NBC's Outsourced Rizwan Manji interview

By April MacIntyre Oct 14, 2010, 4:38 GMT

But the secret weapon in the cast who really makes Rappaport\'s Todd shine is the kindly schemer and Indian co-manager Rajiv, who pleasantly tries to undermine whenever he can to take over Todd\'s position and secure his future with the company. Courtesy of NBC

"Outsourced" is a sly, fish-out-of-water comedy on NBC's Thursday night institutional comedy block, nestled in with "The Office," "Community" and " 30 Rock." ("Parks and Recreation" returns midseason.)

Loosely based on a 2006 independent film by John Jeffcoat, this charming series, written by Robert Borden and Executive produced by Victor Nelli Jr. stars Ben Rappaport as Todd, a salesman for a Kansas City novelty company whose boss Jerry Stern (Matt Walsh)  sends him packing to the subcontinent to head their newly outsourced call center and school his team in Mumbai the art of selling jiggle boobs, foam cheeseheads, toilet-shaped coffee mugs, and fake poo (and its ilk).

Just as "My Name is Earl" poked a big stick at hick culture, "Outsourced" lampoons cultural differences in a good-natured way. 

We meet the "B" team of Indian call center workers (all diverse in their religious and cultural backgrounds) who are eager to do a good job, but are mystified at Americans' sense of humor and culture.

Of course, they don't see the oddities of their own traditions and ways, and so the playing field is rich to mine for writers who take these juicy nuggets and run with them.

Interestingly, the entire pilot has been shot on the sets in Los Angeles.  Only some exterior scenes have been shot in India.

At least two of the writers, Amit Bhalla and Geetika Lizardi, are Indian-American. and the cast is mostly all Indian-American. Besides Rizwan, it stars Sacha Dhawan, Rebecca Hazlewood, Parvesh Cheena, and Anisha Nagarajan.

The show is good-natured fun and features comedy heavyweights Matt Walsh and Deidrich Bader. These two bring it with their obnoxious American bull in a china shop attitude, and Ben Rappaport shines as Todd, who plays off all these experienced actors with aplomb.

But the secret weapon in the cast who really completes Rappaport's Todd is the kindly schemer, his Indian co-manager Rajiv, who pleasantly tries to undermine whenever he can to take over Todd's position and secure his future with the company.

Thursday night (Oct. 14) "Outsourced" is doing an episode which strongly features Rizwan Manji's character Rajiv. We learn about his arranged marriage and his need to be Manager and get rid of Todd so he can marry the woman he loves. The episode is called "Jolly Vindaloo Day." 

Monsters and Critics put a call into the "Mumbai call center" and spoke to Rizwan Manji, the talented actor who plays Rajiv in "Outsourced."

Monsters and Critics: Rajiv is such a kindly schemer, can you tell us your take on his motives with Todd, does he really want him out?
 
Rizwan Manji:  The simple answer to that question is YES, he really wants him out.
Nothing personal, but it is very important to Rajiv that he become the Manager of the call center.  The episode airing tonight "Jolly Vindaloo Day" clears up a lot and helps explain why Rajiv is doing what he is doing.  He creates a fake holiday (I hope everyone knows Indians don't really celebrate "Vindaloo Day") to get Todd out of the office so he can impress his father-in-law.  Let's just say it doesn't go as was planned in Rajiv's head.
 
M&C:        Can you tell us more about Rajiv's background?  What group in India is he part of and does he fight many traditions people expect?

Rizwan Manji  Once again we learn a lot about Rajiv in the upcoming episode.  Few things I can divulge, is that he doesn't come from a very wealthy family and unlike some of the other workers he actually has found himself a fiancé that is a "love match" instead of the traditional
"arranged marriage". 
 
M&C:  Of all his employees in the call center, who bedevils Rajiv the most, and why?
 
Rizwan Manji   I think he is most bedeviled by Madhuri (The shy/quiet one).  After all, he did hire her to fire her and now she is actually not a bad worker.  He doesn't like to be proven wrong.  In the last episode he did have a little heart and gave her his key so she could stay in the call center because she had nowhere to sleep.  However, in upcoming episodes the comedic battle that happens between Madhuri and Rajiv gets very interesting!
 
M&C       A lot of press claims that Indians are maligned in this series, but it doesn't strike that way for me. What has been the feedback to you personally about Outsourced?
 
Rizwan Manji   In spite of the initial concern, I think people are finding out the show is really character driven and they are tuning in every week to see these relationships develop and finding out that the show has a lot of heart.  Not to sound like a broken record, but this is the first show in American history that has a primarily South Asian cast and crew, and I think we should all see this as progress.