The internet was divided when actor Priyanka Chopra chose hot dogs over vada pav during a recent red carpet interview. On Friday, actor, author, TV show host, producer and former White House staffer Kal Penn weighed in on the debate surrounding how Indians living abroad adapt to new cultures, and the identity struggles they face in Hollywood. Kal was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director of The Indian Express Group at the latest edition of Express Adda held in Mumbai.
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Right out of the bat, Kal Penn admitted that he wasn’t completely aware of what Priyanka said, but he decided to give an example from his own life to prove that it is quite possible for Indians to like things belonging to different cultures. He said, “I am very grateful for having been one of the first South Asian actors in certain positions in Hollywood. A few years ago, my manager at the time called and asked me if I wanted to be on MasterChef. I said, ‘Cook on television? No.’ But then they told me it’s a charity and they will go over the recipe with me beforehand. So in one of the pre-interviews, they asked me what my favourite food was, and I said, ‘Tacos.’ They were clearly disappointed, and then they asked me whether I could cook something like chicken tikka masala or something Indian. I told them straight away no, and they asked me, ‘Do you not like Indian food?’ I told them I loved Indian food, and I had even planned on cooking one of my mother’s recipes on the show, but now I am definitely not going to do it. For me, it’s just the silliness of the fact that are people not allowed to like other things? I think people just project their own likes and dislikes, so I just laugh it off.”
When asked whether actors from the South Asian background feel more pressured to assimilate to their new surroundings and whether Priyanka Chopra is doing too much to look or sound American, Kal Penn said, “I couldn’t possibly weigh in on somebody else’s experiences. I know and love Priyanka, and I find her to be completely authentic and wonderful, and unapologetically so, which is very refreshing. I get this question a lot: ‘What does my authenticity mean?’ People have a very different idea of what it means to be Indian overseas. I mean a lot of people told me that I couldn’t pursue acting because I was Indian. I was called a sellout by a lot of people for pursuing the arts. Why does my major have anything to do with my being an Indian? People just have their own insecurities and a chip on their shoulder.”
Express Adda with Kal Penn
The Express Adda is a series of informal interactions organised by The Indian Express Group and features those at the centre of change. Previous guests at the Adda include Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, philanthropist Bill Gates, and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
