DesiQuest is an actual play featuring a powerhouse cast made up of Desi people. Led by Dungeon Master extraordinaire Jasmine Bhullar, this adventure is set in a world inspired by mythology from the Indian subcontinent. DesiQuest is full of laughs, action, and drama, and tells a story about a group of characters struggling with different kinds of disconnection.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Jasmine to talk about making DesiQuest, its goals and story, and what folks can expect when they tune in.

• What Is DesiQuest?
• DesiQuest Cast and Characters
• An Invitation to Discover Desi Culture
• What Is DesiQuest About?
• Favorite Moments
• Producing the Actual Play
• Watch DesiQuest

What Is DesiQuest?

DesiQuest is an actual play Dungeons & Dragons show, where everyone at the table is Desi. Jasmine got the idea for the show while filming a different actual play with Janina Gavankar. The two of them were talking about how rare it was for them to be sitting at an actual play with another Desi person, as Desi performers are generally competing with one another for a single seat on an actual play production, especially in Los Angeles, where many of the larger actual plays are filmed.

After Jasmine’s interaction with Janina, the idea of an all-Desi show was formed, one where the table would not only feature all Desi folks, but the story and world would be built on the foundation of Desi culture and mythology. Jasmine met Anjali Bhimani on the set of Critical Role, and the two began dreaming. Shortly after, Jasmine did a collaboration with The Guild, where she met Sandeep Parikh, the producer of EffinFunny, a channel that amplifies Desi voices.

"Sandeep was like, 'You're an amazing DM! I can't believe this is my first time meeting you. Let's chat and see how my production company can support anything that you want to do. Like what's your dream project?'" Jasmine explained. "And I was like, 'Well, me and Anjali have been kicking around this idea for like two years.'"

Desi (/ˈdāsē/) noun: a word used to describe the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, derived from Sanskrit देश (deśá), meaning "land, country".

— From the DesiQuest website

DesiQuest Cast and Characters

As the idea developed, Jasmine started meeting more Desi people in the actual play community, and gathered an incredible all-Desi cast to bring this beautiful story to life:

Anjali Bhimani is known for the voice of Symmetra in Overwatch and Auntie Ruby on Ms. Marvel. Anjali is a "Gujarati girl," and in DesiQuest, she plays Sitara, a star in vollywood, Vehaar’s film industry. Films in this country are created by using the encode thoughts cantrip, and putting it on crystal displays. By all appearances, Sitara has the perfect glamorous life, but we all know how deceiving appearances can be!

Omar Najam is a writer, director, and TTRPG player. He played an unseelie prince in Dimension 20’s A Court of Fey & Flowers, and appeared in a Critical Role one-shot celebrating The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Raised by his Indian Hindu mom and Pakistani Muslim dad, Omar plays Murkha, a brilliant but eccentric inventor who travels with his robotic red panda son, Buccha. While Murkha has met a lot of different people in his travels, his connections have always been transactional. That is all about to change!

Sandeep Parikh is a writer, actor, and producer of comedy. He also runs EffinFunny, the company that Jasmine partnered with. A "Gujarati boy," Sandeep plays Ash. Ash followed his parent’s footsteps and became a cleric, because "a job in medicine is the only good job." Ash hasn’t been back to the motherland Vehaar since he was young, but a recent mysterious vision lured him back.

Rekha Shankar is an executive story editor for NBC’s Grand Crew, and a performer at UCB Theatre. An "American-Born Curious Desi," Rekha always tries to learn more about her Hindu Tamilian roots. She plays Laddoo Auntie (laddoo is a spherical sweet, and is historically a staple Hindu dessert). She is an incredible cook, obviously known for her laddoo, and is Sitara’s strict auntie. Laddoo Auntie takes anyone even slightly younger than herself under her wing, despite any objections they may have, but is searching for a purpose outside of this.

An Invitation to Discover Desi Culture

One of the primary goals of DesiQuest is inviting others into the joy that comes from Desi culture. "We have a very unique reputation within the greater context of my country of being loud, boisterous, flighty, happy," Jasmine said of her own Punjabi Desi roots. "I really wanted to share that with everyone." Desi culture isn't a monolith, though. There is incredible diversity within the community, and Jasmine ensured the cast reflected that. There are folks who are Punjabi, Pakistani, Gujarati, Tamilar, Hindi, Sikh, and Muslim.

"It was amazing discovering how much we had in common and how different we all were," Jasmine said. "There's so many things in common between us in terms of never talking back to your elders, always being late to everything, and just the general chaos that is Desi people being in a room. We're always a little ridiculous. But then there is also sharing things about ourselves with each other, which was really special."

It was also important to Jasmine that DesiQuest felt like a safe place to learn new things, that even folks who know nothing about Indian culture felt welcome to watch, enjoy, and learn. DesiQuest is, after all, also an invitation for non-Desi people to experience part of the deep richness and vast beauty of Desi culture.

"I think that so much of the way we educate now, especially through social media, is shame," Jasmine said, citing discussions around "chai tea" as an example. The word "chai" means "tea," so sometimes people mock folks for saying the equivalent of "tea tea." "I think my players are super brave because they were willing to ask the same questions the audience would have had, instead of pretending while googling on their phone nervously like, 'Yeah, I know what a dupatta is,'" Jasmine said. "I love that my players are like, 'What is that?' and having that moment to be vulnerable and admit you don't know everything, because I think as a society we can benefit from that."

