The Day – An Indo-American musician mixes Disney Junior and Bollywood in “Mira, Royal Detective”

The latest Disney Junior animated series for preschoolers, “Mira, Royal Detective”, starts with an explosion of energy. Viewers meet the titular protagonist with a catchy theme song as two meerkats sing “Let’s listen to it for Mira, royal detective!” on an instrumental mixing pop hooks with a singing South Asian instrumentation. Thank this unique blend to the show’s musical consultant and orchestrator, Deepak Ramapriyan.

“I feel like I dream a little, sometimes,” he said. “Seeing everything in the past two weeks has been breathtaking.”

“Mira, Royal Detective” is a series of adventures whose homonymous character is part of the royal family of Jalpur, a fictional kingdom in South Asia, and solves mysteries on behalf of the monarchs and his compatriots. The actors who spoke about Ramapriyan’s score are Freida Pinto (“Slumdug Millionaire”), Aasif Mandvi (“Evil”) and Utkarsh Ambudkar (“The Mindy Project”).

Like Ambudkar, Ramapriyan was born in Baltimore. His parents, who emigrated from India, worked as scientists at NASA and Johns Hopkins University and were talented musicians themselves. They raised him in Columbia, Howard County, with a busy program of study, tennis and violin lessons in classical Carnatic (or southern India) and European music. This education prepared him for a career mixing Disney and Bollywood, just as he toured the country with an a cappella group, The Generics, while studying at the University of Maryland College Park.

“By the time I graduated (in 2002), my mindset was completely different,” said Ramapriyan. “I finished my pre-med, in neurobiology and physiology, and I took a lot of courses in criminology, criminal justice, all that. But after graduating, I came straight to Los Angeles and started making music. “

Ramapriyan’s entertainment career has allowed him to connect his different identities in creative ways. Admittedly, he starred in commercials (including a stint as an Indian prince in a Cadillac commercial) and found himself occasionally, but playing in the group The B.O.L.T. (Breath of Life Tribe) and yogi festivals have allowed him to find an audience ready for intercultural exploration. This career also allowed him to share the stage with stars like India Arie and Rihanna.

It was not always so harmonious in his childhood. Like many South Asian Americans, he experienced identity crises in a social climate often divided between predominantly white and black groups. Bullying and racist jokes about his name made the experience even more difficult. Songwriting, as he does for Disney and his current pop group Robot Nature, has always provided an outlet for these experiences.

“Music is absolutely a major part of healing, and it has been established that I earn income by doing it, so it is definitely a win-win for sure,” he said.

Today, South American children have a lot more media with characters that resemble them. “Mira, Royal Detective” is part of this movement, as a series taking place in South Asia with the first distribution of diasporic voices entirely South Asian from Disney.

Dr. Shilpa Dave, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty member in media studies at the University of Virginia, said the Ramapriyan series and involvement was a step forward for southern communities. people in pop culture. She cited the example of an upcoming Disney + live action series, focusing on the character of South Asian Marvel and American Muslim Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel), as further evidence of the growing engagement from Disney to enter global markets and global markets with diverse characters. “

“What we are seeing is an animated series that takes place in a South Asian context, and it is developed and performed with this cast of South Asian stars, which is great … you can have a lot of young people viewers who may be able to see for themselves and see people who look like them and who speak with American accents too, “she said.

“I would like to see, this is taking place in India and in a fictional place, but can we also start to see different ways of thinking of South Asians and even of thinking of India as a place that is not only” The Jungle Book “and” Slumdog Millionaire “, or about the orphans, but can we see different types of stories? “she added.” Part of this (series) tries to add to (the types of stories seen),

Ramapriyan recognizes the importance of his work.

“There is more awareness of Indian culture,” he said. “And so suddenly, Disney – of course, the biggest name in the world – comes in, and it’s not just Indians who do things like these (TV shows with South Asian characters) It is actually about sharing Indian culture in all its aspects: musically, colors, dance, food… now, to be able to see and express the vast and rich magic and color of India in such a beautiful way, I think it’s a huge leap forward. “