Where are we without trust? Saaj recently filmed a campagin with PwC about the importance of trust. The commercial will be releasing worldwide soon.
UK Asian Film Festival 2024 - A Game of Two Halves - Premiere
‘A Game of Two Halves’ had its UK Premiere at the UK Asian Film Festival amongst special guests and a sell-out audience.
The screening took place at the Courthouse Hotel in Soho, London.
The film will be releasin in cinemas across the UK in June 2024.
A Game of Two Halves - Global Release - Variety
Indo-British sports drama “A Game of Two Halves,” which tackles themes of identity crisis and racial dissonance, is set for a global bow in 2024.
Saaj Raja plays Sanjay, a young British student who discovers his true self not amidst the academic pressures of a prestigious university, but on the dusty fields of Hyderabad, India, while teaching soccer to underprivileged children.
Directed by British Asian filmmaker Khayam Khan, the film is set across the U.K. and India. It was filmed in the UK and Hyderabad.
‘A Game of Two Halves’ will release in cinemas in India, U.K. and North America on Feb. 23, 2024.
Howden - National Campaign - UK
Saaj recently appeared on billboards and online for Howden’s national campaign.
BBC Proms - Bollywood at the Proms - Royal Albert Hall
Celebrating the musical legacy of Bollywood, the Proms pays tribute to Lata Mangeshkar, the voice behind the hit songs that defined Indian cinema’s greatest films.
Saaj joined forces with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a glorious musical fusion to commemorate more than five decades of the late playback singer’s stellar career.
On a night when the Royal Albert Hall took on the spirit of Mumbai, presenter Nikki Bedi and special guests honoured Lata’s impact across generations, cultures and continents
Pause For Thought - BBC Radio 2 - BBC Sounds
You can hear Saaj on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sound’s 'Pause for Thought' throughout June 2023.
A spiritual radio series showcasing insights and wisdom from different faiths in the UK for people of all religions - and to those of none.
Listen Here:
Fit In
Cheering His Heart Out
I Think About My Own Sangha A Lot
No Job Is Too Small
Best of Enemies - NTLive - Cinemas
Saaj is part of the ensemble in James Graham’s brilliant drama about Gore Vidal and William F Buckley’s ferocious televised debates in turbulent ’60s America. The West End play makes its NT debut in cinemas worldwide. Zachary Quinto and David Harewood star.
Book tickets here: https://bestofenemies.ntlive.com/
Only One Six - Short Film - Crawley
Carers Support West Sussex have developed a short film tackling some of the taboos surrounding dementia. The film follows the story of Neel, who cares for his uncle who lives with dementia.
The film was funded by the Dementia Trust and co-produced with carers from South Asian backgrounds in the Crawley area. The film is inspired by their stories. In some communities there is an element of stigma or shame around dementia.
The film received coverage by BBC South East today.
Best of Enemies - Noel Coward - West End
Saaj will be making his West End debut in the critically-acclaimed, award-winning play from James Graham, directed by Jeremy Herrin.
The cast includes Deborah Alli, David Boyle, Lincoln Conway, Emilio Doorgasingh, Vivienne Ekwulugo, Clare Foster, Tom Godwin, David Harewood, John Hodgkinson, Jamie Hogarth, Syrus Lowe, Kevin McMonagle, Sam Otto, Saaj Raja and Zachary Quinto
Best of Enemies will play at the Noël Coward Theatre from 14 November.
Book your tickets HERE
Fairy Liquid - Commercial - London
Saaj can be seen leading a commercial for Fairy Liquid televised across the UK.
I Couldn't Do Your Job - Pleasance Theatre - London
After a fantastic reception at The Queen’s, Iceni Theatre Company are back in London at The Pleasance Theatre on a four-night run with ‘I Couldn’t Do Your Job’. A timely verbatim play about the lives of NHS paramedics.
Reviews so far:
“The cast is strong and likeable and the storyline reflects the in-depth research that has taken place by the writers.” (4 Stars)
“I Couldn’t Do Your Job was so powerful and moving, it brought tears to my eyes. And I mean it when I say, everyone needs to see this play now. Go and see it whilst you can.” (4 Stars)
ICDYJ - Play - Queen's Theatre - London
Iceni Theatre Company presents I Couldn’t Do Your Job, a new ensemble lead, a verbatim play about NHS Paramedics. We vote over it, we moan about it, we couldn’t live without it. This play will make you laugh, cry & take time to think about the people behind the uniforms. Come along to get an insight into the lives of our most prized commodity; a free health care system with lifesavers just a short call away. These are the voices you need to hear & stories that need to be told.
