Maulik Pancholy on ‘Murder at the Patel Motel': ‘I wanted to write a complicated Indian American family'

The Hindu

3 days ago

Maulik Pancholy's Murder at the Patel Motel, the comedy podcast from Audible, is a fun Agatha Christie style murder mystery. 'I always thought it would be nice to write something centred around an Indian American family,' Maulik says over a video call on a hot day in New York. 'While people know of Indian American families running convenience stores, I am always surprised at how few people know of the phenomenon of Patel motels.'
Nearly 50% of motels in the United States are owned by Indian Americans, the 51-year-old Maulik says. 'People in the know jokingly refer to them as the Patel motel cartel, because they have such a huge interest in the hotel lobbying industry.'
Coming home
Maulik plays Milan Patel, who has just got his big break in New York as the event planner for the Met Gala. He visits his parents at the family-run motel in Montana for a weekend family get-together, which quickly gets complicated with the appearance of a corpse. 'I never felt comfortable in my skin in the town that I grew up in,' Maulik confesses. 'I always thought I had to get away to become who I am.'
The 30 Rock-actor wanted to explore what it would be like to return to the past to face one's demons. 'What would happen if the person that you needed to reconcile with suddenly wasn't around? That's where the idea for this murder mystery set in a small town motel came about. I wanted to write a complicated Indian American family. I wanted to write a lead gay character. And I wanted to write something that I can play (laughs).'
On location
The Montana setting, Maulik says, came up after a chat with a writer who described her small town in Montana where there was just one Asian family. 'We set the story in a town where this family is isolated. And the Patel motel became the framework for this family and what it means to them. There's the immigrant story of Milan's father, who started this motel, and the dreams that he got to fulfill or not.'
The audio format suits mystery, Maulik says. 'You have to listen carefully for someone walking down a hallway or heading into a dark, isolated basement. How do the echoes of their voice off the wall sound? How do you build tension through the way the voice sounds, the whispering? Sound designer and editor, Daniel Brunell did such a beautiful job.'
Sound options
Though Maulik was writing in the audio space for the first time, his co-writers, Zachary Grady and Achilles Stamatelaky, have written audio series before. 'Their perspective was helpful on multiple levels. You can't cut to somebody's reaction,' Maulik says laughing. 'You have to communicate the story to the producers who are going to give your notes to the sound designer… The way you write, including descriptions of places, has to be from an audio perspective. We're working on how the listener is going to hear this world.'
Writing a gay Indian American protagonist was a way for Maulik to mine the breadth of his experience. 'Milan's identity in the show is one of the reasons he has a troubled relationship with his past and his town. I'm interested in telling stories that we don't get to see enough of. I hesitate to say normalising, or evening it out, but we are just saying these characters exist, and they go through the same things that any other character would. It was important to me that we create a nuanced, complex LGBTQI character of colour. And I get to play a detective (laughs) which was exciting too.'
Ensemble cast
Murder at the Patel Motel features a stellar cast, which includes Murray Bartlett as Milan's partner, Karan Soni as a poor relation and Poorna Jagannathan as Milan's no-nonsense mother. Working with the cast was a joy, Maulik says laughing. 'I can't tell you how many times we were cracking up in the sound booth. I've known Murray, Karan and Poorna for such a long time, and I was so thrilled that they said yes to the project.'
The recordings moved quickly, Maulik says. 'We were barreling through it, and it's a challenge, for actors to stay fully present, and track their arc from episode to episode. Every single person was not only funny, but also brought so much depth and heart into the show.'
Surprise appearance
Padma Lakshmi makes a delightful appearance as herself in the podcast. 'She's so funny, and I'm so thrilled that people are getting to see just how talented an actress and comedian she is. I've known Padma for a long time, and I reached out to her and I'm so grateful that she made time to do it.'
Murder at the Patel Motel straddles three genres, Maulik says. 'It is a nuanced family story, a comedy and a murder mystery. We tried to ground the characters as much as possible, and put them in these situations that were comedic. Everybody's playing these situations as though it is completely real, even as the circumstances start to get weird. We also looked at shows and films like The White Lotus and Knives Out, to see the dynamics, especially about pushing between comedy and mystery.'
Universal themes
One of the cool things about the show, Maulik says, is, even though it is an Indian American family, and the lead character is gay, it touches on universal themes. 'What is it like to go home? What is it like to lose someone that you are unsure of how you feel about? What is it like to navigate relationships?'
It has been a busy year for Maulik. 'I just finished filming a movie written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg with Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti. It's his first movie post A Real Pain, and it was super fun. We just wrapped on Season Five of Phineas and Ferb. I am writing my third novel, a young adult romantic comedy set between worlds of Bollywood and Jackson Heights Queens in New York. It is slated for a summer 2026 release.'
At the end of the podcast, there is another murder. On whether there is going to be a season two of The Murder at the Patel Motel, Maulik says, 'We wrote it that way, and no one told us to make it more final. So perhaps there will be, I will keep you posted as soon as I know.'
Murder at the Patel Motel is available on Audible