:00pm (14 October to Tuesday 29 October); and learn new cooking tips with Luke Nguyen as he explores Southern India in Luke Nguyen's India from Monday to Saturday at 5:30pm (21 October to 1 November).
Audiences can also engage with a special three-part social media video series for Diwali in collaboration with food influencer, The Modern Desi. Watch how to make traditional Indian recipes for Diwali celebrations, highlighting India's diverse regional culinary heritage.
SBS's education arm, SBS Learn isfostering understanding in the classroom with ready-to-use resources for teachers with activities for primary and secondary students including how, why and when Diwali/Deepavali is celebrated. Students can deepen their cultural understanding by making a paper diya, (pronounced dee-aa, an oil lamp used during the Festivals of Lights) and by making a South Asian sweet treat (mithai) - barfi.
Performers at the Diwali celebration organised by Sunraysia Indian Association in Mildura
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SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with distinctive content to entertain all Australians 