Work-in-progress
R&D funded by Arts Council England
Performed by Charlotte Blakemore, Abigail Climer, Alan Emrys, Hannah Fayers, Saaj Raja & Jake Turner.
Eternals - Marvel Studios - Film Trailer
The highly anticipated trailer for Marvel Studio’s, Eternals released his week featuring a stellar cast including, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek.
You can catch Saaj dancing next to Kumail Nanjiani in an unprecedented Bollywood dance spectacle in the MCU.
Saaj was fortunate to work with Director Chloe Zao and Choreographer Nileeka Bose who bought together 50 South Asian dancers for the scene.
The scene was rehearsed and filmed over four days at Pinewood Studios in London. Eternals releases 5th November 2021.
Actor Container - Art Film - Leicester
Two Queens is delighted to announce the presentation of a newly-commissioned film by Leeds-based artist Karanjit Panesar: Actor, Container.
The work comes out of an ongoing exploration of the relationship between the insides and outsides of things, and a fascination with the idea of seeing ‘behind-the-scenes’. I’m interested in how these things could be used to talk about authenticity, agency and truth.
The film uses a narrative structure called a ‘strange loop’; a device that involves multiple levels of reality that are nested inside each other. Strange loops are often found in stories of time travel and the supernatural, and usually result in paradoxes and general confusion.
Actor, Container follows characters Saaj and Chandni, who are pulled between these kinds of levels, only to wind up back where they started. It is a recurring dream in tandem.
Book here: https://2queens.com/exhibitions/karanjit-panesar-actor-container
I Can See Your Voice - TV Show - BBC1
Saaj appeared on BBC1’s new gameshow “I Can See Your Voice” with his father Shash! The show is hosted by Paddy McGuiness
After taking a quick Bollywood dance workshops with celebrities Amanda Holden, Jimmy Carr, Ronan Keating and Alison Hamond, they had to guess if contestants could sing without hearing their voices.
With £10,000 up for grabs, it was a nail-biting experience!
The Girl on The Train - Bollywood - Netflix
Saaj is dancing in the opening sequence of the latest Bollywood release on Netflix - The Girl on The Train. Starring Parineeti Chopra.
The film was shot in London and the song was filmed in Tilgate Park. Saaj was selected for a solo piece at the beginning of the song by choreographer Vijay Ganguly.
Right Here - Creative Crawley - Arts Festival
Playing a leading creative role in local online arts festival called “Right Here”.
Creative Crawley exists to establish a reputation for Crawley as a creative place beyond its boundaries. Involving 16 local community groups and arts organisations, 21 local artists with 24 events over 2 days, the festival included art, dance, film, photography, music, poetry, talks and much more.
Saaj led careers workshops for local Performance Arts college students. He also performed in a fantastic trailer put together to promote the festival.
Check out the tailer here!
Wagamama - Commercial - London
Saaj is currently the Vegan face of Wagamama!
The commercial was filmed in a restaurant in London during the pandemic.
World Monologue Games Finalist 2020 - Actor - Online
Saaj was selected as a finalist for the World Monologue Games; a global event with thousands of competitors from over 80 countries.
Theatres and film sets around the world are closed for business but this didn’t Saaj’s passion for performing. His sprint monologue entry will be streamed on YouTube on 17th Oct 2020. Saaj performs a piece from the film, "Wolf" originally acted by Jack Nicholson.
During the lockdown Saaj has used the time to work on his American accent thanks to the wonderful “Rachel’s English” on YouTube!
What Do You See? - Writer - South Asian Scratch Night (YouTube)
Saaj wrote a spoken word piece based on lockdown reflections, the BLM movement, our relationship with ourselves and social media.
Saaj was excited to showcase his writing performed by some incredible artists at Pursued By A Dragon Theatre Company’s South Asian Scratch Night via YouTube🎭
A benefit of lockdown has been the opportunity to connect with wonderful creatives like Yusuf Niazi, Tarish Patel, Sanjay Lago and Gavin Joseph.