The Chaat Room

This week we chat with someone whose title does not at all accurately reflect the multitudes of her jobs and passions: film & TV critic and broadcast Ashanti Omkar! Ashanti is a UK-based rockstar critic and broadcaster, whose work has appeared on BBC TV, ITV, Channel 5, various BBC Radio stations, Times Radio, TimeOut London, Total Film Magazine, Metro, Guardian, The Independent – and that's not even close to the end of the list! She does deep dives into the full spectrum of the arts, with a special focus on spotlighting diversity, inclusion and representation. We learned SO much from her about the ways of media – but more importantly, we were inspired by her continued passion for celebrating beautiful art created by South Asians all over the world. It's no wonder she's been bestowed the responsibility of also being a voter for the UK Critics’ Circle in Film & Music, the BRITs, BIFA, and Sundance London. Wowza, we're getting tired just READING all the wonderful things Ashanti does!

This week's episode comes from the heart - our guest is Nikki's best friend Bash Naran! Bash is a rockstar literary agent, currently working at WME, who focuses on diverse, underrepresented and international creators with unique, multicultural perspectives. He's also the co-founder of a great organization called The Salon, a forum for South Asian artists and executives in entertainment to connect and collaborate, share resources, facilitate mentorship, and drive public advocacy. We love Bash for his vision, advocacy and his unconditional support - and his experience in literary representation is so vital!

If you don't know who the Kutti Gang are, you are in for a real treat this week! Created by Zubi Ahmed and Pooja Reddy, this HILARIOUS comedy duo burst onto the scene in 2018 and has consistently made waves - even during a pandemic! Zubi and Pooja share their superhero comedy origin stories as well as how they not only made their careers in comedy but also created an incredibly important platform/showcase for underrepresented and under-spotlighted comedy talent across the country.

The movie that started it all for Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan & Siddharth Malhotra. The movie that even Karan Johar sometimes wonders (by his own admission), "Why did I make this?" We're talking about NONE OTHER than Student of the Year! This gem of the 2010s is coming up on its TEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY (crazy!!) and we could not have had a better guest join us than actor/comedian Dhruv Uday Singh. We laughed, we debated - but one thing is for certain: this movie is more entertaining than we clearly remembered. Enjoy!!

It's Never Have I Ever premiere week and we could not be more excited to talk to Richa Moorjani! Richa's actor journey is untraditional, but she went through the highs and lows of the aspiring actor life for years before landing her role as Kamala on the hit Netflix series. This episode is all about passion, authenticity and perseverance, even in the face of what seems like insane odds.

This week's guest is the ridiculously funny and ridiculously talented Sumukhi Suresh, comedian and creator/writer/star of Amazon's "Pushpavalli," among other other great projects. Sumukhi's journey into comedy and now as the head of her own content company - Motormouth Writers - is the perfect encapsulation of evolving one's dreams and making opportunities for oneself. Our gushing in this episode is totally warranted and once you listen to this episode, you'll likely do it too.

This week's guest is screenwriter Utkarshini Vashishtha, whose journey is so full of twists and turns that we want her to turn into a movie. She is the co-writer of the exceptional Bollywood film, "Gangubai Kathiawadi" alongside its iconic Indian film director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Utkarshini is literally the epitome of someone who manifests her dreams by putting in all the hard work by practicing "be it till other people see it" (an extremely entertaining variant of "fake it till you make it") and having great timing. Also we love her and want her to be our new best friend – and you will too.

JAY SEAN! What more do we have to say? This week we chat with the singer/musician/producer/legend about his groundbreaking music journey and paving a path for so many musicians to follow.

This week we talk to filmmaker / showrunner Tanuj Chopra. His first film, Punching at the Sun, was the first South Asian American film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and since then he's made four MORE features. His most recent credit includes taking over as showrunner for the hit Netflix series, Delhi Crime. Tanuj shares pearl after pearl of wisdom when it comes to filmmaking – including how to find your voice and, just as importantly, your taste as a creator and an arts lover. What do you think is cool? That's more valuable than you may even realize.

We're SO excited to be back for Season 3 with one of our favorite people: writer/performer Nelu Handa! Nelu has been a part of such series as Baroness Von Sketch Show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh and arguably one of the best new shows from the pandemic, Sort Of on HBOMax (check it out ASAP if you haven't yet)! Nelu tells us about how divine intervention helped her find her path to comedy and gets real about her mental health. Her candid conversation about having and getting through depressive episodes is incredibly important for both those in the entertainment industry and our South Asian community. Nelu is funny, real and inspiring and we can't wait for you to take a listen.

We're back, baby! The Chaat Room returns with a new mini episode to introduce our newest season and guests, including singer/songwriter Jay Sean, screenwriter Utkarshini Vashishtha, actress Richa Moorjani, filmmaker/showrunner Tanuj Chopra and Kutti Gang comedy duo, Zubi Ahmed & Pooja Reddy – just to name a few! We're also bringing back our Now Re-Playing segment to celebrate some Bollywood anniversaries with some of our favorite comedians. Check out this re-introduction to the show and stay tuned for our first guest episode, dropping Thursday, June 23rd!

