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If a show about Gujaratis or Indians in the US had to be made, it could have been more authentic, sighs Deepa Gahlot.
The Pradeeps Of Pittsburgh has been made for a Western audience, who would not wonder why a Gujarati family from Ahmedabad does not have even a hint of a Gujarati accent.
The first Gujarati word uttered by anybody is much later in the series, when an American says ‘Kemcho‘ in greeting.
The actors in the family comedy, created by Vijal Patel, speak with a vaguely Tamil accent, maybe because, going by their surnames, some of them are of South Indian origin.
Anyone with a nodding acquaintance with a Gujarati family would know that anywhere in the US, there will be a distant Kaka, Maasi, Mama or Phui and a mandal that organises poojas and dandiyas.
If a show about Gujaratis or Indians in the US (the eight episodes are written and directed by multiple people) had to be made, it could have been more authentic. For instance, how likely is it for an Indian kid, brought up with the notion of caste directly or indirectly drilled into his head, to be enamoured of the garbageman, and his parents allowing him to ride to school in the garbage truck!
With the American immigration system so mingy about granting even tourist visas, would they give an Indian man a contract to manufacture rocket components and then let him loose in Pittsburgh with his family, with no follow up contact or supervision?
Would a well-regarded Indian surgeon just land up in the US without checking out regulations, and expect to be hired in a hospital?
One positive thing is that The Pradeeps Of Pittsburgh is not about racism.
But then again, is it possible for a school to have only white students?
When the Indian girl steps into the school bus, she is ‘blinded by the Caucasians’.
How is it that there is no single Black, Brown or Asian face?!
The two older Pradeep kids are portrayed as horny American teens, and in a case of stereotyping, an American girl is seen giving a handjob to a boy in the bus.
The Pradeep family is being interrogated by immigration agents, following an arson incident.
Isn’t it a job for the police?
Anyway, if it is proved that one of them set fire to their neighbour’s house, they will be deported.
Various points of view are explored by the two agents identified as Dark Suit and White Suit, and every time they hear a version of the same story, they get more confused.
Mahesh Pradeep (Naveen Andrews) his wife Sudha (Sindhu Vee), kids Bhanu (Sahana Srivinasan), Kamal (Arjun Sriram) and Vinod (Ashwin Sakhtivel) arrive in freezing Pittsburgh, and the teenager immediately starts ‘grinding’ (their word) with Stu (Nicholas Hamilton), the hunk next door.
While the family has not even had time to settle into their unfurnished house, Bhanu (who wants to fit in but wears a bindi) has set up a drug-dealing business with Stu.
Kamal, who is traumatised by the move to the US, has one look at his teacher’s cleavage and gets turned on.
The chirpy Vinod can only befriend two ‘outcasts’ (their word), a boy who walks with the help of canes, and a girl with a stutter. All three kids talk like they were in elocution class.
The cleavage-flashing teacher Janice Mills (Megan Hilty) and her husband Jimbo (Ethan Suplee) happen to be the neighbours and Stu’s parents. There are no other neighbours around the Pradeeps’ home.
The feud between the two families starts when dead rabbits are left outside the Pradeeps’ door and Sudha is sure Stu did it.
Meanwhile, the teens are having dialogue like this:
Bhanu: Let’s go commit interstate crime with the naivete of dumb youth.
Stu: Oh, your disregard for the law turns me on.
Sudha crashes into Janice’s circle of bored, junkie women, and sells more vitamin supplements than she does, making the latter angry.
Their children getting close romantically bothers both mothers for their own reasons.
Jimbo offers to get an investor for Mahesh’s factory (that still has sex toys lying around from the previous tenant’s stock), which ends in disaster.
Amidst the general corniness, there are moments of humour in some throwaway lines and genuine warmth. Like Sudha being able to understand what her husband wants to tell her just by the way he says her name or the mood-enhancing magic of eating pani puri, dressed in Indian finery.
Sindu Vee holds the show together with her spirited performance, making the others look like amateurs.
The deal breaker for an Indian viewer?
Sudha exaggerating (‘We Indians add masala to everything’), a car exploding accident to the immigration agents and saying, it was like a Michael Bay movie. Which asli desi has not heard of Rohit Shetty?
The Pradeeps Of Pittsburgh streams on Amazon Prime Video.
The Pradeeps Of Pittsburgh Review Rediff Rating:
