Didi Talks: South Asian Women in TV and Film

Didi Talks: South Asian women in television and film is a panel discussion hosted by Didihood and The Kollective.

All proceeds from tickets go directly to more community events from Didihood and The Kollective.

Meet our panelists:
Anar Ali

Executive Producer / Writer

Anar Ali is the Creator & Executive Producer of the hit new police drama, ALLEGIANCE. (CBC/NBCUniversal), and a critically acclaimed short story writer and novelist. Her first book, BABY KHAKI’S WINGS, was a finalist for multiple awards including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Best First Book), and her debut novel, NIGHT OF POWER, was recently published internationally by Penguin Random House. She started her TV career when she won a development deal with CBC’s Diverse Creators Program for her 1-hour serialized drama, RUBY'S TURN. Soon after, she was a writer on the hit medical drama, TRANSPLANT (CTV/NBCUniversal).  Before becoming a writer, she worked as a Business Development Executive, mostly at Procter & Gamble. Anar was born in Tanzania, grew up in Western Canada, has lived in Mexico and the UK, and now makes her home in Toronto.

Nisha Khan
Writer/Producer

Nisha Khan is an award-winning Canadian-Pakistani writer, producer, director and published author whose pioneering work is redefining South Asian and Muslim representation in media. Her portfolio spans film, television, and digital platforms, with her Canadian Screen Award nominated digital series, Get Up, Aisha, she created, wrote, and produced currently streaming on CBC Gem. Nisha has also written for major networks and platforms, including CBC, Netflix Canada, Headspinner, Marble Media, and is currently in development with a number of projects. A recipient of numerous honours, Nisha has been awarded the WarnerBros Discovery Access x Canadian Academy Writers Program, the MPAC Hollywood’s Children’s Animation Writing Fellowship, and the Magee TV Diversity Screenwriting Mentorship Award. And when she’s not binging trashy reality tv shows, you can probably find her building houses in the Sims.

Gurjeet Kaur Bassi

Filmmaker

Born and raised in Toronto, Gurjeet Kaur Bassi is a Punjabi-Canadian Producer/Director with an MFA in Producing from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. She was awarded the Harold Greenberg Shorts to Features Grant for Unidentified Woman, a short film she produced and her production of I Beat Up My Rapist received critical acclaim, winning Best Short Film at the DGC Awards. Her directorial debut The Chase, a recipient of the IFFSA Talent Fund made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. She is currently producing a feature-length documentary and developing a scripted feature film.

Megha Sandhu
Actor
Megha Sandhu is a Toronto-based actor and writer dedicated to crafting character-driven stories that amplify unheard voices. Before stepping into the world of acting and writing, Megha spent nearly a decade competing on an international stage, winning Miss Teen Canada in 2012 and placing as the 1st Runner-Up at Miss Universe Canada in 2019. These experiences took her across the globe—from Guatemala City to China and Japan—offering her a front-row seat to the complexities of identity, culture, and the expectations placed on women. Now, Megha is focused on storytelling that goes beyond the polished pageant stage,bringing depth, humor, and authenticity to narratives centered on South Asian women.

Lakna Edirisinghe

Writer/producer 

Lakna Edirisinghe is a Sri Lankan-Canadian writer and producer based out of Toronto. Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Lakna moved to Toronto to study Film at the University of Toronto. She then went on to do a post-graduate program in Television Writing and Producing at Humber. Since breaking into the industry, she has written for a wide variety of television shows, including hour-long law dramas like Diggstown (CBC), animated shows like Pinecone and Pony (Apple+), and educational kid’s comedies like Odd Squad (PBS), for which she was nominated for an Emmy. In 2022 she won a Writer’s Guild of Canada Award, and in 2023 she won a Canadian Screen Award for her writing. Her work can be seen on networks like Netflix, Universal, Family Channel, Hulu, CBC, PBS, Apple, Bell and more. Most recently she returned as a writer and co-executive producer on Season 2 of Late Bloomer with Bell/Crave. 

Kiran Rai
Actor/Moderator 

Kiran Rai, also known by her creator name KayRay, is an actor and filmmaker based out of Toronto. Throughout the past decade, Kiran has used her platform to primarily focus on addressing taboos within the South Asian community through short films, documentaries and digital series. Her short films, Ananke (garnered over 1 million views on YouTube) and Haneri have gone on screening tours around the world, and have often been used by University / College curriculums as a reference tool. This led her to co-produce and star in 28 episodes of the hit digital-series, Anarkali which reached approximately 2 million views across all seasons. The Brown Bachelorette, the parody web-series which Kiran starred, co-wrote and directed, helped cultivate her comedic screenwriting. Through her satirical yet didactic content she has been able to create meaningful and critical dialogue through her work. She is now the co-founder of The Kollective, a BIPOC focused creative agency and production company that aims to create opportunities for artists while supporting small businesses. And though her passion is in the arts, her heart is centred around community and mental health, which is why she has facilitated and hosted over 50+ workshops around the world. With her talk show Cha Da Cup With KayRay now airing on Brit Asia TV, her work continues to be recognized by the likes of Vogue, The Toronto Star, NBC News, BBC, CBC and Cosmopolitan.

Host or Publisher Didihood