This week's episode might be our most informative yet! We welcome filmmaker Nardeep Khurmi, who is the writer/director of "Land of Gold," the winner of the AT&T / Tribeca Untold Stories Program which grants the film a $1 million budget, a guaranteed premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2022 and distribution on HBOMax! It also happens to be the film that our very own Keertana Sastry is producing with producing partner & sister (and our consulting producer) Pallavi Sastry! Nardeep talks about the highs and lows of applying to different film/TV grants, mentorship programs, screenplay competitions, and more! From how to structure your essays to how to schedule your applications in the most efficient way, Nardeep gives ALL the tips and tricks he has used over the years. We also get to shoutout some of the amazing South Asian film/TV community members who have helped Nardeep during his years of applying for these programs (including some friends of the pod and previous guests)! "Land of Gold" has also launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for COVID safety costs. Check out the info for that Seed & Spark campaign on @thechaatroompod Instagram bio to find out how you can support and contribute!

This week we're on the record with entertainment editor/journalist extraordinaire, Piya Sinha-Roy. Piya's illustrious career has included work at such publications as Reuters, Entertainment Weekly and Hollywood Reporter. She gives us the scoop on the daily life of a staff writer vs. a freelancer, and she isn't afraid to tell us the more difficult details of breaking into the tough entertainment journalism industry. Piya's a rockstar, and we're so excited to get some inside info on how our favorite trades and film/tv publications work!

No joke, this might be the nicest and most positive interview we've ever done. This week we chaat with sunshine in human form: Shubham Goel from Season 1 of the hit Netflix reality series, "The Circle." We talk to "Shooby" about his experience on "The Circle," how he stayed true to himself and his uniquely positive personality while competing on the show, his overall take on friendship in the digital age and his incredibly supportive family. Shubham almost has us convinced to apply for the new season of "The Circle." ALMOST. 😇

We're back with an insanely fun and educational Business with Bae episode. This week's guest is Rehana Lew Mirza, playwright extraordinaire. Her work, along with work she has co-written with her husband Mike Lew, have been critically acclaimed and produced all over the country. She gives us the full scoop on her writing process, the difficult steps to taking a play from the page to the stage and ups and downs of being a female POC playwright with all of the bias that comes with working in the theatre world. Rehana is smart, hilarious and weird and that's why we love her and this episode SO MUCH.

This week our guest is the INCREDIBLE Aneesh Sheth. Fun fact: Nikki interviewed Aneesh back in 2019 for Brown Girl Magazine. The interview was short but poignant. They touched on topics of identity and representation, and the interview left a mark as one of our favorites to publish. It gave us so much joy to delve further into those topics with Aneesh and more, including her time as Sweetie in the Broadway National Tour of "Bombay Dreams," Gillian in "Jessica Jones" (Netflix) and her activism and philanthropy work with the Trevor Project and the Sappho Project. Plus bonus: we were able to help her find her new alter ego name... and it's a GOOD one. 😉🔥

This episode is a DOOZY! Our guest this week is the WONDERFUL Maulik Pancholy. Maulik is an award winning actor, author, and activist – if you look up the word “multi-hyphenate” in the dictionary, you'll see his picture. His career has spanned hit TV shows like "30 Rock" and "Weeds," animated favorites like "Phineas & Ferb," Broadway productions like the Tony nominated "Grand Horizons" and several films. His debut novel "The Best At It" was named a Stonewall Honor Book, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books. PLUS Maulik co-founded Act To Change, an anti-bullying non-profit which has done incredible work addressing the rise in anti-Asian violence and hate after COVID-19. Honestly, we can't think of a better person to interview and celebrate. Maulik is an inspiring actor/author/activist who shows us we have more in common with each other than we think.

This week we are so excited to chat with director and editor Kabir Akhtar. Before directing episodes of awesome shows like "Never Have I Ever," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," & "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series," Kabir was a prolific editor with more than 14 years of experience on narrative and reality content. He currently serves as supervising producer/director on Mindy Kaling's upcoming HBO Max series "The Sex Lives Of College Girls." Kabir talks about the challenges of getting a shot as director for the first time after years of being a great editor. But even with the hardships, his determination and ability to pivot into another career is really the whole essence of working in this industry. It's tough, but it's possible.

Business with Bae is back, y'all! Since our first BWB of Season 1 started with Keertana's role as a casting director, it only made sense that our first BWB of Season 2 would be ALL about our other co-host, Nikki Menon's job as Development Executive. The work Nikki does as an executive at Ladies' Car Productions is vital not only in creating content on television, but also in promoting more South Asian & BIPOC representation. We do a DEEP dive into the buzzwords of development like pitches, general meetings and overall deals. And of course, Keertana trolls Nikki about creating a show to make her famous 🤦🏾‍♀️.

We could not have a better guest to kick off SEASON 2 of The Chaat Room! Today we welcome Oscar and Grammy nominee Savan Kotecha to the pod for an unfiltered and eye-opening conversation about making it in the music industry. He talks openly about mental health, resilience, and tension from his family for not understanding his dreams. Savan shares hilarious stories of how hard he worked to get his first gig in music and how moving to Sweden jumpstarted his entire career. (Yes, you read that correctly!) We're in awe of his work ethic and accomplishments... so much so that maybe parents shouldn't listen to this episode 😉