Meet Avantika, Teen Star of Disney Channel’s First Indian American Film

When actor and dancer Avantika first had the chance to read the script for Spin, the new Disney Channel film about an Indian American teen named Rhea who discovers her talent for DJing, she immediately knew she wanted to be involved.

“I loved how the film kind of broke stereotypes in terms of the conflict and how Rhea deals with her identity — which is she’s very comfortable with it,” Avantika told the FBomb. That nuanced portrayal of second-generation immigrant life and the fact that she would get the chance to play an empowered and creative teen immediately drew her to the role, as did the fact that this was Disney’s first film to center a South Asian American family.

Spin, which premieres on August 13, also features Bollywood superstar Abhay Deol as Rhea’s dad and British Indian comedy actor Meera Syal as her grandmother. The FBomb had the chance to chat with Avantika about her legendary co-stars, the power of finding a creative outlet, and what she learned about the art of being a good DJ.

Central to Spin’s storyline is how Rhea finds herself through music. As an experienced dancer, the performing arts have been a big part of your life as well. Did your experiences with dance influence how you approached Rhea’s character?

Yes, at least I think it did. Like you said, I was a dancer to begin with, so my experience with rhythm and my experience with movement and song did help bring the DJ aspect of this film to life. But at the same time, DJing is such a specific niche, and it’s not something females are exposed to very often, especially not South Asian women, so it was very new to me to be thrown into DJing. It was like, ‘Hey, there’s this new thing, and you have to learn it.’

But my dance experience helped me significantly with it, and I don’t think the whole journey would have been as smooth if I didn’t have that background.

Was there anything that surprised you about DJing as you learned more about what it took to succeed at it?

I honestly did not know anything about DJing specifically, aside from my general knowledge of music and song and how genres blend. So one and a half months prior to shooting this film, I was walked through the entire process: the fundamentals of beat matching, picking and choosing genres, and the setup of the turntables. I was lucky I had amazing people to join me and guide me along the journey, and it was super great.

One of the most interesting aspects of this film is Rhea’s journey going from a pretty quiet kid to skyrocketing into the spotlight because of her talents as a DJ, because of her ability to draw on her culture.

I think what’s so great about Rhea’s character is that she is struggling with so much and with so many confidence issues in the beginning, but towards the end, we see her becoming more comfortable with herself and becoming more comfortable with the spotlight. I am so glad we get to see her truly using her platform for good and for spreading awareness about Indian music. That evolution in the film is one of my favorite parts of the movie.

You also got to work with some pretty legendary co-stars in Abhay Deol and Meera Syal. What was that experience like?

I grew up loving Bollywood and watching those movies, so when Manjari [Makijany], the director, called me and said, ‘Do you know who is playing your dad?’ and I said ‘No,’ and she said ‘Abhay Deol,’ I thought, ‘Oh my god.’ It was definitely a very surreal moment. I don’t think I fully grasped that this person I had watched on screen for so long was actually going to be on set with me and playing one of my family members.

When it comes to Meera Syal, I have to say I’ve been a fan for a long time. She’s such a talented comedian and actress and to have her in this film was one of the highlights of the movie. I think everyone who watches the movie can see her star shine and see how naturally funny she is.

In addition to the performers who play your family, Spin’s cast is also very diverse in terms of Rhea’s classmates and friends at school. Did Rhea’s experiences remind you of your own school experiences at all?

I had a diverse group of friends growing up when I went to public school. I knew people from different backgrounds who brought different foods to school. So to see that represented in this film so seamlessly and seeing Rhea and her friends just sharing their native foods in the cafeteria made me feel so happy. When I was in school, I remember sharing pakoras with my friends, so to see Rhea also doing the same thing at her school was just so heartwarming.

Lots of families are going to be watching Spin together when it airs. What would you like them to get out of this movie?

Just to be encouraging their kids and whatever path they want to take. If families are hesitant towards sending their kids into artistic fields, I hope they find comfort in the fact that Rhea is pursuing a career in music while also having a really great academic career in STEM and coding as well. It’s very possible to do both. I hope that families are able to take that away from the movie and hopefully be a little bit more supportive of their kids and their dreams.