The Chaat Room

Keertana Sastry & Nikitha Menon•thechaatroom.simplecast.com

A new podcast series, hosted by Keertana Sastry & Nikitha Menon — in partnership with Brown Girl Magazine — where we interview South Asians in Hollywood, on and off the screen. These are the people who turned their *cue disapproving auntie voice* hobbies and passions into careers, and we ask them the question we’re all wondering: how the f*ck did you do it?! In these times of tragedy and uncertainty, we need to find strength and optimism in our community and the art that gives us a reason to smile. We hope this podcast will be able to do just that.

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Episodes

Pride of You, Beta! — Interview with Fawzia Mirza & Neel Patel

We are so excited to have Fawzia Mirza and Neel Patel as guests for our Pride episode. Not do these two create amazing content that showcases their authentic voices, they are extremely vocal in the quest for LGBTQIA and BIPOC representation in the arts/entertainment industry and beyond. This episode is dedicated to all of the black trans lives that have fought for civil & equal rights for all minorities and people of color — without them and countless more black lives, we would not be here t...

Jun 27, 2020•45 min

Write Before You Can (Show)Run — Interview with Sanjay Shah

This week's guest is Sanjay Shah, who is currently the co-showrunner on the new AppleTV+ animated musical series, "Central Park" (Premiering May 29th). Sanjay has had an incredibly diverse and fascinating career – we're pretty sure there's no one who better defines the term "Jack of All Trades" more than him. And if you've ever had the desire to become a TV writer, listening to his advice and experiences is Master Class-adjacent.

May 28, 2020•42 min

Business with Bae: Film & TV Editing 101

We're so excited to introduce film & TV editor, Varun Viswanath, as our second guest on "Business with Bae"! Not only is Varun a talented editor (a VITAL job in film/TV), he's also one of the nicest people in the entertainment industry. Varun basically became our brother while recording this episode. So for this week, we're renaming our segment "Business with Bhaiya." Still has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?

May 20, 2020•27 min

BONUS! Now Re-Playing: "Hum Saath Saath Hain"

Hello again, friends! Since our previous episodes have been ALL about the business of entertainment and how our guests have made their names in the industry, we thought it was time for just some good, old-fashioned fun. Introducing our new BONUS segment: Now Re-Playing! We'll watch memorable South Asian films and shows, many of which were large parts of our childhoods, and analyze the crap out of them with our 2020 NRI mindset. Our first episode is about the 1999 major hit film, "Hum Saath Saath...

May 15, 2020•36 min

Business with Bae: Working in Casting

Introducing a new segment for "The Chaat Room": Business with Bae! In this segment, we ask South Asians in the arts specific, introductory questions about their careers. We want to provide you all with the information you need to decide for yourself what career path you would like to take. And we want to help you explain to your parents what the heck it is you want to do! First up is working in film and television casting with our co-host, Keertana Sastry!

May 04, 2020•17 min

Who Run The World? — Interview with Poorna Jagannathan

We couldn't be more thrilled to speak with actress Poorna Jagannathan, who currently stars in Mindy Kaling & Lang Fisher's new Netflix series "Never Have I Ever." She tells us about her path from advertising to acting, her short but iconic time in Bollywood, and what it's like to be on a series with so much South Asian representation in front of and behind the scenes. We also touch on her empowering work as an outspoken advocate against gender discrimination and sexual violence. Basically we...

Apr 27, 2020•37 min

Empathizing With Your Parents 101 — Interview with Jimy Shah & Vidhya Iyer

We're continuing with a double dose of "Mira, Royal Detective" — Jimy Shah & Vidhya Iyer are writers for Season 2 of the new Disney Junior animated series. While Shah and Iyer had vastly different journeys to get where they are today, they both had to maneuver their families’ less-than-ideal reactions to their chosen careers. It was refreshing to hear how, years later, they have matured to rationalize those reactions. We hope their stories will provide comfort and hope for aspiring writers t...

Apr 24, 2020•46 min

The Bandits You'll Love — Interview with Sonal Shah & Parvesh Cheena

Our first interview of the season is with actors Sonal Shah and Parvesh Cheena, who both currently voice multiple roles on Disney Junior’s animated series, “Mira, Royal Detective.” Both Shah and Cheena have been working in the industry for more than a decade in film and television. We discussed how they made the choice to become actors, how the industry’s standards on inclusivity are changing and what being on a show with a full South Asian cast means to them. We love them and hope you do, too!...

Apr 23, 2020•36 min

Meet Your Co-Hosts!

We are so excited to be kicking off our series with a quick ice-breaker. Before we interview some of your favorite South Asian talents on and offscreen, we wanted to introduce ourselves and why the hell we've decided to tackle this endeavor. TV and Film are so much more integrated in our lives than we realize. The ideas we develop about the world and people, even the way we develop...so much of it comes from what is portrayed on the screen. So why are careers in these industries so frowned upon?...

Apr 15, 2020•11 min

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