New York [US], July 3 : As the Indian immigrant population grows across diverse regions,shaping local cultures and economies, actor and author Maulik Pancholy explores this phenomenon in recent project, 'Murder at the Patel Motel,' tracing the unique journey and influence of Patel motel owners across America.
Speaking to ANI, he said, " I'm always surprised how people in the United States are not aware of the prevalence of Patel motels," Maulik shared, adding, "About 50% of motels in the U.S. are owned by Indian Americans, many of whom have the last name Patel. They're even jokingly called the 'Patel Motel Cartel.' I thought it would be just such a perfect place to set some kind of story."
'Murder at the Patel Motel ', an Audible Original comedy podcast, created and headlined by Maulik Pancholy, is a comic Agatha Christie-style mystery. It blends humour with a deeply personal story about identity.
The story is about Milan Patel (voiced by Pancholy), a high-end event planner from New York who returns home after years away, only to find himself entangled in a murder investigation when his father suddenly drowns at the family motel.
Along with co-writers Zackary Grady and Achilles Stamatelaky, Pancholy began shaping the series specifically for audio.
"I always imagined it as a scripted series. You know, I've done so much in series and I love the format of a series where you get multiple episodes to develop characters and scripting is very interesting to me," he added.
On talking about his character Milan and how he relates to it, Pancholy shared, "I always envisioned myself playing Milan; There's a lot of me in Milan. I think I was this kid who sort of couldn't wait to get out of the town that I grew up in, because I didn't feel like I could be myself there. And as a brown gay kid, it wasn't always easy. I thought I had to run away to become myself. So there's so much of that storyline that exists in Milan."
The cast includes Poorna Jagannathan, Padma Lakshmi, Karan Soni, Anna Camp, and even Emmy-winner Murray Bartlett. "I got to play alongside everybody, and also give them some direction," he said.
His slate of upcoming projects is just as packed. He's fresh off filming Jesse Eisenberg's next film (starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti), and a comedy titled Nuked (co-starring Anna Camp), which drops July 11. On the audio front, Phineas and Ferb season five just launched, and he's midway through writing his third novel.
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