Outlook Mixtape: Lights, Camera, Action!
From Dirty Dancing’s rejected script to the man inside the Godzilla suit and India’s vanishing travelling cinemas — three stories of cinematic wonder.
Pass the popcorn, Outlook Mixtape is going to the movies. Over two shows we're celebrating the magic of filmmaking with some gems from the Outlook vault.
We hear the amazing tale of how writer Eleanor “Baby” Bergstein’s script for Dirty Dancing, inspired by her teenage years as a competitive dancer, was repeatedly dismissed by studios — before becoming going on to become a cultural phenomenon and box-office smash.
We also step inside the monster suit with Kenpachiro Satsuma, the classically trained Japanese actor whose dreams of leading-man roles took a sharp turn when he became Godzilla — and other creatures — raining down fire and terror as one of cinema’s most enduring icons long before CGI took over. This was first broadcast in 2019.
And in rural India, filmmaker Amit Madheshiya documents the final days of the country’s travelling cinemas: projectionists who hauled films from village to village, delivering the magic of the silver screen to audiences far from theatres. As technology advances, these cinematic journeys are fading, but their legacy lives on. This was first broadcast in 2018.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: A transparent 60-minute cassette tape on a white background with a white label with the words: The Outlook Mixtape. Credit: Getty Images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Boxing Day 202512:06GMTBBC World Service
- Boxing Day 202518:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Boxing Day 202523:06GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 27 Dec 202503:06GMTBBC World Service except Australasia
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected
