Press Release: Onyx Collective has announced the pickup of comedy “Deli Boys” from 20th Television, starring Asif Ali as Mir, Saagar Shaikh as Raj, Alfie Fuller as Prairie, Brian George as Ahmad, and Poorna Jagannathan as Lucky. “Deli Boys” will stream exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in all other territories. The logline: Logline: When their convenience store-magnate father suddenly dies, a pair of pampered Pakistani American brothers lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba’s secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld.
·The half-hour, 10-episode series was created by Abdullah Saeed and developed by Jenni Konner and Nora Silver under Jenni Konner Productions. Michelle Nader, who also serves as showrunner, is an executive producer alongside Saeed, Konner and Silver. Nisha Ganatra is executive producer and director on the pilot, with Vali Chandrasekaran as a non-writing executive producer on the pilot.
·Cast:
·Asif Ali as Mir: Mir is hardworking, enthusiastic to a fault, and eager to adopt his dad’s acumen to take the family business to the next level. He’s got a cookie-cutter idea of what his life should look like and is desperate to preserve it by keeping the unsavory details of his work from his fiancée, Bushra.
· Saagar Shaikh as Raj: Raj is a wild character, the antithesis of his younger brother Mir. Raj is a hash-smoking, entitled playboy, an outrageous hipster who wraps his joints in gold paper and lives the high life off his Baba’s millions. Spoiled since birth, he has never had to lift a finger and thinks Mir is a sucker for taking life so seriously.
· Poorna Jagannathan as Lucky: Lucky is Baba’s right-hand woman. She can be very caring or a take-no-prisoners boss lady, depending on what’s needed. Her loyalty to Baba is tested along with her patience for Raj’s and Mir’s naïveté. And, she will shoot you.
· Alfie Fuller as Prairie: Prairie is Raj’s shaman, a cosmically touched Afro-futurist-hipster who lives with Raj and various other hangers-on in “stoner heaven” luxury.
· Brian George as Ahmad: Ahmad is Baba’s colleague who has always had his eye on the top spot at DarCo and is willing to play whatever game he has to in order to take it. There’s no love lost between him and the entitled boys he’s resented since birth.
· Bio: Born in Israel to parents of Middle Eastern and Jewish descent, Brian George is a product of London’s East End, where his family moved when he was 2 years old. In 1966, he and his family moved to Canada, and it was there, after attending the University of Toronto, that he got his start acting professionally. George was a member of the famed Second City, where he worked with Catherine O’Hara, John Candy and Martin Short, among many others. In 1986, George moved to Los Angeles and has worked consistently in sitcoms (“Seinfeld,” “Big Bang Theory,” “I Feel Bad”), dramas (“Star Trek DS9,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland”), films (“Austin Powers,” “Keeping The Faith,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Shades of Ray”) cartoons (“Animaniacs,” “Batman,” “Star Wars Clone Wars,” “Spongebob”), online series (“Burning Love”) and stage productions (“A Perfect Wedding,” “Stuff Happens,” “Yes, Prime Minister,” “Vicuña,” “Witch” “Uncle Vanya”).