WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Abdullah Saeed wasn鈥檛 looking to He was just looking for a job.
The 鈥淒eli Boys鈥� creator wrote a sample script in 2019, hoping to secure a staff position in a writers' room after transitioning from journalism to screenwriting. (鈥淣obody was buying my documentaries,鈥� jokes Saeed.) He had recently co-written a script for a feature film, but needed something to showcase his own voice.
Saeed sat down to write without worry about representing his entire community, and decided to freely create a show that was as lighthearted as he is.
鈥淭he pressure was off because I didn鈥檛 think it was going to be a TV show. I was just like, 鈥極K, whatever, I think that鈥檚 funny,鈥欌�� said the Pakistani American writer.
鈥淒eli Boys鈥� soon landed in front of television writers and producers who immediately wanted to do more than hire Saeed. They wanted to develop the half-hour pilot and bring it to life.
鈥淚t was so unique and so funny and fresh, and (there is) nothing like that in the world, ever,鈥� said Konner who later brought on showrunner Michelle Nader (鈥�2 Broke Girls鈥�).
The 10-episode Hulu original comedy presented by Onyx Collective stars Saagar Shaikh (鈥淢s. Marvel鈥�), Asif Ali (鈥淲andaVision鈥�) and Poorna Jagannathan. Premiering Thursday, 鈥淒eli Boys鈥� follows two Pakistani American brothers, Raj and Mir 鈥� played by Shaikh and Ali 鈥� who lose their comfortable lifestyles after their convenience store mogul father (Iqbal Theba) dies unexpectedly from a golfing accident. Raj and Mir must now work together to take over the family business, but soon learn they are in way over their heads when they discover the stores were a front for cocaine distribution.
Saeed, who used to cover stories centered on music, cannabis and recreational drugs, says he was inspired by the 鈥渦nverified stories about stealth and smuggling鈥� that he heard over the years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just lore,鈥� he said of the stories he was never able to report out. 鈥淏ut in this show, we can borrow all that stuff, right? And so, like, there鈥檚 all these elements about, you know, stealth, like how you actually package and move drugs that really made their way into the show.鈥�
The brothers at the show's heart are two complete opposites who have to find themselves while being comically thrust into the drug-smuggling underworld: Raj is the free spirit who relies on cannabis, his shaman and good looks to get him by, while Mir is the buttoned-up, model child looking to make his father proud.
鈥淚t was great to finally, for the first time, be a flawed character not a model minority,鈥� said Shaikh. 鈥淭he spectrum for white shows goes from like, 鈥楩ull House鈥� to 鈥淚t鈥檚 Always Sunny.鈥� And, you know, we are, like them, not a monolith, right? We have different stories. We have different values from house to house. We have different cultures from house to house. And we rarely get to see any nuance.鈥�
For Ali, portraying Mir was something he never would have imagined.
鈥淚t really is above just being, you know, an exploration of what being South Asian is,鈥� said Ali. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that I have never seen our community have before. Just like straight-up crazy comedy.鈥�
Jagannathan plays their father鈥檚 right-hand woman Lucky, who quickly takes the boys under her wing in an effort to salvage the family鈥檚 dwindling drug operation. According to Jagannathan, Lucky was initially written as a man until Saeed was advised to go back to his script and change two characters from men to women. Soon, Lucky became a blend of Saeed鈥檚 mother, whom he describes as a 鈥渟elf-starting, headstrong badass,鈥� executive producers Silver and Konner, Nader and Jagannathan鈥檚 past roles as a mother on and 鈥淭he Night Of.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 sweet and loving and nurturing and then the next scene is her putting a bullet in someone鈥檚 head,鈥� said Jagannathan. 鈥淎nd I think the juxtaposition of that is so funny, but the script has so much of that. It鈥檚 the expected with the unexpected right next door.鈥�
The cast also includes Alfie Fuller (鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel鈥�) and Brian George, a familiar face to 鈥淪einfeld鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory鈥� fans who is now front and center as Lucky鈥檚 second-in-command. Guest stars for this season also include who makes his acting debut in the sixth episode.
鈥淚 saw the script, and it was a fully formed character. I was so nervous. But the first day I got on that set, I had the best experience,鈥� said France, who initially thought he was only going to play a small role.
Saeed and Konner hope the show will have the opportunity to welcome more South Asian guest stars in later seasons. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people we would die to have,鈥� said Konner.
鈥淎nd then for each of them, we鈥檝e now set this thing up for ourselves where they have to play someone against type,鈥� said Saeed. 鈥淪o, that makes it more fun for us if we get somebody huge, right? And we鈥檝e only seen them one way; we get to put them into something different.鈥�
Leslie Ambriz, The Associated Press
