Backstage look at books starring on Broadway.
Hosted by Ilana Levine, Actress and Podcaster, Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine
Life of Pi
Mahira Kakkar (Nurse / Amma / Orange Juice)
Salma Qarnain (Mrs. Biology Kimar / Zaida Khan)
Hosted by Ilana Levine, Actress and Podcaster, Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine
Mahira Kakkar (Nurse/Amma/Orange Juice) Off-Broadway: 7 Minutes, Waterwell; Here We Are, Theater for One; Addressless, Rattlestick; Opus, Primary Stages; Harper Regan, Atlantic; Romeo and Juliet, Public Theater; The Winter’s Tale, TFANA; When January Feels Like Summer, EST; Henry VI, NAATCO; Arturo Ui, Classic Stage Company; Ms. Witherspoon, Playwrights Horizons; Clive, The New Group. Regional: Life of Pi, A.R.T.; Skylight, McCarter Theatre; Rafta Rafta, Old Globe; Our Town, OSF; Monsoon Wedding, Berkeley Rep; Bedroom Farce, Huntington Theater Company; Inana, Denver Center; The Crucible, Cleveland Playhouse; Five Mile Lake, McCarter Theatre Center; Comedy of Errors, Hartford Stage, Jesus in India, Magic Theater. Film/TV: “A Suitable Boy” (series lead), “Manifest” (recurring), “New Amsterdam,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Blacklist,” “Louie,” “Odd Mom Out,” “Sweet Refuge,” “Bite Me,” Hank and Asha (Napa Valley Film Festival Best Actress, Wild Rose Festival Best Actress, Slamdance Audience winner, Bronze Lens winner), “Law & Order,” “Orange Is the New Black.” Training: Juilliard, SITI, Harold Guskin; B.A. Jadavpur University mahirakakkar.com
Salma Qarnain (Mrs. Biology-Kumar/Zaida Khan) is a versatile Pakistani American actor, thrilled to be making her Broadway debut in the adaptation of one of her favorite books. She is a two-time Helen Hayes Award recipient, an AUDELCO nominee, and an award-winning theater and film producer. She has performed across major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, HBO Max, Hulu, Showtime), regionally, Off-Broadway, and Off West End. Most recently, she produced the 2023 Oscar-qualified short film, Silent Partner (19 festivals / 4 Oscar qualifiers; 8 awards / nominations) and Speak Up Brotha! which is premiering at the Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival. Selected credits: Bars and Measures (Off-Broadway); Acquittal (Off-Broadway); Rain + Zoe Save the World (Off West End); That Damn Michael Che (RECUR, HBO Max); FBI (CBS); The Blacklist (NBC); Law & Order SVU (NBC); For Life (ABC). Graduate of Stanford, MIT, Harvard Business School. Proud member of SAG•AFTRA, AEA, Equity. Thank you to Roderick, Gary, Lolita, Max, Finn, Duncan, Benton, Patrick, A.R.T, and Annette for getting me here. Love you, X! For my sisters Ayesha, Sonia, and Zehra and my parents Qarnain and Rashida in the stars. IG: @salma.qarnain; salmaqarnain.com