Written by : Garima Bhatia 

Indians have been known to excel in every field and Hollywood is no different. It’s getting harder to find a Television network without an Indian character. Actors like Kunal Nayyar, Frieda Pinto, Ashok Amritraj, and Musicians like Anoushka Shankar have proven that Indians rule both off and on screen.

Here’s a list of 5 Most Popular Indians in Hollywood.

1. Aziz Ansari

Born to a Tamil Muslim family from Tamil Nadu, Aziz Ansari is a well- known comedian and an actor best known for his hilarious role as Tom Haverford on the NBC show Parks and Recreation. He can also be seen in various films like- “Getting Him to the Greek” & “Funny People”. He is going to be lending his voice as Red Alert in the upcoming 2016 movie Transformers 5.

2. Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi born in New Delhi to an Iyer Brahmin family is an American cookbook author, actress, model and television host. Her debut cookbook Easy Exotic won her the “Best First Book” award at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. She has been hosting US reality television program Top Chef since 2006, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

3. Naveen Andrews

Born in London, Andrews is remembered for Mira Nair’s “Kama Sutra – A Tale of Love”. He was also seen in the popular romantic film “The English Patient” starring Ralph Fiennes. Gurinder Chadha’s “Bride & Prejudice” and the television series “Lost” are others that saw Naveen achieve recognition.

4. Kal Penn

Known for his role in the “Harold and Kumar” series, Kal Penn is currently one of the best Indian actors in Hollywood following the “Van Wilder” series and TV stints on “24,” “House” and recently “How I Met Your Mother.”

Penn also worked as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement for a year and was recently offered another job with Obama as a co-chair on the POTUS’ re-election campaign.

5. Freida Pinto

After the success of the Oscar-winning film, Freida Pinto got a lot of attention in the acting and modeling world.

The Mumbai-born actress was originally acting in India but quickly turned to Hollywood with roles in Woody Allen films, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals” and this year’s “Tess of D’Ubervilles” Indian remake “Trishna.”