Category Archives: TV

Always The Sidekick

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Prime Time Desis.jpgIt’s not that it’s a bad thing that there are South Asians on prime time television. It’s just that it seems that they are always playing the sidekick character. Fine, maybe not “sidekick” as much as “part of ensemble cast but definitely not lead actor” role. NBC Thursday night is a perfect example. You have Danny Pudi playing Abed on Community, Aziz Ansari as Tom on Parks and Recreation, Mindy Kaling as Kelly on The Office, and Maulik Pancholy as Jonathan on 30 Rock.

Not since Margaret Cho’s 1994 TV-series All-American Girl has there been an ensemble cast entirely of Asian Americans on prime time television. The show infamously imploded as cast and execs clashed and Cho has not been quiet about it. That was sixteen years ago.

Since then, we have seen the rise of Desi ensemble casting but…in other countries. You have the Kumars at No. 42 from the BBC network; Brazil’s Indian themed soap opera Caminho das India; and yes, I’m even counting Canada’s CBC sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie. Well, it looks like network U.S. network execs are finally jumping on the bandwagon.

They are the two comeback stories of this pilot season, projects developed years ago that have been resurrected and have landed orders at the broadcast networks…The two comedies — “Nirvana” at Fox and “Outsourced” at NBC — have something else in common: They both are ensemble shows about Indians and Indian Americans.

> A third project, a U.S. version of popular British comedy “The Kumars at No. 42,” about an immigrant Indian family, also is poised for revival. Eight years after NBC took a stab at the format, the show’s British producers are shopping it to U.S. networks, including FX. [[thr](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i7da84139be87c4e229c0d88cbc815b1f)] Continue reading →

These Boots Are Made for Scene-stealin’

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good-wife30.jpgIf you’re televisually predisposed to legal-drama addiction (I think it runs in my family), you may have heard of The Good Wife, which at first glance looks like a Law & Order-style star vehicle for Julianna Margulies, who recently won a Best Actress Golden Globe for her role on it. The series debuted last fall and SM blogged that Archie Panjabi would be on it. Her role is a supporting character, but I think Panjabi’s Kalinda Sharma, the tough, mysterious legal investigator, is a bit of a scene-stealer. Fans and critics can’t get enough of Kalinda.

“I’d also like to see Kalinda’s character developed a little bit more. Right now she just pops up a few times an episode, wearing kickass boots and generally being feisty. She drinks martinis, she flips the bird, she shows off her cleavage to get the job done. Archie Panjabi is a great actress (also, gorgeous) and I am glad she’s not an Asian stereotype — but I want to see more of her.” (LA Times)

Kalinda’s sexy trademark outfits with high-heeled boots and leather jackets definitely help her stand out. Most of the other cast members are conservatively suited up to blend in at a tony Chicago law firm. In a behind the scenes clip, the show’s costume designer mentions that everyone’s “mad” for Kalinda’s blogworthy boots.

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Feather Meets Dot in a Brown Faced Way

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For Halloween this year, I had an Indian friend dress up like an Indian (feather, not dot). She thought it would be ironic (in a way that I’m sure this man would not have gotten). No painting of skin tone was involved. I was thinking about her as I watched this.

The blogs are a buzz with the latest from America’s Next Top Model, Season 13. The short girl season (all the girls are under 5’7), Tyra Banks takes them to Hawaii where she photographs them in a sugar cane field. The twist? She takes the pictures of the girls as “hapas.” Hapa is a Hawaiian term for people who are of mixed race. For the shoot, Tyra gives each of the girls two races that she wants them to embody in the photo. A race other than their own. She paints them all brown and gives them props to achieve it.

The racial mixes — Laura was Mexican and Greek, Erin was Tibetan and Egyptian, Sundai was Moroccan and Russian, Jennifer was Botswanan and Polynesian. and Nicole was Malagasy and Japanese. Who were we gifted with? The model named Brittany was given “East Indian” meets Native American i.e. feather and dot Indian. Fast forward to 6.29 to see Brittany get her face painted. Her picture after the jump. Continue reading →

Padma Lakshmi = Preggers

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The rumors have been confirmed. Us Weekly just reported that 39-year-old Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi is indeed pregnant.

“Model, author, and Emmy-nominated Padma Lakshmi confirms that she is carrying her first child after years of struggling with endometriosis, a cause for which she has co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America,” the rep tells Us of Lakshmi, 39.

“As a result of her condition, this pregnancy has been referred to by her physician as nothing short of a medical miracle, and due to its delicate nature, we ask/implore the press to respect Ms. Lakshmi’s privacy at this time,” the rep continues.

Yes, but on to the real question: who’s the baby’s daddy?

The baby’s father has not been revealed. Online reports have speculated Manu Nathan is the dad, but her rep denies that, telling Us he’s Lakshmi’s cousin.

Either way, this baby is gonna be one heck of a cutie. Congrats to the momma-to-be! Continue reading →

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Interviewing Naseeruddin: The Lion Roars

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Well, he was really incredibly nice…but he certainly had little patience for stupid people asking stupid questions, so the possibility that he would lose his temper lent a certain charge to the proceedings.

