Move over, Apu

The lack of diversity in American film and television has been a hot topic for quite some time. Minority stars like Mindy Kaling have been criticised for dating only whites and featuring majority white casts on their shows, like The Mindy Project. It is the rare show that depicts an Indian outside of the stereotypes of a heavily accented nerd, or 7-Eleven owner or cab driver. That is until now.

Aziz Ansari tackles this issue and the lack of Indians in serious onscreen roles in his new show, Master of None, for Netflix. The stand-up comedian and former Parks and Recreation actor is now the creator and star of his own show, which examines everything from dating in the 21st century to trying to find a serious job as an Indian actor in the US.

While it may be unfair to hold Hollywood’s Indians, like Kaling, to different standards from their white counterparts, Ansari proves that it’s possible to create a show that rings true to one’s cultural heritage without sacrificing quality or commercial success.

Originality is rare in Hollywood, and shows that grapple with race, religion, sexuality, and culture in an authentic way are impossible to find. That’s what makes Ansari’s show a true delight. Dev, the main character of the show (portrayed by Ansari), is loosely based on his life; Dev’s parents are played by Ansari’s, and Ansari’s brother is a writer on the show. With this strong base Ansari creates a refreshing sense of authenticity within Master of None.

The first episode is about avoiding a pregnancy after a one-night stand and contemplating a future with children. The second deals with relating to your immigrant parents who grew up in different circumstances, and the fourth is aptly titled ‘Indians on TV’ as it takes on the stereotyping faced by Indian actors.

As Dev says, “Look, I get it. There probably is a Pradeep who runs a convenient store, and I have nothing against him, but why can’t there be a Pradeep, just once, who’s like, an architect, or he designs mittens or does one of the jobs that Bradley Cooper’s characters do in movies?”

And why can’t there be? Why has American television been so slow to reflect India’s diverse population?

Thankfully, the Indian plotlines in Master of None are neither standalones nor awkwardly placed; they are seamlessly incorporated into Dev’s story and the season-long arc of trying to find love and happiness moves quickly. The relationship between Dev and his love interest Noël Wells comes across as genuine. The way they meet, their average jobs, the issues they face and (spoiler alert) their breakup are all easily relatable.

Wells just happens to be white, which provides fodder for discussions about differences. “It’s a cultural thing, ok? We don’t talk about that kind of stuff [dating and living with your significant other]. Look, it’s different, ok? If you’re a white person and dating somebody, you just call your parents and tell them, ‘Hey, I’m dating this person,” and they’re like ‘Oh, great! Let me invite him over and feed him like chicken and dumplings,’” says Dev.

More than tricolour

What about non-Indian plotlines? The show is full of them. Through Dev’s character and ethnically diverse supporting cast who play his closest friends (an African-American lesbian, an Asian man, and a white man), Ansari is able to tackle all the craziness of life.

He also uses his expertise from Modern Romance: An Investigation, to comment on the changing nature of romantic relationships, the fact that women are not treated as equals, and how millennials are crippled by options.

Ansari beautifully illustrates this last theme when he resists having the second-best taco in New York after spending hours researching the best one. Similarly, can he marry the girl who is only second-best?

What does Dev’s dad do when presented with this crisis? He quotes from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar: “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor… and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions… and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

As I finished Master of None, I had one quibble. I wished that Ansari hadn’t recycled some lines and plots from his recent book.

So, as his dad says on the show, “You can do a lot of things with your life: career, girlfriend, travel. You can even start a family. But you have to make the decision and do something about it. If you don’t, you’re doing nothing and the tree dies.”

The fig I urge you to pick from our proverbial fig tree of television is Master of None. The only thing you’ll be left wanting is more episodes of Ansari’s great new show.

Abid Haque is a writer based in Washington DC

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