Rich entertainment
The film directors who made Keira Knightley a star and transformed Cate Blanchett into a young Elizabeth I are today included among the ranks of Britain's wealthiest Asians.
The rise of Asian showbusiness millionaires is revealed in a major new study of wealth in Britain.
Shekhar Kapur, 58, who directed Blanchett in Elizabeth, joins the Asian Rich List for the first time alongside leading lights in finance, industry and retail. And 44-year-old Gurinder Chadha - director of Bend It Like Beckham which starred Knightley and Parminder Nagra - leaps 39 places after her wealth increased by £1million in 12 months.
Philip Beresford, compiler of the list, said: "It shows the rise of Asian entertainment, with Asian people moving out of the business world, where they have traditionally been very strong, into new areas."
Kapur, who also coproduced hit musical Bombay Dreams with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, is worth £4million at number 282 on the list. His next venture is a Hollywood feature starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.
Bend It Like Beckham cost £3million but made almost £ 20million in the US alone. Chadha is 247th on the list, with estimated wealth of £5million. Last year she earned £1.25 million, putting her among Britain's highest-paid women.
Dr Beresford said: "Gurinder Chadha is a classic case of somebody who was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but has carved out a fantastic career as a film director and become a role model."
The Asian Rich List is published by commercial Asian radio station, Sunrise Radio.
Author Salman Rushdie, 56, is in joint 174th place with £8 million - level with Ghandi star Sir Ben Kingsley, 60. Sir Ben was Oscar-nominated this year for House Of Sand And Fog and admits to "doing rather well".
He has a £3million farm in the Cotswolds and last year married 28-year-old German Alexandra Christmann, his third wife. TV mogul Lord Alli, who was involved in hit shows The Big Breakfast and Survivor, is worth £32 million at number 48 on the list.
Sixth-placed Gulu Lalvani, 70, who once escorted Princess Diana to a nightclub, has seen his wealth from consumer electronics brand Binatone rise £250 million to £400 million in the past year.
London-based Asians take eight of the places in the top 10. The 300 who make the full Rich List are now worth a total of £14.3 billion, up from the £8.9billion total last year.
Lakshmi Mittal, who owns the world's second-largest steel company LNM, holds on to the number one spot with a valuation of £3.5billion, an increase of £2.19 billion in a year.
