CULTURE

Mindy Kaling Is Getting Her Own Netflix Show About the Life of an Indian-American Teen Girl

"Get ready for lots of relatable, awkward teen moments."


Mindy Kaling

Kelly Kapoor would be so proud of Mindy Kaling right now. The Office and Mindy Project star is about to get her very own show on Netflix, inspired by the actress and writer’s childhood. The streaming service announced the news today that it “has ordered a coming-of-age series from [Kaling] about the complicated life of a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl.”

The upcoming show will consist of 10 episodes (at least to start) and was co-created ny Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, and 30 Rock writer Lang Fisher. Kaling and Fisher will be serving as co-showrunners on the project.

Kaling also made an announcement herself about the upcoming show, tweeting, “I’m joining the @netflix fam! ?? @loulielang and I are working on a brand-new @netflix TV comedy about the life of a modern-day first generation Indian American teenage girl. Get ready for lots of relatable, awkward teen moments. ??‍♀️??‍♀️??‍♀️? More coming soon❣️”

Kaling has her plate especially full at the moment. Outside of being a mom to her two-year-old daughter, Katherine, which she recently talked about, she also has deals at Amazon Studios and Hulu, making her a true force to be reckoned with in the streaming era. At Amazon, she has the upcoming film Late Night, which she wrote and costars in. The cast is rounded out by Emma Thompson, John Lithgow, Ike Barinholtz, Amy Ryan, Paul Walter Hauser, and Reid Scott.

Meanwhile, Hulu has Kaling working on a TV adaptation of the 1994 British rom-com Four Weddings and a Funeral. Kaling is serving as cocreator with her Mindy Project collaborator Matt Warburton. As for the cast, it includes Nathalie Emmanuel, Brandon Mychal Smith, Rebecca Rittenhouse, and John Reynolds.

The move to Netflix is natural for Kaling, who is something of a streaming-service veteran. When The Mindy Project went off air at Fox, it became one of Hulu’s first breakout original shows as it continued at the streaming service.

Kaling recently opened up about how much fun she’s been having working on the reboot of Four Weddings and a Funeral, mostly because it’s allowed her to bring her daughter to work. “It’s one of the nice things of having had my baby a little bit later in my career,” she said. “I can be like, ‘Hey, I want a little area that I can have my daughter play because I want to check up on her at work.’ That is probably the biggest perk of my life: to involve my daughter so much in my career.”