Could an 18-year-old singer named Mathai be the next winner of NBC’s The Voice?

Billboard called Mathai’s performance on the show last week “awe-inspiring” and noted she was “one of the few [contestants] who understands nuance and power.”

I hope that as the season progresses we’ll get to see Mathai do more ballads. This 2010 talent show performance, in which a then-16-year-old Mathai covers Adele’s version of To Make You Feel My Love, is incredible. (You can check out more of her songs at her official YouTube channel.)

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became Pakistan’s first Oscar winner last night when her film Saving Face won best documentary short.

Saving Face tells the story of two women (39-year-old Zakia and 23-year-old Rukhsana) who were severely disfigured after becoming victims of acid attacks. According to the film’s website:

Every year in Pakistan, at least 100 people are victimized by brutal acid attacks. The majority of these are women, and many more cases go unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred, while many reported assailants – typically a husband or someone close to the victim – are let go with minimal punishment from the state.

The film follows Dr. Mohammad Jawad, a British-Pakistani plastic surgeon who traveled back to Pakistan in order to assist Pakistan’s acid attack victims. During her acceptance speech Obaid-Chinoy dedicated the award to Dr. Jawad, Rukhasana and Zakia, and “to all the women in Pakistan who are working for change.” She added, “Don’t give up on your dreams.”

Hopefully Obaid-Chinoy’s Oscar win will mean that more people in Pakistan will have the opportunity to see the film. The filmmaker told the Wall Street Journal in November that she planned to show the film in private venues and recently told the Asia Society that “contractual restraints” prevented her from showing it to large audiences.

HBO will be broadcasting Saving Face on March 8. Mark your calendars.

British actor Raza Jaffrey plays Dev Sundaram, the live-in boyfriend of main character/Broadway actress Karen Cartwright (played by former American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee). Jaffrey’s best known for his role as Zafar Younis in the BBC drama Spooks.

From his character’s mini-bio on the show’s official website:

Devan “Dev” Sundaram was born in Wimbledon in the United Kingdom, but has split his time with relatives in Queens for much of his life and has lived in New York City for several years. With a B.A. in Classics and Political Science from Oxford University and M.A.s in Communications (from Columbia University) and International Relations and Journalism (from NYU), Dev has worked as Deputy Press Secretary in Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s office since 2010. He lives in Lower Manhattan with his girlfriend, Karen Cartwright.

Masters degrees plural. Of course. It will be interesting to see how the show portrays New York’s South Asian community and, since the show films in New York, to see if they visit any notable landmarks. I also wonder if there will be any subplots involving the character’s relatives in Queens. I only caught a few minutes of the episode, so I don’t have an opinion on the show yet. The entire pilot episode can be seen here.

In this latest episode, we take a beautiful trip to Goa where Humble to Poet, Midival Punditz and the host of the series Monica Dogra create a song together, No I.D. Required. If you want to go directly to the song, it’s at 32:15, though the whole show is beautifully shot and I would recommend watching it fully through. I knew that Humble was traveling India, but I had no idea that he was pairing up with legends like Midival Punditz while there. It’s so out-of-the-box to put a hip-hop poet with a legendary electronic/dance duo, but I think it totally worked.

The series pairs Imogen Heap with Vishal-Shekar to sing a Tagore poetic classic in Rajasthan; classical singer Shubha Mudgal with folk rock band Swarathma in Mysore; and  Karsh Kale travels with guitar virtuoso Baiju Dharmajan in Kerala. Funded by StarWorld, this documentary web series is a brilliant idea and I’m excited to see what comes out of this project. Best of all, it’s all viewable on YouTube!

The MetroPCS Tech & Talk ads are a long-running series (two years in December) featuring desi characters named Ranjit and Chad expounding upon the evils of contracts and benefits of MetroPCS’s phone plans and features. The characters are not a little zany, dressing up in colonial-style wigs to declare wireless independence, playing an intense guitar-riff set off by fireworks and using “Holy shishkabob!” as a catch-phrase, to give a few examples.

As I noticed in retweets about the ads posted by the characters @ranjitmetropcs and @chadmetropcs, some people found the ads hilarious, declared themselves fans of the duo, and wanted to dress up like them for Halloween. Others writing for business and tech sites found the ads cringe-worthy, racist and/or in poor taste.

Personally, I found a recent ad in which the desi duo persuade the T-Mobile lady to leave T-Mobile and join up with them funny for it’s mascot-stealing premise, and I like the wacky style of the two actors who play Ranjit and Chad. But what do you think of the ads? And what do comments like these ones retweeted by @RanjitMetroPCS –e.g., “The Indian guys in the metropcs commercials make me laugh but itd be funnier if they were in a quicky mart” and “#lmao when the Indian maid with her accent asks me to fix her phone and she has metro pcs”–suggest in terms of what other viewers find funny?

