Chai with Champs

About Chai with Champs

Your front row seat to the future of global entertainment! Episodes every other Monday at 11:00 AM CT

Publisher

Ritika Agrawal

Category

tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Sept 2023

Latest episode

5 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

34 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Building the Infrastructure: Rita on Creating the First South Asian Oscar-Qualifying Film Festival in America

   She immigrated to the United States just after 9/11, paid herself $500 a month to run a nonprofit out of a broom closet, and spent 24 years building what no one else had built. Rita Meher joins Ritika Agrawal to talk about what it actually takes to create the infrastructure behind South Asian cinema in North America: from getting Netflix to fund your filmmakers to acquiring a 105-year-old Seattle theater with a grant application she wrote over a Labor Day weekend. Rita Meher is the founder and Executive Director of Tasveer, the longest-running South Asian film festival in North America and now the first Oscar-qualifying South Asian film festival in the United States. Tasveer recently acquired Arc Lodge, a $2.85 million Seattle film center, and operates a Netflix-supported $35,000 filmmaker grant program. Tasveer's annual festival is held in Seattle. Rita explains: ■Why South Asian storytellers still represent under 2% of mainstream media, and what that number actually demands of the people building the ecosystem ■How she convinced Netflix to create a filmmaker fund by asking for a conversation, not a donation ■The difference between pitching and soft-selling: why leading with emotional investment beats leading with ROI ■How she wrote a passionate grant letter for $3 million over a Labor Day weekend, after initially planning to ask for $600,000 ■Why owning your own space changes everything: the freedom to show films seven days a week, on your own terms, for your own community ■What made her say "I deserve this theater", and why that kind of conviction is what actually moves funders ■The one piece of advice she'd give her younger self: stop putting people on pedestals, and trust your intuition enough to reach out ■What sets selected films apart at Tasveer not heavy, not hollow; unique, commercially viable stories with layered human purpose Chapters: (00:00): Why She Built What Didn't Exist (02:00): The Stat That Should Shock You: Under 2% Representation (03:45): How to Build a Platform When Nobody Hands You One (06:00): What 9/11 Had to Do With South Asian Cinema (08:30): Owning Your Story Before Someone Else Does (10:30): How Tasveer Became Oscar-Qualifying (13:00): Why "Can You Donate?" Is the Wrong Question (16:00): The Conversation That Gets a Yes Every Time (19:30): How She Got Netflix to Fund South Asian Filmmakers (22:30): Buying a $2.85M Theater With Almost Nothing in the Bank (27:00): How to Ask for $3M When You Planned to Ask for $600K (30:00): On Being a Fearful Leader Who Refuses to Quit (33:00): Don't Follow the Money, Here's What to Follow Instead (35:30): What's Coming Next From Rita and Luminary Pictures OFFSCRIPT is your front row seat to the future of global entertainment. New episodes every other Monday — subscribe so you don't miss one: https://www.youtube.com/@offscriptwithritika Listen on the go: Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/6u63rW7RJ1zY74ery2h72C Follow Ritika: Instagram — https://instagram.com/ritikagrawall LinkedIn — https://linkedin.com/in/ritika-agrawal- TikTok — https://tiktok.com/@ritikagrawall Follow OFFSCRIPT: Instagram — https://instagram.com/offscriptwithritika TikTok — https://tiktok.com/@offscriptwithritika For sponsorships and partnerships: ritika@phoolhouseproductions.com #OFFSCRIPT #RitaMeher #SouthAsianCinema #FilmFestival #Tasveer #SouthAsianFilm #IndependentFilm #FilmMaking #SouthAsianDiaspora #OscarQualifying

2. 

   21 Sept 2026

   The Underdog Story Behind the Underdog Story: Shubhangi Shekhar on Four Years of Delusional Confidence and South Asian Basketball

