In new Prime Video series, the Pradeeps travel to Pittsburgh and also into our hearts

By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

“The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh,” premiering Oct. 17 on Prime Video, is a great show. It’s one of the few TV shows that I look forward to watching each new episode. These characters are living in my brain, rent free, as the saying goes. I love them. An Indian family moves to Pittsburgh to start fresh and is embroiled in scandal mainly involving their white Christian neighbors.

It’s funny and edgy and dark, described Sahana Srinivasan, who plays Pradeep’s daughter, Bhanu, and I couldn’t agree more. The great thing about this show is that it shows us the life of a newly immigrated family—and it is not afraid to make serious challenges amusing, and also sinister. Importantly, “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh,” with its creator, Vijal Patel, is not afraid to make any character—including any immigrant character—both funny and dark. It pokes fun at everyone while at the same time driving home that everyone in the story has real life obstacles and issues.

Sahana Srinivasan stars in “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh.” (Credit: Steve Wilkie)

“Characters in the show are very much based off of people that were in my life when I lived in Pittsburgh,” Patel, who came to the United States when he was a child, told the Asian Weekly. The Mills family—mom “Janice” (Megan Hilty), dad “Jimbo” (Ethan Suplee, the talented and hilarious actor known from “My Name Is Earl”), and “Stu” (Nicholas Hamilton) is described by Patel an amalgamation “of all the families that were around me.” They were different from his family, yet so consistent with the rest of the neighborhood that he came to the conclusion that hunting, Steelers football, and Christianity was “a normal part of life.” He did not want to make the Mills into “the other” in this story. They are just “different.” Of course, for comedic effect, everything is exaggerated. The Mills are the Pradeep family’s nemesis—especially, with the two moms (Pradeep mom, “Sudha,” is played amazingly by Sindhu Vee).

The Asian Weekly asked Vee and Srinivasan about their favorite part of being in the show. For Vee, who has had a successful career based in the United Kingdom, it was new and enjoyable to play an Indian who had just arrived versus someone already settled. It’s something she can still remember and she appreciated the show’s effort to depict the experiences of each family member individually. For Vee, the moment when the Pradeeps arrive at the Pittsburgh airport, and are standing outside without any winter clothing, is symbolic and accurate. This was even witnessed by her as she was leaving the film site in Toronto and saw a South Asian family outside of the airport, in traditional clothing, with no jackets for the startlingly cold weather.

For their part, Srinivasan loved the opportunity to play a kid and, thanks to the co-actors playing their two brothers, Arjun Siriam and Ashwin Sakthivel, she felt like a kid, too. 

“We were constantly being little cartoon characters on set. I felt myself regressing in the best way possible.” Siriam plays “Kamal” (miscalled “camel”), who has an exorbitant number of psychological disorders (maybe), exacerbated by the move. Sakthivel plays “Vinod,” the youngest, who, Patel shared, is the most like he was—optimistic and excited. He arrives in the United States with “the brightest eyes,” said Patel, who described himself as “the biggest patriot.” Through this series, Patel, who is now a parent himself, also had the chance to see the world through the adults in the story—the Pradeep parents being based off of his own.

Ashwin Sakthivel stars in “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh.” (Credit: Steve Wilkie)

The show is set up with a clever and entertaining framework. Each episode is called an “interrogation.” The Pradeeps and the Mills are in the midst of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security. We are slowly and tantalizingly, through each episode, told a little bit more of what went down—from both sides, with each side overly dramatizing their viewpoint. “When you’re in trouble, you start to exaggerate,” Patel offered. “You want to paint yourself in a good light.” The exaggeration works wonderfully to provide the humor but at no time do you think that their concerns aren’t real. The Pradeep father, “Mahesh” (Naveen Andrews), really is struggling to start a business so he can support his family. The Pradeep mother, Sudha, really is struggling to adjust to a life she didn’t ask for—including the very real immigrant experience of having to re-credential herself as a doctor. The Pradeep kids really are struggling to adapt in whatever way their version is, be it rebelliousness, extreme anxiety, or enthusiastic immersion.

From left: Ashwin Sakthivel, Naveen Andrews, Sahana Srinivasan, and Sindhu Vee star in “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh.” (Credit: Ian Watson)

The cast is wonderful, supplemented by the two investigators, played by Pete Holmes and Romy Rosemont (they never have names but are just “dark suit” and “light suit”). The dialogue is expertly nuanced, demonstrating through humor that nothing is, in fact, just dark and light. For instance, “dark suit” has a Chinese wife, which causes “light suit” great surprise—what? How can someone work for Homeland Security investigating immigrants and also be married to one? The Pradeeps experience a good deal of racism, such as being called “dot heads” or Bhanu being asked, “Why don’t you just change your name to Bonnie?” (so that people can pronounce it). At the same time, they have their own prejudices to overcome, such as against their neighbors’ religion (which, granted, is highly aggressive at times), or the holiday of Halloween, which happens to fall right on Sudha’s birthday, and causes no end of shenanigans on that night.

Most of all, each role is played with an infectious joy that makes “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” irresistible. They are clearly having a blast being in this show, and you will too, watching it. 

Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.

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