magicallypriy

Bollywood movies are a big part of my culture and were also a huge part of my childhood. From the music to the outfits to the familiarity of them and the, sometimes,  overdramatics  of them – they mean a lot to me. There’s so much to love about them and because of the sheer volume of them; it can be overwhelming not knowing where to start. So, for a new blog post that may turn into a series – I decided to share some movie recommendations with you all. Side note: these films can be really long in running time so if long films aren’t for you then that’s totally okay! However, if you want to give them a try, then  try pausing the film for an interval (however long you want that interval to be). Most of the films will have a really obvious place that will be good for an interval too. So, the way I thought I’d set out this post is by sharing genre/tropes that you may like and then what film(s) you should watch based on that!  If you like  Forbidden Love  and...

 This week (from the 2 nd -8 th December) is ‘Grief Awareness Week’, so I thought I would use the best outlet I have to share some thoughts and feelings on a subject matter that so many of us have to deal with. ‘What is grief, if not love persevering?’ Ever since Wandavision aired, this quote has stuck with me. It’s possibly the best and most meaningful description I’ve heard about grief. We all know grief as the mourning a loss, but seeing it described like this is powerful. So, although they may be gone – it doesn’t mean that the love you have for them has gone. I always find that, in society, you’re expected to move on from your grieving after a certain time. The thing is, though; grief doesn’t have a shelf date. Yes, life carries on and yes, eventually, a lot of people can find a way to navigate through their lives; often finding strength and solace in other things or people. However, that doesn’t mean that the grief has gone. It’s a testament to the love you have for th...

 For too long, POC have been told and made to feel like that in order to exist in predominantly white spaces, we must conform to their ways; therefore, erasing parts of our identities and culture. This is where a big part of internalised racism comes into play. Internalised racism is a huge, layered problem that many POC face. It can take a long time to unlearn those levels of self-hatred and to navigate through that intensity of identity crisis. Like I said, internalised racism is extremely layered and so it’s not easy to put one universal meaning on it. It’s different for everyone but the crux of it is the self-loathing due to one’s race/culture. For some people, it’s the physical attributes of their race. For some, it’s the stereotypes placed on that race/culture. Internalised racism ranges in how it affects different POC but the one thing that remains true is the impact society has on those intrusive, hateful thoughts against oneself. Growing up, I experienced internalised ...

 Coming out isn’t black and white. It’s not something that looks the same for everyone and every individual’s experience with it is different. For some, coming out is the best thing they can do for themselves and their lives. However, for some people, it’s not safe for them to come out or they don’t feel comfortable or even feel the need to. There’s no right or wrong to coming out and there most definitely isn’t an age limit to it. I think that something that’s important to emphasise is the fact that not publicly coming out does not invalidate your identity. However you identify is still valid no matter if/when you come out. Nobody should ever feel a pressure to come out, particularly if they don’t feel safe, comfortable, or ready to do so. A big myth about coming out is that it’s a one-time thing. People sometimes assume that you come out and then every single person you ever encounter knows your identity but obviously this is far from the case and a lot of the times, you neve...

 Have you ever been watching a show at the theatre, or a movie or a TV show and found yourself thinking: ‘Ah there’s the token POC so this production doesn’t look racist’? Because I can’t count the amount of times that has happened to me. Growing up, I watched a lot of Bollywood movies but naturally I also loved watching Hollywood movies and I also loved getting to go on school trips to the theatre to see different shows. However, the number of times I would see myself represented on stage or on the big screen was scarce. I remember thinking that one day it would get better. At one point I even dreamed of being on stage myself as an Indian performer in the West End. Now I find myself in the big year of 2021 and I feel like we’ve barely moved from the point we were at ten years ago. Conversations surrounding diversity – or the lack thereof – are getting louder, but a lot of these conversations are still mostly coming from POC. Our voices are going hoarse at how much we’re fighti...

