Aasif directed and produced the 2017 special “Aasif Mandvi’s All Star Deportation Jamboree,” and he was a writer and producer on the Funny or Die web series “Halal in the Family” (2015) and the HBO series “The Brink” (2015). He also co-wrote the 2009 film “Today’s Special” and served as an executive producer on The CW game show “Would I Lie to You?,” which he hosted. In 2014, Mandvi released the book “No Land’s Man,” which was adapted into a film in 2021.
Early Life
Aasif Mandvi was born Aasif Hakim Mandviwala on March 5, 1966, in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. He comes from a Gujarati Muslim family. When Aasif was a year old, his family moved to England and settled in Bradford, a city in West Yorkshire, where his father, Hakim, worked at Bradford University in textiles research. Hakim later ran a corner store. Mandvi’s mother, Fatima, worked as a nurse. Aasif studied at Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Lane, and he has described himself as a “working-class kid from Bradford.” After Hakim became frustrated with Margaret Thatcher’s administration, the family relocated to Tampa, Florida, when Aasif was a teenager. There, he graduated from Chamberlain High School in 1984.
Career
After earning a theatre degree from the University of South Florida, Mandvi was hired as a performer at Walt Disney World Resort’s Disney-MGM Studios as well as Universal Studios Florida. He later began appearing in off-Broadway productions after moving to New York City. He starred in a one-man show called “Sakina’s Restaurant” and won an Obie Award. Aasif made his TV debut in a 1988 episode of “Miami Vice,” and his first film was 1990’s “No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers.” He followed it with 1995’s “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” 1996’s “Eddie,” 1998’s “The Siege,” and 1999’s “Hook’d Up,” “Analyze This,” “Gofer,” “Random Hearts,” and “ABCD.” In the ’90s, he also guest-starred on “New York Undercover” (1995), “The Cosby Mysteries” (1995), “Law & Order” (1995–1998), “Nash Bridges” (1996), and “Dellaventura” (1998). Next, Mandvi appeared in the films “3 A.M.” (2001), “American Chai” (2001), “Peroxide Passion” (2001), “The Mystic Masseur” (2002), “Undermind” (2003), “Spider-Man 2” (2004), “Sorry, Haters” (2005), “The War Within” (2005), “Freedomland” (2006), “Pretty Bird” (2008), “The Understudy” (2008), and “Ghost Town” (2008), and he co-starred with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant in 2007’s “Music and Lyrics” and with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in 2009’s “The Proposal.” He starred in the 2009 film “Today’s Special,” which he co-wrote with Jonathan Bines. “Today’s Special” won the Best of the Fest award at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival. In the 2000s, Aasif has guest-starred on “Welcome to New York” (2000), “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2000), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2000), “Sex and the City” (2001), “Oz” (2002), “Ed” (2003), “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2004), “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” (2006), “The Sopranos” (2006), “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2011), “Madam Secretary” (2015), and “Person of Interest” (2015). He played Salim Barik in the 2004 miniseries “Tanner on Tanner, " and he had recurring roles as Manish on the NBC medical drama “ER” (2006–2007) and Dr. Kenchy Dhuwalia on the CBS post-apocalyptic series “Jericho” (2006–2008). In 2006, Mandvi became a correspondent on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” and he stayed with the program until 2015. He appeared in the films “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” (2010), “The Last Airbender” (2010), “Margin Call” (2011), “Dark Horse” (2011), “Premium Rush” (2012), “The Dictator” (2012), “Ruby Sparks” (2012), “Movie 43” (2013), “The Internship” (2013), “Million Dollar Arm” (2014), “Mother’s Day” (2016), “Drunk Parents” (2019), “Human Capital” (2019), and “Crush” (2012), and he lent his voice to the animated movies “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” (2022) and “The Magician’s Elephant” (2023). In 2015, he played Rafiq Massoud on the HBO series “The Brink” and Aasif Qu’osby on the Funny or Die web series “Halal in the Family.” He also wrote for both shows. Aasif then had recurring roles as Jay Malick on TV Land’s “Younger” (2017), Pazhani “Paz” Kapoor on Hulu’s “Shut Eye” (2017), Uncle Monty on Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2017–2018), and Samar “Sam” Chatwal on the CBS police procedural “Blue Bloods” (2018–2020). In 2019, he began starring as Ben Shakir on the CBS supernatural drama “Evil,” which moved to Paramount+ in 2021 and aired 50 episodes over four seasons. That year, he also played Vish on the British series “This Way Up.” From 2020 to 2022, Mandvi voiced Sahil on the animated Disney series “Mira, Royal Detective.”
Personal Life
Aasif married author / humanitarian Shaifali Puri on August 27, 2017, after three years of dating. They welcomed a son in 2020. Mandvi suffers from chronic tinnitus. He has been involved with charitable organizations such as Relief 4 Pakistan and the Endometriosis Foundation of America, and he hosted the comedy event “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” in 2010 to raise money for flood relief in Pakistan. In 2019, Aasif received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Macaulay Honors College in New York City after he delivered the commencement address.
Award Nominations
Mandvi and his “Margin Call” co-stars earned Best Ensemble nominations from the Gotham Awards, Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, and Central Ohio Film Critics Association. In 2015, Aasif received a Streamy Award nomination for Best Actor for “Halal in the Family,” and in 2022, he earned a Critics Choice Super Award nomination for Best Actor in a Horror Series for “Evil.”
