New crop of brown actors dominating American entertainment

A new wave of brown faces is sharing the limelight with American actors

It’s almost impossible to be binge-watching shows on streaming services right now and not encounter brown actors. What may not have been true say a decade ago is finally happening and today a new crop of brown actors seems to be having their moment in the sun.

What may have begun with Mindy Kaling or Kal Penn or may have been brought to the spotlight by Bollywood to Hollywood success story Priyanka Chopra has now finally resulted in desi actors no longer being a rarity in American entertainment.

READ: Biden presents National Medal of Arts to Mindy Kaling (March 22, 2023)

The American Bazaar lists three of the most promising new brown faces who seem to be making their presence felt in what has traditionally been called a “white-washed” entertainment industry.

Utkarsh Ambudkar: While many may recognize Utkarsh from his role in the hit series, Never Have I Ever, currently on its fourth and final series, he has also delivered noteworthy performances in movies like Pitch Perfect, Game Over, Blind Spotting and Brittany Runs a Marathon among others.

If that is not sounding like an impressive portfolio for a relatively newer face, he also has to his credit TV series such as Ghosts, The Mindy Project, White Project and the Drop out. The Tisch School of art graduate has been born and brought up in Maryland and started out as a VJ for MTV Desi.

READ: Polite Society: A new-age tale of South Asians (March 31, 2023)

Liza Koshy: Koshy began as a YouTuber and after amassing millions of followers on social media she began a career in acting. She has been noted for her role in Hulu series Freakish, YouTube series Escape the Night.

But Koshy really got noticed when she played the central character in the YouTube comedy series Liza on Demand. A nominee for DayTime Emmy Awards, Koshy has hosted several award shows and is definitely a face to watch out for in entertainment.

Richa Moorjani: Yes, she is best known for her role as Kamala — the sexy cousin of Devi in Never Have I ever but there is more to Richa than just her role in the hit series.

Moorjani who was born and brought up in Texas and attended University of California was also seen in 911 and NCIS Los Angeles besides the The Mindy Project.

Moorjani really has created an impact with her role as Kamala as she projects the role of a woman of color in STEM in America – a touchy issue which has often been hinted upon but not really taken up openly in the media.

Kamala’s portrayal laced with humor starts an important dialogue and is essential to show the changing portrayal of brown actors in mainstream entertainment.

But besides this success the big news is that Moorjani will be seen in the new season of Fargo.