Good old Apul sends me this tip on the upcoming re-make of the Bad News Bears:
There appears to be a South Asian in the upcoming “Bad News Bear.” Don’t know much else about it.
Well, I inspected the dugout to discover one Aman Johal from Canada:
AMAN JOHAL (Prem Lahiri) lives in Vancouver, Canada. “Bad News Bears” marks his film acting debut. Aman’s mother, who works as an actor and as a tennis instructor, always encouraged her youngest son to follow his dreams. His mother’s agent heard about the casting call for “Bears,” and Aman happily went, not expecting the fantastic outcome of being cast as one of the Bears. Aman has two older brothers, who are thrilled for their little bro. Aman has been a very competitive athlete, excelling in tennis, soccer and roller hockey. Since shooting “Bad News Bears” he has also developed a great love for baseball and quite the arm. Aman is also a big fan of music and “Star Wars.”
There is a very embarrassing picture from my youth that looks just like the one above. I was also bad news.
But were you a bear?
Since you’re mentioning South Asians in film- did you guys ever blog about the fact that Tim Burton used one Beeelion Deep Roy’s in his versino of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory?
…and apparently in the film “Wedding Crashers,” Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson attend a desi wedding. I haven’t seen it yet, but this “Hindu wedding” has been mentioned in the reviews.
Hurrah a Bong character in an American movie! And strangely enough, as he’s being played by a 12 year old, he’s the perfect height for a Bengali.
Deep Roy, on the other hand, is 4’4″. He’s Kenyan you see.
Yey…Vancouver.
Given that the only thing desis here are becoming more and more known for is their pot-handling and gang-shooting selves… its great to see kids branch into more positive professions.
Back in my day there were the duo Team of Jason and Kyle Alisharan (half-desis) who acted in a few nicklodeon movies/sitcoms.
Thanks, brimful– yep, check out this Deep Roy post.
Whoops Manish! That’s what I get for falling behind on SM reading. 🙂
Wedding crashers promted this G&M article on real-life desi wedding crashers in toronto.
Nep Sidhu doesn’t crash weddings to meet women. He has a girlfriend. He is drawn to the parties by a more self-serving reason — the booze, especially high-quality booze
… the two have honed their act to mesh with the nuances of Indian weddings, usually lavish affairs. An exorbitant amount of money is spent to keep up with, if not outdo, the Sharmas. Some … Punjabi weddings are especially known for the free flow of assorted spirits.
Over the past five years, Mr. Sidhu has crashed about a dozen weddings
Mr. Sidhu said he and his friend also contribute to the party by making sure the guests have a good time …
They are aided by the fact that most Indians address even unrelated elders as uncle or aunty. “We act like there’s some sort of long-lost relationship,” he said, explaining that he and his friend approach guests and address them as uncle or aunty. “They’ll look kind of uncomfortable. And then we start throwing out any of these general events that any Indian family goes to and they’re kind of left with this confused gaze. And there, at their most vulnerable point, you hit them with a hug. And then they start warming up to you.
“We go to Hindu Punjabi, Goan, Bengali weddings,” he said. “They are much looser in terms of having fun. And you can only dance with guys for so long.”
etc, etc.
Here is the first review I’ve seen:
Who would have thought that the Indian kid would be portrayed as smart?
It’s directed by Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, The School of Rock).
how old are you