 I was born and raised in England, so even though I have always been immersed in the Western culture – I myself am Indian. I know that I’m privileged in the sense that I don’t face the same brutalities of racism that my Black and darker skinned POC counterparts face. However, I am a brown skinned Desi girl living in a predominantly white country so racism, microaggressions and discrimination aren’t things that I am a stranger to. This blog post has been something I’ve been thinking of writing for a while so I thought I would finally write it and share some things that I’ve faced/heard in real life and in the media as an Indian living in the UK. Do you eat curry every day? With this one, I feel like white people just learnt the word curry and ran with it as the only Indian food word they knew – particularly growing up in the 00s. They truly thought “curry” was one kind of dish and was the only dish that Indian people ate (I’m sure some people still think like this). I also had s...

Whilst this global pandemic isn’t to be taken lightly – one shining example of how humanity comes together in times of crisis is through the power of community. The theatre community is one of the those I’m so thankful to be a part of – especially now. So many different people are keeping the spirits up in this big, crazy family through different livestreams, quizzes and various other content. Rob Fowler and Sharon Sexton are two names you’re probably very familiar with. Either because you’re in the theatre community or because you’re a frequent reader of my blog/follow me on social media. Covid-19 has put a hold on live theatre which included the Mamma Mia tour where Fowler and Sexton were appearing respectively as Sam and Donna – blowing away audiences daily with their talent. Obviously because of circumstances, the pair have been quarantined – like many of us – for the past few weeks. Thus, ‘Grounded’ was born. ‘Grounded’ is an hour length concert filmed in the cottage tha...

Pixar’s latest hit film is ‘Onward’ and because of circumstances, I haven’t got to see it yet but I’m hoping it makes its way Disney+ in the UK soon because I’m desperate to see it. It was announced that ‘Onward’ was to feature Pixar’s ‘first openly gay character’ and when this announcement broke – I felt excited because I know what representation means to not just me, but to a lot of people. The character is Officer Specter, voiced by Lena Waithe. By the sounds of it, Waithe’s character makes a fleeting appearance in the film and mentions in passing that she has a girlfriend. I love that a character can be placed in a film and can talk about their girlfriend like a heterosexual couple would be able to – thus showing kids how normal LGBTQ+ relationships are. However, the fact that the first and only openly LGBTQ+ character in a Pixar film is a minor character is still not enough. Having an LGBTQ+ character in your movie is not something that should be done for ‘woke points’ or to...

The world is a crazy place right now. Everything is scary, uncertain and we’re living in times of social distancing. It feels wrong to still be posting on Instagram and to even be sitting there thinking about blogging and social media at a time where the world is suffering so much. I’ve struggled with this so much. I’ve debated with myself about what the point in social media is and why I’m even bothering with it right now. There’s a cloud of guilt hanging over me about posting colourful and happy photos when a darkness is taking over the world. Whenever I post on Instagram, I question whether it’s immoral and insensitive. Lots of people have assured me that it’s not and that they appreciate the sense of normalcy that some aspects of social media are bringing. The more comments and reassuring words I received the more I thought about it. What better way to help try and cope with everything that’s going on than spreading love and magic on social media? With social distancing, ...

When I was about seven, my parents sat my brother and I down and told us that my mum wasn’t well. Now, I don’t remember the exact details because it was nearly twenty years ago, so I don’t really remember what I felt or what was going through my younger self’s mind. I don’t think that version of me really anticipated how much the big C would impact my life and that I only had twelve years left of my mum. Today is my mum’s birthday. She would be turning 59 and this year is also the year my brother gets married, so she’d be prepping for that. She fought cancer for twelve years and at the age of fifty-two, she passed away. I was nineteen at the time and I honestly didn’t know what to do from then. My mum was my first best friend and to have her ripped away from me when I still very much needed her, was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. My mum taught me a lot in the nineteen years we had together. She went through a lot of rigorous treatment during the span of twelve year...

