Actor, Writer, Filmmaker and Talented
Sujata Day is a director, actor, model and screenwriter based in Pittsburgh, US. She attracted fame for her role as CeCe in Issa Rae’s comedy web series titled The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl that was made in 2011 where Issa Rae also starred in the lead role. The web series, which was premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on 3rd February 2011, garnered critical acclaim.
About Sujata Day
Sujata is the daughter of an India born mechanical engineer and home maker. She became drawn to performing arts from a young age. Her initiation into arts began with dance (ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop, and East Indian folk and classical dance) and later she became interested in singing, acting and musical theater too. She performed in school and community productions and then eventually decided upon choosing a career in acting for herself.
If one were to ask what is the profession of Sujata Day, it would be apt to say she is a writer, director and actress all rolled into one though most of the news on Sujata Day is about her directorial achievements. However, she began her journey in the entertainment industry in front of the camera.
Sujata did appear in a number of television shows such as Campus Ladies, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Greek, 7th Heaven among others. Her first role in film was perhaps in Weapon of Mass Destruction (2004). Sujata also acted in a supporting role in Sublime (2007), which is a Warner Bros. production, where she played a Quechan Indian Girl. Sujata also played the role of Stacy Rahman in the 2009 horror-comedy film The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu. The film was screened at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival. She also acted in Down for Life, which was premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and attracted rave reviews.
Her association with Issa Rae began with The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl. The web series ran from 2011-13 and spanned over two seasons and 25 episodes.
She appeared for three seasons on HBO’s comedy-drama television series Insecure, made by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore. Sujata also happens to be a Sundance Lab fellow, Sundance Film Festival influencer, and Sundance Collab advisor.
Sujata has the distinction of serving as HBO Visionaries Ambassador in 2019 as well.
In 2017,Sujata Day directed a short film of 8 minutes named Cowboy and Indian, which she also wrote, produced and in which she starred. The film was sold to a major studio for series development. If one were to write a biography of Sujata Day, then this much talked about short film with deep symbolism must be explored. The short film is to be developed into a television series.
Her Maiden Feature Film
Her debut feature film named Definition Please was premiered at the 2020 Bentonville Film Festival in the U.S. Narrative Competition. The film went on to win the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at CAAM Fest 2020 and Outstanding Directorial Debut Award at the 2020 South Asian Film Festival of America. The film was also the 2020 Official Selection at the Philapelphia Asian American Film Festival, Official Selection at BAAF, Official Selection at the Seattle Asian American Film Festival. and made presence in lots of other film festivals too.
Definition Please is a sparkling comedy cum drama (it can be clubbed under a new genre dramedy) on a fictitious South Asian American former Spelling Bee winner named Monica Chowdry. In the film it is explored how Monica hasn’t achieve much success in life despite the coveted win. Here it deserves a mention that Sujata herself won a fourth-grade spelling bee contest. Sujata also wrote the film and starred in it in the main role.
The film beautifully touches upon issues of mental health and finding one’s life’s purpose and explores protagonist’s relationships with her mother and with her brother. The serious film is also laced with humor and celebrates South Asian culture without the trappings of conventional cliches.
It is refreshingly natural that all the characters in the film have flaws because in real life also hardly anybody is perfect. Sujata said on Elle.com that “For me, Definition Please was an opportunity to show that South Asian-Americans are more than just the perfect smart technical engineers. There are other sides of us as well.” In the film Sujata explored real life issues in the South Asian American community such as the myth of ‘Model Minority’ too with uncommon sensitivity.
Sadly, one of the most daunting challenges for her while making the film was raising the requisite finances for it and she invested her own money into making the film.
One of the important news on Sujata Day has been that WME did sign her for representation in all areas.
Despite making a name in films, Sujata is continuing her innings in television. Her role of Laura in I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson(2019) is one of her recent roles in television.
FAQs
She is an American who was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. In popular parlance she can be described as Indian-American. She can also be described as a Bengali American of Indian ancestry.
The age of Sujata Day is 37 years. She was born on 27th June 1984.
In her growing up years, Sujata excelled in maths and science, and went on to Case Western University in Cleveland to earn her engineering degree.
