South Asian Actors Raising The Bar Of American Television

South Asians are shining in every field today. It is good to see the growing recognition of South Asian actors in the US. In the last decade, many talented artists from South Asia have achieved commendable success in the field of entertainment, and their number is continuously growing. The year 2018 is going to be great not only for the ruling actors who are already doing well but also for the emerging ones as well. Here is a brief look at a few actors who will appear on the American television in the coming months.  

Kumail Nanjiani, comedian/actor/writer, who made it to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list is ready to deliver another hit. After the sleeper hit of 2017, The Big Sick, the Pakistani American actor is going to play Stu in Stuber.

Vir Das needs no introduction. The well-known Indian comedian is going to have “an exciting time” essaying an FBI Agent in the upcoming ABC Dramedy, Whiskey Cavalier that will, he hopes “bring Indian voices to American television.” This will be his second venture after In Theory in the arena of American television series.

The second season of American Gods will be aired next year, and the good news for South Asians is that Sakina Jaffrey has joined the cast. The fans of Sakina, who is known for memorable roles in shows like The Mindy Project, are anxiously waiting to see her turn Goddess in American Gods and play Mama-Ji, a waitress at Motel America who is actually the Hindu Goddess of war.

Apart from these famous South Asian actors, there are some new faces that are slated to bring in some wonderful dose of acting –  Sarayu Blue starring alongside Madhur Jaffrey, in Aseem Batra’s I Feel Bad, is one of them. Similarly, Parveen Kaur is going to feature as a brilliant medical researcher Saanvi in Manifest, a high-concept drama, which will premiere in the coming months on NBC. Also on NBC’s, The Enemy Within, a suspense thriller drama which is slated to premiere in 2019, Raza Jaffrey will play an FBI agent, Ali Ziai.

Another South Asian who is going to be seen in CBC’s ambitious event series, The Red Line (by producers Greg Berlanti and Ava DuVernay) is the well-known Vinny Chhibber, who will play the challenging role of a quick-witted and openly gay high school teacher, Liam. In another CBC drama series about faith and hope, God Friended Me, Suraj Sharma is going to play the friend of Miles, an atheist who is friended on Facebook by God.

Some of the other talented South Asian actors include Nik Dodani (Murphy Brown) as Pat, the social media director at Murphy’s new show; Mouzam Makkar (The Fix) as Loni, the lead attorney of the current trial in the legal drama; and Karan Oberoi (Rosewell, New Mexico) who will play a devoted husband.

And with celebrated Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, joining the cast of the medical drama, New Amsterdam, as Dr. Vijay Kapoor, the year is sure to be exciting.

We wish them all huge success and hope to see more such diversity on American television.