ABC Orders Pilot for Indian-American Comedy, ‘Square Roots’

A show that takes a unique look at the Indian-American family dynamic will be a breath of fresh air as long as it doesn’t rely solely on clichés.

Written by: Saloni Gajjar

Updated: March 4, 2016, 2:45 AM IST

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[Photo Source: Twitter/Adhir Kalyan | Instagram/NoureenDeWulf]

ABC is going all out to promote diversity through its shows on the network—obviously, that’s not a bad thing at all. For its fall 2016 lineup, the network has ordered a pilot of “Square Roots,” an Indian-American comedy.

Adhir Kalyan (“Rules of Engagement”), Noureen DeWulf (“Anger Management”), Bernard White (“Captain America”), and Nina Wadia will star in the show about a family of logic-driven engineers. Daneesh “Dan” Desai (Kalyan) is determined to use his ‘gift’ to help the people who he loves, whether or not they want it. He believes everything around him can be improved and adjusted by using his engineering skills.

While this may sound like the usual, run-of-the-mill type of comedy that relies on the Indian stereotypes for humor, let’s not write it off just yet. ABC is doing something revolutionary with its comedies, with each of them offering different dynamics. “The Middle,” “Modern Family,” “Last Man Standing,” and “The Goldbergs” have contributed to capturing the various essences of a close-knit, relatable American family from various walks of life—and it doesn’t end there.

In the last couple years, ABC has brought to us fantastic, diverse comedies like “black-ish,” “Fresh off the Boat,” and “Dr. Ken.” Not only are these shows extremely funny but they also provide a fresh insight for the American audience and a relatable narrative for immigrants by throwing light on various cultures and experiences. “black-ish,” starring Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, focuses on an urban African-American family trying to figure out their own ethnic identity while also balancing their life in the U.S. This also applies to the Chinese-American family in “Fresh off the Boat,” starring Constance Wu and Randall Park, who struggle to maintain their cultural identity while running a West-themed restaurant in suburban Orlando and acclimating to new surroundings.

Clearly, any immigrant will be familiar with the backdrop of these stories. Amidst all this, a show that takes a unique look at the Indian-American family dynamic will be a breath of fresh air—as long as it doesn’t rely solely on clichés. In fact, the show has the potential to be a global tool to tackle important issues. For example, recent episode of “black-ish” featured an excellent viewpoint of the police brutality faced by African-Americans whereas “Fresh off the Boat” celebrated TV’s first authentic Chinese New Year—”Square Roots” can be a medium to do the same. Will there be stereotypes? Of course, it’s a family of engineers! However, based on character descriptions, it sounds like the Desai family will also be an amalgamation of modern and traditional.

DeWulf will play Leena Desai, Dan’s sister and an environmental engineer but mainly, a single woman. This apparently doesn’t bode well with her mother Seema Desai (Wadia)—who, while being slightly orthodox in the sense that she wants grandchildren really soon, is also a chemical engineer with great career achievements. White will play Mukesh Desai, Dan and Leena’s father, who is an electrical engineer and the uber-nerd of the family.

“Square Roots,” who’s outline is almost similar to “black-ish” and “Fresh off the Boat,” will hopefully be able to successfully adapt what it’s really like to be living as an Indian in America without using the usual tropes—bad fake accent, unable to grasp modern society, snake-charmer back home turned convenience store owner.

Another great reason to dole out an Indian-American show right now is because Indians are really making their mark in Hollywood at this time and finally being recognized for their talent.

[Read Related: “20 South Asian Actors to Watch on Television Right Now“]

• Aziz Ansari, Mindy Kaling, and Priyanka Chopra already have their own hit shows—“Master of None,” “The Mindy Project,” and “Quantico” respectively—while Chopra will also star in “Baywatch” opposite Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron.

[Read Related: “10 Ways Priyanka Chopra’s Jalwa is Already Dominating 2016“]

• Deepika Padukone will also dazzle the screen opposite Vin Diesel in “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.” Other actors like Naveen Andrews (“Lost”), Kal Penn (“Harold & Kumar”), Hannah Simone (“New Girl”), Kunal Nayyar (“The Big Bang Theory”) have left quite the impression with their performances.
• Archie Panjabi, known for playing Kalinda Sharma for six years on “The Good Wife” will now star in an upcoming ABC drama called “The Jury.”
• Fairly lesser known actors are also gaining momentum. Utkarsh Ambudkar (“The Mindy Project”) will appear in “My Time/Your Time,” a show by the creators of “How I Met Your Mother.” Arjun Gupta stars in Syfy’s “The Magicians.” Karan Soni (“Blunt Talk”) left movie-goers in splits in “Deadpool.”

[Read Related: “5 Things You Need to Know About ‘Deadpool’ Actor Karan Soni“]

The list can go on, trust me, and this only in the field of entertainment. At a time like this, it’s almost a wonder why no other network has thought of doing a comedy that focuses on Indian-Americans, especially since we form the second-largest immigrant group in the country.  With actors like Kalyan and DeWulf, both of whom have excellent comic timing, the show’s prospects seem hopeful—if the show can crush all norms and really dig deep to reflect the lives of the diaspora with gentle yet real humor, have some heart, and also balance dual cultures well.

“Square Roots” has received pilot commitment at ABC, and if the network heads like what they see in the first episode, it will get picked up for the season and will debut in fall 2016.