'Deli Boys' is a quirky and smartly written crime comedy

In “Deli Boys,” a amazingly sweet, deceptively subtle drama of unit and panic premiering Thursday connected Hulu, Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh play Pakistani American brothers Mir and Raj Dar whose father, Baba (Iqbal Theba), owns a concatenation of convenience stores passim the Delaware Valley — Philadelphia is the halfway of the enactment — and plans to determination into play courses.

After Baba dies — deed successful the caput by a play ball, ironically — they larn from their beloved Lucky Auntie (Poorna Jagannathan), who has conscionable changeable idiosyncratic successful the face, that his existent business, successful which she is an associate, was processing and dealing cocaine. As drugs go, cocaine is simply a much acceptable conveyance for drama than, say, heroin, meth oregon fentanyl, though it is precise atrocious for you and the societal cloth successful general. Marijuana, which went mainstream decades ago, is hardly worthy mentioning anymore; stoners are simply later-generation drunks successful the publication of comical inebriation. (And it is, for each intents and purposes, legal.) “Deli Boys” creator Abdullah Saeed has a past successful weed media, including hosting the cannabis cooking amusement “Bong Appétit” and penning for the HBO pot-delivery drama “High Maintenance.”

Mir and Raj are schematic opposites, physically and temperamentally. Mir, who works for his father’s morganatic business, wholly unaware of the illegitimate one, is the smaller, much compact, much driven brother. He models himself connected his father, whom helium lives to impress, and points retired astatine each accidental that helium has a concern grade from “prestigious” Drexel University — Philadelphia section color. Lanky Raj, whom we conscionable passed retired among his “orgy cabal,” is the grasshopper to Mir’s ant, a happy-go-lucky slacker who asks his brother, “How tin you aftermath up each greeting and spell into enactment erstwhile you cognize you don’t person to? It’s up to america to bask this beingness for everyone who looks similar america but doesn’t person it.” A divided surface contrasts their cautiously executed wake-up routines, java versus cannabis.

Baba’s decease creates a powerfulness vacuum among his associates that Lucky vies with Ahmad (Brian George) to fill. (“Leave the concern to maine and instrumentality to making biryani,” helium says; determination is an anti-patriarchal streak to the humor.) As it happens, Mir and Raj volition beryllium sucked into that vortex, which includes avoiding the FBI — successful the persons of anxious caller cause Mercer (Alexandra Ruddy), who is processing a case, and determination manager Simpson (Tim Baltz), a genial recognition stealer — and paying disconnected Peruvian cause suppliers who privation their money, oregon their lives.

Poorna Jagannathan plays Lucky, 1 of Baba’s associates warring for power of the concern aft his death.

(James Washington / Disney)

Their roadworthy to solvency implicit 10 sitcom-length episodes brings our heroes into interaction with a assortment of quality stumbling blocks, including Tan France, from “Queer Eye,” arsenic a hood implicit from London; Chris Elliott, arsenic a section policeman who learned astir pursuing protocol “the hard way”; and Kevin Corrigan arsenic New Jersey mob brag Chickie Lozano, whom Raj keeps calling Lasagna, whose sociopath daughter, Gigi (Sofia Black-d’Elia), attacks him arsenic a “f— boomer who thinks women can’t beryllium progressive successful business.” There are jokes seated successful the procreation arsenic good arsenic the sex gap: “Racist old-world thinking, man,” Raj tells Ahmad, erstwhile Ahmad refuses to enactment with Indians due to the fact that “they’ll rob america unsighted similar they did during Partition.”

Apart from that, Mir has a fiancée, Bushra (Zainne Saleh), who has a mother, Seema (Sakina Jaffrey), who doesn’t similar him. Raj, whom radical can’t assistance but like, has a girlfriend, Prairie (Alfie Fuller), who is besides his shaman, but stumbles arsenic good into a benignant of nonrelationship of convenience with Nandika (Amita Rao), who rates him “a Philly 10.”

The bid mines an aged strain of movie drama successful which a squad of guiltless idiots are thrown into a satellite of transgression oregon intrigue. Hope and Crosby, Martin and Lewis, Abbott and Costello, the Bowery Boys, Cheech & Chong each went there, if not rather truthful covered successful blood. Because Mir and Raj are successful information of their lives, we judge immoderate extraordinary, extra-legal steps they mightiness instrumentality to travel retired each right, adjacent if we mightiness similar that everyone conscionable get on and cipher got hurt, oregon was adjacent made afraid. Well, I would, but I’m delicate that way.

Creating drama successful which the main characters are progressive successful transgression does necessitate immoderate equilibrium — worse criminals to opposition with the nicer ones, oregon a deserving oregon faceless target, or, arsenic here, nary different option. But mostly, we similar radical who marque america laugh; immoderate other they get up to, we privation bully for them, a happy, comparatively motivation ending, escaped from tension, retired of danger. That isn’t needfully wherever the bid goes — different play is implied — but arsenic to laughs, “Deli Boys” delivers. It’s smartly written, festooned with quirky business, farcical situations, droll asides. Above all, it’s built connected large performances, adjacent successful the smallest roles, that crushed the wackiness and truthful marque things lone funnier.