Not so fast.<\/p>\n
Enter Bait, the zany six-episode series in which Ahmed fictionalizes this outcome, and dispenses with all the familiar, well-worn tropes of the discourse while finding hilarious new dramatic layers. It begins with Ahmed\u2019s character, the up-and-coming actor Shah Latif, screen-testing for the iconic role and giving us a taste of what a South Asian James Bond might look and feel like. He\u2019s not a bad actor, but he flubs the try-out and snatches this promise away from us.<\/p>\n
What follows is part domestic sitcom and part industry drama, in which Latif becomes torn between community commitments and the Hollywood ladder, as he slyly positions himself as a favorite in the media. However, the show isn\u2019t as straightforward as it might initially seem, because at this point in his career, the 43-year-old Oscar nominee (who also serves as the series\u2019 writer and EP) knows full well what pressures the spotlight brings. Thanks to the directorial talents of Bassam Tariq, who directs the first three episodes, fissures gradually form in the series\u2019 fabric and in Latif\u2019s psyche, yielding a saga of self-destructive ambition. By the end, it isn\u2019t really about the idea of an Asian Bond at all, but rather how being subsumed into these cultural conversations can tempt a person, or even break them.<\/p>\n Tariq last directed Ahmed in the feature Mogul Mowgli<\/a>, a surrealist hip hop drama steeped in similar notions of fractured postcolonial identity. Bait is practically a stylistic sequel, with scenes of familial mayhem taking on chaotic hues, as wide lenses warp spaces that ought to be safe and comfortable, like Latif\u2019s family home, when chatter about his audition hits the airwaves. Gossiping aunties become secondary villains, as the show\u2019s backdrop contorts to fit the idea of a traditional Hollywood hero who has to contend with Eid celebrations, an ex girlfriend (Ritu Arya) with pointed opinions about why Bond should never be South Asian, and a hustler cousin (Guz Khan) who hopes to establish London\u2019s first Muslim rideshare app. Whether or not Latif, or Ahmed, will ever play 007, this is what authentic dramedy looks and feels like, even when it comes wrapped in complete absurdity.<\/p>\n What happens to a man when an identity like Bond is projected onto him and he isn\u2019t ready for it?\u201c<\/p>\n The more Bait seems to establish a tonal baseline, the more it departs from it in hilarious, occasionally jaw-dropping ways. By the second episode, it starts to fly off the handle until the show eventually loops back to become a story about mistrust, self-loathing and psychosis \u2013 all within the body of a unique spy saga unto itself \u2013 answering the question: What happens to a man when an identity like Bond is projected onto him and he isn\u2019t ready for it?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n