Actor Kal Penn revealed he learned Hindi by watching Saath Nibhaana Saathiya and expressed his wish to act in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and Delhi Crime. He also shared how Mira Nair’s son helped him land his role in The Namesake
Kal Penn
Actor Kal Penn, known for his work in Harold & Kumar, The Namesake, and more recently Designated Survivor, visited India and shared some interesting revelations. The U.S.-based actor revealed that he learned Hindi by watching the television show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya. He also spoke about popular Indian serials like Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
Kal Penn on TMKOC and Delhi Crimes
In a conversation with The Indian Express, Kal shared his admiration for Indian TV and expressed a desire to be part of both Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (TMKOC) and Delhi Crime. “I got to know Asit Modi a couple of years ago, and I even did a set visit to Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. I was geeking out—it’s one of the most-watched shows on the planet. It’s not everybody’s palate and very different from Delhi Crime, but when you look at the spectrum of voices and content India is turning out, I’m like, ‘This is so cool.’ I want to be on both shows. I’d love to do episodes of Delhi Crime.”
Later, when asked to choose between the two popular television shows—Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 and TMKOC—he chose the former.
“This is hard because Hindi is not my first language. It’s English, and then Gujarati. But one of the ways I started learning Hindi was through episodes of Saath Nibhaana Saathiya because the level of Hindi is accessible to someone still learning. They have super addictive, ridiculous plotlines. So, I’ll go with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.”
Kal Penn Recalls Landing The Namesake
During the interaction, Kal Penn also spoke about how he got the role in The Namesake. “I had personally written to Mira Nair asking her to audition me. She was a role model growing up. The book was incredible, and I just had to be part of the film,” he recalled.
Interestingly, it was Nair’s then 14-year-old son, Zohran Mamdani, who played a pivotal role in convincing her to audition Kal. “Mira was one of the catalysts for why I became an actor. I wrote her a letter saying, ‘The Namesake is an incredible book, and you have to let me audition for it.’ It just so happened that her 14-year-old son was a fan of Harold & Kumar. He showed her clips from the movie and told her to cast me. She instantly said, ‘Beta, this is clearly not the guy for us.’ But then she read my letter and said, ‘What the heck, because of my son, I’ll let him audition.’”
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