IndianRaga founder Sriram Emani explores identity and belonging in Jam Boy

What happened

IndianRaga founder Sriram Emani explores identity and belonging in Jam Boy, according to YourStory. After building IndianRaga into a global platform for Indian performing arts, Sriram Emani is turning to filmmaking to tell nuanced South Asian stories that challenge familiar stereotypes. Sriram Emani, the founder of IndianRaga, a global platform for Indian performing arts, has an album on Facebook showcasing all the cups he’s collected from different Starbucks outlets in New York.

Each of the 74 images shows his name being misspelt. “It’s one of the most common names on the planet. But it was still spelt as ‘Syrian’, ‘Shadam’; not a single person got it right. If you can say Schwarzenegger, Saoirse Ronan, you can say Sriram,” says Emani.

This frustrating experience, commonly faced by immigrants, planted the seeds for Jam Boy , Emani’s first film as a writer, director, co-producer and lead actor. Sriram Emani Jam Boy is about a model immigrant who has done everything to be chosen but has not noticed what it costs him to choose himself.