• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 3, 2025

The great Brian George, renowned for his performance as the frustrated Pakistani immigrant Babu Bhatt in “Seinfeld,” stars as a very bad man in a new Hulu comedy centered around a family of deli owners.

In the show -- “Deli Boys,” premiering Tuesday -- two very spoiled, grown-up brothers, Mir and Raj, learn that their late father was an underworld kingpin whose chain of convenience stores was just a front for his criminal activities.

The two boys were accustomed to a life of wealth, but when their father died, they lost everything. Now, they decide to take up the challenge of assuming his position in the underworld.

“Forced to reckon with their [father’s] secret life of crime … they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld,” says a synopsis on Hulu’s press website.

Unfortunately for them, they face a big obstacle: Someone else aspires to take the top spot in the criminal company -- “Ahmad,” the character played by series star Brian George (pictured above).

George, 72, is native-born Israeli whose parents were Jews of Indian and Iraqi descent. Although he is not Pakistani, he plays a Pakistani American in “Deli Boys.”

In his best-known role -- the finger-wagging, struggling restaurant owner Babu Bhatt in “Seinfeld” -- George also played a Pakistani.

But Babu Bhatt was not yet an American citizen and because of a misunderstanding about Jerry’s mail, Babu never received his application to renew his visa.

He was then deported, but not before he so famously wagged his index finger in Jerry’s face and said the immortal words in a heavy Pakistani accent, “You’re a very bad man!”

But there has been much more to George’s career than just “Seinfeld.” For decades, he has been seen in guest-starring roles on countless TV shows.

After “Seinfeld,” his best-known role was Dr. V.M. Koothrappali for 14 episodes of “The Big Bang Theory.” Dr. Koothrappali was the father of Rajesh “Raj” Koothrappali, played by Kunal Nayyar on the long-running CBS hit.

With its convenience-store setting, “Deli Boys” revies memories of one of the greatest TV comedy characters of all time, Indian immigrant Apu, proprietor of Springfield’s favorite food store, the Kwik-E-Mart, on “The Simpsons.”

Unfortunately for the millions who loved Apu, however, a couple of people complained that his satirical Indian-American accent was offensive to Indians.

Although the complainers produced little evidence to support their claim, Apu made his last appearance on “The Simpsons” in fall 2017.