| Nidhi Chanani | |
|---|---|
 Chanani in 2017 | |
| Born | 1980 (age 42–43) Kolkata, India |
| Nationality | Indian-American |
| Spouse(s) | Nick Giordano |
| Official website | |
Nidhi Chanani (born 1980) is an Indian-American freelance illustrator and artist. [1] [2] Her debut graphic novel Pashmina was released by First Second Books in October 2017. [2]
Nidhi Chanani was born in Kolkata, India and moved to Southern California when she was four months old. [3] She received a degree in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She then attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for a year and a half before dropping out, feeling "limited by the way art is taught." [4] [5]
Chanani worked at non-profit organizations before entering the comics field. [6] [7] Chanani runs an online webseries and store titled EveryDayLoveArt.com, where she tries to capture the relevance for "ordinary everyday moments in our daily lives". [8] [ unreliable source? ] [9] Chanani explains that Pashmina is a story of a first-generation girl who is "trying to understand herself". [3]
She worked as a concept artist for the 2011 Australian film, Hannah and the Hasbian. She has also worked with Hasbro, Paramount Pictures and Disney. [6] Other than her novel, Chanani has illustrated Misty: the Proud Cloud by Hugh Howey. [10] Chanani has also been commissioned by Dark Horse Comics for a graphic novel based on Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1992 animated feature Aladdin titled Disney's princess: Jasmine's new pet.The graphic novel revolves around Jasmine and her pet tiger, Raja's, relationship when they first met. It was released in October 2018. [11] Chanani has written and Illustrated a bilingual children book titled Shubh Raatri Dost (Good Night Friend) with Bharat babies. [12] Her second graphic novel, Jukebox, was a collaboration with her husband Nick Giordano about two Muslim American cousins, Shaheen and Tannaz in San Francisco who find a magical jukebox that comes to their aid when Giovanni, Shaheen's father, goes missing. It was released on June 22, 2021. [13] She illustrated the book I Will Be Fierce by Bea Birdsong, which was published on April 23, 2019 by Macmillan Publishers. [14]
Throughout her work Chanani has worked to represent normal problems that exist within families, as well as showcasing female characters of color dealing with issues of identity. She utilizes the visual medium of graphic novels and comics to utilize the storytelling through both written and visual mediums in order to portray aspects of her stories that cannot be demonstrated in only one medium. [15]
In March 2019, Netflix announced it will adapt Chanani's best selling graphic novel Pashmina into a CG animated musical with Gurinder Chadha set to direct.
For Pashmina, Chanani drew inspiration from various sources. According to her "My inspiration for Pashmina came from a variety of sources: my mom, growing up in the US, my first trip to India, and the choices women make — all of these things are woven into the story. When I was younger my parents would travel to India often. When they returned, their suitcases had a pungent, almost magical smell—from a place that seemed very far away. I was probably 10 years old. Opening their suitcase made me feel close to this other world. In a way, I believe this story has been with me since then." [16]
Chanani has been influenced throughout her career by the Indian novelist, Arundhati Roy. [17] Roy influenced Chanani in her ability to incorporate political underpinnings in the voices of the characters throughout her work. Similar to Roy, Chanani has made representing Indian people and the everyday struggles that they encounter a central element of her writing and graphic work. [17] Chanani, according to her own interviews, is deeply influenced by the author Gene Luen Yang. [18]
Chanani is an instructor at the California College of the Arts. [2] She often features local Bay area backdrops, as well as images derived from her Indian heritage. She explains, "I grew up watching Bollywood films on the weekends, eating Indian breakfasts, and spending time with my Indian family. It didn't ever feel like because I didn't live in India, India didn't live in me. Even if I don't draw something Indian per se, something about my "Indian-ness" will come through whether I make the characters brown or pick a setting reminiscent of India. There is something about who I am in everything that I do. And who I am is Indian. I don't think that is ever removable from what I do." [19]
Pashmina received the 2017 Virginia Library Association Graphic Diversity Award in the Youth Category, and the 2018 South Asia Book Award for Children's Literature in the Grade 3-6 category. [20] [21] Pashmina was also a Best Fiction for Older Readers selection for 2017 by the Chicago Public Library. [22] It was eventually released by Harper Collins in India. [23] [ better source needed ]
In April 2012, Nidhi was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change. [24]
Chanani creates her art using digital media, wood burning, and watercolors, stating: "For my illustrations I use flash and Photoshop with a heavy dose of brushes and textures I've created. For my wood burnings I use raw wood and a professional wood burning pen." [25] Chanani also uses magical realism in her work to tell her stories; within a narrative that is otherwise rooted in reality, she employs talking animals and conversations with gods.
