Code-Switched is a comedy-drama series that follows the interconnected lives of five South Asian-American roommates and friends trying to blaze their own trails in a world of high-expectations, fleeting relationships, and gentrified workplaces.

This is a  comedy-drama about a group of South Asian-Americans juggling love, work, and family in Chicago.

Code-Switched showcases a SPECTRUM of South Asian-American characters of color through an exploration of millennial life, identity, and what it means to carry the baton of an immigrant generation while pursuing your own.
The team wanted to challenge the representation of South Asians in media with characters and stories covering the SPECTRUM of South Asian-Americans (Women, men, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, LGBTQIA, etc. they're all here!) and exploring their lives in a three-dimensional way.

Powered by rising South Asian-American comedians, artists, musicians, this series has been a grass-roots of independence and community to fight for the right to tell our own stories.
We spoke to Sonal Agarwal, Saurabh Pandey, Stephen George, Sabeen Sidiqui and Vik  Pandya about the series and their lives as actors, stand up comics in Chicago. Karan Sunil's writing and direction are superb and this is a series to be watched for sure.
Watch the series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI848mBO1vU&ab_channel=Code-SwitchedtheSeries

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

We caught up with Priya Darshini who is fresh and famous from her magnificent debut album "Periphery" spoke to us about her life, her work, and her future.
Taking her roots from Indian Classical music, Priya’s knowledge of music from all over the world has resulted in a fresh, imaginative, and fascinating new sound. She displays an exciting combination of range, technique, unconventional compositions, a feminist perspective, and a prodigious voice that truly sets her apart from other vocalists. Priya has collaborated with a wide range of artists from Pearl Jam; GRAMMY® Award winners Roy “Futureman” Wooten; Jeff Coffin, Philip Lassiter, Silk Road Ensemble’s Shane Shanahan; virtuoso ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, Karsh Kale, and many more.
Based out of Brooklyn, New York Priya has sung for over one-hundred television and radio commercials, as well as recorded for several award-winning and chart-topping Indian movie soundtracks. She is also an actor (The Letters), ultra-marathoner (first and youngest Indian woman to run a 100-mile race in the Himalayas), entrepreneur (The Wind Chasers – organizing extreme ultra marathons in the Himalayas and the south of India), and is deeply involved in human rights and social justice. She is a trustee of the Mumbai-based non-profit organization Jana Rakshita – an NGO working with underserved pediatric cancer patients, and building infrastructure for schools, with a focus on education for girls. Priya Darshini is also an environmentalist and is working with a New York-based sustainable couture fashion startup that aims at slowing down fast fashion inspired by cradle-to-cradle design. Priya Darshini has been featured in several distinguished newspapers and magazines including Vogue India

Have a listen.

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

Formally trained at the School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in New York, Shishi writes, produces, mixes, and masters hip-hop, dancehall, pop, and electronic music.

Scott and Miraal caught up with Shishi while playing a mix of Bollywood tunes in Tulum, Mexico, and making waves.
Shishi was raised on three different continents, an upbringing that strongly influenced his music's global elements.  As an artist, he uses music to dissolve the illusory walls that keep us from connecting with both others and ourselves.
So if you are a singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, or artist who is interested in making the style(s) of music described above, this is the guy to get in touch with. Follow him or write to him.
In this episode, you will also listen to the following tracks from Shishi.
Dominion ft VinDon
Sajani Ft Ben Parag
Conmigo Shishi X Samaa
Aarti -AR Rahman Remix
Burn Out Ft Daramola

https://soundcloud.com/shishimusic/si...
IG: @ shishi music
Spotify: bit.ly/followshishi

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

This week is an episode of Scott Versus Zayn.
They had an argument. Scott won't have anyone say anything negative about his beloved Mirzapur and Zayn made up his mind that he has no affinity for Mirzapur or Wasseypur - so the boys decided to have a battle of words.
Miraal had to deflect the war with her reviews of the movie Ludo ( Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanya Malhotra, etc) and then of movie Chhalaang ( Rajkummar Rao, Nushrat Barucha) and a bigger chat about gym teachers are how that over-emphasis on sport in the USA versus the underemphasis in India may be a battle of the future.
We also spoke to Shishi, the amazingly talented music producer who was hanging out in Tulum, Mexico playing some tunes.
We have in this episode some of his music as well -
Shanti (feat. Daramola, Kenny Holland & David Meli),
Gol and
Conmigo ( with Samaa)
We also spoke with Tesher last week  ( will tell you more about that in our next episode ) and have for you, his latest song -
Jalebi Baby is a part of this Episode.
Follow Shishi at @shishimusic
Follow Tesher at @Teshermusic

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

Penn Masala, the World’s First South Asian A Cappella Group,  creates music that traverses traditional cultural boundaries and captured the experience of growing up with both Eastern and Western cultures. As the first group in the world to bring the sounds of the Indian subcontinent to a cappella, they have consistently been at the forefront of South Asian-Western fusion ever since.

