Lilly Singh & Sara Zandieh On Raunchy Sex Education Comedy Doin' It [SXSW]

Summary Doin' It takes a bold, raunchy approach to exploring the complexities of sexuality in American society through a satirical lens.

The film, co-written by Neel Patel, Lilly Singh, and Sara Zandieh, tackles taboo topics in sex ed with humor and relatable characters.

Lilly Singh's role as the lead and her original rap song for the end credits add a unique twist to the film's narrative about female sexuality.

Doin' It channels the raunchy sex comedies of the 1990s and 2000s, and recently made its debut at the 2024 South by Southwest Festival. The film explores the ways American society talks to teenagers about sex and sexuality, all from the perspective of conservative Indian culture. Wanting to deliver a rare look at the ideas of female sexuality, writers Neel Patel, Lilly Singh, and Sara Zandieh's goal was to deliver a film that they wished had been around when they were impressionable young women in puberty. Singh also stars as the lead in the film and wrote a hilarious rap song that plays over the credits, giving a humorous recap of the story.

Being a teenager is a minefield when it comes to sex, but Maya's (Singh) experience makes most others' seem tame. Caught in a sexually compromising position in front of an audience that includes her very conservative parents, she's quickly whisked off to India so that she can learn proper discipline. Years later an adult Maya returns to the US on a mission to find funding for her teen-focused app and get some experience with some real teenagers to feel out her demographic. Finding work as a substitute teacher in a high school, she doesn't expect to be put in charge of the sex-ed class. Still a virgin herself, Maya sets out to relate to her students better by losing her virginity and making up for the high school experience she missed out on.

Related 15 Stereotypes Indians Are Tired Of Seeing In Western Movies & TV While brown-skinned characters from India and its neighbors have been featured in English films for a long time, they often fall prey to stereotypes.

Screen Rant interviewed Zandieh and Singh at the SXSW festival where Doin' It premiered. They discussed the appalling state of sex-ed in the US, the raunchy satirical tone they wanted to strike in their film, and necessity as the mother of invention that led Singh to write a hilarious original song to use over the end credits.

Lilly Singh Wrote An Original Song For Doin’ It

Screen Rant: I read the premise for this one and was all in. It sounds absolutely hilarious. You co-wrote it together, so break it down for us. What's it about? What inspired this one?

Lilly Singh: Yeah, we co-wrote it together with another amazing writer, Neel [Patel]. And I think it spoke to both of us. I'll speak from my point of view, it was just a story where I was like, "Oh, man, if I had this growing up, this would have changed my life." I immediately knew that I want to get involved. And I also knew that I wanted someone like Sara to be our fearless leader, because I think it is so important for this to be not only told from a female perspective, but also a woman of color. I think really colors the story as well. Sara Zandieh: Yeah, it's about an Indian American, 30-year-old virgin who gets a job teaching high school sex ed. It's about how we talk about sex and sexuality to young adults, and it's told through the lens of Indian culture, conservative culture, but also the American high school curriculum. What teens have access to, and how we should be talking to them about sex and sexuality. Albeit, it's a satire — we're making fun of that — but we're just trying to start a conversation.

Is LL Cool J on the soundtrack? Is there "Doin' It" on the soundtrack?

Lilly Singh: No, but there is another song on the soundtrack. Sara Zandieh: An original song, by the infamous Lily Singh. She wrote an original song in two days called "She Doin' It." It's sort of an homage to that track. But also, it speaks to the movie, and it kind of tells the story of the movie. And it's a really funny track, it runs over the end credits; it's so funny, and it's original. And when she sent one of the first versions, my mind was blown. I was like, "Oh, my God, you're a rapper, too?" Lilly Singh: The reason I had to make an original song is because a lot of the songs that exist aren't super aligned with the message of our movie. There are a lot of great female artists out there, but I'm saying when you look at the older songs, they're from the male perspective. They're kind of about, "I'm a dude, and I'm really good at sex." And this is just different. It's a little more real, and it's from a female perspective.

What Doin’ It Learned From Real-Life Sex Ed

Did you guys go into any sort of modern-day sex ed classes for research? Was that part of the process?

