American TV industry has become very diverse: Penn.
IANS
Indian American actor Kal Penn, who served in the Barack Obama administration, feels most Americans don’t agree with Republicans’ presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s racist views.
“I seriously believe that most of the Americans don’t agree with Donald Trump over his racist, anti-women, anti-LGBT practices. We are not that country. Hopefully elections will prove that,” Penn, who was associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement from 2009 to 2011, said at the “Cultural Connections in US-India Relations” at the American Center, in New Delhi.
Trump, who is expected to clash with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in November, has been opposed by peoples and critics, and often been tagged “anti-immigrant”, “misogynist”, “racist” and “worse”.
During the event, Penn’s 2007 film “The Namesake”, which also stars Bollywood actors Irrfan Khan and Tabu, was screened.
Sharing his experience about campaigning for Obama, Penn said that it would not “weird” for him to shift from acting to politics.
“For me it was an honor to get a chance to serve for your country,” said Penn, whose real name is Kalpen Suresh Modi, and is best known for his role of Kumar Patel in the popular “Harold & Kumar” film franchise. He has also appeared on TV shows like “House”, “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Brain Theory”.
Penn is in India for the shooting of Guneet Monga’s upcoming project “The Ashram”.
With Ben Rekhi as the director, the film is an English-language spiritual fantasy thriller set in the mystical world of Himalayan yogis.
“The Ashram” also features Melissa Leo, Sam Keeley, Hera Hilmar and Radhika Apte.
Talking about Indian cinema, Penn said he is more inclined towards watching off-beat films, that too of Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan. He also said that loved watching 2013 film “Mere Dad Ki Maruti”.
Penn also said he feels the US TV industry is more diverse as compared to their films when it comes to portraying Indians in a stereotypical manner. He believes that the American TV industry has become very diverse in the last decade as compared to earlier times.
“Stereotypes stand overall but, American TV has advanced a lot, even more than American movies in the last 10 years,” Penn said.
He further stated that there are shows like “New Girl”, “Mindy Project” and “Master of None”, which are helping American TV industry to become more diverse.
Apart from TV, Penn feels streaming sites are also big platforms that are showcasing diverse content.
“(Actor-comedian) Aziz Ansari is crushing it everywhere. I mean he is amazing… his stand up is incredible. TV is changing in a big way. Films are slow to change and there are a number of reasons for that but there is a reason that cutting edge digital platform is the place for a lot more diversity,” Penn said.
“Priyanka’s (Chopra) show is on ABC. I have a new show coming in fall which I am very excited about. Bigger networks are also taking the lead… In the upcoming years TV will become more diverse. Same will happen with films,” he added.