I recall watching a couple of old Buzzfeed videos where I saw Indian nationals criticizing what they perceived to be a complete lack of hot Indian men on American television.
They were right for the most part, as Indian men on shows like Big Bang Theory, Parks & Recreation and Community, are often depicted as geeky, not terribly good looking (at least not in the traditional sense) and socially inept.
Enter Vivek Shah, a 20-something Gujurati American whose boyish good looks and gym sculpted body shatter American pop culture stereotypes of Indian men with a sledgehammer!
Vivek Shah and the rest of the cast of Grown-ish
Vivek Shah, played by Canadian actor Jordan Buhat, is part of the main cast of Grown-ish, a woke AF Generation Z show set in a liberal arts college in SoCal where issues such as racism, sexuality and politics are dealt with in a serious albeit fun way.
On top of Vivek Shah breaking the mold by being a Desi Adonis, Vivek also distances himself from his Indian bhais by being something of a style guru on the show. In one scene for instance we see him rocking a super trendy Kenzo sweater while in another he’s got on a pair of highly coveted All-White Nike X Virgil Abloh sneakers.
Vivek Shah wearing a stylish Riccardo Tisci Givenchy denim shirt
He’s also somewhat of a bad boy having being able to pay for his fabulous wardrobe and jet-set lifestyle by dealing pills to college students!
Granted this controversial side to him may not make him the role model sansakari Indian parents in New Jersey or New Delhi want for their children, but he’s real and he’s different and ultimately, that’s what matters!
Surfboard.
The American Idiot Box has long confined the Indian man to a caricature, someone who is a social pariah and a female repellent, and now we can happily say that is no longer the case. Indian men in America and the world over will no longer be turned off by their American representation on screen (fuck Apu!) thanks to Grown-ish and Vivek Shah.
Catch Grown-ish on Freeform and Jordan Buhat on his Instagram account – @jordanbuhat
He’s not Indian he’s Filipino please take this article down or revise it
The character, Vivek Shah, on Black-ish is Indian, not Filipino.
The character is Indian but the actor is Filipino and that’s problematic
Half Filipino and how exactly is that problematic?
Randall Park, a Korean American, plays a Taiwanese character on Fresh Off The Boat. It’s called acting.
Than the Taiwanese community should point that out!
Acting is when you play a doctor, a prostitute or a clown. Not a freaking race!
If they are okay with having any other race to play an Indian character than they should have a non black to play a black character as long he/she looks the part.
I am a Chinese/Taiwanese American and I had similar concerns about Randall Park on FOB, but Park has done a commendable job with the ethnic elements on the show (speaking Mandarin as well as anyone else on the show, for example), and does look like he maybe could be Chinese/Taiwanese if I didn’t otherwise know that he isn’t. To me it’s not ideal, but in the end I am OK that he was cast on the show based on talent and resume (same with Ken Jeong, who recurs his brother and is also actually Korean), and understanding that this is an American show for Western audiences. As much as I hate to perpetuate the “Asians all look alike” interchangeability stereotype, I also don’t think actors should be limited to only play exactly what they are — there has to be a middle ground, otherwise there wouldn’t be enough specifically-written parts for different ethnic actors to even play. … It does seem like a missed opportunity that Black-ish could have rewritten the character to be the mixed-Filipino ethnicity that Buhat actually is — if they even knew — but all that being said, I’m curious whether the Indian-descent community feels like Buhat looks like he could be Indian descent? If so, then the character is still a positive representation of an Indian hunk. If he doesn’t though, then maybe Vivek is an unfair representation of an Indian hunk if he neither looks Indian nor is played by an Indian actor…
Hey there pearlcream!
I wish all online comments were as sensible, thoughtful and nuanced as yours. I completely agree with you. There ought to be a middle ground for actors. People are growing sick and tired of the whole “wrongful misrepresentation” debate. I don’t think Scarlett Johansson should’ve played a Japanese person in Ghost in the Shell but at the same time I didn’t mind it when Jake Gyllenhaal played a Middle Easterner in Prince of Persia (the guy’s Jewish so he unquestionably has Middle Eastern roots).
Regarding Buhat’s looks, as someone who’s lived in India for months and has traveled everywhere from Tamil Nadu to Himachal Pradesh to Kashmir, I can safely say that I have seen tons of Indian males who strongly resemble Buhat.
This guy is Filipino NOT Indian! How in the world does that help anyone? We need REAL representation! How is this different from Scarlett Johansson playing Major? We already such a sorely underrepresented group on television, why not give this role to an actual South Asian actor in an industry where precious few get roles with positive representation? Buhat does not speak for us, he does not represent our culture, he probably doesn’t know the first thing about being Indian. He doesn’t claim our community, why the hell would he claim him? This would be like casting Rachel Dolezal to play a black woman, it’s an absolute joke.
It’s extremely problematic. If they really wanted to give the role to Jordan Buhat changing Vivek to a Filipino character really is not difficult and would not effect the storyline or even the personality of Vivek. The fact that this show is being praised for its diversity and representation of different cultures is completely hypocritical of what is being done. Don’t even get me started on the episode about when SPECIFICALLY Vivek was being accused of cultural appropriation……..
I guess I have to agree with that. His Indian heritage is never really fleshed out in the show. All I see is a straight-edge, good looking, sweet guy who’s always stylin’. I don’t see an Indian American.