Priya Darshini (born 25 December 1983) is an Indian-American singer, composer, actress, professional sprinter, and entrepreneur based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. She is known for musical recordings in both

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and Western productions, her role in the 2014 American film ''The Letters'', and becoming the first Indian woman to complete the 100-mile Himalayan Ultra Marathon. She is married to

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

artist Max ZT.

Music career

Growing up in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India, Darshini began musical studies with Bombay Lakshmi Rajagopalan at age nine. In 2008, Darshini joined Roy “Futureman” Wooten's Black Mozart Ensemble, performing "a dream-like fusion of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, hip-hop,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, bluegrass and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

" throughout India and the United States. In 2017 Darshini became Artistic Director of Brooklyn Raga Massive and co-led Women's Raga Massive, performing with both. She also co-produced Out of the Woods, an annual monthly festival dedicated to amplifying the works of female-identified artists. Darshini signed with

Chesky Records Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Che ...

, releasing a single, ''Home'', in March 2020, in advance of release of her first album, ''Periphery''. This album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best New Age Album for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. Recordings * Dil Di Nazar from ''Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya'' * Ek Pal Ki Zindagi Hai from ''D Company'' * Dhoonde Dil from ''Mukhbir'' directed by

Mani Shankar Mani Shankar is a Bollywood film director, holographic technology expert, writer and speaker. He is best known for introducing computer-generated imagery to India, and for designing the world's first holographic political campaign, which he ...

* Awaaz Koi from ''Darling'' * Grand Tapestry - ''Grand Tapestry'' (2016) *

Karsh Kale Karsh Kale (pronounced ''Kursh Kah-lay'', ''कर्ष काळे'' in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale' ...

- ''Following Sunlight'' (2016) * House of Waters - ''House of Waters'' -

GroundUP Music GroundUP Music is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, world music, folk, rock, and gospel. The label was founded in 2012 by Michael League as a home for his band Snarky Puppy. The roster of acts on ...

(2016) *

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

- "Obey The Law of the Heart" (from ''

Basmati Blues ''Basmati Blues'' is a 2017 American romantic comedy musical film, directed by Danny Baron, in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Baron and Jeff Dorchen. It stars Brie Larson and Utkarsh Ambudkar in lead roles with Scott Bakula, Donald ...

'') (2017) * The Epichorus - ''Najara'' (2018) *

Eligh Eli Nathan Nachowitz (born February 28, 1978), better known as Eligh, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He is a member of the underground hip hop group Living Legends. Biography Eligh's inspiration for making hip hop mus ...

- ''Last House on the Block'' (2018) * ''Periphery'' (2020; debut solo album)

Sports

In 2007, at age twenty-three, Darshini became the first and youngest Indian woman to run the 100-mile Himalayan

Ultra Marathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

on the border of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, at elevations ranging from 6000 ft to 12000 ft. The experience led her to found an

adventure racing Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo co ...

company, The WindChasers, in 2011, organizing ultra marathons across India, including two named to

Conde Nast Conde may refer to: Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune Linguistic ''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Count ...

's 2016 list of Most Scenic Marathons of India, and 2019 list of Beautiful Marathons in India.

Film and acting career

After studying film-making and acting at the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, ...

in 2005, Darshini started working on both sides of the camera for Independent films in India. She acted in the 2014 Hollywood film ''The Letters'', a film where she acted in a supporting role opposite

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadi ...

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

, and

Max Von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

. In 2017, Darshini got involved in

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

with a performance of ''It Can Happen Here'', a play directed by Judith Sloan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darshini, Priya 1983 births Living people Singers from Chennai Actresses from Chennai American film actresses American stage actresses American female ultramarathon runners Indian film actresses Indian stage actresses Indian ultramarathon runners Singers from Brooklyn Actresses from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Brooklyn Indian emigrants to the United States American people of Indian Tamil descent 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers