Jai Sahota (Actor and Screenwriter)
Jai sahota is a Punjabi Australian Actor and Screenwriter from sydney australia and is represented by belton Management.
His Work Spans across theatre and screen, here are his credits so far
THEATRE:
INAUGURAL UNIVERSITY THEATRE CUP
My first performance! I was part of team UNSW to create an improvised sketch scene, where I played a character called ‘Wolf Jenner’ this was a social media influencer hybrid character based on caricatures of Hollywood and the abstract lifestyle of the industry.
PITY BY RORY MULARKEY DIR BY MARK ROGERS
An absuridist and apocalyptic play about the destruction of society set in a comedic and unnaturalistic manner. I play three characters, a supervisor, the generous refugee and the purple solider, I also did some of the stage directions too. The characters I play are very serious and passionate about their possessions in society and playing into this enables for the comedy to shine.
SHORT AND SWEET ILLAWARRA (AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION)
A short and snappy comedic play about two burglars hijacking a performance on stage. As they try to gain the trust of the audience, they pick out at one person who ends up being a police officer! unknowingly, they are forced to think on their feet to save themselves. I play the character Brian who is new to the world of burglary, he is naïve and innocent. The police officer is Steve turned Stevie for our cast, she is brash and cares about following the law to the tea, and Sharon is the experienced burglar, she’s the brains of this operation.
ANGUWA written by Dr JOSHUA MOSTAFA, Dir by AUGUSTA SUPPLE
A thriller reimagination of stories set between ancient Greece to Indian Epics. As a power struggle and culture-clash between horse-riding warriors and villagers on the Danubian Plain.
THE FUTURE SHOW AFTER DEBORAH PEARSON DIR BY CHLOE DECHERY
Starting from the end of this show tell the end of the performer’s life. This text is originally written by one person for one person, however our director worked with Pearson to adapt the show for 10 actors. We each write an event that is to occur in our lives, our love life, our simple daily activities, certain events to take place, the passing of time and eventually leading to our deaths. We read the script as a sacred text to the audience, with little to no heightened performance, we let the text shine. This show grapples with how uneventful life can be but also how it’s important to enjoy these moments in life as they all lead to the same road of our eventual passing.
‘WHO’S THE BEST?'‘ after the performance collective POST, Dir and Co-written by MALCOLM WHITTAKER
This is a show about the imperfections and flaws of human nature in always wanting to be the standout being the best version of yourself. The process for this show involved the rigorous working out of who is the best at a particular activity. For example, we calculated who is the best at running, who has the best looking body and so on, although the process in the beginning felt uneasy, as we delved further into the process we began trusting each-other in how this all plays becoming a lot more fun and as such the end product depicts the uncomfortability within an individuals desire to always stand out from the crowd.
Musical Theatre:
YEAH NAH! written by Lucy Heffernan Inspired from William Shakespeare’s work ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ Dir by Tim Maddock
A Musical Theatre rendition of a classic Shakespeare Play takes on an Australian contemporary lens through combining Aussie lingo with Shakespearean language to form a new and fun way to depict Shakespeare’s iconic work. I got to play a Mechanical called Francis Flute and Mustardseed who is a fairy. This show was very physical and fast paced and utilised music and comedy together to create intense impact on audience throughout the entire play.
Screen Credits:
‘ALIBIS’ Written and Dir by Sienna Pallone
A webseries orignally shot for an acting assessment, this is a short film about the death of Veronica Wood by her twin sister Vanessa and how she made this elaborate plan to kill her because of jealousy and betrayal from Veronica with Vanessa’s boyfriend. This case is looked at by the main character Detective Hortense played me and with our director playing Lilly Monray who is an accomplice and Naomi playing the twins.
SOUND OF SUMMER written and dir by Brian Yap through BYO Productions
A short film about a guy named Adam who reminisces his relationship with Summer who had unfortunately passed away because of a swimming accident. In this film you as the audience get to see in real time how grief can be a tricky and non-linear experience and how a single moment and or change in circumstance can help someone move on with their life yet still hold the memory of their lost ones.
BOILER ROOM Dir by Jonny Pasvolsky
Part of my showreel done through Screenwise. About two finance bro’s on the breek of shut down from the police for money laundring.
GROSSE POINTE BLANK Dir by Jonny Pasvolsky
Second part of my showreel through Screenwise. About the complex and intersectional relationship of patient with his therapist and how there is always more going on beneath the surface
His personal projects that are in development
TV/Film
‘Trifecta Squad’ written by Jai Sahota under Sahota Productions, Dir by Madi Phoenix and Produced by Fletcher Scully
A mini-series in development, inspired by William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ and Tina Fey’s Mean Girls. A show about three best-friends navigating their end of high school experience. The besties are an iconic trio who just want to live their best lives and get through the end of school without causing more drama, that is until the introduction of new hot boy Mac, he joins forces with the ‘evil sisters’ who despise the besties since they were in primary school. Now with Mac in the picture will the evil sisters finally destroy the besties or is this just another reason for the besties to shine love over hate.
Two Birds, One Stone written and dir by Jai Sahota under Sahota Productions
A short-film in development about a guy named ‘Man’ who is stuck and unmotivated by life. That is until he does the thing, that thing which makes him feel alive. What is that feeling for him? his work mate David, overtime sees that Man isn’t himself, so he tells him to see a therapist about what’s going on with him. During their session, the therapist is just about to crack Man, that is until he has an episode and as such storms out the therapist’s office. What is it that Man desires? what is his ‘something’ in life and what is he willing to do and or sacrifice in-order to achieve that feeling.