Guest Year: 2023

Zain Sharif is an Atlanta-based standup comedian who performs in clubs and theaters all over the country. Zain’s weekly sketches and stand-up have garnered 250,000 subscribers and 75 million views across platforms.

Ashwini Sidwani is a distinguished Indian writer and producer, renowned for her exceptional contributions to the film industry. Notably, she made a powerful debut with her film “The Silence,” which earned acclaim. Her prowess extends to other notable works such as the PIFF-winning films “Pimpal” and “Welcome Home.”

Amit Saxena was born in Uttar Pradesh, grew up in Delhi and studied in Kirori Mal College, Delhi University. Later he moved to Sydney, Australia for Higher studies and then to the US for MBA from one of the top 10 US business school. He is currently the president & CEO of Atlanta based indirect tax automation company Sarus, Inc (www.sarusinc.com). He is also the CTO and founding partner of New York-based Forensic auditing company “Surveil-lens.com” (www.surveil-lens.com) along with being the sole Managing partner at Atlanta based real estate holding company “APM Global. LLC”

Actor in Schitt’s Creek, Tick Pickwick on The Magicians, Rajiv Gidwani in the NBC Universal TV series Outsourced, and Jamil in the DC Extended Universe television series Peacemaker and film Shazam

Deepti Naval is an Indian film actor, director, writer, painter and photographer. A multi-faceted personality, her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and close to life characters that emphasized the changing role of women in India. The first American-Indian actor to join Hindi films, Deepti made her debut in the year 1980 with the path-breaking film EK BAAR PHIR, for which she won her first Best Actor award, and has since appeared in more than 90 films, including CHASHMEBADDOOR, KATHA,SAATH SAATH, KAMLA, MIRCH MASALA,ANKAHI, MAIN ZINDA HOON, DIDI, LEELA, SHAKTI, FIRAAQ, LISTEN AMAYA, MEMORIES IN MARCH, NH-10 etc., carving a distinct niche for herself in the Indian Film Industry.