A QISSAA with Ishika

Welcome to the 36th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is playwright and filmmaker Rehana Lew Mirza! With a BFA from NYU TISCH and an MFA from Columbia University, Rehana’s prolific career has seen her plays produced at venues across the US. Some play highlights include: Hatefuck (First Floor, Chicago; WP/Colt Coeur, NY); A People’s Guide to History in the Time of Here and Now (Primar...

Welcome to the 35th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is Ravjot Mehek Singh, an award-winning Sikh Indian American Film and TV Director and art activist. Many Indian and American media outlets refer to her as one of the youngest female directors in Bollywood and one of the first openly LGBTQ+ Sikh women directors in South Asia. By age 21, she had directed 3 television talk shows for...

Welcome to the 34th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists, funded by the California Art Council’s Individual Artist Fellow Grant. My guest is music director, composer, and arranger Sheela Ramesh! She was recently named a “Woman to Watch on Broadway” by the Broadway Women’s Fund. Professional highlights include Broadway (SIX, Almost Famous, Onc...

Welcome to the 33rd episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists, funded by the California Art Council’s Individual Artist Fellow Grant. I am so excited to welcome my guest today, fresh off the UK and Asia tour of Life of Pi, actor Sonya Venugopal! A proud Californian, she has lived in New York for 8 years.! In 2023, she made her Broadway debut in Li...

Welcome to the 32nd episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Stories! My guest today is theatermaker and director Zi Alikhan. Raised in California and based in New York, Zi is an alum of NYU TISCH and programs including TCG Rising Leaders of Color, Drama League Directors Project, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Drama League Artist Residency Program, Manhat...

Welcome to the 31st episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is Robin Sukhadia, a highly accomplished tabla player. With a World Music MFA from CalArts, Robin’s work spans many concert, film, and album productions. He has composed for and toured with Rupa & the April Fishes, J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science, PremaSoul, and Walter...

Welcome to the 30th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is director Reena Dutt. Reena is dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories with the bodies, voices and life experiences of the underheard. She just closed An Experiment with an Airpump that she directed for CalArts. Her Broadway debut was on The Collaboration at Manhatt...

Welcome to the 29th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is comedy writer and performer Romen Borsellino!  A member of the Writers Guild of America, Romen has been a writer for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show during Kal Penn’s weeks as guest host. Before that, he was a staff writer for Season 2 of NBC’s A Little Late with Lilly Singh as well as the sole writer for CTV’s Battle of the Ge...

Welcome to the 28th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is playwright and screenwriter Madhuri Shekar! She is the 2020 winner of the Lanford Wilson playwriting award, an alumnus of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard, and a fellow at New Dramatists. Madhuri holds a masters in dramatic writing from USC, as well as degrees from London School of Economics an...

www.ishikamuchhal.com/a-qissaa-with-ishika Welcome to the 27th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is award-winning writer and director Arpita Mukherjee. She is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Hypokrit Live Arts, a theatre company highlighting work by BIPOC artists. Film accolades include directing the short film Running with Danny Pudi, writing the Filmfare Award-winning scree...

Welcome to the 26th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is percussionist Vinay Sharma, known for his musical prowess on the tabla, dhol, and many other drums. Through training under Rupesh Kotecha and the late Pandit Ravi Bellare, Vinay honed his percussion skills, found the spirituality behind music in bhajans and kirtans, a...

Welcome to the 24th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is photographer Simrah Farrukh! Based between Los Angeles and San Francisco, her images are a reflection of the delicate, yet compelling ways in which she views the world. Her work explores how identity and community intersect with fashion and beauty to form a narrative....

Welcome to the 25th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is voice and screen actor and singer Zehra Fazal! A versatile actor, she has voiced many characters on series for Disney Television Animation, Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks, Netflix and Cartoon Network. Her voice has likely entered your world through character...

Welcome to the 23rd episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists. My guest today is director, author, filmmaker, producer, and entrepreneur Neha Lohia! Neha has created numerous films, documentaries, music videos, and commercials, recently creating the teaser for season 2 of Amazon Prime’s Made in Heaven. She currently has films in festivals around t...

Welcome to the 22nd episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, in conversation this week with director, screenwriter, and producer Nisha Ganatra! A Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee, she was ranked the #1 director globally by Cannes and won the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Film Craft: Direction for her film #wombstories . She has directed, written, and produced movies including Late Night with Mindy Kalin...

Welcome to the 21st episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is Rajiv Nema, an Actor, Standup Comedian & Youtuber based in silicon valley. His "Rajiv Nema Indori" video series has 400 videos with 20 Million views. You may have seen him in his recent feature films JAADUGAR with Jitendra Kumar & THAI MASSAGE with G...

Welcome to A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is actor, director, and playwright Priyanka Shetty! Priyanka is focused on making art that is a reflection of our times. Her critically acclaimed one-woman show The Elephant in the Room has been performed at numerous venues including the Kennedy Center and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, amo...

Welcome to the 19th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! Mu guest today is Aparna Kumar, a Bharatanatyam dancer and Creative Content Specialist at Netflix! With experience working in films and documentaries, she started her journey in marketing production at Syfy in new York, worked with agencies and clients including Sesame Street. In her current role with Netflix, she works in the AV Studio Creative...

Hello and welcome to the 18th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists, funded by the California Art Council’s Individual Artist Fellow Grant. My guest today is Shaan Sharma, a man of many talents within the entertainment industry! Shaan has worked as a commercial and theatrical SAG-AFTRA actor with over 40 TV and 30 commercial credits, currently...

Welcome to the 17th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest is Vinita Sud Belani, an actor, director, producer, and the Founding Artistic Director of EnActe Arts, a theatre company co-located in Houston and Silicon Valley. Enacte Arts centers South Asian stories in a global context, focusing on inclusive representation and talent development. Vinita’s recent directing credits include Go to your...

Welcome to the 16th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists! My guest today is Ramita Ravi, a dancer, choreographer, educator, entrepreneur, actor, and consultant.  She is the first South Asian to be featured on So You Think You Can Dance. Ramita has choreographed for Lincoln Center, Raveena, KSHMR, Buzzfeed, and Spotify. She has taught at...

Welcome to episode 15 of A QISSAA with Ishika! My guest today is Svetlana Tulasi, an Indian Classical Kathak & Bollywood dancer, dance educator, choreographer and actor.  Svetlana has performed in Russia, India, Ukraine, Singapore, Finland, Canada, the USA, and beyond. Credits include Ukraine's Got Talent TV, Russia's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance (Ukraine), Dance Plus India, and...

Welcome to the 14th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists.   My guest today is Rashi Jain, a PRODUCTION DESIGNER, ARCHITECT, and SCENIC ARTIST.   With an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Mumbai, Rashi started by working on various projects relating to sustainability, waterfronts, urban design and landscape. She graduated wit...

Welcome to the 13th episode of A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists.  My guest today, Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier, an actor, director, producer, singer and writer.   Kavi received her BFA in acting from NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts and then worked with Julie Dash on HBO’s Subway Stories and then her first Off Broadway play Crosscurrents....

Welcome to A QISSAA with Ishika, Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists.  My guest today is Snehal Desai, the Producing Artistic Director of East West Players, the nation's premier Asian-American theater company and one of the longest-running theaters of color in the US. Snehal has worked as a freelance director working across the United States and the UK. He is a member...