“Aliens in America”
Television with a Pakistani Twist
By Ras H. Siddiqui
|
Adhir
Kalyan as a Pakistani kid in an American classroom |
Raja
Musharraf is welcomed at the airport |
Dan
Byrd and Adhir Kalyan |
Monday, October 1, 2007
is going to become a watershed day for Pakistanis and Muslims
worldwide, especially for those here in America. The CW
television network (CBS Warner) is launching its prime-time
television series “Aliens in America ” on that
date (please check local listings for exact timing).
Aliens in America is about one all American family, the
Tolchuk’s who are unexpectedly joined by a Pakistani-Muslim
exchange student. The student Raja Musharraf (played by
Adhir Kalyan) makes quite a ripple at the local high school
as well as within the Tolchuck home in Medora, Wisconsin.
The family had originally anticipated and expected a young
Nordic teen to come and live in their home to befriend their
geeky son Justin (Dan Byrd of The Hills Have Eyes) who easily
fills the role of the other alien (home grown but maladjusted
teen with no social life). Together the two, Raja and Justin
make quite a pair.
That there will be questions and raised eyebrows about this
show is almost guaranteed. The first one that comes to mind
is whether America is ready for a practicing Muslim kid
from Pakistan as a main character on prime time? And on
the other hand, are the Pakistani and Muslim community here
in America ready for raunchy teenage humor associated with
their youth? One will just have to wait to find out, but
this sure seems newsworthy at the moment.
At least one “Aliens in America” kickoff event
that we know of is taking place at the Fairmont Hotel in
Washington on October 1st, where the sponsors The Saban
Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution
will be joined for Iftar (the traditional Ramadan breaking
of the fast) by the shows creators Moses Port and David
Guarascio along with “Junooni” Salman Ahmad
and Omar Amanat in a panel discussion on “Considering
Post 9/11 Tensions Through Popular Culture.” And maybe
we can add to that topic “Can popular comedy resolve
over six years of mistrust?” One answer is that it
sure can’t hurt!
Aliens in America also stars Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls)
as Gary Tolchuck the aspiring entrepreneur, Amy Pietz (Caroline
in the City) as is his wife Franny (whose idea it was to
bring in an exchange student) and Lindsey Shaw as their
beautiful and popular young daughter Claire (as opposed
to son Justin who has many social issues).
As mentioned earlier, the role of Raja the Pakistani, is
played by Adhir Kalyan a young South African of Indian descent
who was born and raised in Durban. His mother Sandy Kalyan
is a Member of Parliament in the South African National
Assembly. Adhir moved to London in 2005 and has had an opportunity
to act in a few BBC series and independent films. At the
moment we are not aware of his religious beliefs and how
he prepared for his role as a young Muslim from Pakistan
in this series, but we are bound to find out soon.
Going back in history, the first young Muslim to enter the
high citadel of American teen stardom through a television
show was Sajid Khan almost 40 years ago. Teaming up with
Jay North (Dennis the Menace) in the movie and TV series
Maya, a story about a rare elephant (in which Khan played
a Hindu kid), Sajid made quite an impression in the United
States for a short period of time. Now it remains to be
seen if Adhir Kalyan’s Raja can duplicate Sajid Khan’s
contribution and make Muslims and South Asian “Desi”
characters a more desirable youth element here after the
challenges posed by 9/11/2001.
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