The Big Bang Theory‘s Kunal Nayyar is a very busy man this summer. He is starring in the off-Broadway show, The Spoils, produced by The New Group and written by and starring Jesse Eisenberg; and Nayyar has a new book being released from Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books. His book will be available in bookstores on September 8, 2015 and is currently taking pre-orders on amazon.com.
Despite all his activities, Nayyar stopped by ABC’s The View today to talk to the ladies there about his new projects and of course, talked briefly as well about The Big Bang Theory , and even received a surprise message from his Big Bang Theory co-star Jim Parsons (see clip below).
In The New Group’s The Spoils, Nayyar plays a loveable Nepalese roommate named Kalyan, the roommate to Ben (Eisenberg) who is as sweet as Ben is sour, as emotionally generous as Ben is selfish. Kalyan is a hard worker and a finance major. Kalyan loves being in America, and genuinely cares for and likes Ben. He feels obligated to him because Ben lets him live there for free. Per Theatermania, Nayyar “makes an impressively sensitive New York stage debut as Kalyan, whose earnest struggle is to make a better life for himself in a country where that is actually attainable.”
Nayyar’s book is a number of humerous essays written in his irreverent, hilarious, and self-deprecating voice, he traces his journey from a little boy in New Delhi who mistakes an awkward first kiss for a sacred commitment, gets nosebleeds chugging Coca-Cola to impress other students, and excels in the sport of badminton, to the confident, successful actor on the set of TV’s most-watched sitcom since Friends.
Going behind the scenes of The Big Bang Theory and into his personal experiences, Nayyar introduces readers to the people who helped him grow, such as his James Bond-loving, mustachioed father who taught him the most important lessons in life: “Treat a beggar as you would a king. There are two sides to every story. A smile goes a long way. And, when in doubt, use a spreadsheet.” Nayyar also walks us through his college years in Portland, where he takes his first sips of alcohol and learns to let loose with his French, 6’8” gentle-giant roommate, works his first-ever job for the university’s housekeeping department cleaning toilets for minimum wage, and begins a series of romantic exploits that go just about as well as they would for Raj. (That is, until he meets and marries a former Miss India in an elaborate seven-day event that we get to experience in a chapter titled “My Big Fat Indian Wedding.”)
Full of heart, but never taking itself too seriously, this witty and often inspiring collection of underdog tales follows a young man as he traverses two continents in search of a dream, along the way transcending culture and language (and many, many embarrassing incidents) to somehow miraculously land the role of a lifetime.