Chanani and her husband, Nick Giordano, live in San Francisco Bay Area with their daughter. [2] [6]
Ismat Chughtai was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class gentility, and class conflict, often from a Marxist perspective. With a style characterised by literary realism, Chughtai established herself as a significant voice in the Urdu literature of the twentieth century, and in 1976 was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Gurinder Chadha, is a Kenyan-born Indo-British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and how they must reconcile their converging traditional and modern cultures. Although many of her films seem like simple quirky comedies about Indian women, they actually address many social and emotional issues, especially ones faced by immigrants caught between two worlds.
Pashmina refers to, depending on the source, a term for cashmere wool of the Changthangi cashmere goat, for fine Kashmiri cashmere wool or a synonym for cashmere wool.
Ellen Forney is an American cartoonist, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include I was Seven in '75; I Love Led Zepellin; and Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me. She teaches at the Cornish College of the Arts. Her work covers mental illness, political activism, drugs, and the riot grrrl movement. Currently, she is based in Seattle, Washington.
Anita Nair is an Indian novelist who writes her books in English. She is best known for her novels A Better Man, Mistress, and Lessons in Forgetting. She has also written poetry, essays, short stories, crime fiction, historical fiction, romance, and children's literature, including Muezza and Baby Jaan: Stories from the Quran.
Nidhi Razdan is an Indian journalist and television personality. She was the executive editor of NDTV and the primary anchor of NDTV 24x7 news debate show Left, Right & Centre, and the weekly debate show The Big Fight.
Nidhi Subbaiah is an Indian actress and model, who has appeared in various television advertisements and films, she is known for her performance in successful Kannada movies such as Pancharangi (2010) and Krishnan Marriage Story (2011). She made her Bollywood debut with Oh My God and Ajab Gazabb Love.
Lena Mohan Kumar, who has performed mononymously as Lenaa and Lena, is an Indian actress and scriptwriter who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
Kritika Kamra is an Indian film and television actress. Kamra is known for playing Arohi in television shows Kitani Mohabbat Hai, Dr. Nidhi in Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, Ananya in Reporters, and Chandrakanta in Prem Ya Paheli - Chandrakanta. In 2014 she participated in the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Kamra made her Bollywood debut in 2018 with Mitron.
Hugh C. Howey is an American writer, known best for the science fiction series Silo, part of which he published independently through Amazon.com's Kindle Direct Publishing system.
Nidhi Uttam Pathak is an Indian television and film actress known for portraying Nandini Singhania in Star Plus's longest-running drama, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. She has also acted in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Ek Boond Ishq, Dil Boley Oberoi and Aghori. In 2020, she made her film debut with Anubhav Sinha's social film, Thappad. In 2023 Nidhi appeared as main lead in movie Chaar Lugai
Fitoor is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama directed by Abhishek Kapoor, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, and written by Kapoor and Supratik Sen based on Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations. The film features Tabu, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur in lead roles. Filming began in Kashmir in November 2014.
Aishveryaa Nidhi is an Australian actress, director, writer, and theatre personality based in Los Angeles. She has performed with the Short and Sweet festivals, and has worked to start Short and Sweet Bollywood. Other works include Gandhari... In search of light, a play about the character Gandhari from Vyasa's Hindu epic Mahabharata which has toured widely. She is also the president and artistic director of Abhinay School of Performing Arts, in Sydney.
Emil Ferris is an American writer, cartoonist, and designer. Ferris debuted in publishing with her 2017 graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. The novel tells a coming-of-age story of Karen Reyes, a girl growing up in 1960s Chicago, and is written and drawn in the form of the character's notebook. The graphic novel was praised as a "masterpiece" and one of the best comics by a new author.
Kundali Bhagya is an Indian Hindi-language romantic drama television series created by Ekta Kapoor. A spin-off series of Kumkum Bhagya, it premiered on 12 July 2017 on Zee TV.
Pashmina is a debut graphic novel written by Nidhi Chanani. The novel focuses on the relationship between an Indian-American mother and her teenage daughter.
Nidhi Sunil is an Indian model, actress, and activist. Nidhi was born in Kerala and is known for her role as Samira in the Indian drama film Kaash. Nidhi is a previous recipient of Vogue India's Model of the year award, and is currently one of L’Oréal's global ambassadors.
Pashmina is the fine variant of spun cashmere wool.
Parismita Singh is an Indian author, illustrator, graphic novelist, and educator. She is a founding member of the Pao Collective, and her work includes The Hotel at the End of the World, which was shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and is one of the first graphic novels published in India. She is also the author and illustrator of the short story collection Peace Has Come.
Gravity Falls: Lost Legends, initially announced as Untitled Mystery Book and later Untitled Gravity Falls Graphic Novel, is a Gravity Falls graphic novel published by Disney Press. Written by Alex Hirsch, the show's creator, the comics in the book are illustrated by various artists, including Asaf Hanuka and Dana Terrace. The comics explores four new adventures taking place within the show's continuity.
