Here Now's first episode for 2024 is all about creatives drawing from or away from cultural stereotypes. Join Kadambari Raghukumar as she talks about some Indian tropes around Mumbai and Delhi.

In this episode we're talking to Auckland-based filmmaker Shreya Bhagwat and theatre director Sananda Chatterjee about the classic old cliches around India, and how as diaspora creatives they draw or dispel them.

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Shreya was born and raised in Mumbai and has been based in India for the past year, during which her film Mr Singh's Death made it to the Chicago South Asian Film Festival. She says about Mumbai "​it's ​a ​very ​layered ​city. ​You ​have ​all ​manner ​of ​people ​from ​all stations ​in ​life, ​whether ​it's ​class, ​whether ​it's ​language. ​So ​it's ​a ​real ​melting ​pot, which ​is ​an ​enriching ​and ​nurturing ​space ​for ​a ​storyteller."

Sananda Chatterjee spent her early years in Delhi and most recently co-directed The Little Clay Cart with Prayas Theatre. She says about tapping into stereotypes and cultural cliches "I think when somebody from looking in tries to do that, it becomes caricature and it becomes clownesque. It's my toolkit to use".

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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details