Kids’ entertainment companies CAKE, King Banana TV and Paper Owl Films have announced the voice cast for Nikhil & Jay, an upcoming 52 x 11′ animated family sitcom for CBeebies. Based on books by Chitra Soundar, the 2D show follows 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. Chandran 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 the hit period drama Bridgerton. She is set to star in the upcoming series Dune: Prophecy.
Making their voiceover debuts in the title roles are seven-year olds Shiv Senthilkumar and Sai Ganesh Nadesan, who voice Nikhil and Jay, respectively, and are likewise proud of their Tamil heritage.
The cast is rounded out by a roster of both new talent and experienced actors, including Janine Duvitski (Old Jack’s Boat, One Foot in the Grave, Abigail’s Party, Benidorm) as Nana, Mark Benton (Early Doors, Waterloo Road, Christmas Lights, Catterick, Shakespeare and Hathaway, The Syndicate) as grandpa Jim and stand-up comedian and Sunday Times Bestselling author Tez Ilyas as friend and neighbor Mr. Awan. Ben Harris plays the boys’ dad, Appa; Janaki Sabesh voices their granny Ammamma, Ravi Swami voices their grandpa Thatha and Harriet Carmichael plays family cat Max.
Casting for the series was carried out by Michelle Jones at Brilliant Casting.
Synopsis: 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 humor.
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, 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 the project’s offscreen talent.
Nikhil & Jay will launch on CBeebies later this year.
kingbananatv.com | paperowlfilms.com | cakeentertainment.com
