The 2025 Logie nominations have been announced, and while there’s not as much South Asian representation as I would’ve hoped for, it’s still important to recognise and celebrate the brown people who have received nods.
This year, Heartbreak High’s Ayesha Madon is in the running for the Silver Logie for Best Lead Actress in a Drama. Stan drama Critical Incident is nominated for Best Miniseries or Telemovie, with British Indian actor, Akshay Khanna playing the main lead in the show. On the sports front, Kayo Sports/FOXTEL’s broadcast of “Australia v India: Border – Gavaskar Trophy” has been nominated in the Best Sports Coverage category.
Despite the Australian TV industry’s plight in recent years to become become more culturally diverse, South Asian representation at the Logie Awards remains minimal. In 2023, we saw three brown people in the running for a Logie: Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve) for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress, Arka Das (Here Out West) for Most Outstanding Supporting Actor, and Heartbreak High’s Ayesha Madon for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent.
Prior to that, we saw Nazeem Hussain and Sharon Johal nominated, and Dilruk Jayasinha won the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent in 2018.
I’m a South Asian woman who’s loved Australian TV’s night of nights for a long time (I have my own #LogieswithLeeshie hashtag). Whether it’s free-to-air reality shows or dramas and comedies on streaming platforms, I’m often that person in a friendship group who’s a walking ‘TV Week’ mag. But, when Indians are the second largest migrant group in Australia (and that’s not even including other South Asian communities), it only makes sense to me that local screens better represent this significant portion of our population. And that’s where my disappointment lies.
I’ve actually covered the Logies red carpet several times, and remember attending the 2017 ceremony, where actor Leah Vandenberg and I were the only two Indian Australian women I can recall being on the red carpet. Brown and proud, we took the opportunity to showcase our culture by wearing South Asian designers. Am I already planning my Logies 2025 red carpet outfit – jhumkas and all?! You bet! But here’s hoping that future South Asian representation we see at the Logies goes beyond glitzy dupattas. We want to see more brown hands holding onto those glossy trophies!
Would've LOVED one of the 2022 #Logies red carpet broadcast hosts to be a POC. We're fashionable too 😅 Here's a throwback to Leah Vandenberg & I in South Asian designers at the 2017 Logies. Think we were the only 2 brown (or at least Indian Australian) women there pic.twitter.com/4qrrLUHc7g
— Alicia Vrajlal (@LeeshieV) June 19, 2022
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