Solanki Brothers score BBC's Nikhil and Jay

52-part animation series comes to CBeebies

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  • Posted: 11 Sep, 2024
  • Written by: Steve Berman

Renowned composers Sidh Solanki and Shridhar Solanki (Ghee Happy) are to bring their musical magic to CBeebies' forthcoming 52x11 show, Nikhil and Jay.

The show is based on books by Chitra Soundar following the adventures of two Indian/British dual heritage brothers and their loveable family.

British Tamil actor Charithra Chandran leads an authentic voice cast as Nikhil and Jay’s mum 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 hit period drama Bridgerton. She is set to star in the upcoming series of Dune Prophecy.

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’ dad Appa, Janaki Sabesh voices granny Ammamma, Ravi Swami voices grandpa Thatha and Harriet Carmichael plays family cat Max.

Nikhil & Jay follows the adventures of two young brothers whose Mum is Indian by heritage and Dad is English. With both Indian and English grandparents, their life is a rich blend of customs, traditions, festivals, foods and music. Nikhil & Jay celebrates the similarities and differences with funny and relatable stories that authentically represent dual heritage British Asian children and are full of warmth, heart and humour.

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 funding from Northern Ireland Screen, Nikhil & Jay is based on the book series by award-winning author Chitra Soundar, who also Exec Produces and writes on the series ensuring cultural authenticity at every level.

Nikhil & Jay will launch on CBeebies on October 19th.


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