Next month sees the arrival of Hulu‘s latest original series, Deli Boys, and it’s going to give us that subgenre we’ve always been secretly fascinated by — organized crime via the medium of convenience stores. The series focuses on a couple of Pakistani brothers who’ve had a privileged upbringing but who suddenly find themselves in some deep trouble after their father dies. The series premieres on March 6, and Hulu has just released the first full-length trailer for the crime/comedy mix.
At the heart of Deli Boys are Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj (Saagar Shaikh), two brothers who have lived in the lap of luxury thanks to their father’s success as a convenience store mogul. But when he suddenly dies, their world is turned upside down. What begins as a battle to reclaim their lavish lifestyle quickly spirals into something much more dangerous as they uncover their father’s secret life as a criminal kingpin. Forced to navigate the gritty underworld he left behind, the brothers must decide whether they’re ready to embrace the legacy — or get swallowed by it.
In addition to Ali and Shaikh, the series will also star Poorna Jagannathan, (The Night Of), Alfie Fuller (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Brian George (The Big Bang Theory). Recurring actors include Kevin Corrigan (Goodfellas) as a local mafia type; Alexandra Ruddy (City of Lies) and Tim Baltz (The Righteous Gemstones) as FBI agents investigating things; Zainne Selah (Good Trouble) as Mir’s fiancée and Sakina Jaffrey (Billions) as her mother; Amita Rao (Emperor of Ocean Park) as a cosplayer with a crush on Raj; and Anish Jethmalani (Station Eleven) and Minita Gandhi (Chicago PD) as a married duo of local restaurant owners. It will also feature the acting debut of Queer Eye‘s Tan France, who will play a British Pakistani gang leader.
What Can We Expect From ‘Deli Boys’?
Collider‘s Tania Hussain recently sat down with Deli Boys creator Abdullah Saeed to discuss the upcoming series. After previewing the show’s first episodes, Hussain praised Saeed for delivering a genuine and refreshing portrayal of South Asian culture within the comedy. Saeed, however, kept it simple—explaining that his approach was all about writing from experience. As he told Collider:
“Honestly, I wasn’t trying too hard with the representation stuff and I think that’s what really helped. I feel like the person who read it didn’t feel like: oh, this person is trying to represent a certain ethnic group or educate me in some way. It’s truly just entertainment. The byproduct is that you get to learn about Pakistanis — Pakistani-Americans specifically — and our culture, our relationships, our hardships with balancing the two halves of our cultural identities and all that stuff. I think that the lack of effort of really trying to shape that for a specific audience, or really trying to like, have a mission for what we’re trying to say, allows the characters to exist as flawed, weird, kind of silly, but also, heartfelt characters.”
Deli Boys will premiere on Hulu on March 6, 2025.
via Collider