It is great to get some announcements on Cbeebie’s Nikhil & Jay with Charithra Chandran being cast as the voice as Nikhil and Jay’s mum Amma. Shiv Senthilkumar and Sai Ganesh Nadesan will voice Nikhil and Jay respectively as the show follows the two brothers who have a mother of Indian heritage and father who is English. With both Indian and English grandparents they have many different customs, traditions, food, music and festivals in their life.
British Tamil actor Charithra Chandran leads an authentic voice cast in Cbeebie’s Nikhil & Jay
BBC announces voice cast for CBeebies animated sitcom Nikhil & Jay
“It’s really wonderful to see a show like this on the BBC and to see my culture specifically represented. I never had anything like this when I was growing up.” — Charithra Chandran
BBC Children’s and Education is announcing the cast of the new animated family sitcom Nikhil & Jay, based on books by Chitra Soundar following the adventures of two Indian/British dual heritage brothers and their loveable family.
British Tamil actor Charithra Chandran leads an authentic voice cast as Nikhil and Jay’s mum Amma. Charithra is best known for her roles in Alex Rider, How to Date Billy Walsh, her stage debut in Instructions for A Teenage Armageddon and as debutante Edwina Sharma in hit period drama Bridgerton. She is set to star in the upcoming series of Dune Prophecy.
Charithra Chandran says, “It’s really wonderful to see a show like this on the BBC and to see my culture specifically represented. I never had anything like this when I was growing up.”
Making their voiceover debuts in the title roles are 7-year olds Shiv Senthilkumar and Sai Ganesh Nadesan who voice Nikhil and Jay respectively and who are proud of their Tamil heritage.
A full cast of promising new talent as well as experienced actors includes Janine Duvitski as Nana (Old Jack’s Boat, One Foot in the Grave, Abigail’s Party, Benidorm); Mark Benton as grandpa Jim (Early Doors, Waterloo Road, Christmas Lights, Catterick, Shakespeare and Hathaway, The Syndicate); and stand-up comedian and Sunday Times Bestselling author Tez Ilyas, who voices friend and neighbour Mr Awan. Ben Harris plays the boys’ dad Appa, Janaki Sabesh voices granny Ammamma, Ravi Swami voices grandpa Thatha and Harriet Carmichael plays family cat Max. Casting by Michelle Jones Brilliant Casting.
Kate Morton, Senior Head of Commissioning for CBeebies says: “Seeing your life and all its traditions and values reflected on screen is so important for little ones and their development as they make sense of the world around them. Nikhil & Jay will bring viewers together from across cultures with heart-warming stories of British Asian family life.”
Nikhil & Jay follows the adventures of two young brothers whose Mum is Indian by heritage and Dad is English. With both Indian and English grandparents, their life is a rich blend of customs, traditions, festivals, foods and music. Nikhil & Jay celebrates the similarities and differences with funny and relatable stories that authentically represent dual heritage British Asian children and are full of warmth, heart and humour.
Produced by King Banana TV (Yakka Dee!, Meet the Experts), Paper Owl Films (Pablo, Happy The Hoglet), Exec Produced and distributed by CAKE (Angry Birds Summer Madness and Supa Team 4) and with funding from Northern Ireland Screen, Nikhil & Jay is based on the book series by award-winning author Chitra Soundar, who also Exec Produces and writes on the series ensuring cultural authenticity at every level. A diverse team of writers, animators, composers and directors make up Nikhil & Jay’s offscreen talent. Nikhil & Jay will launch on CBeebies later this year.