Manjari Makijany: "I wanted to break the caricature of what an Indian family is like"

Abhay Deol and Avantika Vandanapu in 'Spin' directed by Manjari Makijany.

From assisting filmmakers in India and Hollywood, and directing short films to making her debut as a feature filmmaker with Skater Girl (Netflix) in June this year, Manjari Makijany is ready with her next film. Spin (Disney+ Hotstar on August 15), is Disney Channel’s first feature film with an Indian American in the lead role.

Daughter of Sholay actor Mac Mohan, Makijany calls Los Angeles home. Speaking on the phone from the USA, she shared details about Spin, the story of Rhea (Avantika Vandanapu), a teenager who discovers her passion for creating DJ mixes. The film also stars Abhay Deol, Meera Syal and Michael Bishop.

This was an open directing assignment that came to me via my agent. I read it one weekend and the script just sprung out. I could see the movie in my head. I pitched my vision to Disney and as luck would have it, we got cracking. Both the writers Josh Cagan and Carley Steiner were very open to collaborating. When I came on board, I did my own work on the script. It was a very well researched and well-rounded script, so I just added some nuances and some authentic touches such as the family dynamics, the grandmother-granddaughter relationship or the decibel metre thing in the final DJ battle and what was going to be on the restaurant menu. I also suggested making the character names more contemporary.

That was already part of the script so I don’t know what the germ for the idea of making her a DJ was. But I was fascinated because it was unconventional and a fun thing to explore. Thankfully it was not someone stereotypical like an engineer or doctor. What excited me was the opportunity to showcase our Indian culture and introduce it through music, food, and other fun ways with characters that break stereotypes. Things are changing and I didn’t want to use those tropes of the bobbing head and phony accent. I wanted to break the caricature of what an Indian family is like, how we think and behave. We can be quite cool. And what was nice about this script is that it already had those things. And then I could come in and give it my own tadka (seasoning).

I suggested to Disney that we should open up to global casting. If Rhea is a first generation kid, then her father would be an immigrant, so we should not cast someone who is Indian American and will put on a fake desi accent. It would be so much better to get an actor from India who will speak in their natural accent. The casting team has done fantastic global casting. We have Meera Syal from the UK as the grandmother, Rhea’s crush, aspiring DJ Max is from Australia, Abhay Deol is Indian and Avantika is from America. It’s quite a mix. Besides the Indian diaspora, we have diverse representation of people onscreen and off-screen from Africa, America, Asia, which is reflective of the world we live in here.

Music really is an integral part of the film. It was so important to get the musical palate right. For one it is about DJing but it's also about two worlds – Rhea’s Indian heritage and American culture fusing together. We have blended Bollywood music and western, electronic dance music. Max’s musical palate is more commercial whereas Rhea listens to a blend of eclectic music. We created this fusion world for her. Salim-Sulaiman did an original track at the end. It was such a fun process.

Read more: ‘Skater Girl’ director Manjari Makijany on fuelling teen dreams and building Rajasthan’s first skatepark

Skater Girl is a rustic Indian coming of age story told through skateboarding while Spin is a contemporary urban coming of age story told through music and DJing. They are starkly different in the way they look, but at heart they are similar. Skater Girl was a much longer process in the making and it was so challenging putting that film together that everything else pales in front of that. From an independent world and hustling to get my first feature out, and building the skate park, there were lots of challenges that enabled me to make spontaneous decisions and to find solutions. I think that helped with Spin because this film was shot during the pandemic, so the challenges were different but I felt I had the tools. Also the infrastructure was amazing because this is a studio film with a bigger budget and all kinds of toys to work with. It was very exciting.

Avantika Vandanapu in 'Spin', streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from August 15. This is Disney Channel’s first feature film with an Indian American in the lead role.