THE AMERICAN WAY

Kumail Nanjiani cements his reputation as part of the new vanguard of South Asian American actors with his starring role in the series Welcome to Chippendales

- Suhani Singh

The actor's latest show is significant given Chippendales' place in American pop culture

Much before films like The Full Monty [1997] and Magic Mike [2012] delighted female audiences, there was their inspiration, Chippendales, a Los Angeles-based night club whose main attraction was male strippers who flaunted both their bodies and dance moves. The club, which would go on to become a popular franchise and then a dance company that continues to tour to date, was started by Bombay-born Indian American Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee. Pakistani American comic, writer and actor Kumail Nanjiani was surprised that he hadn’t heard of this “immigrant success story”. He connected with it on many levels: there was Banerjee’s quest to find acceptance in a new world, much like Nanjiani when he came from Pakistan to study in Iowa at the age of 18. Then there was the desire to achieve the ‘American dream’.