CBeebies’ Nikhil & Jay Sets Voice Cast

CBeebies has cast British-Tamil actor Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton, Alex Rider) as one of the leads for its upcoming animated series Nikhil & Jay, from CAKE, King Banana TV and Paper Owl Films.

Based on books by Chitra Soundar, the sitcom will follow the adventures of two British-Indian dual-heritage brothers and their family. Chandran, who will voice their mother, will be joined by Janine Duvitski (Old Jack’s Boat, One Foot in the Grave), Mark Benton (Early Doors, Waterloo Road), Tez Ilyas and Ben Harris, among others.

Additional cast members include Janaki Sabesh, Ravi Swami and Harriet Carmichael. Shiv Senthilkumar and Sai Ganesh Nadesan, who are both proud of their Tamil heritage, are making their voiceover debuts as the titular 7-year-olds.

In Nikhil & Jay, the two young brothers have an Indian mother and an English father. With both Indian and English grandparents, their life features a blend of customs, traditions, festivals, foods and music. The show celebrates the similarities and differences while striving to authentically represent dual-heritage British-Asian children.

The series is produced by King Banana TV (Yakka Dee!, Meet the Experts) and Paper Owl Films (Pablo, Happy the Hoglet), with CAKE (Angry Birds Summer Madness, Supa Team 4) executive producing and distributing. Northern Ireland Screen helped to fund the show.

The series is set to debut later this year on CBeebies.

“It’s really wonderful to see a show like this on the BBC and to see my culture specifically represented,” Chandran said. “I never had anything like this when I was growing up.”