Learning to accept who you are is a difficult thing and I think it’s something we all struggle with at some point. When I came out at 19, it was almost like I was reinventing myself because I’d taken away the mask that I was hiding behind. Being bi is a part of who I am and for the majority of my life so far, I was hiding that part from the rest of the world, and from myself. Society kind of has expectations in place on how you should be and how you should act at the age of 25 so when people aren’t like that – you get stared at or the way you live your life gets questioned. Whether it’s because of your dress sense or your hobbies – society expects you to just “grow up” and grow out of certain things because it’s not what they think you should be like when you’re nearly 30. Loving Disney has always been a part of me, but as I grew older, I felt embarrassed to embrace that fully and show it off because of fear of judgement from people I don’t even know – or even people I do know....

Growing up vegetarian meant a lot of food options – especially at restaurants and fast food places - were limited. Don’t get me wrong, I love vegetables but having them stuffed into every meal on offer at a restaurant can get a bit tiring. I know there’s going to be some cynics out there saying ‘oh you chose to be vegetarian so you can’t complain’ and yeah, it’s my choice but that doesn’t change the fact that ten years ago, options for vegetarians and vegans were next to nothing. In the past few years especially, it’s been amazing to see more and more chain restaurants and supermarkets get with the times and start to slowly introduce vegetarian and vegan alternatives to some of their food offerings. This month is known as ‘veganuary’ which encourages people to go as vegan as possible during the month of January. I’m personally not vegan, but I am vegetarian and wherever I can, I’ll go for vegan options. I struggle too much with being full vegan, but there’s nothing wrong with tha...

Can I even do a ‘new year’ post when we’re ten days into 2020? Sure I can; there’s no rules. Especially when the first week of the new year saw me too poorly to do anything. It wasn’t the best start to the year, but I intend on still working hard to make this a good year. There are a lot of exciting things happening over the course of 2020 so I’m sure they will all keep me motivated during the harder days. Blogmas 2019…that was pretty much an epic failure on my part. I only managed fifteen days of it and after that, I kind of just lost the spark for it? I can’t even explain what happened there, but I’m trying not to dwell on it too much. I still completed over half a months’ worth of posts for it – so that’s still an achievement. Before the end of last year, I saw a post about the ‘new year, new me’ statement and how, actually, it’s quite damaging. What is so inherently wrong with me that I should need to change at the beginning of each new year? So, instead of going with tha...

Can you think of anything more iconic than travelling to Paris to see Mamma Mia on stage? Okay, probably watching it in Greece but this was definitely up there in iconic moments in my life that I’ll remember forever. If you know me, you’ll know how much I love going to the theatre and also how much I love visiting Disneyland Paris during Halloween season, so the fact that one of my favourite musicals starring two of my favourite people was playing in Paris during October seemed too perfect. So, thanks to cheap Eurostar tickets and our annual passes, Jade and I – along with our friend, Molly – managed to book a three-day trip to Paris and Disney, with a Saturday night visit to La Seine Musicale to see Mamma Mia. We travelled from London St Pancras on Saturday (13 th October) morning and by midday we were at Paris Gare Du Nord station. We decided that we’d dedicate this day to exploring Paris and seeing as many things as we could before we had to head to the theatre. So, eve...

This year marks the sixth West End Wilma Awards. West End Wilma are made up of a mother and son duo and is a popular name in London’s West End theatre scene. Their awards celebrate UK theatre and last week a shortlist of nominees for various categories was released to the public; with voting opening on Friday. One of these categories is ‘Best Cabaret’ and one of the contenders is ‘Vision of You’ by the delightful duo Rob Fowler and Sharon Sexton and, trying to stay completely unbiased, I’m going to talk through a few reasons highlighting why I think ‘Vision of You’ is worthy of this award. Keeping the Bat Out of Hell Legacy Alive Bat Out of Hell musical fans were thrilled when they discovered that we wouldn’t have to say a complete goodbye to the beloved show at the beginning of the year when Fowler and Sexton announced they would be doing a string of shows with their ‘Vision of You’ album – which is an ode to their characters from the musical. The cabaret nights acted as a...