They have performed for President Obama at the White House, at the Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, and in the Hollywood feature film and soundtrack for Pitch Perfect 2 which received an American Music Award for Best Soundtrack in 2015.

Since 1996, they have released 11 full-length studio albums: Awaaz, 11 PM, Soundcheck, Brown Album, Pehchaan, On Detours, Panoramic, Kaavish, Resonance, Yuva, and Musafir – of which the latter eight are available for streaming and purchase on all major music sites. They have also released an EP titled Vol. 1 and a compilation album Out of Stock.

In our conversation with  Parth, Kushal and Vatsal  here are Scott and Miraal from Desis.LIVE

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

Scott was initiated into Mirzapurdom 12 days before Season 2 was supposed to release. As he started his Mirzapur journey, we realized that with every passing day, he was not only living a UP gangster life in central Ohio but quite close to becoming the local version of Kaleen Bhaiya., whom he now fondly calls " My man Kaleen".
We fear that if at any time Kaleen were to invite him, Scott will gladly move to India to become his wingman.

In this episode, the fanatics' journey to super fandom started. Don't miss it !!!

If you have not watched "Mirzapur" yet, this is a good place to start.

Get the White Guy's perspective.

#Mirzapur #WhitfansofMirzapur #Mirzapurdom #Season1 # FanStory

We also review Bollywood Movie Starring "Ginny Weds Sunny" in this episode. You will enjoy it the chat and the banter.

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

Dolly, Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare is a statement. Not only about the state of women but the struggle of each of them doing whatever it takes to survive in a world that does not care about their existence.

We caught up with Konkona Sen Sharma, the ace actor and one of the most intelligent, bright directors in the trade, Alankrita Shrivastava, and spoke to them about the characters, the journey of women, the storytelling of women who walk on the precipice of moral boundaries set by the society and the impact of this storytelling on the greater acceptance of emancipation of women by the society. Have a listen. 

Watch the interviews on our YouTube Channel Desis.LIVE and read the review of the movie on our website at https://desis.live/movies/34-dolly-kitty
Tell us what you think. Do movies have the power to change society?
Follow us on Insta/ FB @desis.live and Tweet to us at desisLIVE.

Thank you for your LOVE.

Scott, Miraal and Zayn

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

We caught up with  the spectacular Nushrat Barucha  for a chat just before  her Diwali release of Director Hansal Mehta's Chhalaang released.

The story of a small-town Physical Training (Sports) teacher in Haryana called Montu (Raj Kumar Rao), a decadent man with the habit of not performing to finish any task that he has undertaken. His life changes when a more qualified teacher joins the school who not only challenges him at work, shakes his fundamental comfort, but also becomes a source of anguish for him when he starts demonstrating fascination for the girl, Neelam ( Nushratt Barucha) whom Montu is in love with.

Now that we have watched and reviewed the movie, at first look Nushrat does not seem to be the right choice to a lot of people for the role of a Haryanvi teacher. She disproves all criticism who slot her because of the way she looks or speaks to limit the range of characters she could play. She fits in authentically well and disproves all critics who slot her capability into their perception. Hats off to this persevering lady.

Read more of this review with links to the movie at https://desis.live/movies/46-chhalaang

This podcast has music by Shishi, our musician this month. The two tracks that you will listen to are "Gol" and "Mahamudra" 

Check out Shishi at https://soundbetter.com/profiles/10758-shishi

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

Here is an interview we did with Harshita Gaur who portrays the character of Dimpy in Mirzapur Season 1 and 2.  She talks about working with such a  stellar cast and the exponential change in her character from Season 1 to  Season2.
Go ahead ! Listen in

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Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.

In this episode, Miraal, Scott, and Zayn chat about Shahrukh Khan, the enigma of the star, and the legacy.

We also speak about our favorite Gangster series Mirzapur on Amazon Prime and what fun we are having following the characters of the show.

We also speak about Hansal Mehta's upcoming movie called Chhalaang to be released on Nov 13 and the balance between sports and studies in South Asian families.

Apart from that, we also reviewed Shabana Azmi starrer Kaali Khuhi , a horror movie about female infanticide in India.

Have a listen.

Desislive podcast delivers the latest movie and show reviews to your devices. Wherever in the world you are, tune in to desislive.