You’re invited to an epic, vibrant, and dramatic family gathering: Unaccustomed Earth, a new drama series inspired by Jhumpa Lahiri’s internationally beloved short story collection, is coming to Netflix Dec. 17.
Adapted for the screen by Madhuri Shekar (3 Body Problem), Unaccustomed Earth welcomes you into the saga of an interconnected Indian American Bengali community in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this story, families have grown up alongside one another, friendships stretch across decades, and secrets can’t stay hidden forever. At the center is Parul Chaudhury (Freida Pinto), a devoted wife and mother whose return to Cambridge after five years in Mumbai brings her face-to-face with Amit Mukherjee (Siddharth), the love she never quite left behind.
Unaccustomed Earth will immerse audiences in the traditions, food, and culture of an Indian American Bengali family. “It’s the kind of South Asian American community that we’ve never seen on television,” Pinto says. “We haven’t seen it before through this very holistic, culture-embracing way, while also dealing with the complexities of what it is to be this tight-knit community.”
Still, the characters’ struggles and hopes are something anyone can relate to. “Every character has something universal,” says Pinto. “From the perspective of Parul’s character is the question, ‘How far would you go to live the dream that you really want to live? And are you up for the consequences?’”
Keep reading for more about the upcoming adaptation.
Inspired by the revered Jhumpa Lahiri short story collection of the same name, Unaccustomed Earth is an epic, soapy, and culturally rich drama about a tight-knit Indian American Bengali community navigating love, desire, and belonging. When a star-crossed romance between a devoted wife and her long-lost love comes to light, a scandalous affair is born, and new battle lines are drawn among families.
Adapting a collection of interconnected but stand-alone stories for a series wasn’t a straightforward process for Shekar, who serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. In the end, the threads came together organically. “This image came to me of all of these characters from the different stories sitting around the Thanksgiving table together,” she says. “In the book, the one thing the stories have in common is that they’re all set in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So if all of these people technically live in the same spot, what if they all know each other? And then, suddenly, these connections started forming between them. This beautiful community just blossomed.”
Casting such a large ensemble of characters with intimate, lived-in connections was a major endeavor, but it all started with finding Parul. “‘Can we get Freida Pinto?’ was always the question, really,” recalls Shekar. “When it was clear that she was interested, we were all thrilled. The first time I saw her in real life, I won’t ever forget it. It was literally like a fairy walked into the office with pixie dust all around her.”
The other casting grew around Pinto. She got on countless Zoom calls to read with potential Amits until the chemistry clicked with Siddharth, a major star of Indian film.
Finding the younger generation was just as important. Shekar was looking for someone who could capture the Hema character’s slightly offbeat, awkward quality. Iyla Sundarsingh McKaig immediately stood out for her “incredibly authentic energy.” Kaushik, meanwhile, needed to carry both the romantic pull of Hema’s first love and the melancholy of a teenager who deeply misses India. “Adi Roy just embodied all of [those qualities],” says Shekar.
Joining Shekar in ushering the stories to the screen is John Wells (The Pitt, Shameless, ER), who executive produces via the John Wells Productions overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. Lahiri, Nisha Ganatra (Freakier Friday, Late Night), Erica Saleh, Erin Jontow, and Celia Costas all serve as executive producers. Ritesh Batra executive produces and directs the first two of the eight episodes.
Shekar first came to the project through Ganatra in 2020, though Shekar had long been an admirer of Lahiri’s work. “I had read Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, and I was a huge fan of both books,” Shekar says. “I’d read her short stories in The New Yorker, but I hadn’t read [Unaccustomed Earth], and I read it and I fell in love with it madly. It was just so spellbinding.”
Unaccustomed Earth reunites Netflix, Wells, and Warner Bros. Television, following the critically acclaimed drama Maid and the hit series UNTAMED.
Unaccustomed Earth will stream Dec. 17, only on Netflix. Bring your appetite to the family dinner, but leave your shoes at the door!
