Blessen Tom
Auckland, December 29, 2024
In a tough year that tested the resilience of the domestic arts scene, artists of Asian heritage celebrated several remarkable achievements over the past 12 months as they brought diversity to the forefront of storytelling and performance.
From producing award-winning comedies to launching groundbreaking initiatives, Asian artists added their voices to Aotearoa’s creative landscape in 2024.
Ankita Singh
Ankita Singh and Calvin Sang’s Give Me Babies from TVNZ’s Motherhood anthology clinched the Best Comedy honour at the 2024 New Zealand Television Awards, marking a standout moment for South Asian representation.
The series, which follows an Indian Chinese mixed martial arts fighter navigating family expectations, was a beacon of success in what Ankita described as a “challenging year” for the industry. “It has been really cool to get some recognition. We are hoping this award will open more opportunities for Asian creators,” she said.
The win adds to Ankita’s growing reputation.
In 2023, she became the first South Asian female playwright commissioned by Auckland Theatre, with her play Basmati Bitch premiering at Q Theatre.
Ankita is currently directing her first documentary for TVNZ, spotlighting a world-leading Dunedin study that has prompted international law changes.
“It is a world-leading study about ageing that not many people in New Zealand know about,” she said. Despite the industry feeling “a bit slow” in 2024, Ankita remained optimistic, continuing to push boundaries in television and theatre.
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Jacob Rajan
For Jacob Rajan, Co-Founder of Indian Ink Theatre Company, 2024 was one of the busiest years.
“I think for the first time, we had four plays running at the same time. We were touring in America with Dirty Work, I was performing Paradise or The Impermanence of Ice Cream in Singapore and we brought Guru of Chai back for a return season in Auckland, Wellington and Nelson,” he said.
The return of Indian Ink to Singapore was another highlight, marking the company’s first visit since 2016.
Rajan was also excited about the group’s performance at the Darwin Festival in August.
“We have done the Melbourne and Sydney Festivals, but Darwin felt more like the Wild West – and it is kind of cool that way,” he said.
Looking ahead to 2025, Rajan hinted at exciting projects, including the ongoing success of Mrs Krishnan’s Party in the United States, which has toured extensively and shows no sign of slowing. He revealed plans to adapt a short story by renowned Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore titled Kabuliwala into a contemporary New Zealand setting.
Tiffin Box, a multidisciplinary show by Prayas Theatre, further showcased domestic South Asian artists in 2024, while the Probasee Bengalee Association of New Zealand celebrated its 25th annual production with a comedy-drama titled Awghoton … aajo ghote.
Shuchi Kothari
Shuchi Kothari, Co-Founder of the Pan Asian Screen Collective (PASC), said that the organisation had been increasingly influential over the past year.
Founded in 2018, the Collective advocates for and creates opportunities for Pan-Asian practitioners in Aotearoa’s screen sector.
She shared two major achievements for 2024.
First, she secured funding from New Zealand on Air in partnership with RNZ for a second round of the Episode One Web Series Development and Pilot Production initiative.
“People get $20,000 in development and $90,000 in production funding, along with individual mentoring and marketing sessions. It is a robust programme, and we will do it again,” she said.
The second highlight was an initiative called Writer’s Room: Seat at the Table, which was designed to train PASC members to write for the screen.
“This was designed to get people from PASC across the line in terms of being storylines for other people’s projects and also eventually running their own writer’s room,” Shuchi said.
Participants had the chance to write scripts for the second season of hit shows such as The Bear, Fleabag and Severance.
PASC’s collaborations extended to the Ministry of Ethnic Communities for a co-branded event featuring film screenings across Auckland, with plans to expand nationwide.
Roseanne Liang
Other notable successes from PASC members in 2024 included Kiwi actor Jess Hong’s lead role in Netflix’s Sci-Fi series 3 Body Problem and Roseanne Liang’s work as Co-Executive Producer and Director of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Roseanne, a Chinese-New Zealander, directed two episodes of the eight-part series, one of the platform’s biggest productions this year.
Siddharth Nambiar
Another memorable achievement was Siddharth Nambiar, Co-Director of the documentary Dynamic Planet, winning the Best Director title in the documentary/factual category at the 2024 New Zealand TV Awards.
Looking forward to 2025, Shuchi is excited about what lies ahead.
“The delivery of Episode One will be big. We are in the selection process now, and teams will be finalised in January,” she said.
Blessen Tom is a Journalist at Radio New Zealand. The above Report and pictures have been published under a special agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
