Crime, Comedy & Convenience Stores: Unwrapping Hulu’s ‘Deli Boys’ With the Cast
Preview
“I want my old life back, the one where I didn’t kill anybody and I could still afford sushi,” moans ambitious, buttoned-up Mir Dar (Asif Ali) to his gold-chain-draped pothead older brother Raj (Saagar Shaikh) early on in Hulu‘s fast-paced crime-comedy series Deli Boys. Raj cluelessly offers Mir a lollipop.
The only thing these privileged Pakistani American brothers have in common is not being cut out for a life of crime. And yet, that’s the life they must lead after the boys lose everything with the sudden death of their Philadelphia convenience-store-magnate father, Baba (Iqbal Theba). Proud inventor of the Mega Glug 140-ounce coffee cup, Baba had long been evading taxes, and the FBI cleaned the family out in a raid. But he also had a shocking under-the-counter secret: He smuggled cocaine. Now the brothers must use the family’s one remaining deli as a front, and they are reluctantly entangled with a Peruvian cartel, the Italian Mafia, and expired Tastykakes.
Mir had no idea about the side hustle while working for the dad he idolized at the family biz, DarCo. Engaged to a nice girl, Bushra (Zainne Saleh), Mir just wanted to be CEO. “When our father passes, Mir’s like, ‘Who am I when this guy’s gone? My whole life has been to be somebody he would like,’” says Ali. Meanwhile, “The only thing Raj wants out of life is peace, love, and sex,” says Shaikh. Series creator Abdullah Saeed originally wrote the role of Raj for himself, so Shaikh spent time with him, incorporating into his performance how easily Saeed can “just brush things off.” The actor already had corner-shop skills, often working in his family’s business while growing up.
Disney / James Washington
Fortunately, the inept brothers have some guiding lights. Raj’s girlfriend Prairie (Alfie Fuller) is also his shaman. And then there’s their determined, glamorous “Auntie” Lucky (Poorna Jagannathan, The Night Of ), the only maternal figure they’ve ever known and Baba’s business partner in crime for 30 years. (Sample line: “No sense in dillydallying; we’ll deal with the body tomorrow.”) She swoops in to save the boys — and herself.
“I’m not joking. I prepared by watching The Sopranos and The Real Housewives of Orange County — which is so dramatic and so life and death,” says a smiling Jagannathan.
Death dings at their door when the cartel comes to collect a jumbo-size $10 million debt. To cover it, the brothers and Lucky scurry to expand their distribution territory, which requires the blessing of Mafia boss Chickie Lozano (Kevin Corrigan, whose turns in classics like Goodfellas nod to the series’ crime film DNA). “We’re almost getting killed every day,” says Jagannathan. “The stakes are so high, but in crisis situations, Mir is able to think outside the box and take risks.”
But there are enemies within the box. Company man Ahmad (Brian George) sees the top spot at the criminal business, Dark DarCo, as rightfully his. He and Lucky grapple for power, and she discovers how nefarious his tactics can be.
And did we mention the FBI isn’t satisfied? Cue another hilariously mismatched pair — hardworking, earnest Agent Mercer (Alexandra Ruddy), who must tolerate her boastful, boys’-club boss Director Simpson (Tim Baltz) as she follows a hunch that DarCo has deep secrets.
The 10 episodes always surprise, whether by casting dapper Tan France, the fashion expert from makeover show Queer Eye, in his first dramatic role as a London gangster or the discovery of Baba’s secret apartment, a ’70s time-capsule fever dream. Not to mention kidnappings and betrayals. All this gives the series the vibe of a midnight run through a convenience store during an epic night out where you can’t remember where you were last and don’t care where you’re going next.
Eventually, everything the brothers think they know comes into question. Even the stoner gets serious. “He still has his goofiness. And he’s still kind of dumb, but he has developed a taste for vengeance and he’s not letting it go,” Shaikh says. It all builds up to Mir’s elaborate wedding, where nothing goes as planned. How deliciously inconvenient.
Deli Boys, Series Premiere, Thursday, March 6, Hulu
From TV Guide Magazine
Crime, Comedy & Convenience Stores: Unwrapping Hulu's 'Deli Boys' With the Cast
Cupcakes, corndogs…and cocaine?! Two brothers find themselves in a hilarious pickle when they inherit an unseemly bodega biz in Hulu’s new comedy Deli Boys. Find out how The Sopranos and Real Housewives of Orange County influenced the cast. Read the story now on TV Insider.