When you think of shows involving mobs, family hatred, drug trafficking and characters in the brain, I bet, I bet, I bet, I bet. What you probably haven’t imagined, though, is a pair of quirky Pakistani-American brothers, casually learning how to get the cocaine empire out of the Philadelphia corner store. In Hulu’s Deli Boys debuting on March 6, Asif Ali’s Mir and Saagar Shaikh’s Raj dar do their best and the worst is helping themselves and businesses survive.
The first 10 minutes of the series set the tone in this wild, genre-curved dark comedy, crime drama and the action of creator Abdullah Saeed. This mix makes it a very interesting watch, evoking a similar feeling to the weed or brothers. A lot happened to the Deli Boy, which started with the unexpected bloody death of the wealthy family patriarch, Iqbal Theba, who runs several businesses that had been in trouble with his son and other families after his death. I mean a criminal family.
Shaikh plays his elder brother Raj, a free and professional lazy man who loves marijuana, he is the consciousness of the chakra, and has a room in his home he shares with his like-minded girlfriend Prairie. Ali plays the button’s younger brother Mir, who wants to follow in his father’s company’s footsteps to manage the family’s convenience store chain. Neither of them knew their father was part of the criminal underworld until after he left, they received a lively crash course in reality from “Authie” Lucky’s Lucky” and “Brian George) in Poorna Jagannathan.
For years, Baba has been selling cocaine hidden in Yatar jars that have been funding their luxury lifestyle. Just because he is dead doesn’t mean it’s over. Debts are incurred, and DAR needs to survive.
Raj, Mir, “Auntie” and “Uncle” Ahmad defended the crime boss.
“Why are you stealing your own cocaine? Are you an idiot?” Lucky asked about their underwear and packaged the product. Her tough love and coach in the drug game introduces the brothers by dealing with Italian mob bosses, competing with rival families and cartel’s Heat. Her handling of nitwit nephew and stylish guns and business mastery make the lucky character an interesting character. She is a stone killer and teaches them sometimes, too.
Every half hour episode, Mir and Dar are permanently shocked and confused as they are “spoiled” by the sheltered, they are thrown into enemies in the internal and external circles while facing FBI scrutiny, just like siblings. In one scenario, they should dispose of a body and not proceed as planned. It’s a sequence that goes in a stupid way, but ultimately creates bloody chaos. Teamwork and wet work are fun. As I said, a lot of things are happening here.
Raj and Mir, seem as confused as usual.
Watching them figure out what to do, sometimes you wonder, “Now, why do they do that?” Raj and Mir are often unsure of themselves on this new discovery path, and the themes about family help to take root in part of the story. The story is filled with colorful people like Tan France, who plays the killer and a cocaine boss who is emotionally sensitive to his craft. Guillermo Diaz even appeared on the guest star, doing some supernatural acrobatics.
Deli Boys are colorful, cheeky and loud – there are some cool fighting sequences and positive violent deaths, which is the opposite of the disturbing ones. Asif and Shaikh’s sibling chemistry portrays of Mir and Raj are convincing. It’s hard for everyone around them to believe them, and sometimes it’s hard for them themselves. Should we take root in these brothers with cocaine dealers’ success? I’m not sure, but it’s worth the quirky trip to ABC Deli with these boys.
