Kal Penn reveals the look of first ever Indian Disney cartoon.
A sneak peek of ‘Mira, Royal Detective,’ the first ever all-Indian Disney Junior animated mystery series for preschoolers, has been given by noted Indian American actor Kal Penn, one of its key characters. Set in the magical Indian-inspired land of Jalpur, the series follows the brave and resourceful Mira, a commoner who is appointed royal detective after saving the kingdom’s young prince after solving a mystery.Also featuring Hollywood biggies, Frieda Pinto, of Slumdog Millionaire fame and Jameela Jamil, the first solo female presenter of the BBC Radio 1 Chart show, with an all-South Asian cast, the series is set to debut worldwide in Spring 2020.
ALSO READ: Kal Penn takes a dig at Kellyanne Conway’s weird pose at Oval Office
Late last year, when Disney announced the production of its first ever all-Indian animated series, it was greeted with a wave of excitement in the community. After all, in a present-day America that boasts of diversity in every county and borough, it was about time that we saw a character with an all Indian lineage. Where the channel has also got it right is that ‘Mira, Royal Detective’ has an all South Asian cast.
The series follows the story of royal detective, Mira (Leela Ladnier) who travels throughout the kingdom helping royals and commoners. Along with her friend Prince Neel (Kamran Lucas), a talented inventor, creative cousin Priya (Roshni Edwards), and comical mongoose sidekicks Mikku (Kal Penn) and Chikku (Utkarsh Ambudkar), she will be taking young viewers on adventures that highlight critical thinking and encourage deductive reasoning, according to the makers.
ALSO READ: Indian American actor Kal Penn does a Gujju impersonation and Twitter can’t have enough of it
Offering a sneak peak of Disney Junior’s upcoming series, Kal Penn recently wrote on Twitter that he would be the voice of Mikku, one of the two comical mongoose sidekicks. “Sneek peek of what my character in #MiraRoyalDetective looks like (I’m Mikku, the tite beige mongoose with the glasses). Wishing everyone a Happy #Diwali, catch the show Spring 2020 on #DisneyJunior!”
Indian American actor Utkarsh Ambudkar, who appeared in the comedy film ‘Pitch Perfect’ is the voice of Chikku, the other mongoose. Leela Ladnier, known for ‘Boris and the Bomb, is the voice of Mira.
Other characters that will appear in the show include Queen Shanti (Freida Pinto), Pinky (Hannah Simone), Auntie Pushpa (Jameela Jamil), Mira’s cousin Meena (Aparna Nancherla) and Mira’s Father Sahil (Aasif Mandvi).
Bollywood dancer and choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan, has been the Indian dance consultant on the series.
Each episode will weave authentic music, dance and customs into two 11-minutes stories.