Sep 19, 2026 4:00pm IST
Poorna Jagannathan On Being In Denial Over ‘Deli Boys’ Cancellation, Cheering On Hasan Minhaj And Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s ‘Best Of The Best’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Like fans of “Deli Boys,” actor Poorna Jagannathan is also having a hard time accepting that Abdullah Saeed's dark comedy has been canceled after two seasons. For the world, not getting to see more of Lucky auntie, Jagannathan’s character with scene-stealing style and one-liners, is such a travesty.
In a candid chat with Variety India, the actor, currently seen on HBO’s “Lanterns,” talks about the series getting canceled after two well-received seasons. “I don't take anything personally, but I'm definitely a little bit in denial about the cancellation still. It's one of my favorite characters ever. Lucky will live in me forever.”
The cancellation has come with a lesson for Jagannathan. She elaborates, “I know that it's a very particular time in TV history. The show was one of the most critically acclaimed comedies for the company Onyx Collective, which was under Disney. And Asian stories, stories of people of color, primarily made by people of color, starring people of color—my biggest lesson is that they still have a pretty hard time getting audiences. And for us to survive, we do need a mainstream audience to join us. And that's a whole other battle. I didn't know that until ‘Deli Boys'.”
She adds, “I've been on ‘Ramy’ and ‘Never Have I Ever’, and all these shows that have their own kind of life. I saw ‘Beef’, which is one of my favorite shows, and it had its own life too. But with ‘Deli Boys’, I learned a very, very important lesson. Yes, creators of color are getting greenlit. And that's a huge step, because that wasn't happening 10 years ago. But the next phase of our growth is really building a bigger audience set and making audiences believe that our stories, although specific, are universal.”
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The loss of “Deli Boys” must feel like a personal blow to anyone invested in mounting more Asian stories. Jagannathan believes we’re currently in a dry spell, but the growing number of production houses started by people of color might be a great step in the right direction.
“We are a very supportive, artistic community here, like you wouldn't believe! It doesn't matter who's on as long as someone, one of us, is on. A bunch of us—Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali, Saagar Sheikh—we all just landed up in Disneyland one day, and we bumped into Utkarsh [Ambudkar] there. And we were like, ‘Man, you're the only South Asian on right now. Like, hang in there!’ It's become such a mission among this pretty small community to always be supportive and have some representation in media. It's dry right now. I know ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ is coming soon, and I couldn't be more excited to see Freida Pinto, Sarayu Blue and Siddharth in it. But we're not dominating yet. There’s an ebb and flow, not a steady supply yet. So Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra and Kumail Nanjiani all have their production houses not only as a vehicle for them but to be able to share our stories and our immigrant experiences with the world. And we absolutely deserve a place in the conversation.”
Making a strong addition to the conversation about South Asian pride is the upcoming Netflix original film, “Best of the Best.” Poorna Jagannathan’s former on-screen daughter from “Never Have I Ever,” Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, stars in the coming-of-age film about competitive Bollywood-fusion dancing. It is written by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam.
The actor shares her excitement over the film and how it’s about to give desi families something to watch together. “I hear people saying ‘Never Have I Ever’ is their comfort show. And ‘Best of the Best’ is also designed to be a family experience, one that is very authentic to us and does right by us, but is for a more global audience as well. Maitreyi is a terrific actress, as is Priyanka (Kedia). I am very good friends with Hasan and Prashanth, who wrote this movie. They have put their lives into it. When we hung out at Disneyland recently, we talked about how Hasan's wife, Bina, was a competitive Bollywood dancer and president of the South Asian Student Association. So it's based on the joy and the deep politics of being in a competitive space. I think it's going to do terrific. And I cannot wait to see it,” Jagannathan concludes.
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