PRESS
ZARI
".ZARI is a film that is both relatable in the queer experience around the assumptions of heterosexuality as well as universal as it relates to the relationships between the characters."
Jurors Kia Brooks, Luca Intili and Jaboukie Young-White, 36th NewFest Film Festival
FEATURED IN
About The Project
“Zari” is a 19-minute cross-cultural coming of age short film that explores queerness, gender expression, and identity set in and around a Delhi sari store amidst preparations for a wedding.
The project, written and directed by U.S.-based filmmaker Shruti Parekh, was produced as a winner of the CAPE/Janet Yang Productions' Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge. It is currently screening at festivals and won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at NewFest as well as the Audience Award at San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.
ZARI: THEATRICAL TRAILER
SEP CREATOR | SHRUTI PAREKH
Writer/Producer/Director
Shruti Parekh is an Atlanta-bred, Brooklyn-based filmmaker who tells stories of self-discovery and subversion. Her award-winning work spans fiction, documentary, journalism, animation and visual art. Shruti’s short films have played at Oscar-qualifying festivals around the world and have won a total of 8 awards. Shruti has a BA from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from UCLA.
“Zari” is her third short film.
CAST AND CREW
This is the space to introduce the business’s team and what makes it special.
Kamal Batra
Zeyb / Zari
AEsha soni
Neelu
Producers
Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE)
Executive Producer
Janet Yang
Productions
Executive Producer
Julia S. Gouw
Executive Producer
Snarky Elephant
Productions
Associate Producer
...and
Production Design By:
Mausam Aggarwal
Costume Design by:
India Casting by:
The project takes us on a journey that is not conventionally seen within the South-Asian community and we love it.
- VEYLEX
Insomnia finds a hearty dose of laughs and sexuality to keep things entertaining, and Reddy injects Nikhil with enough charm and vulnerability to keep him relatable, even at his most neurotic.
- David Reddish, QUEERTY
Vishaal Reddy’s ‘Insomnia’ gives a different perspective of Indian-Americans
- Staff Writer, NEWS INDIA
You learn more about these characters in the short episodes than you do in many of the TV shows trending on Netflix.
- Sharan Dhaliwal, BURNT ROTI
"Meet Vishaal Reddy, the creative genius behind a new dark comedy series, Insomnia"
- Avani Thakkar, ELLE INDIA
...Refreshing and revolutionary...the best thing Reddy does is to embrace his nuanced identity in a way that previous representations rarely do.
Proma Khosla, MASHABLE
“Insomnia has quickly become a-don’t-miss web series and an important source of adding shade and color to what can seem like black and white issues"
- Anubhuti Kumar,
BROWN GIRL MAGAZINE