Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi /ˈɑːsɨf ˈmɑːndviː/,
is an Indian-American actor and comedian. He began appearing as an occasional contributing
correspondent on The Daily Show on August 9, 2006. On March 12, 2007, he was promoted
to a regular correspondent.
Early life Mandvi was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India,
to a Dawoodi Bohra Muslim family. His family moved to Bradford, England, when he was a
year old, where his father, Hakim, ran a corner shop, and his mother, Fatima, was a nurse.
Although Mandvi identifies himself as a "working-class kid from Bradford", he attended the independent
Woodhouse Grove School. His father grew frustrated with Margaret Thatcher's Britain and moved
his family to Tampa, Florida, when Mandvi was 16.
Career Early
After graduating from the University of South Florida with a degree in Theatre, Mandvi worked
as a performer at Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. He later moved to New
York City where he began appearing in off-Broadway productions. During this time he was active
in the band Cowboys and Indian. He won an Obie Award for his critically acclaimed one-man
show Sakina's Restaurant. On Broadway, Mandvi appeared as Ali Hakim
in the 2002 revival of Oklahoma! directed by Trevor Nunn. He also appeared in the play
Homebody/Kabul by Tony Kushner. He portrayed Fritz Haber in the off-Broadway play Einstein's
Gift. Mandvi played Melchior in On the Razzle by
Tom Stoppard at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and appeared in the docudrama Guantanamo:
Honor Bound to Defend Freedom at the Culture Project. In 2012 Mandvi starred in Disgraced
at the Clare Tow Theater at Lincoln Center. He played the lead role of Amir, a Pakistani
American lawyer struggling with his identity and Islam in the drama by Ayad Akhtar. The
play went on to win the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Television Mandvi made his television debut as a doorman
at the Biltmore Hotel in the episode "Line of Fire" of the series Miami Vice. He has
since appeared in numerous television shows: ER, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, CSI, Oz,
Ed, The Bedford Diaries, Jericho, Sleeper Cell and various editions of Law & Order,
including Criminal Intent, Special Victims Unit and Trial by Jury. He was the book reader
for audio editions of Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown and V. S. Naipaul's Magic Seeds.
In 2011 he appeared in Taco Bell commercials. In 2006, Mandvi auditioned for The Daily Show.
He was hired immediately and appeared on the show the same day. Mandvi became a regular
correspondent in 2007. He often appears in segments satirizing and commenting on Islamic,
Middle-Eastern, and South-Asian-related issues with such titles as "Senior Asian Correspondent,"
"Senior Middle East Correspondent," "Senior Foreign Looking Correspondent," and "Senior
Muslim Correspondent." In 2013, Mandvi was cast in a recurring role
on the FOX romantic comedy, Us & Them. In October 2013, during a segment on The Daily
Show, Aasif Mandvi's interview with Don Yelton led to Yelton's resignation from the North
Carolina Republican Party office. Film
Mandvi played minor roles in the films The Siege and Die Hard with a Vengeance as well
as the title role in Merchant Ivory Productions' film The Mystic Masseur. He had a major supporting
role in the independent film American Chai, playing the lead character's roommate, "Engineering
Sam." He played the doctor who diagnosed Paul Vitti's panic attacks in Analyze This, and
had a role as Mr. Aziz of "Joe's Pizza" in Spider-Man 2. He was also in commercials by
Domino's Pizza and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He played the tone deaf
doorman Khan in Music and Lyrics. Mandvi played a dentist alongside Ricky Gervais
in the 2008 romantic comedy Ghost Town, as well as office employee Bob Spaulding in The
Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock. Today's Special, which Mandvi co-wrote with Jonathan
Bines, premiered at the London Film Festival in October 2009 and New York's Mahindra Indo-American
Arts Council Film Festival on November 11, 2009. He appeared in It's Kind of a Funny
Story, a coming-of-age film written and directed by Anna Boden with Ryan Fleck, adapted from
the 2006 novel by Ned Vizzini. He also co-starred as a Guantanamo captive in the film The Response,
a script based on the transcripts of Combatant Status Review Tribunals convened in Guantanamo
in 2004. In M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender he played a major role as Commander
Zhao. Mandvi played the role of Mr Chetty in the 2013 comedy The Internship, which starred
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, and portrayed Ash Vasudevan in the 2014 film Million Dollar
Arm. Charity work
Mandvi is involved with disaster-relief organizations like the charity initiative Relief 4 Pakistan,
which assists in flood relief in Pakistan. In 2010 he hosted the "Stand Up for Religious
Freedom" comedy event to raise money for the organization. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake,
he performed with fellow Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac at Conan O'Brien's "I'm with Coco"
Benefit for earthquake victims. He is also a supporter of the Endometriosis Foundation
of America. Works
Filmography Actor
Writer Stage
Actor Writer
References
External links Aasif Mandvi Dot Com, official Aasif Mandvi
website. Aasif Mandvi at the Internet Movie Database
"A Man Called Mandvi", Nirali Magazine, February 2007
"This is you, America. Are you ok with it?" – Interview
One on One – Aasif Mandvi – Interview auf Al Jazeera English