“Outsourced” – A Chat with Rizwan Manji

“Outsourced” – A New Comedy on NBC

“Outsourced” is a loaded word, particularly in today’s economic climate,  so NBC’s new serial is creating quite a buzz. A comedy about a Mid-Western novelty company that outsources its call center to India, it’s a showcase for Indian-American talents.

“It’s about India and it happens in India – so of course they’ll be looking for Indian actors to fill these roles,” says Rizwan Manji who plays Rajiv Gidwani, a wily ambitious assistant manager, angling to become manager of the call center.

So is this the big one? “Absolutely,” he says. “Correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s the first time that there’s been a television show on a major network that has a primarily Indian cast. So I think it’s a huge deal – it’s scary but it’s a big opportunity!”

We met up at Sambuca’s Café, a tiny happening spot where Little Italy and Chinatown meet. Over iced cappuccinos, Rizwan Manji and I discussed “Outsourced” which is premiering this month on NBC. The series which stars Ben Rappaport, also has several young Indian-American actors besides Rizwan Manji, including Sacha Dhawan, Rebecca Hazlewood, Parvesh Cheena, and Anisha Nagarajan.

NBC has described “Outsourced” as a comedy “where the Midwest meets the exotic East in a hilarious culture clash.”

Here’s the synopsis:

The series centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties that sells whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon — and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India. Todd Dempsy  (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway’s “The Gingerbread House”) is the new company’s manager who learns that he’s being transferred to India to run the operation.

Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world. But as strange as America seems to his eclectic sales team, Todd soon realizes that figuring out India will be more than a full-time job.

Fans will remember the popular movie ‘Outsourced’ starring Josh Hamilton and Ayesha Dharker, on which this series is based. Blogs have been buzzing about this new series, and some are not too happy that NBC chose to make a comedy out of such an angst-ridden subject in the current economy.

“Outsourced” –  A Loaded Word

You have only to check out the “Outsourced” Facebook page to see the emotions rising about the jobs being outsourced to India. This upcoming series has generated hundreds of comments in the blogsphere, showing what a loaded term ‘outsourcing’ has become.  To balance that out, the page has lots of fans who think people should take a chill pill and not get so uptight about a comedy.  At the same time, there is a larger Indian-American audience and there’s bound to be interest in a prime time series which stars so many South Asians. As someone commented on the blogs, “Finally a show with Indian people in it!”

Life at a Call-Center

Rizwan, however, feels the story is genuinely funny where the humor comes out of the lovable idiosyncrasies of the five different Indian characters. “They are not stereotypes – it’s five different people with their own different lives – and their own office idiosyncrasies.  My character Rajiv Gidwani wants to be the boss even though he’s unskilled – he’s not afraid to stab you in the back! He’s sort of your lovable nemesis.”

As he points out, there are different story lines going on about different office stereotypes that just happen to be Indian. “It’s very funny and there’s something heart warming about it when you watch it,” he says.  “I’ve been genuinely surprised that the most support I get is from the Indian community – they are very supportive after they’ve actually seen the show. The first part looks at the culture clash but as the pilot goes on, its going to be stories of these people who live in India and what their lives are like – which I think it’s very important to show.”

Ironically, for a show about India, not one of the actors actually set foot in India! The entire pilot has been shot on the sets in Los Angeles with the call center set up on the sets. Only some exterior scenes have been shot in India. (This procedure is fairly common in Hollywood – ‘Friends’, for example,  takes place in New York but was actually shot in LA.)

One thing Indian that is very prominent in ‘Outsourced’ is the cast and crew. At least two of the writers –  Amit Bhalla and Geetika Lizardi are Indian-American. Since the entire show is set in India, the cast is a whopping 2/3 Indian-American. Besides Rizwan, it stars Sacha Dhawan, Rebecca Hazlewood, Parvesh Cheena, and Anisha Nagarajan.

So now all these Indian-American actors have to work on getting an Indian accent! “Usually you have to try and get rid of your Indian accent if you’re acting here,” jokes Rizwan. “But everyone born here has American accents so now they have to acquire an Indian accent.  It’s a weird dichotomy because in the call center everyone has to put on an American accent – so it’s like putting on an Indian accent to put on an American accent – so it’s a triple play!”

While there has been such buzz and debate about ‘Outsourced’, most people have not seen it yet. “This show is called Outsourced but that’s sort of just the jumping off point to get you to these characters in India,” says Rizwan. “I think people are mistaken if they thought the show is about outsourcing. We call call-centers all the time so it’s a way for all of us to relate and get you to these characters. It’s a comedy with an offbeat office setting which just happens to be India.”

