Anjul Nigam, the actor who plays the Ranjit part of Rajit and Chad in the METRO PCS ads
You know those really funny commercials for METRO PCS with the Indian Guys, Ranjit and Chad doing Tech N Talk? I’ve been talking with “Ranjit” for a while via email. (His real name is Anjul Nigam.) He decided at the last minute on Friday to take a couple days in Las Vegas to have some fun with his gorgeous wife and kids before their work schedule got busy again. He asked me if I wanted to meet up. Today was the day we got together and talked.
“I haven’t seen those commercials for a while. Maybe it’s because of my new DVR,” I told him.
“Well, we’re about to do round three. We did round one in December where we shot seven. We did round two in April… March/April, where we shot another seven. And we’re about to shoot some more right after Labor Day.”
“How long before we see them?” I asked.
“It takes about a month after we shoot it.” He said, “The spots we’re doing right after Labor Day, they are hysterical! They are taking it bigger.” He explained that they are going to further develop the characters in ads and he thinks they are hilarious. They are already hilarious, in my opinion, but I guess they are going to push it even farther.
We talked a little bit about “Slumdog Millionaire,” and I asked him what was up with that torturing of that poor kid that won. “Where does that come from?” I asked him.
“It’s true. It happens,” he said.
“Is that the kind of thing that might go on in India?” I asked.
“Not might! It does. It happens all the time,” he said.
Then we got back on track talking about Anjul’s projects he has in the works. “But you know, what it is, it’s a Cinderella story. It’s about someone coming from slums and rising up the ranks because they won the lottery ticket. Cinderella won the lottery ticket. She won the Prince Charming, you know, with the glass shoe. Especially when you’re going through a time like the entire world has with the economic collapse, since 2008, you’re looking for these inspirational stories. So, on a producer level, I’m actually dealing with two separate feature films and two separate TV projects that I’m developing and working with. One feature film… it is a coming of age, a feel good story. It’s about an Indian family in Oklahoma. It’s an inspirational story. It’s about first love between an Indian boy who is ten years old and a white girl. It’s a beautiful story about first love and adolescence and tolerance, but it’s a comedy. We’re putting together the financing for it.
“I’m working on another one, where we did a short. Which we’re about to put together an extended version of this. It is more of a Latin based story about twin brothers. One is an assassin in Mexico and the other is a want-to-be assassin in LA. And the two of them meet, not knowing that the other existed,” he continued.
“On the TV side, I’m working on a reality show with Jeremy Piven’s company…. And another company out of New York which has like twenty successful reality shows. We’re working with another very established TV producer and writer on a scripted TV series,” he said.
Anjul isn’t the kind of guy that just sits around waiting for his agent to find him his next job. It is clear he loves his industry. His wife is also a successful movie producer. I guess you could say it is the family business.
Anjul Nigam not only appears on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show as part of the “Indian Call Center Guys,” but he also is a frequent guest on “Grey’s Anatomy” as psychiatrist, Dr. Raj Sen. He’s done oodles of TV shows and worked in movies too. It seems he’s the go-to guy for playing the Indian doctor because a lot of his roles are listed as Dr. in the movie database.
As for Jimmy Kimmel’s show?
“I haven’t done it since June. Then they went on break. In July, I think they went on break. And they haven’t called me yet,” he replied. Maybe it is time for a write in campaign to get their funny call for jokes from India schtick on there a little more often? Just sayin…
If you can’t get enough of Ranjit and Chad, here is their Facebook page
If you want to follow Anjul Nigam as himself, he’s on twitter: @anjulnigam