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A struggling entrepreneur with quirky employees and a dysfunctional family and how he deals with them forms the plot of a new satirical comedy released on Netflix. “Brown Nation,” directed by Abi Varghese, which released globally on November 15, deals with the American-desi experience, replete with witty dialogues and humor.
Varghese, who co-wrote “Brown Nation” with Matt Grubb and George Kanatt, told Desi Talk that the idea for the sitcom came about when he worked on the Malayalam series Akkara Kazhchakal, about an Indian family living in the U.S. “I always wanted to take that idea and make it bigger for American television,” he said.
The ten-part first season whirls around the everyday life of Hasmukh, who is dealing with a failing IT company in Queens. Other than holding his dysfunctional office together, Hasmukh also has to navigate various personal relationships: with his struggling artist wife, live-in father-in-law and a dog.
Along with New York-based theater artist Rajeev Varma, who essays the role of Hasmukh, “Brown Nation” also stars Omi Vaidya, who became popular for his role as the nerdy Chatur Ramalingam in Raju Hirani’s 2009 film “3 Idiots,” Melanie Chandra, (“Code Black”), and Shenaz Treasurywala (“Delhi Belly”).
The show was developed in 2014, Varghese said. They first shot the pilot, followed by the ten episodes, but quickly realized that it was “too Indian” for the mainstream audience, and “too English” for the audience in India. “The show crosses cultures,” Varghese said, and it was apt that Netflix picked it up, he added.
Varghese feels that subscription services like Netflix and Amazon are good platforms for independent filmmakers to showcase their work to a global audience. He also believes that Indian-American actors have “indeed come a long way from their stereotypical roles” and are “pushing the envelope.”
Talking about the casting of “Brown Nation,” Varghese said they were looking for a lead actor who was well know and once they auditioned Varma, “they knew he was the one.” Varghese described Treasurywala as a “great, but under-utilized actress,” and said he liked her work in Abhinay Deo’s 2011 film “Delhi Belly.” Varghese said he wanted to show Vaidya in a different light, as he felt the actor has been “typecast” after “3 Idiots.”
Varghese, whose previous works also include a Malayalam feature film “Monsoon Mangoes,” said he enjoys working in the television series space, where the strength of the story lies in its characters, where the actors also get a chance to improvise a lot. “I enjoy writing and directly comedy,” he said, adding that although it’s tough to write comedy, it’s fun directing it.
Varghese was born in Adoor, Kerala and moved to the U.S. at the age of four along with his parents. He did his schooling in New Jersey and studied business at NYU.
The post Netflix Releases Comedy Series on New York-based Desi Family appeared first on News India Times.
