Raquel Laguna/ SUCOPRESS. Creator and showrunner Vijal Patel brings The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, the new Prime Video Original comedy series. In this interview Vijal talks about the inspiration behind the show. Sahana Srinivasan and Sindhu Vee talk about their characters in the series. The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh follows the Pradeep family and the events of their life in America after moving from India. As told through hilarious (and often conflicting) flashbacks from an interrogation room, the Pradeeps quickly find themselves embroiled—romantically, personally, and professionally—with a polar-opposite neighborhood family, leading to a predicament with many surprising twists. The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, now on Prime Video and Amazon Freevee.
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00:00This show is inspired by your personal experience.
00:04Why did you want to tell this story about this particular family?
00:09Well, thank you for asking that question, Raquel.
00:12The Perdibs of Pittsburgh is a reflection of what happened to me when we moved to Pittsburgh.
00:19And just from that, not just because it happened to me, what that really taught me,
00:24that experience, is that everybody, when something happens to a family,
00:27everybody sees it differently.
00:29So to convey that story, that, hey, big things happen to families,
00:34and everybody has a different response, which creates all new conflict and dynamics
00:38and challenges and obstacles.
00:40I'm like, this is what TV does best.
00:43This is what family stories do well, is they tell a family story,
00:47but every other family will see themselves in it, right?
00:51And that's why I say, the Perdibs of Pittsburgh appeals to anybody who's been,
00:56is from a family.
00:57So that literally is everybody.
00:59And it doesn't matter if you're Indian or if you're an immigrant,
01:02though we tell the story of an immigrant family who is from India,
01:06it resonates across gender, it resonates across ages, it resonates across, you know, ideologies.
01:14Mary, it's often a great way to explore more serious issues.
01:20How did you manage to find the tone to know where to take this joke about that
01:26and mix drama and comedy?
01:30What we try to do, and what I try to do in the storytelling,
01:33is tell the most accurate story that captures how people really respond to certain situations.
01:40The situations were sometimes fictional, but like, how do people really respond?
01:45And then from that, the humor will come.
01:48Like I said, the show is really about the trauma in my life,
01:51told as a comedy, because it's very easy to find, you know,
01:56the things that make you laugh when you are at your lowest point,
02:00because that really is almost, to the outsider, the funniest part.
02:05So it was to find the tone of the show.
02:07What we did is we just tried to tell authentic stories,
02:10and then you'd be surprised how quickly the comedy comes from that,
02:14because sometimes you have to laugh through your tears.
02:17So that's how we found the tone of the show.
02:19And it really rung true.
02:22You know, when we watched it back, we're like, no, this is how it feels.
02:24It doesn't feel like we're trying to make a joke.
02:26It just feels funny.
02:28It was challenging to find this amazing cast?
02:33It was a joy to find this amazing cast.
02:36We looked far and wide.
02:37We looked all over the world.
02:38We cast from the UK, Australia, United States, India, wide, wide net.
02:45And what that did is it created a real authentic experience,
02:50because the actors who connected with the characters,
02:53not all of them grew up in India.
02:55Some of them grew up in the UK, but they were of Indian descent.
02:58So they had the immigrant experience,
03:00but they had the experience of, oh, yes, there's specifics to our Indians
03:05that's different to other Indians.
03:07That means there's specifics to Indians from Ahmedabad that go to Pittsburgh.
03:11So they were able to bring that experience to the characters.
03:14And so in casting it, it was pretty evident,
03:17almost with all the actors, that's the character.
03:22They brought it.
03:23And to have someone like Naveen Andrews, who is just beyond, beyond,
03:29from the English page and from Lost,
03:31to have him be the patriarch of the show was so special.
03:35It's a really funny show.
03:37If I'm laughing at the words on the page,
03:39I can't imagine, at the time,
03:41I couldn't imagine how funny it would be to actually put it up.
03:44And get to ad-lib and improvise in the moment.
03:48So there's a lot of room to play, I think, in the script.
03:52And it is so unpredictable.
03:55This family does things that you just,
03:58you leave wondering what's going to happen next every single episode.
04:03So both of those elements combined made it such a fun show
04:07for really anyone to watch.
04:11Absolutely.
04:11You know, the family could have been from anywhere,
04:14the lines were hilarious, and the plot is way out.
04:19That was my main thing.
04:20I was like, I would love to act this stuff out.
04:23And then it was a bonus that we were all Indian.
04:27I'm Indian.
04:27I'm a mother.
04:28I've got teenagers.
04:29I was like, there is no preparation.
04:31Because the kids in the show are all behaving up and down,
04:34especially Bhanu, who is not listening.
04:37I have lived that.
04:39So I was like, I'll just channel a bit of my mother and a lot of myself.
04:43And also, it made it very easy that the actors playing the kids,
04:49they were so good.
04:51You know, I can't remember a single scene where I was like,
04:54oh, I can't connect to what this kid is saying.
04:57They all brought very specific energy,
05:00very clear who they are as those characters.
05:03And they did it every day for weeks.
05:08It was super easy to connect with.
05:10I loved having younger brothers on the show.
05:13I don't have younger brothers in my real life.
05:15They're just so funny.
05:17They're constantly asking if I want to play video games.
05:19They'll FaceTime me at 2 a.m.
05:21And I'm like, I'm asleep.
05:23Like, what do you...
05:24But I'll still pick up because I love them.
05:26I think that people will definitely laugh.
05:29It's a show that you can watch with anybody,
05:31with your family, with your friends, by yourself.
05:34It's a show that reads well like on your phone.
05:36I lost my TV remote for a while.
05:38So I was watching stuff on my phone.
05:40And this is something I can see myself
05:42just watching on my phone or on the big screen.
05:45It's a show for anyone.
05:46It happens to be about a South Asian family.
05:50And it's just a fun watch.
05:55One of the things I would love is if people watch this show
05:59outside of people who are not in the diaspora,
06:02people outside of India,
06:03and they understand that the term South Asian immigrant
06:06is really, it's nonsensical.
06:09We're not one kind of immigrant.
06:10You come from South Asia.
06:12You're either, you're coming,
06:13you're just like everyone in the United States
06:16thinks they're different.
06:17And they're, you know, we're different within India.
06:20So this is an educated family.
06:22They don't have to be here, but they're kind of here.
06:25So we can start to see the nuance
06:28of what South Asians immigrants are like.
06:31But also at the same time,
06:33I want people to understand that having a family,
06:35having a marriage, having children, it's universal.
06:39You know, it doesn't matter where you're from
06:40because in that way, we're all want to protect our family.
06:43And we all want to do well, you know,
06:46so there's both those things.
06:47One is about difference.
06:48One is about similarity.
06:49I hope that will come out.