Deli Boys Showrunner Reveals Why Poorna Jagannathan Was 'Only Choice' For Role Of Lucky - Exclusive

Last

year, the comedy series Deli Boys starring Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh and Poorna Jagannathan, about two Pakistani-American brothers who inherit a drug empire, became a surefire hit. At the 2025 Gotham TV Awards, Saagar and Poorna also received noms for their performances. The second season of Deli Boys premieres on May 28 on Hulu and in India, viewers can find the series on JioHotstar. Showrunner Michelle Nader spoke with us about the return of the show with several new talented guest stars and revealed why the Season 2 finale was her favourite.

Michelle Nader on Deli Boys' cast chemistry

Speaking with Zoom, Nader revealed that she instantly connected with creator Abdullah Saeed's story. She recalled, "I can tell you when it clicked with me, when I read the script that Abdullah Saeed wrote. I knew that it was a really different world that I hadn't seen before even though I was from Philadelphia; the way he described this family and these characters I thought, 'This is something that people will love.' And they did. I think people really responded to season one, but I think it's really about the family. I think it's about Lucky and Raj and Mir and they're trying to figure out how to survive in a really violent world."

The laugh-out-loud series features Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj (Saagar Shaikh), who find out their late father Baba Dar's (Iqbal Theba) convenience stores were really a front for his drug empire. With the help of their Lucky Aunty (Poorna Jagannathan), the brothers must learn to find their way out of debt and make the business profitable again. Nader, who has been in the business for decades, shared that the show also clicked because of the cast. They never really looked beyond Poorna. She revealed, "I mean, she's the only choice for the role. There's not really anybody else that could do this besides Poorna. Like you said, I've been doing this a long time. Chemistry, you just really can't plan it. It's alchemy, right? But the three of them together, they're really good. Now they're like family off screen as well. So I think it really infuses into their portrayals of these characters."

Deli Boys Season 2 has starry guest cast

For the second season, Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen joins the show for a key role and Andrew Rannells, Kumail Nanjiani, Lilly Singh, and Robin Thede guest star. Tan France also reprises his role as Zubair, the British Pakistani gangster. Nader stated that they felt lucky to work with a "ridiculously talented" guest cast for the new season.She added, "I cannot even believe we got to work with all those people. But I think the most interesting role is Fred portraying this character, Max Sugar, because it's a role he's not done before because he is really scary and people are not going to be ready for this. I think people will see him and go, that's Fred Armisen? And then he's so chilling and violent and can turn on a dime that they're not going to believe it. I didn't. I was like, oh, well, Fred, you're scaring us."

The showrunner, who is also from Philadelphia, spoke about receiving the seal of approval from locals in the city. She said, "My family loves the show. The thing about Philadelphians is they love their city, but they also think it's the greatest thing in the world and the best thing and the worst thing in the world. They have a love-hate thing with it, but they're really proud of it. So I think they just like that it's on TV." Finally, Nader hinted that the season 2 finale would lead to a major point for the show. It was also her favourite episode so far. She teased, "It really is a culmination of all of the characters and the chaos. And the cliffhanger is really so juicy that I feel like it all came together in such an organic way, but also a surprising way, even to us, that I look at it and I go, 'Wow, you know, okay, good for us.'" All six episodes of Deli Boys Season 2 are now streaming on JioHotstar. Nader was hopeful that the comedy show would be back for a third season.