Pride season is nearly upon us and naturally this means that excitement is filling the air, rainbows are starting to appear everywhere and even the weather is perking up (here’s hoping I haven’t just jinxed that one). As each year passes, Pride seems to become more and more widespread throughout the country, with more businesses and shops showing support by selling rainbow themed products and foods. This is made even better when proceeds from these sales are donated to LGBTQ+ based charities to really make a difference to those who need the help. It’s all good donning Pride flags, but if you’re a big business and want to show your support, then there’s plenty of LGBTQ+ related charities and organisations that could do with your help. Recently, Disney have released their own ‘Pride collection’ with a small donation from the sales going to a Diversity Role Models charity. It’s a small step but it’s still needed and appreciated. This year’s London Pride will take place on the 6 ...

In June, my girlfriend and I will have been together for six years. We’ve learnt a lot in that time and not just about ourselves and each other, but also about other people and the questions and comments they often have about us and our relationship. I thought it’d be fun to share with you all some of the most popular questions we get asked and to see how many people can relate to this. “Who wears the trousers?” Ah, the classic. Two females in a relationship meaning there is a serious lack of jeans/trousers wearing of any sort going on. Obviously. Seriously though, prior to our relationship, I didn’t think people actually asked this question, but you’d be surprised how many people are confused about the lack of a male presence in our relationship and whether or not either of us wear trousers. We’re both known as “femme” which really confuses people because of course, in their minds, one of us should be “butch” to be as close to a male/female relationship as possible. I hate to ...

All my life I’ve found myself loving things strongly and passionately and this isn’t always considered a good thing, because having something you love wholeheartedly can often leave you vulnerable. However, having something you love so deeply that brings you joy when you’re facing particularly dark times can be exactly what you need. One of the hardest things about being passionate is the bad association that comes with being a girl and being a fan. You’re classed as a ‘fangirl’ which is often referred to in a patronising manner, where nobody takes you seriously because, let’s face it, some people in society still have problems with women speaking up and speaking out, whether its equality issues or a film or a band they’re a fan of. From tv shows to music and musicals, I’ve been involved in a lot of fandoms throughout my life and as with anything in life, they come with the good and bad. However, a common factor in all these fandoms is that I’ve always been surrounded by fell...

The 3 rd January 2019 marked five years since I came out. My coming out story isn’t overly exciting; I updated my relationship status on Facebook to display mine and Jade’s relationship and put a bit of a statement out that basically said ‘this is who I am and you can remove yourself from my life if you don’t like it’, which is what a lot of people did. My coming out didn’t go down well with a lot of people, and honestly it still doesn’t. Some of these people aren’t really in my life anymore; some are. Though I may still have people in my life who don’t agree with who I am or “approve” of my relationship, I don’t let this affect the way I live my life. I’m still me and I will no longer hide that. We’re now in 2019 and though we have coined this year ‘20BiTeen’, we all know the world still has a lot of progress to make. From recognising that trans people deserve the same rights and protection as everyone else, to continuing to fight for the rights of LGBTQ+ people who are in situ...

Hey guys! So as you can see, I’ve given my blog a little bit of a makeover. The name stays the same but I’ve changed up the layout and added convenient tabs so you can easily find specific topics e.g. Disney, Blogmas, Reviews etc. Whilst I’ll still be blogging about Disney, I wanted to expand my blog to include other things that interest me – from reviewing music to sharing pieces that are close to my heart. Something I learnt from partaking in Blogmas last year was that I really enjoy writing about a variety of topics and seeing as my interests aren’t just Disney related – I figured I may as well incorporate that into my blogging life. I haven’t set myself any particular resolutions this year, but I know for a fact that I really want to work hard on my blog. Writing is my biggest passion and I want to boost my self confidence with my writing and I want to continue sharing it with the world. With that in mind, hopefully you’ll be seeing more from me in the coming weeks a...