Shiva Raichandani

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Shiva Raichandani
Portrait of Shiva Raichandani.jpg
Raichandani in 2020
Born26 October 1993 (1993-10-26) (age 28)
Hong Kong
NationalityBritish
EducationThe University of Leeds
Alma mater
OccupationArtist
Known for
Websiteshivaraichandani.com

Shiva Raichandani (born 1993[1]) is a multidisciplinary non-binary[2] Indian artist whose work exists at the intersections of creating positive gender-diverse representation in mainstream media, addressing mental health stigma (especially within the South Asian context), and using the performing arts to drive positive social change.

Raichandani performs Bollywood dance and has been a contestant on Britain's Got Talent and India's Got Talent with the London School of Bollywood.[3][4][5]

In November 2019, Raichandani began production on , an upcoming short film based on interfaith queer love.[6]

In May 2021, Raichandani won the inaugural Netflix Documentary Talent Fund[7] to create a short film on ShayShay Show and their Pan-Asian collective, The Bitten Peach. As reported by Variety,[8] the documentary will be called Peach Paradise.

Appearances[]

  • Cannes Lions (2019) - Along with Asad Dhunna of The Unmistakables, Raichandani addressed the topic 'Why We Don't Need Another Diversity Talk' through a performance with a custom track "Hell No", a parody of the popular Slumdog Millionaire song 'Jai Ho'.[5][9]
  • Britain's Got Talent (2017) - Raichandani, along with the London School of Bollywood, challenged Bollywood's heteronormative narratives by bringing gender fluidity to the forefront and making it to the semi-finals.[10][11][12]
  • India's Got Talent (2018) - Raichandani competed with the London School of Bollywood[5] and performed with Karan Johar on the main stage. In a blog post Raichandani writes: "With a routine like this in which a non-binary gender fluid 'star' takes center stage instead of the quintessential 'hero' and 'heroine', we hoped to add to the discourse around gender fluidity and queerness that is too often ignored in the Bollywood industry."[13]
  • France's Got Talent (2018) - Raichandani competed with the London School of Bollywood performing their routine around gender fluidity.[5]
  • Netflix (2018) - Raichandani was featured in a video titled What I Wish You Knew: About Being Nonbinary, where they discussed gender identity with Jacob Tobia, Liv Hewson, and Lachlan Watson.[14]
  • TEDx London (2018) - Raichandani gave the introductory remarks of the event by touching upon non-binary representation in Bollywood.[15]

Raichandani has also been featured in UK Black Pride,[16] Pride in London,[17] Instagram,[18] Bollyshake, and London Queer Fashion Show.[19]

References[]

  1. ^ Raichandani, Shiva (4 November 2018). "I turned 25 a few days ago and I must say that it's been a wild quarter century, folks. I've learnt so much this past year since I moved to…". Instagram. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  2. ^ Baggs, Michael (25 February 2019). "Lilly Singh: Why the YouTuber coming out as bisexual is 'worth celebrating'". BBC Newsbeat. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Cultural Exchanges Festival presents: South Asian arts and the LGBTQ+ community". De Montfort University.
  4. ^ Azhar, Mobeen (1 August 2018). "Errr Mum, I need to tell you something, I don't think I'm into girls that way..." BBC Radio Asian Network. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "Diversity, Inclusivity & Accessibility 2019". Cannes Lions. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Queer Parivaar". Queer Parivaar.
  7. ^ "Netflix - Short documentary competition". www.netflixdocfund.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  8. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (26 May 2021). "Netflix Reveals Winners of U.K. Documentary Talent Fund For Emerging Filmmakers". Variety. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Why We Don't Need Another Diversity Talk". Cannes Lions. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. ^ Grewal, Jasleena (30 July 2017). "The London School of Bollywood Dance Team Is Subverting the Binary and Taking Names". Kajal Magazine.
  11. ^ Lewis, Rebecca (1 May 2017). "Britain's Got Talent star admits 'Bollywood with a twist' performance would be impossible in home country". Metro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Shiva plans to use power of dance". Daily Star. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  13. ^ Raichandani, Shiva (28 November 2018). "India's Got Talent: Gender fluidity and Bollywood Dance". LinkedIn.
  14. ^ Leighton-Dore, Samuel (14 November 2018). "'It's a continuing line': Non-binary 'Sabrina' star opens up about gender". SBS Australia. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  15. ^ Raichandani, Shiva (1 July 2018). "Being non-binary in Bollywood | London School of Bollywood | TEDxLondon". YouTube.
  16. ^ UK Black Pride (11 June 2019). "UK Black Pride 2019". YouTube. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  17. ^ Raichandani, Shiva (8 July 2019). "Billy Porter at Pride in London". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Nonbinary illustrator Wednesday (@hellomynameiswednesday) connects the LGBTQ+ community through their art — and encourages others to do the…". Instagram. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  19. ^ Raichandani, Shiva (22 September 2018). "Fashion ka hai ye jalwa