Are Desi Actors on American TV Stereotyped?
Are Indian actors in US television shows racial stereotypes? Find out
“I am tired of seeing those stereotypes for Indian people on American TV” said Priyanka Chopra in an interview to DNA just before she left for LA, having signed a deal with ABC Network to be cast in an upcoming TV series. This was before details came in of the actress playing the character of Alex Weaver, an FBI trainee. Which means, Priyanka effectively won’t be playing an Indian in the series (unless she’s playing a desi with a American name). But is the actress’ apprehension of being stereotyped true? Not really.
Here’s a quick look at some important parts played by Indians in a few popular American TV shows:
Nimrat Kaur plays the cold, calculating and ruthless Pakistani ISI agent Tasneem Qureshi in Homeland. Described as Carrie Mathison’s nemesis, she has close links to the Taliban and is instrumental in getting a former CIA chief kidnapped. If anything, her role as the neglected housewife waiting to exhale in The Lunchbox was more cliched.
Archie Panjabi as the Miss Fix-It-All Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife. It almost seems no case can be cracked unless Kalinda smoothly operates in and out of the stickiest situations, getting that crucial piece of evidence on which the verdict rests. She’s seen making out with both a man and a woman separately, definitely doesn’t register any points on the American-desi stereotype meter.
Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor in The Office. Though Mindy stereotypically changed her original surname from Chokalingam to an easier on the tongue Kaling, her character in series is far from stereotyped. In fact in Season 1, she slaps a colleague who uses the ‘Indians owning convenience stores’ cliche during a seminar.
Kunal Nayyar as Raj Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory is very often at the receiving end of jokes that some may even call ‘racist’. But even as Raj looks like the stereotypical brown guy with an Indian accent who is uncomfortable around pretty women and is sick of being pushed into arranged marriages, his metrosexuality keeps his character distinct. And as Kunal himself put it in an interview, “If the stereotype is that he’s smart, that’s a great stereotype to have.”
Sakina Jaffrey was cast to play Linda Vasquez in House Of Cards. Why would the casting team choose Saeed & Madhur Jaffrey’s daughter to play the role of a Latina? It raised several discussions online on the interchangeability of the ‘brown’ face. But apparently it was Executive Producer, David Fincher’s decision that Sakina play Linda. How can you question Fincher?
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