   She graduated into a pandemic, left her job, moved to LA, and spent four years throwing her own savings at a documentary about a South Asian basketball team no one knew existed, before a single distributor said yes. Shubhangi Shekhar joins Ritika Agrawal to talk about what it actually costs to bet on yourself before anyone else will, and why the story she needed to tell wasn't a sports story at all. Her documentary *Hoop Like This* is now making the festival rounds after four years in the making. Shubhangi explains: ■Why "delusional confidence" isn't the same as self-belief — and which one actually got the film made ■How she lost 35 pounds and then gained 40 from stress, and what that taught her about the creative life ■The fundraising playbook nobody tells you: fiscal sponsorship, donor-advised funds, and employee matching programs ■Why your day job is a fundraiser for everything you love to do — and what to look for in one ■The unexpected bond between a South Asian filmmaker and South Asian basketball players doing something no one had done before ■How community building actually works: why your network is the people who showed up when you weren't doing anything impressive ■Why 25% of the world's population is not a niche audience — and how to pitch that to a Netflix exec in three sentences ■The one piece of advice she'd give every indie filmmaker: figure out the money piece first, then function confidently in your art Chapters: (00:00): Intro (04:10): The Origin Story: A Friend, a Team, and a Pivot to Taiwan (10:30): What "Delusional Confidence" Really Costs You (17:45): The Film Nobody Picked Up — and Why She Kept Shooting Anyway (24:20): How She Actually Funded *Hoop Like This* (31:00): Fiscal Sponsorship, DAFs, and the Financial Literacy Gap No One Talks About (38:15): Community Is Who Showed Up When You Had Nothing (45:30): 25% of the World Is Not a Niche (50:40): The 9-to-5 as a Creative Fundraiser (54:20): Burnout, Functional and Otherwise (58:10): The Playbook: Know Your Why, Fix Your Finances, Then Make Your Art (1:02:30): What Comes After *Hoop Like This* (1:04:00): Rapid Fire: Courtside or Film Festival, Work Out More, Go to Sleep Happy OFFSCRIPT is your front row seat to the future of global entertainment. New episodes every other Monday, subscribe so you don't miss one: https://www.youtube.com/@offscriptwithritika Listen on the go: Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/6u63rW7RJ1zY74ery2h72C Follow Ritika: Instagram — https://instagram.com/ritikagrawall LinkedIn — https://linkedin.com/in/ritika-agrawal- TikTok — https://tiktok.com/@ritikagrawall Follow OFFSCRIPT: Instagram — https://instagram.com/offscriptwithritika TikTok — https://tiktok.com/@offscriptwithritika For sponsorships and partnerships: ritika@phoolhouseproductions.com #OFFSCRIPT #ShubhangiShekhar #HoopLikeThis #SouthAsianFilmmaker #IndieDocumentary #SportsDocumentary #SouthAsianBasketball #FilmFundraising #CreativeEntrepreneur #DelusionalConfidence

3. 

   7 Sept 2026

   How To Get Cast In India: Shivam Gupta on Authenticity, Bombay, and Breaking In

   He left home at 13 with a letter under his mother's pillow and a one-way conviction toward cinema. From theater rounds in Delhi to casting "Big Girls Don't Cry" and producing Venice-recognized films, Shivam Gupta has quietly become one of Bollywood's most trusted casting directors. Shivam joins Ritika Agrawal to break down the real state of casting in 2026, why OTT budget cuts are actually creating more opportunity for new actors, and the one thing he says separates the actors who get cast from the ones who don't.Credits include *Big Girls Don't Cry*, *Sacred Games 2*, *Trapped*, *Daddy*, *Jaadugar*, and several feature films currently in production. Shivam is also developing regional and international projects through his production slate, including Marathi, Gujarati, and cross-border co-productions.Shivam explains:■OTT platforms have seen an 18% budget drop in India, but that contraction is actually forcing a shift toward fresh faces and story-first casting, opening real doors for new actors right now.■ The Indian entertainment market is hitting $33 billion, yet the biggest casting decisions aren't driven by numbers, they're driven by whether the director believes in the story enough to go with someone unknown.■He cast the lead for *Big Girls Don't Cry* after auditioning 600–700 girls, and found his Indira Gandhi lookalike not at a talent agency, but outside a movie theater.■Social media following can factor into casting, but only when the actor also has real craft. Without that, it's a different business entirely, and the audience always knows.■Acting is secondary when someone first walks into an audition room. What he's actually watching for is truth, authenticity, and whether the character lives in the person's face and body before a single line is spoken.■Theater gave him the foundation, discipline, honesty, conviction, and he believes those qualities are what no amount of training can fake on camera.■ The West is systematic in a way India isn't yet: agents, process, on-time professionalism. He's learning it in real time, and it's shaping how he wants to cast internationally.■ His advice to every aspiring actor right now: work your craft, come to Bombay, feel the energy, meet the right people , and if you believe in your story, just keep moving.(00:00): Intro(01:45): New York Debut - Full Circle Moment(03:45): The $33 Billion Market That's Cutting Budgets(06:00): What Casting in India Actually Looks Like in 2026(10:00): Story First, Stars Second(14:00): How He Discovers New Talent (Apps, Theater, the Street)(18:30): The 600-Girl Audition and the Indira Gandhi Find(23:00): Social Media Followers vs. Acting Craft :The Real Answer(28:30): The 13-Year-Old Who Left a Note and Ran(35:00): His Sister, His Guru, and the People Who Shaped Him(40:00): Producing Nine Films in Five Years, Without Planning Any of It(43:30): Bridging East and West: International Projects and TASVEER(47:00): Rapid Fire Round(50:00): What's Next for Shivam Gupta FilmsOFFSCRIPT is your front row seat to the future of global entertainment. New episodes every other Monday , subscribe so you don't miss one: https://www.youtube.com/@offscriptwithritikaListen on the go:Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/6u63rW7RJ1zY74ery2h72CFollow Ritika:Instagram — https://instagram.com/ritikagrawallLinkedIn — https://linkedin.com/in/ritika-agrawal-TikTok — https://tiktok.com/@ritikagrawallFollow OFFSCRIPT:Instagram — https://instagram.com/offscriptwithritikaTikTok — https://tiktok.com/@offscriptwithritikaFor sponsorships and partnerships: ritika@phoolhouseproductions.com#OFFSCRIPT #ShivamGupta #BollywoodCasting #IndianCinema #CastingDirector #BigGirlsDontCry #SouthAsianFilm #NewIndianCinema #AspiringActors #FilmIndustry

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 10 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

7

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.