About Outsourced

“Outsourced” is NBC’s new workplace comedy series centered around a catalog-based company, Mid America Novelties, that sells American novelty goods, including whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon, and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India.

After recently completing Mid America Novelties’ manager training program, Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway’s “The Gingerbread House”) learns that the call center is being outsourced to India, and he is asked to move there to be the manager.  Having never ventured out of the country, he is unprepared for the culture shock. Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world.

The sales team Todd inherits includes Gupta (Parvesh Cheena, “Help Me Help You”), a socially awkward employee, Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan, BBC’s “Five Days II”), a young romantic who is enamored with America, Asha (Rebecca Hazlewood, BBC’s “Doctors”), a smart, striking woman who finds herself intrigued by Todd, Rajiv (Rizwan Manji,”Privileged”) the assistant manager who wants Todd’s job and Madhuri (Anisha Nagarajan, Broadway’s “Bombay Dreams”), a wallflower who suffers from extreme shyness.

Todd also discovers other transplants working in his office building, including an American expatriate, Charlie Davies (Diedrich Bader, “The Drew Carey Show”), who runs the All American Hunter call center, and Tonya (Pippa Black, “Neighbours”), a beautiful Australian who runs the call center for Koala Air.

(Source: NBC)

Rizwan Manji: The Class Clown Wins

For Rizwan Manji, it’s been quite a journey. His grandparents were from Kutch in Gujarat, his parents from Tanzania where they owned an auto garage. Finally the family settled in Calgary, Alberta where his dad ran a store selling and repairing photocopiers and word processors. Rizwan, who was born in Toronto, did check out his roots. “We went back to the small village of Singora and we actually saw where my great grandfather was buried.”

Growing up,  he recalls he was the class clown, and always getting into trouble: “In Junior High I got cast in a play and I think since that first moment of getting applause and making someone laugh –  I think from that moment on I was like, ‘I can’t do anything else!’” He went on to do theater and independent films while studying at the University of Edmonton where he got his bachelor’s degree. For the next two years he studied acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York

‘American Desi’ was the first big break for him and the movie opened in several cities and was highly successful.  “It was the first time my dad felt it was O.K. to say I was an actor. Otherwise it was ‘He temps at Merrill Lynch, does random plays for no money!”

For Indian-American actors it’s always been a challenge to get the right roles and Rizwan too finally landed up in the Promised Land – LA. He crashed on a friend’s sofa, went on auditions and got his bearings. He decided it was the place to be and bagged a role in ‘Charlie Wilson’s War.’ He also played the cantankerous butler, Rami, on the series “Privileged.”

“For me, LA was the right move – I felt I could constantly work and make a living. The real job is the auditioning – you’re doing it on a regular basis,” he says. “It’s all a process and I’ve played my share of taxi drivers, doctors and butlers – a gamut of different roles.”

Rizwan has been a series regular in the ABC pilot “Fourplay”, and was seen on “Glee”, “How I Met Your Mother”, and “Hawthorne”, as well as recurring on “FlashForward”, “Three Rivers”, and “Better off Ted”.  He also had a recurring role as Ahman on the final season of season of “24”.  His films include “Transformers,” and the upcoming “Morning Glory.”

Rizwan has played many ethnicities, and he finds casting is becoming more color-blind. “It doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are,” he says. “You clearly are ethnic but it doesn’t matter – no one ever discusses it and it’s just assumed you’re American.”

Currently he’s working on “Outsourced” as it’s being shot at Studio City which is a stone’s throw from his home. “My daughter Ayana’s day care is around the corner so I can go visit her during her lunch break!” he says. “Outsourced” involves 12 hour days as it takes five days to shoot each 30 minute episode. “For the pilot we’re there for the whole day – from morning to sometimes late at night,” he says. “It’s fun – but it’s definitely work!”

For Rizwan and his wife Taslim, their 18-month-daughter Ayana is the center of their universe. The name Ayana has Swahili roots, Afghani roots, Indian roots – encompassing all their different worlds – and so is very much an American name. Rizwan, who’s Ismaili and Muslim, has not felt the need to professionally change his  name, as some people feel compelled to do to get along in the larger mainstream world. “That’s my name – and I don’t want to lose it!”

Having chatted about everything from roots and family to “Outsourced”, and having sipped the last of the cappuccinos, we moved on. Rizwan was headed to several appointments on his busy day in  the Big Apple, and soon disappeared into the crowds thronging the streets of Little Italy and Chinatown on the dappled summer day…

What do you think of Outsourced?