Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran leads the authentic voice cast of CBeebies animated sitcom Nikhil and Jay

Leading companies in children’s entertainment CAKE, King Banana TV and Paper Owl Films have announced the cast for the upcoming Nikhil and Jaya 52 x 11 minute long animated family sitcom for CBeebiesbased on books by Chitra Soundar, which follows the adventures of two dual-origin Indian-British brothers and their loving family.

British Tamil actor Charithra Chandran introduces an authentic voice cast as Nikhil and Jay’s mother Amma. Charithra is best known for her roles in Alex Rider, How to Date Billy Walsh, her stage debut in Instructions for A Teenage Armageddon and as debutante Edwina Sharma in the hit historical drama Bridgerton. She will star in the upcoming season of Dune Prophecy.

Charithra Chandran said: “It is really wonderful to have a show like this in the BBC and to see my culture represented in a concrete way. I never experienced anything like that in my childhood.”

Making their voice acting debut in the title roles are 7-year-olds Shiv Senthilkumar and Sai Ganesh Nadesan, who lend their voices to Nikhil and Jay respectively and are proud of their Tamil heritage.

A full cast of promising new talent as well as experienced actors includes Janine Duvitski as Nana (Old Jack’s Boat, One Foot in the Grave, Abigail’s Party, Benidorm); Mark Benton as Grandpa Jim (Early Doors, Waterloo Road, Christmas Lights, Catterick, Shakespeare and Hathaway, The Syndicate); and stand-up comedian and Sunday Times bestselling author Tez Ilyas, who voices friend and neighbour Mr Awan. Ben Harris plays the boys’ father, Appa, Janaki Sabesh voices Grandma Ammamma, Ravi Swami voices Grandpa Thatha and Harriet Carmichael plays family cat Max. Casting by Michelle Jones Brilliant cast.

Nikhil & Jay follows the adventures of two young brothers whose mother is of Indian descent and father of English descent. With both Indian and English grandparents, their lives are a rich mix of customs, traditions, festivals, food and music. Nikhil & Jay celebrate the similarities and differences with fun and relatable stories that authentically portray British-Asian dual heritage children and are full of warmth, heart and humor.

Produced by King Banana TV (Yakka Dee!, Meet the Experts), Paper Owl Films (Pablo, Happy The Hoglet), Exec Produced and distributed by CAKE (Angry Birds Summer Madness and Supa Team 4) and with support from Northern Ireland Screen, Nikhil and Jay is based on the book series by award-winning author Chitra Soundar, who also serves as executive producer and writer of the series, ensuring cultural authenticity at every level. A diverse team of writers, animators, composers and directors form Nikhil & Jay’s Talent off the screen. Nikhil and Jay starts on CBeebies later this year.

LC