It’s an organic thing that I try not to analyze too much, because I worry that it will go away.
AASIF MANDVIIf you don’t acknowledge differences, it’s as bad as stereotyping or reducing someone.
More Aasif Mandvi Quotes
-
-
In America, people think being South Asian is still kind of exotic. When you go outside New York and Chicago and L.A., there are people who have never tried Indian food… they’ve never even tasted it!
AASIF MANDVI -
I said we are Ghodratis and there’s nothing that Ghodratis like more than a bargain.
AASIF MANDVI -
I think I discovered my first, you know, my first image of a naked woman was sort of sneaking a peek at one of those magazines that was in my dad’s store.
AASIF MANDVI -
An artist’s job is simply to take the mirror in front of your face and hold it there. It’s not to give you any answers. It is simply to take that mirror and point it at you.
AASIF MANDVI -
Paki- bashing was kind of this term that was used in general to beat up anyone that was from the Indian subcontinent.
AASIF MANDVI -
I think politicians and comedians have a lot in common. One is a group of approval-seeking narcissists who will say and do anything to be liked… and comedians are always talking about politics.
AASIF MANDVI -
Getting chased home from the bus stop after school by English kids, boarding school, being targeted for praying to what they call Allah wallah ding dong.
AASIF MANDVI -
People lament that there’s no roles being written for South Asian or Muslim characters. But their parents don’t want their children to go into the entertainment field. You don’t get it both ways.
AASIF MANDVI -
Indian culture is essentially much more of a we culture. It’s a communal culture where you do what’s best for the community – you procreate.
AASIF MANDVI -
I think that hijacks the spirituality and beauty that exists within Islam. I believe in allowing Islam to be seen in context and in its entirety and being judged on what it really is, not what you think it is.
AASIF MANDVI -
If you don’t acknowledge differences, it’s as bad as stereotyping or reducing someone.
AASIF MANDVI -
So I had this completely unrealistic idea of what America was — but I wanted to be there.
AASIF MANDVI -
This was in the ’70s and there was a lot of racism towards South Asians and there was a lot of hazing and bullying and racism that really probably shaped me in some way in terms of, like, wanting to get out of there.
AASIF MANDVI -
For anybody who’s ever been on the other end of, like, racial violence logic is not something that can be used.
AASIF MANDVI -
I was born in India – but never really lived there.
AASIF MANDVI






