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When you think of a drama about Pakistani-Americans, you’d think it would be a cutesy, family-friendly show with lots of cultural moments and stories about living the American dream — Deli Boys is not that. It’s much better. It’s an adult show for adults.

When I first heard that there was a show being made on two Pakistani brothers, I was sceptical. I’m not the audience for cutesy, family-friendly dramas and I don’t have much interest in actively watching them. Deli Boys was anything but the family-friendly, wholesome show I was expecting.

The 10-episode series on Hulu and Disney+ created by Abdullah Saeed is about two brothers, Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj (Saagar Shaikh) Dar, whose rich boy lives are turned upside down after the death of their beloved father (Iqbal Theba) — Baba to all — and the discovery that he was a drug lord. The brothers — one an overly eager to please pushover and the other an irresponsible drug-loving Lothario — are soon pushed into the world of drug peddling with the FBI hot on their heels. They need to lean on Lucky Aunty (Poorna Jagannathan) and Ahmed Uncle (Brian George) if they’re going to keep themselves and Darco afloat.

This is not a heavy watch by any means — with episodes of 25-ish minutes and a slapstick touch to the show, Deli Boys is comedy through and through.

The boys are out of touch with reality and are brought back down to earth in a way that elicits quite a few chuckles.

Something Tan France, who also makes a guest appearance in the show, said about it on Instagram got me thinking. He said to those who believe it’s a show solely for brown people, “It’s a show for everyone. If I could relate to white shows my entire life you can relate to this.”

He spoke about needing more diversity in television and more shows like Deli Boys. “We need people to watch it and talk about it otherwise we don’t get more shows like this.”

He’s right. The only way for us to get real representation, even of the variety shown in Deli Boys, is to make more shows like it and to watch the shows that have been created. And this is easy with Deli Boys.

One of the best parts to me about the show was that Mir and Raj didn’t require an introduction to Pakistani culture. We weren’t beaten over the head with it, nor was it stuffed down our throats. The culture was there, casually hovering in the background, from Raj’s necklace with Allah written on it to them calling Lucky ‘Aunty’ despite her not being related to them, Mir’s Mother-in-law to be giving him the one-armed hug signifying she didn’t want to be too close, one of the Maliks being a former minister in Pakistan or the good old Indian-Pakistani rivalry — there’s a lot but it’s so secondary that it makes you feel like it’s interwoven in the story rather than a glaring addition slipped in to force inclusivity.

The show itself is funny, especially the chemistry between the two brothers. Mir’s screams were almost like a character in and of themselves.

Mir is the one who has always been yearning for his father’s approval. The more strait laced of the two, he’s the more responsible and neurotic one. His world literally falls apart after Baba’s death, leading him to financial ruin and the possible loss of the high-flying lifestyle he and his fiancée Bushra currently enjoy.

Raj on the other hand has never had to work for anything — money, women or his father’s affection and approval. He’s the laidback, chill brother, who has no interest in working. All he wants to do is live his rich boy life free of responsibilities and dabbling in recreational drugs with his girlfriend and shaman Prairie.

I also liked how the two actors actually are Pakistani Americans, and have the pronunciations down. The star of the show for me was, of course, the murderous Lucky, who is a killer with a heart of gold — not 24 carat gold, mind you, but gold nonetheless. Some of my favourite one-liners in the show came from her.

There were quite a few funny moments, and the show is quite violent. It’s definitely not for kids with loads of profanity, mentions of drugs and other adult content.

In short, why should you watch Deli Boys? — it’s funny and the kind of fun content I wish Pakistan was able to make. From the fight scenes and gore, to the ridiculous situations and snappy one liners, Deli Boys is a fun show to binge watch about a couple of Pakistani-American guys who don’t need to prove they’re Pakistani. It also proves you can make content about non-white people without their culture having to be their entire personalities.