The Sandip Roy Show

For two decades, Sanjay Patel served as an animator and storyboard artist for Pixar, contributing to beloved films such as Ratatouille, Cars, and Toy Story 2. Notably, he also wrote and directed "Sanjay's Super Team," a short film released in 2015 that earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. In this episode, Sandip speaks to Patel, delving into his illustrious career, expl...

What makes Indian secularism so unique? Why is it so often misunderstood? And what challenges does it face at the moment? In this episode, Sandip Roy speaks to Rajeev Bhargava, the Director of the Parekh Institute of Indian Thought at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, who addresses all this and more in his book, 'Reimagining Indian Secularism’. Produced by Shashank Bhargava Edited...

They could be the biggest pop stars you've never come across. Absent from your social media feed, yet integral to the pop culture consumed by millions. Meet some of Hindutva's prominent pop stars who say they are on a mission, spearheading a cultural revolution. In this episode, Sandip speaks to journalist Kunal Purohit who in his book, 'H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars', profiles...

Even though Rahul Gandhi is the guardian of the Nehru-Gandhi holy flame, at times it seems that his real mission is to reinvent his own party. On the other hand, many supporters of his party feel that the real stumbling block to its reinvention is Rahul Gandhi himself, who neither wishes to renounce it nor lead it from the front with gusto. Joining host Sandip Roy in this episode is journalist and...

After the Supreme Court’s disheartening verdict on same-sex marriage, it appears that we are still struggling to make progress in this regard. However, if we were to look just beyond our northern border, we would realise that Nepal is actually several steps ahead of India on this issue. In this episode, Sandip Roy speaks to Sunil Babu Pant, one of the country's best-known LGBTI activists, about th...

India-Canada relations are currently at an all-time low. And it all started after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged active connections between agents of the Government of India and the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Pro-Khalistan leader. In this episode host Sandip Roy speaks to Ujjal Dosanjh, the former Premier of British Columbia and federal minister, to explore how this...

Over the past decade, India's top courts have presided over numerous landmark cases, including those related to Aadhar, Sabarimala, the Hijab row, anti-defection laws, privacy, Section 377, and the UAPA. While each of these cases holds significant importance individually, does a different narrative emerge when considering them collectively? In this episode, host Sandip Roy speaks to lawyer and con...

When ISRO launched its Mars orbiter, it drew attention to the women working at the space agency. And the recent Chandrayaan-3 landing also celebrated this idea. However, the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prizes, which were announced after a one-year hiatus, had 12 winners, none of whom were women. It appears that something is amiss. In this episode, host Sandip Roy speaks with Aashima Dogra...

From hosting and producing popular shows like Quiz Time and Mastermind India to becoming the producer-director of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Siddhartha Basu is widely regarded as the father of Indian quizzing. In this episode, he talks to host Sandip Roy about his journey, how quizzing has evolved in the country, and what knowing the right answer means in the era of Google. Produced by Shashank...

With Priyanka Chopra starring in ‘Citadel’ (an American spy thriller TV series) and Alia Bhatt starring in ‘Heart of Stone’ (an American spy thriller film), has Bollywood finally made the crossover? Was Irrfan Khan India's first genuine crossover star? And in an era when stardom is increasingly becoming global, does it even matter? In this episode, host Sandip Roy is joined by Indian Express film...

There is a mystery surrounding Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh. Over the past decade, the Bahujan Samaj Party's Dalit voter base appears to have been co-opted by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is often perceived as an upper-caste Hindu party. Surprisingly, this shift has occurred despite the fact that atrocities against Dalits by the upper castes have not decreased in the state. In their new bo...

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta joins Sandip Roy to talk about his latest TV series, Scoop, which is based on journalist Jigna Vora's book 'Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison.' In the book, she shares her experience of being accused, arrested, and tried in court for journalist Jyotirmoy Dey’s killing, before ultimately being acquitted of all charges. During their discussion, they delve into the maki...