As a result, while the table is partaking in Desi joy and sharing their unique cultural identities with each other, they are also inviting the audience to learn alongside them. The show intentionally strengthens this invitation through Sandeep’s character Ash, who had never been to the country of Vehaar. The show opens with Ash arriving and meeting the rest of the characters, who are all from Vehaar. Ash struggles with the language and is confused about certain customs, which mirrors the way the audience may be brand new to aspects of Indian culture.

In this way, Ash is "a vehicle for the audience," Jasmine said, making DesiQuest accessible for the audience. In post-production, the team also added pop-up text that defines various terms.

What Is DesiQuest About?

DesiQuest takes place in Vehaar, a homebrew world based on Indian mythology and infused with all kinds of influences from the subcontinent’s vast history. Jasmine particularly drew on everything from the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization, to the ancient epics of the Mahabharata. In Vehaar, the gods are alive, and walk the world. The carefully crafted setting serves as an inspired backdrop for a story about disconnection.

"I was really inspired by Death Stranding, especially playing that game during the pandemic," Jasmine said. "We come in contact with more people than ever, but we feel disconnected. And so there's a lot of underlying themes in the campaign and amongst the different characters that manifests in different ways.

"People feeling disconnected from their parents, not being able to share something close about themselves, whether that's your queerness or something inside of you that you need to say, but you can't," Jasmine continued. "There's disconnection in a marriage, feeling like communication has broken down, and not knowing how to navigate that. There's feeling disconnected from your culture and not knowing how to navigate that kind of messy and awkward phase of going back."

DesiQuest also explores the disconnect that can arise from trying to navigate science and modernity with tradition and spirituality, something Jasmine says she thinks about a lot. "Young people that believe in science and technology, how do we balance that with celebrating a festival for a goddess that promises you a good harvest?" Jasmine asked. "How do all these things come together?"

Favorite Moments: A Bunty Uncle, an Extradimensional Tent, and an Iconic Miniature

A Bunty Uncle

Jasmine’s favorite moment in the entire DesiQuest campaign comes immediately in episode one with the Bunty Uncle. Ash enters the country for the first time, and it’s stressful and chaotic. A distant relative shows up, speaks to a flustered and confused Ash in brusk one-word answers, and subsequently disappears with the luggage. As the characters met this NPC, every player at the table shared the same sentiment.

"They all just said, 'Jasmine, I know this person.' My brother who consulted with us and was watching a live feed from India texted me and said, 'Oh my God, I deal with this person every day.' We all have a Bunty Uncle in our lives. We all have to bear with this person. It was just that shared commiserating, that I was like, we're gonna have a really good time."

The Tea Kettle

One of my favorite things in DesiQuest is the Tea Kettle, a small tented space on set that was created for private conversations. In the game world, it exists as an extradimensional space where characters have conversations with Jasmine, who plays the setting’s deities. The private space on the set allowed the players to reveal their character’s fears and secrets to the viewers, without spilling them to other players.

The Tea Kettle shows up in the first episode, and works beautifully. Sitara speaks with a deity, and the audience becomes privy to her deepest concerns in a way that would have been very difficult to come out at the table. Personally, I'm already deeply invested in Sitara’s personal struggles, and can't wait to see how things evolve in future episodes.

An Iconic Creature Miniature

When I asked Jasmine for a juicy hint of what’s to come in episodes down the road, she teased that there was something in store for all of us DMs who love miniatures and models. We laughed about how often we DMs will rewrite an encounter to figure out how we can use one of our beloved models.

"So many of the miniatures in the battles in the game were just like, I just have this mini and I really want to use it," Jasmine said. "Sometimes your campaign is inspired by a model, and there is a baby version of a big bad that is pretty iconic to D&D that you'll see in this, and it might change the way you feel about that creature all grown up," she hinted.

Producing the Actual Play

Jasmine is a talented creative, with a long list of writing and performing credits, but prior to DesiQuest, she had never engaged with the producing side of the industry. Taking on the role of executive producer alongside Anjali and Sandeep presented Jasmine with new challenges, as well as unique opportunities to grow.

"I think the challenging part was finding my own voice because I had never been the owner of a project like that before," Jasmine said, giving props to Anjali for teaching her not to be afraid to use her voice. "And I was afraid, because I had this built-in fear people are going to say, you're full of yourself, or you're difficult to work with."

Throughout the process, Jasmine stayed focused on the simple goal of creating a good show. Stretching her wings with DesiQuest strengthened the confidence she has in her own vision and voice.

"I think moving forward, I have this confidence that my creative vision is important and it's valuable," Jasmine said. "I don't think I would have done that a year ago. And I think now I know that I have creative vision, but I also have the strength to kind of stand behind my words."

The result of Jasmine’s strong creative vision, powerful cast of performers, and small hardworking team of editors is that DesiQuest is an extraordinary actual play production that anyone can enjoy.

Watch DesiQuest

The inaugural episode of DesiQuest launched for Kickstarter backers on Diwali, an intentional choice that allowed Desi folks to watch this joyful show on a celebration date. It is now available to the public. You can watch DesiQuest on EffinFunny’s YouTube channel, and learn more about the show on their website.

Alyssa (she/they) is a freelance writer who lives in Canada with her husband, four children, and dog. When she isn't pursuing one of their many special interests, they are researching, analyzing or rambling on Twitter (@alyssavisscher) about yet another special interest. They love games, plants, sci-fi, painting, and stories. She is queer, disabled, neurodivergent, and is impressively terrible at small talk.