I reached out to the actors who portray Ranjit and Chad—Anjul Nigam and Sid Veda—to find out more about the ads and what they think. Some of their responses are posted below. In addition to the questions seen below, I asked them about the audition process and whether the ads have helped them get work. Read their complete responses to learn about those topics.

What kind of work do you do outside of the MetroPCS ads?

Anjul Nigam: I’m fortunate and blessed to have been making a living as an actor based out of Los Angeles for over seventeen years now. Much of my work is in television, including a recurring on “Grey’s Anatomy” (as Psych “Dr. Raj”) and on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! (as the lead in the quartet of “Indian Call Center Guys”).

Beyond my work as an actor, I am a founding partner at Brittany House Pictures, where we have several projects in various stages of development.

Sid Veda: Outside of the MetroPCS ads, as well as the rest of Hollywood, I work in support for a Financial Software company in NYC. I help I-Bankers structure municipal bond deals with a program called DBC Finance. In 2010, every vacation day I took was a break from tech support to pretend to be a tech/phone supporter for MetroPCS and “Outsourced.” My life has a theme, apparently.

What’s your favorite one so far?

Anjul Nigam: So far, my favorite spot for the “Tech & Talk” ads is “Solo.” I loved shooting this one because we got a chance to really let loose in it, and it’s not too often I get to be an air-guitar rock star!

Sid Veda: That’s tough… some of the more popular ones (“Solo,” “Spicy News,” and a couple others) were rather painful to shoot for me. It’s not like I have memory-pains or recurring bruises or anything, but I think I prefer the one with the Mongoose. I got a good rolling “rrrrrr” whilst petting that thing.

In a Buzzine Bollywood interview one of the ad’s writers, Kiran Koshy, says Ranjit and Chad are based on real people. What direction did you get for portraying Ranjit/Chad and how did you develop the character’s accent and zany qualities? Is Chad a nickname or short for anything?

Anjul Nigam: By real people, I believe Kiran means the characters are based on the saturation of H-1 visa holders from India in Silicon Valley. They are super intelligent, technology enthusiasts and often have heavy accents based on having been raised in India. Sometimes their sense of style is a little dated or even middle-aged, which they in fact are. I was born in India myself, and although I was raised in the US, my household was quite traditionally Indian. In fact, I grew up speaking in Hindi with my parents at home, so the Indian accent has always been easily accessible for me. Probably the most important direction we receive regarding the characters is to really enjoy ourselves… these guys love what they do (host a talk show where they get to talk about technology!) and they’re at the top of their game.

Sid Veda: Interestingly, Chad’s accent, if not his entire person, is based on a South Indian and Kiran has worked hard with me to nail the hint of dialect/accent he had in mind. He and Jason, the other writer, are extremely helpful in communicating goals and message. As for the zaniness, much of that comes from the deep recesses of the director, Jim Hosking’s mind.  For some of the more challenging spots to shoot, I would be trying to follow direction or suggestions as they’re being shouted out thinking “why the why do we have to shoot a bunch of noise that will never make air?!?” When I see the finished product for the first time, I am always like “OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH… that’s why he wanted me to lick the amplifier!”  I am happy to take so much of the credit that Jim actually deserves for Chad’s dancing skills.

And yes, just like Sid is short for Sridhar, Chad is short for something. That’s all you need to know at this time.

I’ve noticed different reactions to the ads, including people variously finding them 1) light-hearted and hilarious, 2) unfunny racist stereotypes, and/or 3) politically-charged ironic sendups of ethnic caricatures. What’s your take on the ads? Given these responses, do you have any regrets about working in them?

Anjul Nigam: I have absolutely no regrets about working on the campaign. On the one hand, humor is subjective, so if someone finds the ads unfunny, then I know it’s not the kind of humor that person responds to. For example, I’m not a fan of toilet humor, and am usually turned off by content that contains it; but I’m not judgmental of it.

Meanwhile, I find the negative response is often misplaced. Perhaps, sometimes people have a knee-jerk reaction to things they believe are caricatures, but it’s important to remember that every stereotype is based on a certain reality. Personally, I have known many Indians who are very much like Ranjit and Chad, their accents, style, energy, etc. And yet still, beyond that, for me an accent is merely an extension of a character’s wardrobe. I don’t ever hear anyone finding Hugh Jackson’s Australian accent denigrating. It’s all a matter of perception.

With regard to racism, it’s worth taking a look the cultural immersion of other ethnicities, each which have their own set of challenges and advantages. For example, twenty years after the Civil Rights era, African American filmmaker Robert Townsend made a movie called HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, which satirized the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. A significant portion of the black population in America had achieved a certain position in American society, and it was being depicted in content like “The Cosby Show.” Townsend’s film was a no holds barred depiction that Townsend was able to make through humor.

