Avantika Vandanapu To Star In Disney Channel’s ‘Spin’, Manjari Makijany To Direct
The Disney Channel has greenlit the original movie Spin which will star Avantika Vandanapu (Diary of a Future President, Mira, Royal Detective) and be directed by Manjari Makijany (Desert Dolphin). The movie is set to begin production in Toronto this fall and is slated to premiere on the Disney Channel in 2021.
Written by Carley Steiner (Play Date) and Josh Cagan (The Duff), Spin follows effervescent 15-year-old Rhea Kumar (Vandanapu), who lives with her tight-knit multigenerational family. After her mother’s death, she has been her father’s emotional rock, and her life revolves around her family’s restaurant, her eclectic group of friends, and her after-school coding club. Everything changes when she falls for aspiring DJ Max and a long lost passion for music is reignited. Rhea discovers that she has a natural gift for creating beats and producing music that blends her Indian heritage, but must find the courage to follow her true inner talent. Zanne Devine (Secret Society of Second Born Royals, Easy A, I, Tonya) will serve as executive producer.
“We look forward to watching Avantika lead this vibrant story of a teen discovering unexpected aspirations to create, remix, perform and ultimately define her art,” said Lauren Kisilevsky, vice president, Original Movies, Disney Channel. “We’re equally thrilled to see this special story come to life in Manjari Makijany’s talented hands.”
Vandanapu is a well-recognized name in India and among the U.S. Indian community. She won second place in the first North American edition of ZeeTV’s reality series Dance India Dance Li’l Masters. She has appared in multiple feature films in Indian cinema. She stars as Monyca in Diary of a Future President on Disney+ and can be heard as the voice of Kamala in Disney Junior’s Mira, Royal Detective.
Makijany is an alum of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women (AFI DWW), the Universal Directors Initiative and the Fox Filmmakers Lab. Her debut feature Desert Dolphin, a coming of age sports-drama and India’s first skateboarding feature, will be released globally on Netflix in 2021.
via Deadline
