Meenu (Rakhi Sharma), Babz (Navneet Kaur) and Sunny (Arkie Kandola) in Our Big Punjabi Family.Supplied
When it came to writing Our Big Punjabi Family, a new mockumentary-style sitcom that debuts this weekend on OMNI Television, Leena Manro didn’t have to look too far for inspiration. She simply tapped into the shenanigans of her own Punjabi-Canadian family.
“It’s totally exaggerated, of course. But every single episode has kernels of truth based on either my own personal experience or my sisters. I’ve got four younger sisters and a brother. And each one is married into a South Asian family,” Manro said in a Zoom interview, grinning as she went into the details of the varying cultural backgrounds of the in-laws.
Growing up in a big family with five siblings was “nutty and chaotic,” she said. The same chaos reigned supreme at her cousin’s wedding in California recently, where Manro screened the first few episodes for her family. Her massi (maternal aunt) was effusive in her praise, recognizing herself in the show.
“There’s a lot of things in later episodes you’ll see that Vadipua [an older, paternal aunt] says that are verbatim the way my massi talks,” said Manro.
“You don’t typically see these personalities on TV, and I don’t know why. I don’t know why we’re not bringing up these very lived and very real experiences – other than I don’t know who’s writing some of this content,” she said. “The perspective of this show is grounded in the female perspective – and particularly the daughter-in-law’s experience.”
The premise of the show is genius, in that it takes the familiar concept of a married couple having to move in with one set of parents in order to save money and adds several layers of context, making the show at once peculiar to a culture and universal.
Sitara (Arshdeep Purba) and Sunny (Arkie Kandola) and their non-binary child Meenu (Rakhi Sharma) need to move into Sunny’s parents home in suburban Abbotsford, B.C., after one of Sunny’s tech ventures goes bust. It takes all of Sitara’s patience and expertise as a family therapist to deal with Sunny’s traditional family – where the women make endless cups of tea while the men sit about and hold forth on a variety of issues.
Culture clashes ensue. When Sunny gets in the kitchen to help out, for instance, it raises a lot of eyebrows. Similarly, when Meenu tries to set personal boundaries, it confuses their elders. However, everyone groans when Dadima (Balinder Johal) farts.
“As highbrow as we can get, fart jokes connect us all,” Manro said.
Our Big Punjabi Family also introduces veteran Pakistani star Bushra Ansari to a wider Canadian audience as Mummyji, Sunny’s mother. A celebrity with a large following, Ansari is known for her exceptional comic timing in vintage Pakistani TV series such as Fifty-Fifty and Aangan Terha, as well as the more contemporary Aayegi Baraat series.
Although she was busy with two other projects, she made time to shoot Our Big Punjabi Family in Saskatchewan on a whirlwind schedule because she appreciated the subtle ways in which this relatively small-budget production was breaking boundaries. Unlike typical South Asian soaps that feature warring saas and bahus (mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law), for example, the relationship between Sitara and Mummyji is ultimately a loving one.
“I think these are the big statements which our society requires,” said Ansari, joining the Zoom interview from Karachi, where she was preparing for a stand-up special. “In a lighter way, Leena talks about some very serious issues. I actually jumped into this project at the very last minute. I didn’t even know what I was getting into.”
However, over WhatsApp sessions with Manro, as well as weekend dinners with other members of the cast, Ansari quickly became a part of the family. One particular dinner prepared by the show’s producer, Kelly Balon, and Manro stands out.
“The cast came over, we had food, and also read through a couple of the episodes and got into character,” Manro recalled. “Everybody was away from home. So the only family and friends we had was each other. We used that time to just stay together and bond.”
At the end of the day, Our Big Punjabi Family is just like any other family, Manro said. The conversation around diversity and representation should not be to tick off boxes.
“It should be a way for people of diverse backgrounds to just tell their own stories,” she said.
“I think it’s interesting for the rest of the world to understand our issues,” Ansari added. “They can jump into our houses and they can have a different flavour of comedy and enjoy – that’s the best thing.”
Our Big Punjabi Family debuts June 11 at 7:30 p.m. on OMNI Television.
Special to The Globe and Mail