Shiva Raichandani (born 1993) is a British

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

film and TV director, producer, screenwriter, dancer, and actor. Their works exist at the intersections of creating positive gender-expansive representation in mainstream media, addressing mental health stigma (especially within the

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

n diaspora context), and using the performing arts to drive positive social change. They were selected as a recipient of the 2023

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, d ...

and BAFTA LGBTQIA+ Mentoring Scheme, and identified by

Attitude Magazine ''Attitude'' is a British gay lifestyle magazine owned by Stream Publishing Limited. It is sold worldwide as a physical magazine and as a digital download. The first issue of ''Attitude'' appeared in May 1994. A separate Thai edition was publi ...

as one of 2023’s Top 10 trailblazers for Film, TV, and Music in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Raichandani is known for having been a semi-finalist on

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

, and a contestant on

India's Got Talent India's Got Talent is a televised Indian Hindi, Hindi language talent show series and is part of the ''Got Talent franchise''. The program is produced and distributed by Fremantle (company), Fremantle and Syco Entertainment. The show aired on C ...

and France's Got Talent with the London School of Bollywood. Their debut film, Queer Parivaar (2022), won the BAFTA-qualifying Iris Prize 'Best British Short' award, making it available for broadcast and streaming on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In May 2021, Raichandani won the inaugural

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Documentary Talent Fund to direct a film on Shane 'ShayShay' Konno and their Pan-Asian drag and cabaret collective, The Bitten Peach. As reported by Variety, the documentary is titled 'Peach Paradise', and premiered on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

’s first-ever live film showcase. Shiva’s latest BAFTA-nominated documentary called ‘Always, Asifa’ (commissioned by

Together TV Together TV (formerly The Community Channel) is a British free-to-air television channel owned by The Community Channel, a community benefit society. The channel targets a women's audience aged 40 to 60, with programming related to health an ...

’s Diverse Film Fund) premiered at the BFI’s

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

. Raichandani also freelances as a speaker and consultant on inclusive LGBTQIA+ practices for corporate and non-profit organisations, and is a D&I Content Consultant at New Inclusion. Shiva has degrees in Psychology, Counselling, and Media Communication, and uses the combined knowledge from them with their lived experiences to tap into the discourses of intersectional identities. They use digital platforms to mobilise and create safe community spaces to champion diverse talent and drive topical conversations around societal issues.

Appearances

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

(2022) - Shiva made a brief appearance in the 20th season of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

show during a Bollywood-inspired routine choreographed by Prabhleen Oberoi of Sapnay Dance. *

Queer Britain Queer Britain is a museum of British LGBTQ history and culture located in Kings Cross, London. It is the first dedicated LGBTQ museum in the UK. The museum consists of three connected galleries plus a shop and occupies the ground floor of 2 Gr ...

(2022) - Photographs of Shiva are displayed at the U.K.’s first museum exclusively showcasing LGBTQ+ art and history. * H&M (2022) - Shiva was featured in H&M’s Diwali Campaign. * Cannes Lions (2019) - Along with Asad Dhunna of The Unmistakables, Raichandani addressed the topic 'Why We Don't Need Another Diversity Talk' through a performance with a custom track "Hell No", a parody of the popular

Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel ...

song ' Jai Ho'. *

(2017) - Raichandani, along with the London School of Bollywood, challenged Bollywood's heteronormative narratives by bringing gender fluidity to the forefront and making it to the semi-finals. *

(2018) - Raichandani competed with the London School of Bollywood and performed with

Karan Johar Karan Yash Johar (born Rahul Kumar Johar; 25 May 1972), often informally referred to as KJo, is an Indian filmmaker, producer and television personality who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He has launched the careers of several successful ac ...

on the main stage. In
blog post
Raichandani writes: "With a routine like this in which a non-binary gender fluid 'star' takes center stage instead of the quintessential 'hero' and 'heroine', we hoped to add to the discourse around gender fluidity and queerness that is too often ignored in the Bollywood industry." * France's Got Talent (2018) - Raichandani competed with the London School of Bollywood performing their routine around gender fluidity. *

(2018) - Raichandani was featured in a video titled ''What I Wish You Knew: About Being Nonbinary'', where they discussed gender identity with

Jacob Tobia Jacob Tobia is an American activist, writer, producer, television host, and actor. In 2019, they published their memoir titled '' Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story''. They also provided the voice of Double Trouble in DreamWorks' animated series ' ...

Liv Hewson Liv Hewson (born 29 November 1995) is an Australian non-binary actor and playwright. Their written work includes "lots of re-imaginings of fairytales and mythology with a queer and dark slant." They starred as Abby Hammond in the Netflix series ...

, and Lachlan Watson. * TEDx London (2018) - Raichandani gave the introductory remarks of the event by touching upon non-binary representation in Bollywood. *

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

's 'I am Remarkable' (2020) - Raichandani delivered the keynote discussing positive gender-diverse representation in Bollywood dance and storytelling. Raichandani has also been featured on UK Black Pride, Pride in London,

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, Bollyshake, and London Queer Fashion Show.

Filmography

Raichandani produces films under their production company Raisilience Ltd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raichandani, Shiva Living people 1993 births Britain's Got Talent contestants British LGBTQ dancers British people of Indian descent Non-binary dancers British non-binary people 21st-century British LGBTQ people Alumni of the University of Leeds