Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which is to be released on Disney+, has announced their main cast. Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri will star as Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood respectively.

Disney + took to Instagram to share the news captioning it, “Heroes in the making. Meet Annabeth, Percy, and Grover from #PercyJackson and The Olympians, an Original series coming to #DisneyPlus.”

The new show is based on a series of five novels written by Rick Riordan. The books are an interpretation of ancient Greek mythology, and follows demigods Percy, Annabeth and satyr Grover as they overcame many hurdles. An earlier adaptation of the young adult novels starring Logan Lerman in the lead was not well received by the fans. However, the recent casing decision to have a more diverse cast has already had a positive reaction from the fans.

As more than 150 of the most extraordinary international artists took to stage to perform at Coachella 2022 with over 100,000 people watching, this year’s music festival was significant especially after the lull Covid-19 created.

But amidst the usual jamming and cropping up of new style and music trends there was also a moment of a first ever being made on the very first day of this year’s Coachella.

Looks like Harry Styles wasn’t the only one making a statement in that rainbow jumpsuit. Young musician Raveena Aurora wore traditional Indian accessories like bindis and maang tikka to take the stage as she crooned the popular Bollywood song from the 80’s ‘Dum Maaro Dum.’

Aurora who is well skilled in jazz, R&B, and soul with that memorable song became the first-ever Indian woman to drop a performance on the Mojave stage at Coachella 2022.

From the choice of her music to her attire, Aurora made sure that she reflects her South Asian roots and her Sikh heritage.

But who is Aurora?
The American singer and songwriter was born in Massachusetts. Her family moved to the US from India back in the 1980’s. Raised in a Sikh household, Aurora grew up in Queens, New York and Stamford Connecticut.

A graduate from the New York Tisch School of Art, Aurora began getting interested in music when she was in high school. She began learning R&B, jazz, soul and folk music.

Her first album ‘Shanti’ was released in 2017. Raveena has been quite accepting about her identity as not just a South Asian artist which reflects in her style and ethos in her music albums.

She has also been loudly proud about being a queer, South Asian female artist who unapologetically explores the themes of sexuality and spirituality.

In March 2019, she was noticed as co-headline at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her other album ‘Lucid’ too explored concepts of sensuality and identity.

Aurora has been quite open about her pansexuality and has been vocal about being a sexual abuse survivor.

Her album ‘Asha’s Awakening’ released in January 2022, which she describes as an album from the perspective of a Punjabi space princess.

You have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Bridgerton. OTT platform Netflix’s regency romance drama that managed to break all time viewership records for the streaming service is back with Season 2. And as expected the multicultural aspect of the period show has added a unique vantage point for Indians to tune in to the show.

When Netflix announced late last year that the season 2 will feature Indian actresses Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran it was enough to keep the desis riveted.

Interestingly, when the series premiered about a week ago, there was much Indian-ness than the insipid token color portrayal one is used to seeing on the American mainstream.

While we will give credit to the series for breaking the barriers of real representation in entertainment, the show also sometimes falls short of accurately portraying certain aspects of the complex Indian culture.

The new season introduces an Indian family – the Sharmas. Three sisters in top of the line roles in the much appreciated series. The Sharma sisters with their dark skin and champi (oil massages) bring to the fore aspects of Indian culture that may not have been yet explored on American TV.

It’s also remarkable that the girls gloriously flaunt ornate Victorian style gowns that look splendid against their dark skin. Casting leading ladies in deeper skin tones is something that even Bollywood is struggling with still. So it deserves due credit that Bridgerton actually bridges that gap.

And while the gowns seem to have trumped the Indian lehengas or saris, if you look closely there may be an occasional hint of Indian motif like paisley.

Looking at the role that costumes play in a period drama, it did seem like a missed opportunity to not introduce more Indian textiles or ethnic styles.

It may be noted that the series is set around the early 19th century. While it is mentioned that the Sharma family hailed from Bombay in India, there is no glimpse of what India looked like in the early 1800s.

Chai – a popular beverage in the subcontinent that has gathered some bad rap for its unoriginal western adaptation in the form of modern day chai lattes or chai teas in America, gets its moment in the series in all its gourmet glory. Kate Sharma does not think much of English tea and prefers her masala chai.

