00:00This show is inspired by your personal experience.
00:04Why did you want to tell this story about this particular family?
00:09Well, thank you for asking that question, Raquel.
00:12The Perdibs of Pittsburgh is a reflection of what happened to me when we moved to Pittsburgh.
00:19And just from that, not just because it happened to me, what that really taught me,
00:24that experience, is that everybody, when something happens to a family,
00:27everybody sees it differently.
00:29So to convey that story, that, hey, big things happen to families,
00:34and everybody has a different response, which creates all new conflict and dynamics
00:38and challenges and obstacles.
00:40I'm like, this is what TV does best.
00:43This is what family stories do well, is they tell a family story,
00:47but every other family will see themselves in it, right?
00:51And that's why I say, the Perdibs of Pittsburgh appeals to anybody who's been,
00:56is from a family.
00:57So that literally is everybody.
00:59And it doesn't matter if you're Indian or if you're an immigrant,
01:02though we tell the story of an immigrant family who is from India,
01:06it resonates across gender, it resonates across ages, it resonates across, you know, ideologies.
01:14Mary, it's often a great way to explore more serious issues.
01:20How did you manage to find the tone to know where to take this joke about that
01:26and mix drama and comedy?
01:30What we try to do, and what I try to do in the storytelling,
01:33is tell the most accurate story that captures how people really respond to certain situations.
01:40The situations were sometimes fictional, but like, how do people really respond?
01:45And then from that, the humor will come.
01:48Like I said, the show is really about the trauma in my life,
01:51told as a comedy, because it's very easy to find, you know,
01:56the things that make you laugh when you are at your lowest point,
02:00because that really is almost, to the outsider, the funniest part.
02:05So it was to find the tone of the show.
02:07What we did is we just tried to tell authentic stories,
02:10and then you'd be surprised how quickly the comedy comes from that,
02:14because sometimes you have to laugh through your tears.
02:17So that's how we found the tone of the show.
02:19And it really rung true.
02:22You know, when we watched it back, we're like, no, this is how it feels.
02:24It doesn't feel like we're trying to make a joke.
02:26It just feels funny.
02:28It was challenging to find this amazing cast?
02:33It was a joy to find this amazing cast.
02:36We looked far and wide.
02:37We looked all over the world.
02:38We cast from the UK, Australia, United States, India, wide, wide net.
02:45And what that did is it created a real authentic experience,
02:50because the actors who connected with the characters,
02:53not all of them grew up in India.
02:55Some of them grew up in the UK, but they were of Indian descent.
02:58So they had the immigrant experience,
03:00but they had the experience of, oh, yes, there's specifics to our Indians
03:05that's different to other Indians.
03:07That means there's specifics to Indians from Ahmedabad that go to Pittsburgh.
03:11So they were able to bring that experience to the characters.
03:14And so in casting it, it was pretty evident,
03:17almost with all the actors, that's the character.
03:22They brought it.
03:23And to have someone like Naveen Andrews, who is just beyond, beyond,
03:29from the English page and from Lost,
03:31to have him be the patriarch of the show was so special.
03:35It's a really funny show.
03:37If I'm laughing at the words on the page,
03:39I can't imagine, at the time,
03:41I couldn't imagine how funny it would be to actually put it up.
03:44And get to ad-lib and improvise in the moment.
03:48So there's a lot of room to play, I think, in the script.
03:52And it is so unpredictable.
03:55This family does things that you just,
03:58you leave wondering what's going to happen next every single episode.
04:03So both of those elements combined made it such a fun show
04:07for really anyone to watch.
04:11Absolutely.
04:11You know, the family could have been from anywhere,
04:14the lines were hilarious, and the plot is way out.
04:19That was my main thing.
04:20I was like, I would love to act this stuff out.
04:23And then it was a bonus that we were all Indian.
04:27I'm Indian.
04:27I'm a mother.
04:28I've got teenagers.
04:29I was like, there is no preparation.
04:31Because the kids in the show are all behaving up and down,
04:34especially Bhanu, who is not listening.
04:37I have lived that.
04:39So I was like, I'll just channel a bit of my mother and a lot of myself.
04:43And also, it made it very easy that the actors playing the kids,
04:49they were so good.
04:51You know, I can't remember a single scene where I was like,
04:54oh, I can't connect to what this kid is saying.
04:57They all brought very specific energy,
05:00very clear who they are as those characters.
05:03And they did it every day for weeks.
05:08It was super easy to connect with.
05:10I loved having younger brothers on the show.
05:13I don't have younger brothers in my real life.
05:15They're just so funny.
05:17They're constantly asking if I want to play video games.
05:19They'll FaceTime me at 2 a.m.
05:21And I'm like, I'm asleep.
05:23Like, what do you...
05:24But I'll still pick up because I love them.
05:26I think that people will definitely laugh.
05:29It's a show that you can watch with anybody,
05:31with your family, with your friends, by yourself.
05:34It's a show that reads well like on your phone.
05:36I lost my TV remote for a while.
05:38So I was watching stuff on my phone.
05:40And this is something I can see myself
05:42just watching on my phone or on the big screen.
05:45It's a show for anyone.
05:46It happens to be about a South Asian family.
05:50And it's just a fun watch.
05:55One of the things I would love is if people watch this show
05:59outside of people who are not in the diaspora,
06:02people outside of India,
06:03and they understand that the term South Asian immigrant
06:06is really, it's nonsensical.
06:09We're not one kind of immigrant.
06:10You come from South Asia.
06:12You're either, you're coming,
06:13you're just like everyone in the United States
06:16thinks they're different.
06:17And they're, you know, we're different within India.
06:20So this is an educated family.
06:22They don't have to be here, but they're kind of here.
06:25So we can start to see the nuance
06:28of what South Asians immigrants are like.
06:31But also at the same time,
06:33I want people to understand that having a family,
06:35having a marriage, having children, it's universal.
06:39You know, it doesn't matter where you're from
06:40because in that way, we're all want to protect our family.
06:43And we all want to do well, you know,
06:46so there's both those things.
06:47One is about difference.
06:48One is about similarity.
06:49I hope that will come out.
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