Humza Arshad On Diversity In The Mainstream, Maintaining His Morals And Educating The Youth

Comedian, author and actor Humza Arshad joins Awallprintss’ Safeeyah Qadhi for a candid conversation on finding success in the mainstream, challenging representation and his latest book.

“Things are changing, they haven't changed,” Humza says on diversity in mainstream entertainment.

Whether or not he admits it, Humza has unquestionably played a role in broadening both South Asian and Muslim representation on screens, since storming onto the scene in 2010 with his widely-hailed YouTube comedy series Diary of a Badman.

The series follows the story of a not-so-bad (and very relatable) young, British-Pakistani named Badman who messily navigates his way through life, learning critical life lessons along the way.

The London-born Pakistani star tells me how his career was birthed out of a realisation that he would likely be overlooked for the main character role because of his background and the colour of his skin. “That’s just how it was back then and I knew it,” he says.

“When I was growing up, I knew that my identity was going to be a disadvantage to living out my dream. When I did YouTube I was kind of living out my dream myself. I just thought, ‘let me just make my own stuff, even if nothing comes of it, I’m doing what I love’.

“It’s almost a bit sad that I didn't feel I would get an equal opportunity so I had to resort to filming random stuff in my bedroom and making these sketches myself to live out my dream because I didn't think that was going to ever happen on mainstream TV,” he adds.

At just 37-years-old, Humza has racked up over 100 million views on his YouTube channel, taken centre-stage as a stand-up comedian, starred in BBC Three’s Coconut and been awarded an MBE for his work in countering extremism and gang violence in schools. The accolades do not stop there, as the content creator is also a proudly published author with a string of children’s books under his belt, his latest entry titled Little Badman and the Rise of the Punjabi Zombies.

Whilst he may be in pursuit of greater diverse representation on both the silver screen and small screen, Humza is confident when he says it’s not something he is willing to put above his morals, even if that means turning down career-propelling opportunities.

“Even though I'm not perfect, I always want to stick to what I believe in and my morals. I always try my best to just do me. There's a lot of things that I can't publicly say but I've been offered really big roles on TV and film and I've said no to them because I didn't believe in them or I didn't believe the way they may be, in my personal opinion, portraying a certain character from a certain background with certain religious beliefs.

“I don't want to be a propaganda tool or a little puppet or someone that's, if anything, tarnishing people from my community and their beliefs. I'm really happy that I stuck to my guns and I just did what I love to do.”

Showing people that he is just a “normal, funny guy” has remained at the forefront of Humza’s mission to encourage understanding between different communities.

“I'm trying to normalise [positive Muslim representation] and make people aware that Muslim people are just normal people too,” he explains. “When I’m talking about my culture and my background, a lot of other people from different cultures can relate to it as well and they’ll be like ‘my family does that’ and then people from different backgrounds realise that we are actually more alike than we think.”

For Humza, the need for representation goes beyond screens, with literature also playing its role in helping children feel seen.

The YouTube sensation has spoken openly about how he was less inclined to pick up books when he was younger because he seldom saw characters he could relate to. He adds that this is something he hopes to combat with his comedic book series, co-written by Henry White, which sees a younger reprisal of his heavily adored Badman character.

“I remember when my first book came out and I was doing a tour all over the UK and I was going to all these different schools. I remember when I was in Bradford [where a lot of] the kids are from South Asian backgrounds, I was signing books for the kids and a lot of them said, ‘this is my first ever book’.

“I was talking about how [Little Badman] was me when I was young, he has a Pakistani family and I was talking about samosas, typical Asian aunties or other things they can relate to and I saw that excitement. It's brilliant to know that now young people will have more things to read that they can relate to and enjoy.”

Maintaining his desire to educate whilst entertaining, Humza’s novel explores topics beyond the standard typical school curriculum such as the British Empire, the partition of India and Pakistan and the Punjabi migration to the UK.

Explaining the decision, he says: “I thought it'd be really cool to not make it too preachy or too educational but just have a subtle storyline where the reader can take more than having a laugh and learn a big part of history.”

In spite of the fact that many doors were closed to him in his early career years, the comedian remains optimistic for the future with faith that pop culture is moving in the right direction. He cites shows such as Ms. Marvel, which showcases Marvel’s first female Pakistani-American superhero, for making waves.

Although, he expresses hopes that one day it will no longer be noteworthy for someone of colour to be showcased in mainstream entertainment.

“I do see a lot of people, whether it's book publishers, mainstream TV or production companies making films, doing their part for inclusion and being aware that there needs to be more diverse faces out there. I see people trying and I really respect that.

“I just hope one day we aren’t judged on colour and these differences and people realise that we are just human. I shouldn't feel like I'm doing something for diversity, I should just feel like I'm doing something normal. As I said, things haven't changed but they are changing and that's definitely something positive.”

Little Badman and the Rise of the Punjabi Zombies is out now.