​  Malavika has always been listening to the greats of music. Born and raised in Dubai while spending a few years in India (Chennai and Pune) she grew up on a steady diet of Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, A.R. Rahman, Tracy Chapman, Queen, & Janet Jackson. Almost exclusively, she took inspiration for her own singing and music from the “Western” artists. While she had experienced success as an artist in her home, it was always the allure of the States that called to her. With a truly global list of influences, Malavika eventually found herself performing in front of thousands in tributes to many of her influences and working alongside producers and artists associated with the biggest names in the industry. These days she is travelling the world to take her own music to her fans, becoming a link in the cycle that will eventually lead to the next group of young artists who are to follow.
  Malavika is a world traveler who has influences from many different parts of the world. Though she’ll admit that her favorites come mostly from the world of R&B (traditional or contemporary). The singer’s fan base in the US, India, Dubai, and other locations are proof of the international appeal which comes from her talent as well as the varied DNA of her music. All of this has created an original sound for the artist, a sound which has earned her the respect of the professional music community. Though she feels eternally connected to her home in Dubai, the path of a musician is to travel. The experiences which this brings exposes both artist and audience to each other and has given listeners across the world the chance to experience her talent. When legendary Indian film composer and music director A.R. Rahman was honored at the Boston Symphony Hall for an audience of over 2600 people, Malavika was asked to appear as a featured performer.  The singer speaks three Indian languages: Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam, all of which are used in films which Rahman composes for. Malavika remarks, “My favorite compositions by him include songs from Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, Slumdog Millionaire, Dil Se, Yuva, Allaipayuthey, Iruvar, and Jeans. His music shaped my musical identity. What I love and admire most is his versatility. There is nothing he can’t do musically. He is always experimenting and trying to outdo himself with each and every song. Despite all his success, he is incredibly humble. He said that he wakes up and listens to a song in a new language, new genre, and listens to a new instrument every day for inspiration. I’ve adopted this template to grow and evolve my taste and creativity as well.”
  The concert was covered by news outlets like Buzzfeed, the Huffington Post, Indian Express, Times of India, NDTC, Deccan Chronicle, India Today and the Hindu, as well as streamed live worldwide. The twelve-minute-long “Kun Faya Kun” featured the singer’s versatility and Rahman himself joined her onstage for “Vande Maataram.” The “Kun Faya Kun” performance alone has achieved more than 5.2 million views on YouTube. The nature of modern media insists that this number will undoubtedly increase with the composer’s legions of fans in India as well as Malavika’s admirers.
  The massive exposure Malavika received in India as a result of this performance resulted in a spike in her fame in India. She recently completed a promotional tour in India for her debut single “Jackpot” on India’s English radio stations. Live “on air” performances were conducted on stations like Radio One in Mumbai 94.3 (boasting over 350,000 listeners) & Chennai live 104.8FM (with over 100,000 listeners). LA based pop producer Moritz Braun worked with Malavika on “Jackpot”, an audacious girl power anthem with elements of old school funk & soul and modern pop which includes Indian instruments like the Bhapang. The Usher/R Kelly inspired “Voodoo” witnesses Malavika pushing the boundaries of what a woman from a traditional Indian background might say about her own sensuality. True artists are never derivative but always are composed of their influences. Malavika is insistent that for her, the musical and cultural diversity she has experienced are what creates her unique style and compositions. She reveals, “My original music is a blend of R&B, Hip hop, and rhythmic pop. Being exposed to various contrasting worlds and cultures throughout my childhood largely influenced my musical taste. I listen to Indian music in Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil, Arabic music, and all kinds of western music be it rock, pop, funk or r&b. I want to establish myself first as a rhythmic pop urban artist and then slowly inculcate elements of my own heritage into the music and then my goal is to eventually bring in elements of music from all over the world to into my songs.
I get bored very easily so one of my main goals is to try something new with each song I work on to keep it fresh, authentic, and most importantly interesting.” The world is an increasingly smaller place these days and artists like Malavika are the new breed who display the benevolent aspect of this trend.