In the same light, Indians are now one of the most successful minorities in the US, a group that continues to have an increasingly greater presence in the forefront of technology, business and media. If we are not in a place to have fun with ourselves, I don’t know who is.

Sid Veda: No regrets whatsoever! We made two silly characters to pitch a terrific telecomm deal; we are not making a statement about 1 billion Indians. The fact that Ranjit and Chad were born to pitch the most cost-effective deal in celluworld (by far) is a blessing.

And seriously… having worked in tech support since 2000 (as well as in telemarketing for Stanley Steemer in college), how offended should I be by the stereotype?

Read the complete interview to learn more about their experiences with the auditions and how the ads affected their ability to get work.

Kal Penn and John Cho star in A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

Kal Penn surprised many of his fans two years ago when he put his acting career on hold to join the Obama White House as a mid-level staffer. After a two year hiatus, Penn returns to the silver screen this weekend with the release of A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas. I recently spoke to Penn about his new film, working at the White House, and Asian Americans in the media.

Tell us about the new film. This obviously isn’t your typical Christmas movie.

In a lot of ways it is a traditional Christmas movie. What was cool is that a lot of things you see are traditional. Santa Claus is in the film- Harold accidentally shoots him in the face. There’s family, friendship, and love [in the movie]. What’s different is that it’s in 3D, and it is vulgar.

This is your first film since leaving your job as an advisor to the White House. I just read this great quote of yours from an interview you did with the LA Times: “When you’re working there, you always think, ‘What is the best time to tell the president that you played a stoner who escaped from Guantanamo Bay?’ Did Harold and Kumar or any of your other roles ever come up in conversation while you were at the White House?

The nice thing about working in the White House is that almost everyone has put a private sector career on hold. There isn’t a lot of conversation about what people put on hold, it’s more about working together to push the president’s agenda.

Currently you are also guest starring on How I Met Your Mother, which means of course that you are working with Neil Patrick Harris again. Is working with him on HIMYM different from the Harold and Kumar movies?

Neil is incredible. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the chance to see him on Broadway, but he’s a legit Broadway actor. He subs for Regis on Regis and Kelly. There’s really nothing that guy can’t do.

And how does playing Kevin the Therapist compare with other roles you’ve been offered?

I enjoyed playing Kevin a lot. I’ve never done a traditional sitcom before. I love the cast and crew. And there are a couple of good scenes with Neil because his character has a history with Robin, who my character is dating.

You are also working on a pilot set at the U.N. Has your political experience helped you develop that pilot?

It’s not influencing the pilot per se. The folks at NBC are really great. I’m a fan of 30 Rock, Parks and Rec and Community. I originally was thinking of a classroom type of a show, but then I said “What I would love to convey is something that would be funny if it were set in a mechanic’s shop or if it took place at the U.N.” And then I said, “Why not have it take place at the U.N.?” There are no politics on the show to make it relatable to everyone.

Finally, a couple of years ago you taught a class about Asian Americans in the media at the University of Pennsylvania. If we were to fast forward 50 years from now and you taught that class again, what do you think students would say about Harold and Kumar?

That’s a good question. Just in the last eight to ten years I think we’ve seen a lot more diversity on screen and rarely is it just “check the box” diversity. Eighteen year olds today, the conversations they’ve have with us are so different from the conversations we had with people who were eighteen when the first Harold and Kumar came out.

Now you have people like Aziz [Ansari], Mindy [Kaling], and the Daily Show and Modern Family. There’s so much diversity on screen. I hope that in 50 years it is even less of an issue.

There are no actual questions about her new book on the Halloween night episode of The Daily Show featuring guest Mindy Kaling. But you’ve probably already read excerpts and other slightly more substantive interviews if you’re interested in Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me. So sit back and enjoy a six-minute segment (I would embed it here in addition to the audio book excerpt above if WordPress allowed it) in which Kaling and host Jon Stewart joke about Halloween costumes, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and her FOX News-watching, Sanjay Gupta-loving parents.

Kaling also stops by The View this morning at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT/C.

Thanks for the tip Pravin Praveen!

Young the Giant canceled performances at Reading and Leeds festivals to make it to the VMAs. Gadhia explained why it was important for them to perform at tonight’s show in Los Angeles.

“We canceled Reading and Leeds [festivals] because of the VMAs,” frontman Gadhia shared. “I mean, we always watched them, ever since we were little … and we’re from Los Angeles, so we figured it would be a great opportunity. Hopefully people in the U.K. will forgive us. I know some people are already annoyed.” (MTV)

Actor/political liaison Kal Penn, who previously left his White House position to film A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, will be making another trip back from the Beltway to Hollywood. TVLine reports that Penn will appear in a recurring role on the Emmy award-winning TV comedy How I Met Your Mother, set to premiere its seventh season on September 19.

