Annual South Asians at the Oscars Party, Co-Hosted by Mindy Kaling, Leads to ‘Friendship and Community Building’
Suchitra Mattai, producer of the Oscar-nominated live action short “Anuja,” says the film came out of wanting to highlight young South Asian women.
“It just felt important to tell this particular type of story and to make a platform for young female, Indian, South Asian actresses,” Mattai said during her remarks at the annual South Asians at the Oscars pre-party in Los Angeles Wednesday evening.
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The event, held at Carondelet House, celebrated South Asian filmmakers who have received Oscars recognition this year and was attended by various South Asian filmmakers, actors and producers. Charithra Chandran, Manish Dayal and Lilly Singh were among those who attended the party.
“Anuja” chronicles the experience of a 9-year-old garment factory worker who works alongside her 17-year-old sister. Adam J. Graves, the film’s director and Mattai’s husband, said that child labor is “not a South Asian problem, it’s a global problem.”
Mindy Kaling, one of the event’s co-hosts, was part of the “Anuja” producing team and said in her introduction of the filmmaking duo that the film “has young women in incredibly challenging circumstances” but also contains “joy.”
“So much of the time, Indian people, South Asian people, we are portrayed in a certain light. I have spent so much of the last part of my career trying to change that. There are some other people in this room who are doing it,” Kaling said.
The attendees emphasized how opportunities for South Asian actors have changed over the years.
“Now when you look at the writers, the directors, the producers, there’s so much [more] South Asians. So long as South Asians are creating South Asian stories, of course the roles are going to be more authentic,” “The Big Bang Theory” star Kunal Nayyar told to Variety.
The event also celebrated Smriti Mundhra, director of “I Am Ready, Warden,” which is Oscar-nominated in the documentary short category. The film is about John Henry Ramirez, who received a death sentence in Texas.
“There’s a lot of us, and we help each other out and support each other in every way possible,” Mundhra said in her speech.
The room included documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Oscar winner who’s also set to direct a new “Star Wars” movie. “The most incredible thing about documentaries is that there are so many female filmmakers that step into the realm of documentary filmmaking,” she told Variety.
“It is documentary films that hold up a mirror to society,” Obaid-Chinoy added.
David Taghioff, a producer and Oscar nominee for “Emilia Pérez,” and Guneet Monga of the “Anuja” team, were also at the party.
Event co-host Nik Dodani, who was in “Twisters” and will appear in the film “The Parenting,” described the party as a place where connections are formed.
“I think it’s led to collaborations, I think it’s led to jobs being shared. It’s led to financing,” Dodani said. “I think most importantly, it’s led to just a lot of friendship and community building.”
See more photos from the party below.
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