Even though we talk about caste through the lens of politics, reportage, and even personalities, the intersection of caste and law is often overlooked. Even though it is the law that has been used again and again as the main weapon in the fight for social equality. In this episode, Sandip Roy talks to journalist Manoj Mitta, who in his latest book 'Caste Pride: Battles for Equality in Hindu India'...

In this special Pride Month episode, Sandip interviews Hoshang Merchant, a poet and writer who has never been shy about discussing love, sex, and religion. Born in 1947, Merchant has led a life that has taken him across the globe, from Mumbai to Los Angeles, and from Heidelberg to Jerusalem. In 1999, he edited the pioneering anthology of gay writing from South Asia titled ‘Yaaraan.’ Additionally,...

Patriarchy seems like an entrenched fact today, and many argue that it is the 'natural' order of things. But is it? What do we really know about its roots? How did male domination spread across different societies and cultures? And what can science, history and archaeology tell us about it? These are the questions that science writer Angela Saini explores in her latest book, The Patriarchs: How Me...

From taking on the Khalistan movement in Canada, and surviving an assassination attempt, to discussing multiculturalism (and why it is a double edged sword) and caste in Sikhism, in this episode Sandip Roy speak to Ujjal Dosanjh, the former Premier of British Columbia and federal minister — the first person of Indian origin to lead a government in the west. In this conversation, Dosanjh speaks abo...

In this episode, host Sandip Roy interviews bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni about her latest novel ‘Independence’, which tells the story of three sisters who are separated after the Partition of Bengal. They discuss her approach to storytelling, why women are the central focus of her work, her beginnings as a writer, and her belief that (for the most part) there are no villains in th...

In this episode, Sandip Roy speaks to Dalit poet and publisher Yogesh Maitreya and discusses his memoir Water in a Broken Pot, the experiences that led him to becoming a writer, and why he places his hope on the power of literature. Maitreya also speaks candidly about his beginnings, the alienation that Dalits often feel in academic spaces, and the pervasive nature of caste in Indian society and h...

In her book, Lies Our Mothers Told Us , writer and journalist Nilanjana Bhowmick talks about how middle-class homes can be a laboratory for patriarchy, and the burden that women have to bear in India. In this episode, she joins Sandip Roy to talk about what inspired her to write the book, fighting patriarchy at home, the lack of women in public spaces, a possible solution to break the cycle of car...

Writer and journalist Nilanjana Roy's new novel, Black River, is a police procedural set in a dusty little town in Northern India that revolves around the horrendous murder of an eight year old girl. In this episode, she joins Sandip Roy to talk about writing the book, why she likes killing in print, her adventures in reading, her advice for budding writers, and why Delhi is kinder than you think....

What is the actual state of elephants in India? How many of them are currently in captivity, and what are the reasons for that? And what challenges do conservationists face in trying to help them? After the recent Oscar win of The Elephant Whisperers, Vivek Menon and Alok Hisarwala Gupta join Sandip Roy to answer these questions, and talk about the extent to which a documentary like this helps the...

The literary world may know him as the author of books like The Death of Vishnu , and The Age of Shiva , but Manil Suri is also a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. And in his latest book, The Big Bang of Numbers , he writes about creating the universe in seven days using only maths. In this episode, he joins Sandip Roy to talk about the book, how maths helpe...

Why did Pathaan become such a success? Is it just an action film or a 'daring act of subversion'? And what does it say about the role of Muslims in Hindi films? In this episode, host Sandip Roy talks to Professor Ira Bhaskar, and author Ghazala Wahab about the depiction of Muslims in Hindi cinema, and how it changed over the years according to the changing politics of the country. Ira Bhaskar is P...

In this episode, host Sandip Roy talks to the novelist and columnist Shobhaa De about her recently released memoir 'Insatiable' — from her early modelling career and how she developed her writing style, to her past controversies and her reaction to Pathaan. Produced by Shashank Bhargava Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

Who is taking care of India’s elderly? UN statistics project that 48 million Indians will be over the age of 80 by 2050. That’s more than the population of California. But is India ready for that? In this episode, host Sandip Roy speaks to Himanshu Rath and Indira Jayaprakash about the lack of elderly care facilities in the country, the issue of accessibility and the impact of Covid, changing fami...