The move would have Penn play Kevin, a possible love interest for Cobie Smulder’s character Robin Scherbatsky. Working on HIMYM would reunite Penn with a co-star from the Harold and Kumar movie franchise, Neil Patrick Harris (Starship Troopers, Doogie Howser, M.D.). NPH plays breakout character and hypocritical womanizer Barney Stinson, credited for much of the show’s success. The Washington Post’s entertainment blog Reliable Source comments on Penn’s unusual career path.> His unusual career path points to a little-known truth about showbiz: That even big-name actors have a lot of downtime between projects. It’s part of the reason you see many stars throwing themselves into campaign or celebvocacy work, with D.C. lobbying jaunts for favorite causes — though we’re hard-pressed to think of any others who took major pay cuts for public-sector gigs. (link)

Will Kal Penn ride the unicorn back to DC to continue pursuing his political passions after this latest acting gig? Or will this sitcom gig lead to more of KP on TV? It may be too early to say because, in the words of a certain vocal trio, “Don’t you know things can change“?

Update: ABC Nightline’s Jake Tapper interviewed Penn on the last day of his work at the White House. Penn reflected on the changing attitudes of young voters and what motivated him to get politically involved in a way that Hollywood actors (with the exception of perhaps Reagan or Schwarzenneger) rarely do.

“I had friends who were over in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Penn said. “I had buddies who had huge student debt, people who got kicked off their health insurance plans for one reason or another, and so that was my decision to get involved on a personal level.”

Seeing this job as an opportunity to serve his country, Penn said the experience has been “awe-inspiring.”(ABC)

He also shared a couple of memorable highlights from his time as a junior staffer at the White House, one involving an encounter with Chris Rock and the other a freezing midnight moment (captured at the end of an early 2011 edition of “West Wing Week”) helping to receive a rather large painting that Obama would give to the China’s president.

Have you seen the Gordon Ramsay-produced cooking show that takes 100 amateur and home chefs and attempts to turn one into a…MasterChef? I watched a few episodes recently and thanks to comments here and stories from the news tab, realized that Chef Suzy must be [Suzy Singh](http://www.suzysingh.com/), a neural engineer from Chicago. Singh, who participated in a brief Q&A posted below, made it into the 100 with a [signature dish](http://www.fox.com/masterchef/recipes/signature-dish/recipe-16) of Tandoori Cod en Papillote with Chai- and Saffron-infused Couscous, and she’s still a contender for the title of MasterChef on the show’s second US season now that the pool of 100 chefs has been whittled down to fewer than 10.

Singh is interesting to watch on MasterChef because she has skills, brings a real enthusiasm for cooking, and wears her heart on her sleeve, leaving no doubt as to how she’s feeling about her chances, her competition or the judges’ comments at any moment. Her style is also on display in videos which introduce viewers to the world’s largest holy kitchen at the Golden Temple and Kesar Da Dhaba in Amristar, Punjab.

Singh’s cooking inspirations include the Punjabi food that she grew up eating and cooking. It seems her dad is also a special inspiration: “My dad has this passion for cooking and has taught me from the young age of 4 to have integrity in the kitchen by respecting the ingredient, keeping the kitchen clean, and cooking from the heart.” (FOX)

In the Q&A that she did for Sepia Mutiny Singh mentions that she hopes to have her own TV show. Read on to find out more about her.

I found that I was the happiest in the kitchen. The opportunity to audition presented itself to me in December and it was a very organic process. One of my ultimate goals in life is to have a cooking show of my own, so doing a reality TV show seemed like a natural step to me.  Also who better to learn from than Gordon Ramsey?  He is a true delight and it was an honor learning technique from him.

What has been your favorite challenge so far on MasterChef? Why?

My favorite challenge thus far was definitely the French challenge! French cuisine is the foundation for culinary technique! It was a great way to show off some of my culinary skills. I cooked up a duo of tarts for this challenge; a lemon curd tart in a pate Sucre with a meringue and ganache tart with raspberry and meringue also in a pate Sucre.  Just thinking about it makes me want to go in the kitchen, heat up my oven, and invite friends over for a treat!

Where do you go when you want to eat out? What do you order?

My favorite restaurant is Schwa in Wicker Park. It serves NINE divine courses of a molecular gastronomy meal and it’s BYOB! Even better, the menu changes seasonally so it’s always different, but always delicious!

What are your hopes and dreams for your career after MasterChef? Will you ever open a restaurant?

My dream is have my own cooking show that teaches people how to cook. I believe that eventually I will have my own restaurant but before actually opening one, I would like a television show, book deal, and create culinary appliances that use the theme “smart cooking.”