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# Mindy Kaling & Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Share First Time They Felt Represented On Screen
- URL: https://celebritykind.ghost.io/mindy-kaling-maitreyi-ramakrishnan-share-first-time-they-felt-represented-on-screen/
- Published: 2022-08-17T06:25:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-30T03:44:02.000Z
- Author: Celebritykind
- Tags: representation, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Mindy Kaling, #Migrated-1790725431459, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-09-29 23:45

Actor, director and all 'round awesome human **Mindy Kaling** and *Never Have I* Ever star **Maitreyi Ramakrishnan -** both women who have brought South Asian representation to the screen in different ways - have opened up about the first time *they* felt represented on screen.

In a "Casting Notes" video shared by **Netflix Golden,** Mindy recalls the 2003 hit soccer rom-com *Bend It Like Beckham:*

"I related to the athletic part of it," she jokes.

"So as an athlete, I felt seen. Oh I guess she was Indian, huh?" Mindy adds, referring to main character Jesminta, portrayed by **Parminder Nagra,** whose traditional Indian parents wanted her to study hard and find a nice boy to settle down with rather than play soccer.

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At the time, Parminder was one of only a handful of South Asian women on screen. Hollywood has certainly improved in terms of representation 20 years on - think Priyanka Chopra, Jameela Jamil, Pallavi Sharda, Padma Lakshmi, Richa Moorjani, Poorna Jagannathan, Lilly Singh and of course, 20-year-old Maitreyi who is currently delighting audiences around the world as high schooler Devi Vishwakumar in the Mindy-c0created series, *Never Have I Ever.* 

For Maitreyi, she first felt represented on screen watching Mindy herself:

"I mean, obviously, watching *The Office*, Kelly Kapoor," Maitreyi begins. "And when *The Mindy Project* came out, I'll never forget my mom being like 'Yo, yo, Maity, look! She's Tamil. Like us!'"

Check out the full video [HERE](https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChVP2L1psRM/?ref=celebritykind.ghost.io) \- and as Rabbi and author Danya Ruttenberg once wrote: "we need diverse representation not only so every kid can see themselves as the hero of the story, but so that every kid can understand that *other* kinds of kids are *also* the heroes of the story."

*(Feature Image Credit: Ron Adar/Shutterstock; Eugene Powers/Shutterstock)*