Sujata is a performer, writer, and director for TV & Film. You may know her from the Upright Citizen Brigade’s Asian AF show, from her involvement with Sundance as a Lab Fellow and a Film Festival influencer, or from her characters in film and TV. Those include Cece in The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl or Sarah in HBO’s Insecure. More recently, she acted, wrote, and directed in her first independent full-length feature film, Definition Please. The movie, which has been touring the film festival circuit, discusses mental health and family relationships in the context of a Bengali family. And the protagonist is a washed up Spelling Bee champion… a story which may hit painfully close for those of us in the diaspora with a dusty third grade trophy somewhere in the house.   

In this episode, Sujata talked about why she got an engineering degree despite knowing that she would be an actress from a young age, in addition to the hilarious stories behind her transition from consultant to actress. She shared the moment that got her moving on her dream project, and how she convinced actors that have been in Scrubs, The Jungle Book, and other major productions to take a chance on her independent film. Lastly, she talked about making a South Asian film where an identity crisis was not the central conflict and how she avoided stereotyping while still crafting a relatable story in Definition Please.