Melanie Chandra & Surina Jindal Create a Hot Mess Holiday on Comedy Central
Lots of young South Asian actors – and the bonus of Kal Penn too!
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here was a time when young Indian-Americans had to live vicariously through the exploits of white Americans on prime time TV as well as at the movies – now, no more! There is a first time for everything and this holiday season Comedy Central aired Hot Mess Holiday, a Diwali holiday film. This features the zany adventurers of two hot Indian chicks – Melanie Chandra and Surina Jindal – and what audiences are realizing is that some things are just universal – no matter what culture it is. Best friends, family ties and good food are common to everyone – and now Melanie and Surina even bring in a wild diamond heist into the desi orbit!
What is amusing in this is that the filmmakers suck in all the tired desi stereotypes, the crazy uncles, the overwhelming aunties, the garba dances, the celebrated academic over-achievers into this over-the-top comedy caper and share a laugh at their own culture. The Indian-American community is made up of individuals and is so much more than just a model minority of spelling bee champions and Ivy League wunderkinds. And when you laugh at yourself, the audience generally laughs with you. Desis do have a sense of humor and that’s good to know.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he movie just screened on Dec 26th on Comedy Central and will be aired in India in the New Year. Diwali has rarely been portrayed in mainstream television except in the series The Office and it was a big deal for Indian-American audiences to get their favorite festival on the nation’s radar. Now an entire film revolves around the antics at a Diwali holiday party and celebrates a strong female friendship.
Hot Mess Holiday is directed by Jaffar Mahmood and is written by Sameer Gardezi, It stars Melanie Chandra and Surina Jindal as best buddies and is backed by a cast of South Asian actors who have all made it in the mainstream world of TV and movies – Kal Penn, Punam Patel, Kunal Dudhekar, Chris Geere, Desmond Chiam, Nik Dodani, Richa Moorjani, Ritesh Rajan, Aparna Nancherla, Ravi Patel, Chris Parnell, Titus Burgess, and Lilly Singh. The executive producers who made it all happen include Van Toffler, Floris Bauer, Sameer Gardezi, urina Jindal, Melanie Chandra, Kal Penn, Justin Rosenblatt, Andrew Lutin, Janee Dabney, David Gale, and Barry Barclay.
Strong female relationships are so important and the film reflects Melanie and Surina’s real life relationship in which they are almost an odd couple – two very different people yet so very close. They have known each other since 2011 and Surina was a bridesmaid at Melanie’s wedding. The short film they made earlier had all their on-screen chemistry and fortunately, based on that, Comedy Central picked up this film. As Surina shared on Instagram:, “We can’t wait for you to watch the first buddy comedy starring South Asian women ever!”
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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is a film which could only have been made by first gen Indian-Americans who are fond of their Indian identity and comfortable enough to mock it and make cheeky jokes about it.
“We wanted to make sure the film reflected our experiences authentically,” says Melanie. “ As first gen-ers, we’ve always felt a bit misplaced. Often we’re not seen as fully American, even though we were born here, when we are at Indian functions, we feel like we’re not Indian enough – for example, if we don’t speak the language fluently (or at all), as we joke about in the film. So, we were deliberate in making sure that we captured this unique perspective and reacted in such situations how we’d actually react! We’ve found that the more specific and authentic we are to our actual experience, the more that people of our generation, across all cultures, have been able to relate.”
Watching the movie one is impressed with the camaraderie among South Asian actors where so many well-known names have come together, even in minor roles, to contribute to the larger picture. Did this camaraderie really exist and is there a community where actors are supporting each other?
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ccording to Surina, this camaraderie was real and was one of the most heartwarming aspects of the film. “Everyone was SO excited to be there and be able to work on this project, even though they are all very busy and in-demand actors. We wanted to create a vibe on set that was very welcoming and ensure that everyone knew our gratitude for them coming together to bring our “baby” to life. The other actors contributed to these feelings immensely with their grace, work ethic, and collaboration. We knew we were all making history together and that was such a special feeling.”
As Melanie and Surina point out, until now they were the ones auditioning for roles, not the ones casting them. Now working with casting directors Cody Beke and Seth White, they were also able to use their own personal networks to reach out to fellow actors.
“After being in this industry as actresses for over a decade now, it was really neat to be able to come up with our dream list of actors for each role and send audition notices to many of our friends,” says Surina. “There’s a class of actors that have all started around the same time, when roles for brown people were few and far between. It was nice to finally have something mainstream with multiple South Asian roles for hire and to be able to present that to our community of actor friends.”
Mel and Surina have a real chemistry between them, rarely seen between Indian female characters in Bollywood. It has an almost ‘Harold and Kumar’ zaniness to it, reflecting the Asian male comedy duo which set off a hugely successful film franchise. The diamond heist in Hot Mess Holiday is, hopefully, the first of other spoofs to come. What else do they have planned if this series takes off?
Says Melanie, “We have so many episode ideas that we are so eager to start developing. When we were pitching to networks the other year, we had to generate several episode ideas and hone in on season arcs and character arcs, so we have the foundation for a ton of fun material already fleshed out.” Adds Surina, “It’s guaranteed to be a show like no other, with a comedic sensibility that speaks to a niche audience while still being super enjoyable for a broader audience.”
Just seeing Mel and Surina get a phut-phut ride with Kal Pann sets the tone for wackiness – one almost wishes he pops up more often and brings in his over-the-top brand of zaniness. Kal is an executive producer and core member of the creative team, and as Melanie and Surina say, “ We would love to continue to work with him and know he feels the same way.”
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]sk Kal about the importance of this first dip into the mainsteam market with a buddy holiday comedy and he says, “What’s incredible about Surina and Mel, the Diwali movie for Comedy Central, and the ways in which it’s resonating with fans is that it’s all based on these hilarious, ridiculous characters and world they created with Sameer Gardezi — which is to say it’s obviously so specific to the real-world experiences of desis, but told in a way that anyone can relate to.”
Some parting words from Kal Penn show why Hot Holiday Mess will always be a nostalgic marker for young Indian-Americans in their journey into finding themselves and their place at the American table: “We never grew up with Diwali movies, so the idea that we’re the ones who get to create this for Comedy Central – it’s so special, and has been really fun to share with audiences.”
(This article first appeared in my weekly column India in America in CNBCTV18.com)
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