‘Deli Boys,’ an upcoming Hulu series shot in Chicago, puts South Asians at the center of its humor
A coroner’s car, yellow crime scene tape, FBI agents and a fleet of cameras aren’t exactly normal fare for Shalimar Banquets in suburban Addison. But last April wasn’t exactly a normal scenario for the wedding and event venue.
Rather than hosting a couple’s nuptials, Shalimar was hosting the cast and crew of upcoming Hulu series “Deli Boys” as the team wrapped the final scenes for Season One.
The 10-episode series, debuting on March 6, centers around Pakistani American brothers Mir and Raj Dar (a yin-and-yang duo respectively played by “WandaVision” actor Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh of "The Marvels"), who are thrust into an underground crime ring after the unexpected death of their father, A.B.C. Deli tycoon Baba, reveals dark secrets about the family business. Mir and Raj are taken under the wing of newly anointed mob boss Lucky (played by “Never Have I Ever” and “The Night Of” actor Poorna Jagannathan) as chaos ensues.
The dark comedy/action plot calls to mind a sharp mix of “The Sopranos” meets “Schitt’s Creek” and a bit of “Righteous Gemstones,” though conceptually it’s unlike any crime series we’ve seen, with South Asian protagonists and antagonists in the leads and a woman in charge of the whole nefarious operation.
As part of the Onyx Collective division of Disney Entertainment Television (which previously produced the Kerry Washington-led comedy/drama “UnPrisoned” and the documentary “Summer of Soul”), “Deli Boys” upholds Onyx's mission of presenting “globally entertaining stories by creators of color and underrepresented voices, all with a culturally specific point of view.” Everything, from the prayer ceremonies, to the wedding ceremonies to the costuming in the show is incredibly authentic, drawn from the mind of show creator Abdullah Saeed, a journalist and producer known for his work on the James Beard-nominated Vice series “Bong Appétit." "Deli Boys” is his first scripted series.
“I’ve played tag in a lobby like this,” Saeed shares from his director’s chair in between takes at Shalimar Banquets on that April afternoon. Saeed and his partners — Jenni Konner and Nora Silver (of Jenni Konner Productions) and showrunner Michelle Nader — were local fixtures for the first few months of 2024. Though “Deli Boys” takes place in Philadelphia, the entirety of it was filmed in Chicago, including the pilot as far back as 2022 before the SAG-AFTRA writer’s strike delayed production.
In addition to sound stages at Cinespace Studios in North Lawndale, remote site locations included Essence of India in Lincoln Square, Devon Avenue in Rogers Park, a private home in Oak Park, and spots around McKinley Park, Lake View, and Villa Park, among others.
Calling Chicago the “best fit” for the filming of “Deli Boys,” Saeed says, “I’m really glad we are here honestly because the city has sort of revealed itself to me … I feel like Chicago shares a lot of vibes with Philly, historically a working-class town and very strong supporters of their sports teams.” And, he jokes, “having a beef-based sandwich that’s really important to our culture. All of the things line up.”
There were other more practical and obvious reasons to pick Chicago. As filming took place in the month of Ramadan, Shaikh says he was able to observe the holiday with the range of offerings in Chicago. “Whenever I’ve gotten out early enough, I’ll find a place to break fast. Sometimes I’ve gone to a mosque, and other times there are people that work on set that have invited me to a good spot.”
Ali, who went to college at UIC and first came to Chicago “to do comedy before I had the balls to quit school” also believes the city’s funny backbone made it the perfect fit. “It always baffled me that more comedies weren’t shot in Chicago. A lot of great shows are but many are pretty serious procedurals, and that’s always struck me as odd. There’s so many incredible comedic people that are in Chicago, why not do more?”
“Deli Boys” did in fact tap into that network for several roles, including casting locals Amita Rao (half of the comedy duo Gag Reflex) for the role of Nandika and improv artist Jake Prizant, who makes his acting debut as Baba’s assistant Matthew and is poised to become a breakout from the show. “He was an amazing find. His audition tape was a single scene and he is now in five to six episodes,” said Saeed.
Joliet native Tim Baltz (“The Righteous Gemstones”) also delivers as an ego-driven FBI director, the foil to his partner, Agent Mercer, played by Alexandra Ruddy (“City of Lies”), who is married to Saeed. A number of guest stars, still unannounced, also pop up throughout the series.
From main cast to extras, there’s a real sense of kinship between everyone on the show. “It’s the closest cast I’ve ever seen," Konner says as someone walks around the set handing out hats decorated with “Deli Boys” on front and A.B.C. Deli on back — a wrap gift from Ali and Shaikh to all of the crew.
Saeed originally wrote the “Deli Boys” script in 2019 as a way to get staff writing gigs. “I wanted to showcase my joke writing,” he says, and he succeeds. Prime examples include giving playboy Raj a shaman mystic girlfriend (expertly played by Alfie Fuller of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and crafting a supporting role for eau de toilette Drakkar Noir. When Saeed was shopping the script around, a meeting with Konner (known for her work on HBO’s “Girls”) and Silver changed everything. “They said, 'There’s a whole world here. We can totally make this into a show,' ” recalls Saeed, who crafted it around his own experiences.
“As an immigrant kid, you have these two sides of your brain — one says you should enjoy the fruits of your parents’ struggle and live your life as an American and the other side that says you have to honor your parents, you have to be the hard worker, you have to carry that on. That’s Raj and Mir,” he shares.
The character of Lucky, too, is also based loosely on Saeed’s own mother. In fact, Lucky and Agent Mercer were both originally written as male characters but were revised after Saeed gleaned a tip from Geena Davis. “I saw her speak and she was like, 'If you’re a writer, you should go home and look at your scripts and if there’s a character that’s a male that could be a female you should change the gender,' ” he says. “I was raised by a single mom. Me and my brother and our mom, that dynamic suddenly came to life for me in the form of Lucky and these two boys.”
Jagannathan says playing Lucky was impactful for her for a number of reasons. “I’ve been lucky enough to be on many shows that were first for representations and I’ve seen the impact that it has and it’s an incredible thing. … I remember when ‘The Night Of’ came out and its place in the conversation about Islamophobia when no one was having it; its impact on understanding and being more empathetic to Muslims in America was profound. … The same goes for [‘Deli Boys’] — the fact that Lucky is a mob boss is hilarious but it’s also a story of a very, very powerful Pakistani woman that survives and thrives in a male-dominated arena. She defies social convention, and that story has never been told.”
In addition to a mission to bring back hard comedy, representation was a huge motivator for Saeed as well. “In Hollywood, it’s always who’s the most famous, who’s going to move the needle? But of course Pakistanis are a pretty nascent bunch in Hollywood,” he says, “so our effort as producers was, 'Let’s create those people.' [Raj and Mir] aren’t the stereotypical brown guys that you see, often kind of diminutive, the comic relief, kind of a dork maybe. They’re handsome and confident and have those quirks that we all have and that was really important.”
Adds Ali, “In a weird way the show is this really cool South Asian thing, where being South Asian wasn’t the point. The point is, this is a really funny thing that’s happening and these guys happen to be of this community … which has a bigger impact when it’s not hammered. We’re not like eating parathas being like, ‘Aren’t these parathas really good, man? Isn’t biryani my favorite dish?’ That to me was really cool. We need more shows like this.”
Jagannathan believes, in many ways, it’s the type of show that transcends demographics. “I think it’ll be delightful for the Pakistani-American community to see the show,” she says, “but anyone with a taste for the absurd is going to love it.”