Host of Late-Night Talk Show 'The Daily Show'

Aasif Mandvi | Biography

Author of 2014 Book ‘No Land’s Man,

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Original : January 31, 2022

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Aasif Mandvi is an actor and comedian best known for his satirical appearances as a correspondent in the comedy late-night talk and news television show, The Daily Show. 

Who is Aasif Mandvi?

Aasif Mandvi is an Indian-American producer, writer, comedian, and author. He began his career as a performer at Disney/MGM Studios, a theme park in Bay Lake, Florida. He later moved to New York City, where he began performing stand-up comedy. 

Mandvi made his television debut in 1988, appearing in an episode of the action crime drama series Miami Vice. He earned his first film role in the 1990 action film No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers. He went on to appear on television series and in movies.

He also made a foray into stage acting in the mid-1990s. He initially rose to fame after writing and starring in his groundbreaking one-man show about an East Indian family, Sakina’s Restaurant, premiered off-Broadway in 1998. He won the ‘Obie Award’ for his critically acclaimed one-man show. He also played in several other plays, including the 2002 Broadway revival of Oklahoma as peddler Ali Hakim.

From 2006 to 2017, Mandvi served as a correspondent for The Daily Show. He covered issues like war and terror sarcastically and ironically. His humorous delivery of news became one of his trademarks on the show.

On 4 November 2014, he published his debut book titled ‘No Land’s Man,’ a collection of humorous and personal stories.

In 2015, he co-created and starred in the comedy web series Halal in the Family and the HBO series The Brink. In 2019, he started appearing in a recurring role as Vish in the comedy television series This Way Up and one of the lead roles as Ben Shakir in the psychological mystery drama series Evil.

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Early Bio and Family

Mandvi was born Aasif Mandviwala on 5 March 1966 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, to his Indian Muslim parents, Hakim and Fatima Mandviwala. His father was an owner of a corner shop, and his mother was a nurse. 

Mandvi was one year old when he moved to Bradford, England, with his family. As a child, he grew up watching Dave Allen’s stand-up comedy. Then, he later developed a passion for becoming an actor after watching the 1976 gangster musical comedy film Bugsy Malone at age 13. He subsequently joined a local children’s theater group. 

At age 16, he relocated to Tampa, Florida, with his family. He graduated from Chamberlain High School in 1984. He then received a degree in theater from the University of South Florida. 

Wife and Family

Mandvi is married to his wife, Shaifali Puri. She is the CEO of Uplift, an organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty. 

The couple first met in 2013 through a mutual friend named Ruma Bose, an author and humanitarian. After dating for a few years, they got engaged in October 2016 at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California. 

Mandvi told People in August 2017 that he wanted to propose to Puri while looking out at the water, but the misty air didn’t allow him for three days to do so. Fortunately, he said the clouds disappeared on the morning of their last day at the resort, and he got down on one knee, half underwater, and asked her to marry him. 

The pair ultimately married on 26 August 2017 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. The interfaith ceremony of Mandvi (Muslim) and Puri (Hindu) was held in front of 220 guests.

The couple welcomed their first child, a son, on 14 March 2020.