{{short description|American writer and actress}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use Indian English|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Diksha Basu | birth_place = Delhi, India | alma_mater = Cornell University | occupation = Writer, Actress | mother = Alaka Basu | father = Kaushik Basu }}
'''Diksha Basu''' is an American writer and actress.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Naheed |date=14 August 2017 |title=Readers Are No Longer Looking for Only the Exotic Indian or the Immigrant Novel |url=https://thewire.in/books/interview-diksha-basu-the-windfall |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=The Wire}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Bakshi |first=Asmita |date=29 May 2017 |title=When I started writing, I Felt Freed |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/supplement/story/20170529-diksha-basu-writer-986447-2017-05-19 |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref> She is the author of the novel ''The Windfall'' which is under adaptation for a television series by Shonali Bose.<ref name=":82">{{Cite web |last=Deng |first=Audrey |date=25 June 2020 |title=Diksha Basu '14 Releases Second Novel, 'Destination Wedding' |url=https://arts.columbia.edu/news/diksha-basu-14-releases-second-novel-destination-wedding |access-date=2020-11-21 |website=Columbia University School of the Arts |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Gitanjali |date=14 March 2017 |title=Shonali Bose Will Direct New TV Series Based On Novel About Delhi's Noveau [sic] Riche - NDTV Movies |url=https://movies.ndtv.com/television/shonali-bose-will-direct-new-tv-series-based-on-novel-about-delhis-noveau-riche-1669308 |access-date=2020-11-21 |website=NDTVMovies |language=en}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Diksha Basu was born in Delhi,<ref name=":23">{{Cite web |title=Diksha Basu - Author Overview |url=https://harpercollins.co.in/author-details/diksha-basu/ |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=HarperCollins Publishers}}</ref> to the sociologist Alaka Malwade Basu and economist Kaushik Basu,<ref name=":12" /> who later became the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India and then the Chief Economist at the World Bank.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":33">{{Cite web |last1=Rathnam |first1=Shilpa |last2=Rege |first2=Prachi |last3=Bari |first3=Nishant |last4=Kumaraswami |first4=Lakshmi |last5=Sharma |first5=Avantika |date=30 January 2012 |title=CEC Kaushik Basu's daughter Diksha busy chasing B'wood dreams |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/20120130-chief-economic-advisor-kaushik-basu-daughter-author-diksha-basu-757065-2012-01-20 |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref> She grew up in Delhi during the 1990s till the age of 10.<ref name=":92">{{Cite web |last=Kohli |first=Diya |date=2017-07-22 |title=Diksha Basu: The joke's on everyone |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/lFboiyf0JpM8oknFT1ClJM/Diksha-Basu-The-jokes-on-everyone.html |access-date=2020-11-21 |website=Livemint |language=en}}</ref> When she was a teenager, she moved to Ithaca, New York with her family.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":42">{{Cite web |last=Aggarwal-Schifellite |first=Manisha |date=2017-06-26 |title=An Ex-Bollywood Actress Challenges Indian Stereotypes With Her Debut Novel |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/books/news/a46225/the-windfall-diksha-basu-interview/ |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=ELLE |language=en-US}}</ref> Basu states that after moving to upstate New York, she would keep visiting Delhi every 4 to 6 months.<ref name=":52">{{Cite web |last=Arora |first=Naina |date=2017-08-03 |title=Author Diksha Basu says Gurgaon lanes look straight out of Desperate Housewives |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/author-diksha-basu-says-gurgaon-lanes-look-straight-out-of-desperate-housewives/story-I18kEeHIAoeBGbVloH5u1O.html |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> She eventually graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics,<ref name=":02" /> and in the French language as part of a double major.<ref name=":33" />
== Career == Basu In 2008,<ref name=":62">{{Cite web |last=Mehta |first=Shweta |date=2012-01-08 |title='My life's not interesting enough' |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/my-life-s-not-interesting-enough/story-U1vIwtZQpZAzAFERwgYLbL.html |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in acting,<ref name=":33" /> and lived in the city for four years.<ref name=":23" /> She featured in the comedy series ''Mumbai Calling'' (2007) and in the drama film ''A Decent Arrangement'' (2011).<ref name=":33" /><ref name=":62" /> She began writing while in Mumbai, and her debut novel ''Opening Night'' was published by HarperCollins and launched in 2012 by Chetan Bhagat.<ref name=":62" /> The novel depicted the struggles of an American-born actor who moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in acting.<ref name=":62" /> It was described as a deeply personalised non autobiographical work of literary fiction.<ref name=":103">{{Cite news |last=Bakshi |first=Asmita |date=29 May 2017 |title=The Traveller's Tale |work=India Today |url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/india-today/20170529/283850098297974 |via=PressReader}}</ref>
Basu joined the Columbia University School of the Arts to attain a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, from where she graduated in 2014.<ref name=":82" /><ref name=":103" /> She also featured in the memory film ''A Million Rivers'' (2017).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramnath |first=Nandini |date=1 February 2017 |title=The things we do not and cannot say flow through arthouse film 'A Million Rivers' |url=https://scroll.in/reel/828209/the-things-we-do-not-and-cannot-say-flow-through-arthouse-film-a-million-rivers |access-date=2020-11-20 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref> In the meantime, she married the music producer Mikey McCleary and gave birth to her daughter in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vora |first=Shivani |date=2017-06-30 |title=How Diksha Basu, a Novelist, Spends Her Sundays (Published 2017) |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/nyregion/how-diksha-basu-a-novelist-spends-her-sundays.html |access-date=2020-11-21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her second novel ''The Windfall'' was also published and launched in the same year,<ref name=":92" /> it was a humorous fiction marketed as a debut novel and depicted the life of a middle class Indian man who had suddenly encountered wealth.<ref name=":72">{{Cite news |last=Guha |first=Keshava |date=2017-07-22 |title=Ambitious but ill-equipped |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/ambitious-but-ill-equipped/article19324919.ece |access-date=2020-11-21 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> It received positive critical acclaim and was signed in for a deal to be adapted into a television series.<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":82" /> According to ''ELLE'' magazine, it broke stereotypes of exoticism surrounding India while according to ''The Wire'', it was a "shrewd and unstintingly funny story about the neuroses of New Delhi's 1%".<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":42" /> ''The Hindu'' gave it a mixed review objecting at its lack of nuance and inaccuracies in social and cultural depictions.<ref name=":72" />
In 2020, she published her third novel, ''Destination Wedding.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ghosh |first=Devarsi |title=Diksha Basu's 'Destination Wedding' is a funny but sensitive look at old money and new India |url=https://scroll.in/article/967175/diksha-basus-destination-wedding-is-a-funny-but-sensitive-look-at-old-money-and-new-india |access-date=2021-04-26 |website=Scroll.in |date=25 July 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Books ==
* ''Opening Night'' (2012) * ''The Windfall'' (2017) * ''Destination Wedding'' (2020)
== Filmography == {| class="wikitable" ! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes |- | 2007 || ''Mumbai Calling'' || Call Centre Operator || Debut |- | 2011 || ''A Decent Arrangement'' || Amita Chandra || |- | 2017 || ''A Million Rivers'' || || |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|3292038}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Basu, Diksha}} Category:Living people Category:Women writers from Delhi Category:Actresses from Delhi Category:Writers from Ithaca, New York Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:American women writers of Indian descent Category:American actresses of Indian descent Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Category:American expatriate actresses in India Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema Category:Actresses in Hindi television Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century American women writers Category:21st-century American actresses Category:American people of Bengali descent Category:American people of Marathi descent