There is also a haldi ceremony where turmeric, marigolds and Bollywood music in the background bring to the forefront the Bollywood style moment to the regency era.

The sisters oiling each-other’s hair with oil or the traditional champi massage is unmistakably Indian as is the sisters referring to each other as didi – a north Indian word to address elder sister. However why do the sisters then use Appa to address their father – a south Indian term for dad is puzzling.

While there are some smirks on the internet on how Edwina pronounces Ghalib, all in all we would give it to her to bring the mention of the legendary Indian poet during the times of P.B. Shelly and Jane Austen of the regency era.

Bridgerton did include an Indian writer in its coterie of writers and Geetika Lazardi gets many moments right except for the few misses here and there.

The 2022 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announced the lineup of its official selections for the 20th annual edition of the internationally acclaimed event, which will mark a return to in-person screenings and events this year.

Including a gala presentation of Pan Nalin’s ‘Last Film Show,’ IFFLA will showcase 26 films (10 features, 16 shorts), including the world premiere of Anmol Sidhu’s ‘Jaggi,’ and the North American premieres of Faraz Ali’s ‘Shoebox’ and Natesh Hegde’s ‘Pedro.’

The landmark 20th anniversary edition of IFFLA will also hold a pre-festival screening of IFFLA alumni shorts highlighting films representing each year of the festival’s history with an in-theater co-presentation with NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA).

With an eye on encouraging talent, IFFLA has programmed a live script read previewing IFFLA alumnus’ next feature project. It will also formally announce a filmmaker mentorship initiative to further support emerging South Asian filmmakers.

IFFLA Executive Director Christina Marouda, said, “Reflecting on IFFLA’s 20 years, we find ourselves overjoyed by the range of incredible talent we have discovered and celebrated, introducing numerous emerging and established voices to Los Angeles.” She added, “We are now ramping up our efforts to support the careers of filmmakers by adding to the programs IFFLA has become known for over the past two decades, not just as a touchstone for our filmmakers, but also as a bridge to their next films.”

Regarding the inspiration for this year’s event, IFFLA’sCo-Director of Programming Thouly Dosios, said, “This year’s festival is about reclaiming the powerful act of physically gathering together in a dark room, and processing a flickering dream as a communal experience. At the same time, it is about mindful evolution; our post-pandemic world forces us to reassess how we connect with each other and share our stories. The limitations we’ve had to deal with have empowered us to forge ahead with an expanded mind and a wilder imagination.”

IFFLA receives support from NBC Universal, WarnerMedia, Hollywood Vaults, SAGindie and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Cultural support is provided by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

Screenings will take place at the Regal LA Live (1000 W. Olympic Blvd.), Harmony Gold (7655 Sunset Blvd.), and UCLA’s James Bridges Theater (235 Charles E Young Dr. E).

–She is the only Indian-origin woman to be nominated in the Best Children’s Music Album category at the Awards twice

New York-based Indian singer Falguni Shah, known by her stage name Falu, won a Grammy Award for ‘A Colorful World’ in the best children’s album category.

The Mumbai-born singer-songwriter took to Instagram to thank the Recording Academy, which conducts the Grammys, for the win.

“I have no words to describe today’s magic. What an honor to perform for the opening number of the GRAMMY Premier Ceremony, and then take home a statue on behalf of all the incredible people who worked on A Colorful World.

“We are humbled and thank the Recording Academy for this tremendous recognition. THANK YOU! (sic)” Shah wrote alongside her pictures from the event, which was held on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

The singer, known for her “modern inventive style with a formidable Indian classically-shaped vocal talent”, was previously nominated for a Grammy in the same category for her 2018 album “Falu’s Bazaar”.

Shah, who is in her early 40s, has trained in Hindustani Classical music in the Jaipur musical tradition and in the Benares style of thumrie under Kaumudi Munshi and semi classical music from Uday Mazumdar.

According to her official website, she later continued studying under the late sarangi/vocal master Ustad Sultan Khan, and later with the legendary Kishori Amonkar.

Shah moved to the US in 2000 and her subsequent career there has led her to collaborate with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Wyclef Jean, Philip Glass, Ricky Martin, Blues Traveler and A R Rahman, among others.