Local Actor and Musician Stars in Netflix’s Aftermath Movie and Hulu’s “Deli Boys”
Shahjehan Khan's acting career lights up with his first speaking role in the #1 Netflix film and as a recurring character on the Pakistani-American crime family comedy series.
Shahjehan Khan. Photo by Michael Richeson.
Actor, musician and podcaster Shahjehan Khan might be best known in the Ocean State for performing in the band Ravi Shavi with multi-talented musician Rafay Rashid. Before that, he started a band called The Kominas. More recently, he’s been building his acting career by appearing in “Succession” on HBO and in a Lifetime movie called Murder at Blackthorne Manor, and he is also the face of Quan Chi in Mortal Kombat I. He recently got his big break by landing his first speaking role in the #1 Netflix movie Aftermath that involves a hostage situation on the Tobin Bridge in Boston (watch it!), and he also earned a recurring role in an upcoming Hulu series called “Deli Boys,” which is Pakistani-American crime family comedy series.
Here’s an interview with Khan.
How did you first get into acting and what drew you to it?
I’ve been into acting since I was a kid. I used to imitate my parents and local community members. My family would show slide shows at home, and I would make fun of all my uncles and aunts and pretend to be them, when I was six or seven. And then I started doing school plays.
It sounds like you had a little bit of a comedy act going with the impersonation. What else were you into as a kid that related to acting and performing?
My mom got me into piano lessons, and both my parents were really into music. They weren’t musicians themselves, but music was my first big performance. I didn’t want to be a classical piano player, so I dropped out, and I started playing guitar on my own, and then music took center stage for a long time. I ended up in high school bands. And then after dropping out of college, a bunch of us started a band, and that became a big thing for me.
Was that Ravi Shavi back then? Or was that more recent when you joined?
No, this was actually before. So I’ve only been in Ravi Shavi for three years. Before that, I started a band called The Kominas. Basically, we were filming a music video in Providence in 2014 and that’s how we met Rafay, because he was at one of the shows. It was a video starring my dad being this cool punk rock guy who takes us all around Providence, and we end up at a punk show in the Olneyville artist spaces, and Rafay happened to be at the show.
I had just watched Aftermath on Netflix when you reached out, and I was like, whoa, that’s a crazy coincidence, because you had a big role in the movie. Can you tell me about your role and what you thought of the theme of the movie?
I play a character named Ozzie, who ends up in the middle of the whole hostage situation. It’s a straightforward action movie, and my first major role with lines. I’ve been pursuing acting professionally for probably ten, almost twelve years now. It’s hard to break into just like anything else. I’ve been auditioning for films and things that would come through Boston for almost a decade, and I wasn’t really booking anything. This is the first time that it actually worked out. It was pretty insane to go from being an extra on set to this really cool part. I had auditioned for two or three other roles in the film, like the bad guy, soldier people. And then this other one came along. I figured Ozzie would be in a scene or two here and there. And then I booked it. I remember getting the booking email and being like, this is unbelievable. It was shot during COVID, during all of the extreme restrictions.
So it was your first big role?
Yes. The director said, “This is one of my favorite characters in the movie, so I’m really excited that you’re doing it.” I had a lot of fear that day, just because you go from having never really done anything like that, to all of a sudden having your own trailer, and there’s a guy who’s your stand-in, and then there’s a gun and stuff.
I was scared watching that movie, just because I drive over a bridge that’s under construction every day, twice a day, and anything could happen. I know this was a hostage situation, so it’s different than structural issues, but a part of the bridge is blown up. They filmed most of it locally?
Yeah, they did. It wasn’t actually on the Tobin Bridge. They made a replica at this airplane hangar in Weymouth, Massachusetts, but they did a pretty amazing job of making it lifelike.
And they recruited a lot of actors in this area for the film?
Yea, the smaller supporting roles and stuff. And I think Rhode Island was the one that started back in the day with these film tax credits.
We have a pretty good film scene here in Rhode Island. We just ran a big story on Lifetime movies that are being filmed here in Rhode Island.
That was the second thing that I had done that same year. I did a Lifetime movie, Murder at Blackthorne Manor.
And then I know you just had your premiere for the Hulu “Deli Boys” television series this past weekend. Is that right?
We did a soft premiere at Sundance. We did a big red carpet event in LA. We did an event in New York, and then I did my own event in East Boston last weekend, just with my mom and sisters and friends and family. It was a really cool party where they all bought matching tracksuits to wear in reference to the show. We did it at this place called Zumix in East Boston, which is a place for youth to go and take drama classes and learn audio stuff. There’s a radio station and music lessons, and it’s geared toward people who can’t afford lessons or equipment.
Deli Boys
Can you tell me about your role in “Deli Boys”?
I play Ali and I’m actually named after the creator’s younger brother. He’s part of this gang, “the maliks.” The term is kind of like “capo,” so he’s the ring leader of this hilarious gang of capos that’s kind of on the dark side of the family. So the family’s last name is Dar. The father dies and the two boys, the two leads, are exposed to the dark side of the family. The four of us are furious that these two brothers become the heads of the family, and we’re just not having it. The creator of the show is one of my oldest friends, Abdullah Saeed. Our families have known each other since before we were born, so it’s kind of a special thing to see one of your really good friends see his vision come to life. It’s taken him five, six years to write it. He’s a great musician and producer, too. And he was in our band, The Kominas for a while. He’s at the top of his game.
And it’s nice to see a TV show that involves Pakistani people and culture too. Can you talk a little bit about that?
There is a lot more stuff being made by so-called “marginalized” groups. Another one of my favorite shows on Hulu is “Reservation Dogs,” which is about Native folks. And actually, the cool thing is, one of the editors of that show is the editor of “Deli Boys,” which is really cool. But I think the reason that a lot of people relate to it, Pakistani or otherwise — diaspora people — but also people in Pakistan, is because it is this cool way to see yourself on screen. But it’s not just about your identity, it just happens to be a cool show.
One more question, when you come to Providence, do you have places that you like to hang or restaurants you love?
One of my favorite spots is Al-Shami on Thayer Street. It’s an Iraqi restaurant. And in Cranston, there’s a Syrian place called El Laham in Rolfe Square.
