Nanjiani is a Pakistani American stand-up comedian.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: The HBO Comedy series ‘Silicon Valley’ which started in April of this year and stars the Pakistani American actor and stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani playing the character of Dinesh, is among the Golden Globe nominations for best comedy.
The best comedy nominations this year went for a refreshing change and embraced the new, with HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” Amazon’s “Transparent,” Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black,” and HBO’s “Girls” joining “Jane the Virgin” as nominees.
Apart from “Modern Family,” also left out from the nominations were were last year’s surprise winner, Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” HBO’s “Veep” and television’s most popular comedy, “The Big Bang Theory.”
The eponymous titled series ‘Silicon Valley’, had the promotional tagline: the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.
Directed by Mike Judge (“Office Space,” “Beavis & Butthead,” “King of the Hill”), the series brings his irreverent brand of humor. Partially inspired by Judge’s own experiences as a Silicon Valley engineer in the late ‘80s, the show kicked off its eight-episode season this April.
Nanjiani, who was born in Karachi in Pakistan, and moved to the US with his family when he was eight years old, is a stand-up comedian, actor and podcast host.
He starred on the TNT series Franklin & Bash and co-hosts the show The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail. He also hosts two podcasts: The Indoor Kids, which is a production of Nerdist, and The X-Files Files.
Nanjiani, who was raised as a Muslim, but became an atheist in later life, is married to Emily V. Gordon, an author and comedy producer.
The 72nd Golden Globe Awards will be telecast live on NBC January 11.