A specific element which separates Growing Up Smith from other movies is its family-friendly approach. How important was it to you that the movie remain wholesome and why?
I have two kids, ages 12 and 6, and when we want to go see a film as a family, the only options we have are animated movies. While I enjoy a well-made cartoon movie, I believe there’s room for stories that can appeal to both kids and adults alike and still live in the real world.
Your portrayal of Bhaaskar Bhatnagar is incredibly witty and humorous. What inspired your character to be so outlandish yet relatable?
A lot of Bhaaskar is based on my own father. We immigrated to the U.S. (to Connecticut), when I was a kid, and I grew up with my parents wanting to preserve our Indian tradition while allowing us opportunities that would help us assimilate so that we would face as few obstacles as possible. Meanwhile, my father’s goal was never to be here permanently, but rather to become professionally established and then return to our homeland. Bhaaskar’s line, “We’ll go back and live the American Dream, in India” is borrowed directly from my father. I think it’s relatable because the immigrant experience is essentially universal in that it’s about finding home away from home.
All the characters in Growing Up Smith are multi-dimensional with their own personal struggles. Which character, aside from Bhaaskar Bhatnagar, do you feel is the most genuine and why?
I would say Smith, the Growing Up Smith himself. His adolescent experience is molded greatly by his parents. From the first moment we meet him, we see that his father is holding up a photograph of a girl Smith will marry when he turns twenty-two. And yet, he’s exposed to everything that America has to offer but his traditional Indian parents would never approve: Kentucky Fried Chicken (he’s from a vegetarian family), views of his hero Butch making out openly on the front lawn, and above all, Amy, his first love. The more Smith immerses himself in these opportunities thrown at him, the more we realize that they are a real part of growing up. And as he responds to them, we’re touched by his unabashed honesty. For instance, when he is so moved by Amy, he can’t help but share with his parents that “I love her!" Smith is an awkward boy, trying to fit in in his new home, and viewing the world with bewildered joy and expectation.
Is there a specific scene in Growing Up Smith that epitomizes your upbringing?
As one of the writers, I borrowed greatly from my own personal upbringing in an immigrant Indian family. There is scene where Smith is handed a traditional punishment known as utthak baithak and it is based on something my brothers and I grew up with. When we had done something wrong, my parents would reprimand us by having us hold our ears and squat up and down a designated number of times. It wasn’t a painful punishment; it was humiliating, and so the emotional impact was greater than being spanked.