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I’m talking about Naseeruddin Shah, of course. The yin to Big B’s yang, the iconoclast, the evergreen, the lion of Indian cinema with over 150 films to his credit. From Umrao Jaan to Monsoon Wedding to Omkara, he disappears into a role so thoroughly, I usually have to check IMDB frequently to make sure it’s really him.

It’s just so refreshing when famous people turn out to be intelligent and really engage in a conversation. All too often it’s just rote PR fluff. Many mutineers seemed to like the Vik Sahay interview for that reason, so I thought I’d bring over these two Naseerudin Shah interview clips: Continue reading →

He’s Your Polish Dancer, Your Brown Actor for Hire

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d.pudi.jpg“Most of the roles you get are not Polish…You don’t seem like a typical Pole,” Jimmy Kimmel joked while interviewing comic actor Danny Pudi on his late night show. The lanky Chicagoan and Polish-Indian American Pudi was sitting in a chair autographed by Rod Blagojevich.

And indeed, his role on the new TV series “Community,” is not Polish either. He plays Abed, a half-Palestinian character.

Pudi, whose mother immigrated from Poland and his father from India, acknowledged that portraying Polish characters was not his “wheelhouse.” Playing South Asian characters is.

“I played three Sanjays…Haven’t played any Polish characters yet.”

You can watch his Kimmel interview after the jump. Continue reading →

Interview with Vik Sahay

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Do you watch “Chuck”? That TV show about the secret, CIA-protected life of a tech dork who works the Nerd Herd desk at a Best Buy like electronics store? The first season was cute, the second sort of lost me, then they got Scott Bakula to play his dad and I’m hooked again. (Quantum Leap forever!)

One of the more amusing aspects of the show is that Chuck’s real world life at the Nerd Herd desk is as drama-filled as his intelligence/espionage secret life — courtesy of a scheming nemesis, Lester, played by desi actor Vik Sahay. vicsahay3-200x200.jpg

It’s a small role, but Sahay really owns it, milking every line for humor and dimensionality. So when MTV Iggy interviewed him, we vaguely thought he would be this, like, funny cocky guy and we’d edit it down to the best 2-3 bits. We certainly had no idea it would turn out to be one of the most searching, intelligent, thought-provoking interviews I’ve seen in years.

We ended up cutting something like 14 segments because all of it was interesting. That’s a ridiculous number, by the way. No one’s ever gotten that much play. Six clips were aired while we try to figure out what to do with the rest. Continue reading →

Archie Panjabi to star in CBS’s The Good Wife

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Archie Panjabi, who you’ll remember from films like Bend It Like Beckham and A Mighty Heart, is set to appear this fall in a new CBS drama called The Good Wife. (Thanks to my SM mutineer from Philly, Neha, for the tip!) The show, a legal drama, centers around a woman (Julianna Luisa Margulies) whose husband, a high-profile politician, (played by Sex and the City’s Chris Noth), goes to jail after his involvement in a sex scandal. Margulies plays the wronged wife who decides to return to her job as an attorney after years as a stay-at-home mom. Panjabi plays the role of Kalinda, an East Indian kick-ass bisexual investigator who works alongside Margulies’s character on cases. It’ll be interesting to see how this show plays out. You can see Panjabi on Tuesdays starting with the show’s premiere on September 22 at 10 ET/PT.

Check out some scenes from the show.

[Photo Credit]

Related posts: Panjabi having a very ‘Good Year‘, ‘Yasmin’ in Queens, The spy who loved me

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Top Chef: Las Vegas “Vice”

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Wherein we recap epidsode one and live blog episode two, of one of the best reality shows EVAR.

Exactly one week ago, a few of you joined me for the season premier of Top Chef: Las Vegas. Together, we good-foodies watched with breaths abated as Google’s Executive Chef, Preeti Mistry, took on a ginger who blew off MIT for cooking (he’s like the anti-brown!) and Michael Isabella, whom I know by name because I’m devoted to his restaurant, Zaytinya, even if he’s shaping up to be this season’s honorary representative from Massengill. Speaking of that currently-beloved epithet, this amusing blog thinks Preeti is one of three “Contenders for Top Douchebag”. Wow, not only are we a post-racial nation, we’re living in an era where a woman is nominated to be a “top” DB. That’s…something.

Like last week, you are invited to join in the chant by tuning in at 10pm, when you will be able to crash this live-blogging party:

Now about that Mise-en-place relay race from last week, which is ALL people can mention when I bring up Preeti… Continue reading →

Not Her Antonio

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Fans of trashy TV and those with erstwhile crushes on General Hospital’s Jagger may be interested to know that former soap opera star and underwear model Antonio Sabato, Jr., 37, is seeking love and the spotlight on My Antonio, VH1’s so-called reality TV show set in Hawaii. Two of the 13 women vying for his heart and screentime are desis — Anju and Tania. I caught the first episode of this series online and noticed that Anju was probably the most outspoken cast member. Continue reading →

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