Fast, funny, and sometimes terrifying, 'Deli Boys' is everything you want from a crime comedy

Detailed summary

Two bungling brothers discover there’s no room for mistakes when the family business they’ve inherited is a front for crime.

Crime and comedy are a natural mix. That doesn’t mean combining the two is easy. Deli Boys makes the smart choice early on and focuses on the comedy side of the situation. But don’t be fooled; when things get serious in the world of organised crime, this comedy stops messing around.

When we first meet Mir (Asif Ali) and his brother Raj (Saagar Shaikh), they’re leading very different lives. Mir is driven, committed, a man looking to move up in the world. Raj wakes up surrounded by the leftovers (both human and otherwise) of what seems to have been a very fun night. What unites them is their father (Iqbal Theba), the CEO of DarCo. Starting out with a single deli in Philadelphia, he’s created a multinational corporation running dozens of delis, a Pakistani food manufacturer, and – if all goes well – a golf course.

All does not go well. A meeting between the two brothers and their father at the newly purchased golf course takes a very unexpected turn, and suddenly DarCo is lacking a CEO. No sooner is the funeral over than Mir has decided it’s time he stepped up and took over the family business. What neither brother knows is that there’s a lot more to DarCo than meets the eye.

Before Mir can make his pitch, the FBI bursts into DarCo headquarters. Seems the company has a long history of tax fraud, and while the brothers aren’t involved, DarCo is going down. With the company’s assets (which includes everything in both brothers’ apartments) confiscated, the only thing left is the original deli where their father began. Looks like the brothers are going to have to start at the bottom.

Then their father’s long-time confidant and board member Lucky Auntie (Poorna Jagannathan) shoots someone in front of them.

Until now, Deli Boys has been a fast-paced comedy about two bungling brothers in family strife. But with Lucky Auntie – who rapidly becomes the breakout character of this series – revealing her true colours, things are about to get a little dramatic.

The FBI might be onto…

What…

Opening of the article, excerpted from SBS News. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.