Kumail Nanjiani will star as Chippendales founder Somen “Steve” Banerjee in a limited series from Hulu, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show, titled Immigrant, was given a straight-to-series order by the Disney-owned streaming platform.
Immigrant is described as a “darkly comedic and crime-ridden story,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will chronicle the rise of Chippendales, an all-male striptease revue, which Banerjee began as a way to lure customers into his failing West Los Angeles bar. The franchise later gained success and notoriety as the troupe performed in Las Vegas and touring shows around the world.
Deadline reports that Banerjee was involved in a murder-for-hire plot against several Chippendales producers and dancers, eventually pleading guilty to lesser chargers.
Nanjiani was recently cast in the new Marvel film Eternals and is slated to appear in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. He is known for his role of Dinesh Chugtai on the HBO comedy Silicon Valley. As a writer, Nanjiani received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay of The Big Sick, which he wrote with his wife Emily V. Gordon (Little America).
Immigrant will be written by Robert Siegel (The Wrestler) with Rajiv Joseph (Little America) and Mehar Sethi (Bojack Horseman), who executive produce along with Nanjiani, Gordon, Dylan Sellers (The Giver) and Chris Parker (Palm Springs), according to The Hollywood Reporter.