6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
'Nandini Mana?!' explores global culture with a Malaysian lens
Media platform SAYS has launched Nandini Mana?!, a travel and culture video series exploring the intersections of culture, history and identity through a distinctly Malaysian lens.
Hosted by SAYS video lead Nandini Balakrishnan, the series traces cultural links across Asia and Europe, uncovering shared heritage, culinary ties and connections between Malaysia and communities abroad.
Spanning three continents over two months, the journey is limited to just two flights and a daily budget of RM170, with travel by land, rail and sea.
At each stop, Nandini takes on three challenges: eat only local food, learn five local phrases and collect a matchbox.
The trailer has drawn over 262,000 views and nearly 500 comments on Instagram, showing an interest among viewers for authentic and meaningful storytelling.
"I wanted to explore places that feel far from Malaysia but are actually deeply linked to us, through food, migration, language or shared history. Connections and threads exist everywhere, and I want to show it in a way that feels honest, raw and very Malaysian. Jom lawatan sambil belajar with me!" Nandini shared.
FIRST STOP: SRI LANKA
The first episode features Nandini visiting a Sri Lankan Malay-owned restaurant, where she speaks with the owner and samples her food. Debuting with over 211,000 views, the episode received a strong response and set the tone for the rest of the series.
From Sri Lanka, Nandini will travel by ferry to India, exploring Tamil Nadu's cultural landscape through Trichy, Madurai, Pondicherry and Chennai.
She will then head west to Istanbul, continuing overland through Greece, North Macedonia, Albania, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and finally England.