(By Luigi Paglia)

​  When you hear the word “family” it’s likely that you have an instant visual image of your own. The visual of multiple generations that typically bare some sort of resemblance to each other is common but it’s not the only iteration of this unit. Family is more about those whom we put our trust and faith in than the body type or our political perspectives. This is the idea explored in the film “Cavities” and editor Wanqiu Sun used great subtlety in helping director Michael Chan present it. The concepts of familial connection, software piracy, and (you guessed it) oral hygiene are interconnected to cause the viewer to question their own personal responsibility. The action of the film is shaped in such a way as to keep the audience in a constant state of questioning what direction “Wince”, the young man who is struggling to develop a sense of himself and his place in the world, will choose. Sun’s shading of emotions in the story help to communicate the young man’s state of confusion, contained anger, and hopes. Based on actual events, “Cavities” give multiple definitions of the term “family.”
  Taking place in the early 2000’s, “Cavities” exhibits the life of young Winston “Wince” Chang who has been left to take care of himself after his parents have abandoned him. Wince’s cracked tooth, a gift from his physically abusive father, is both the title of the film and a metaphor for the boy’s decaying life. Wince’s mother chases after the father, leaving Wince to make his own way living in an apartment with other young men. He is resourceful enough to find a way to earn money but this is through illegal software piracy. Wince becomes focused on superficial material and substance proxies for the meaningful parental relationships that he has lost. Throughout the action of the film, his tooth worsens and his mother travels in and out of his life. The constant for Wince is his much more grounded friend Franklin who both yanks out the rotten tooth and points Winston’s compass towards college and establishing his own future.
  The core of the story is the feelings of distrust that Winston has a result of his family situation. The anxiety and separation at such a young age are depicted in the conflict of his personal relationships. It’s much easier for him to have a connection with gadgets than with people or friends, though he tries. Winston is very energetic yet his movements and body language give insight to his inner feelings. Sun focused on displaying shots that exhibited this paying more attention to Wince’s rejection of getting close to people, especially the scenes with his best friend Frankie. Diving even deeper in search of authenticity, Wanqiu went to great extents to communicate the feel of the time period. Recognizing the fact that the story takes place almost two decades in the past, Sun studied music and films of this period in an effort to infuse the energy of the late 90’s/early 2000’s. The interaction between young men in the film reflects the rhythm of the dialogue of those times, which leads to a certain humor and a vibe of that type of tribe.
  It’s a confident and intelligent director that hires an editor who can make suggestions to the betterment of a film. Michael Chen (director of “Cavities”) comments, “Wanqiu has a great sense of story. She understood my creative vision and was always there to help me achieve it, adding her own suggestions and creativity when she felt she could add to the common goal. She’s passionate and that makes her driven…which makes her great at what she does.” Proof of this light-handed work is relevant as Sun describes, “There is a scene in which we see Wince hiding his money inside a hole in the wall. It’s a story point where Wince becomes connected to his mother again and feels a sense of family. He changes the poster covering this hole to one with the Chinese characters for ‘family’ on it. As Wince leaves, the shot pushes in and stays on the poster. During editing, I felt that it would be a nice shot to end the scene but the movement of the shot is not ideal. It pushes in to a close up at a very high speed, which in my opinion doesn’t really work well for the emotional beat. I revised it with some technical skill, cheating an ending frame by changing the speed of the shot. I received confirmation from Mike that it was more effective in delivering what he wanted for the scene. During such trouble shooting, I gradually set up two rules for myself: 1) always respect and trust your team, try to know more about their thoughts, & 2) nowadays, lots of visual effects in editing programs can achieve a lot but make sure no matter what effect I am using that it serves the story.”
  “Cavities” speaks to a much wider demographic than young Asian American men, as evidenced by the film’s awards an inclusion as an official selection at a variety of film festivals such as the: Honolulu Film Awards, Ellensburg Film Festival, Hip Hop Film Festival, and many others. Wanqiu’s work on feature films prohibited her from attending, the golden handcuffs of a successful career, but she considers herself as having the ultimate VIP pass. Her role as editor not only means that she helps to shape a film but that she also is the first person to view this completed production. Literally an audience of one, Sun finds herself often emotionally affected by the films she works on. When she is afforded the chance to witness an audience watching her work, she finds herself taking notes of when they laugh, cry, and react. Always focused on improving her work, Wanqiu Sun is a vital member of the film family.