Sara Zandieh: I spoke with sex teachers, I also found NGOs that actually teach really comprehensive, progressive sex ed. I didn't have in high school. My high school gym teachers taught us, and it was basically the banana condom exercise and a pamphlet on venereal diseases. In talking to these NGOs who actually teach it, I was like, "Wow, this would have been great. Why don't we have this?" Yeah, there was some research. Lilly Singh: I did the same thing. Well, I know a lot of teachers. My [cousin's] a teacher, and I was talking to her about. She told me all about how some parents opt out of it, and it's a big deal. And I was shocked, because I guess in my mind, I was like, "This was just a problem that existed when I was in high school, this is probably totally figured out." But it's actually not. It's not figured out at all. It's still a really taboo subject, it's still not taught in all schools, and it's not very thorough or comprehensive at all. I was shocked to learn that. Sara Zandieh: Yeah, and it's interesting how different it is all around the world. My nieces are growing up in France right now, and seeing what's taught to them is really different. Lilly Singh: There it's a condom and a baguette, right? [Laughs]

What do you guys remember about your own sex ed experiences that were applied to this story?

Lilly Singh: I had one two-hour session by my gym teacher as well. It was very fear-based. We weren't even told, we just walked in from lunch one day, and it was like, "Okay, we're gonna divide you all, boys over there, girls -" and the teacher was so uncomfortable. She was like, "This is the worst day of my life. I can't believe I have to do this." It was very fear-based. I remember one of the questions was, "Can you get pregnant from anal?" That was one of the main questions, and I remain unclear on that answer, honestly. So clearly, the education wasn't great. [Laughs]

How would you guys describe the tone of this? I'm just gonna jump to the assumption that it's R-rated. Is it raunchy?

Sara Zandieh: It's raunchy. It's an interesting tone, because it's like a hybrid between the substitute teacher movie and the sex comedy. So it's really grounded in its characters, they're really relatable, they're really compelling. But then it has like, outrageous raunchy comedy that's more heightened. It's tonally complex, I'd say. It's Ladybird meets American Pie.

Lilly Singh “Passed Away” After Having To Discuss Doin’ It With Her Mother

Lilly, your acting career is moving at full force. How did this one evolve your acting career? What did you get to do that you'd never tried on screen before?

Lilly Singh: Oh, my. Well, this is a sex comedy, I used to make back-to-school videos, so this is quite quite the leap. Before this film, I did grow up a little bit more reserved. I never got the Talk; even saying the word "sex" stressed me out. This film had 10 meetings about a dildo, and I had two masturbation scenes. I really stepped out of my comfort zone. My mom was on set some days helping as well. In fact, the biggest thing that happened because of this movie is me and my mom had conversations that we've never had in our life. An hour before I submitted the script, I literally FaceTime my mom, and I was like, "Okay, I understand I'm 35 years old, but I'm calling to ask if I can do this movie. Am I allowed to do this movie?" And my mom said the sweetest thing in response. She said, "Do you think it's okay?" But then the second thing she said was, "What's in the movie?" And I said, "Okay, we've never talked about this before. But there is a vibrator..." Then she stops me, and she goes, "Do you use vibrator?" That is the day I passed away, and I've been dead ever since then. So, I've sacrificed my comfort zone a lot for this film.

You said your mom helped on set? What areas did she help with?

Lilly Singh: [Laughs] That's a great question. She was the cultural consultant, actually. She helped with some of the scenes that take place in India, and some of the language stuff. She was super helpful. She was a really integral part of the show, honestly. Sara Zandieh: Yeah, she was very integral, because there's a sequence where Lilly's character Maya is sent back to India. She was really great with helping us out with cultural consultation, accents, and "Would this really happen?" She was amazing. It was really fun to have her on set. Lilly Singh: But then she started making sex jokes! And I was like, "Oh, my, so our relationship evolved."

Sara, tell us what impressed you about what Lilly does in this film, especially in stepping out of her comfort zone?

Sara Zandieh: Lilly is, for me, a really ideal actor. I love female comedians; they're my favorite leads in the movies that I love. I love La Strada and Nights of Cabiria; Giulietta Masina,'s one of my favorite old actresses. Sara Zandieh: Lilly's funny, but she's grounded, and she's fresh. She was super dialed in, and she's so easy to work with. She's so good for a director, but also for production because she wears so many hats so she gets it. Because we had to move really, really fast on this movie, so she's a slam dunk. I think she's so good in this movie. People are gonna love it. She's going to be an iconic substitute teacher. Who wouldn't want her to be their substitute teacher in high school? She was so great. She has great comedic timing and great instincts. She's always super prepared, and she knew all of her lines. I told her the first day, "I get really upset when actors don't know their lines," and she never missed a beat. She gives a huge monologue at the end, and my script supervisor and I were like, "She didn't miss a single line." It's a really great experience when they have comic timing, and they're prepared. And she's fresh; she's a new face in cinema, and I think she's gonna make a lot of movies.

Doin' It premiered March 12 at SXSW and is currently awaiting wider distribution.

Source: Screen Rant Plus