The name’s Ahmed … Riz Ahmed
Dear Watchers,For years, the British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal,” “The Night Of”) has been floated as a potential James Bond. In his supremely meta six-episode series “Bait,” arriving Wednesday on Amazon Prime Video, he doesn’t play that suave secret agent. But he does play a British-Pakistani actor auditioning to play James Bond. Ahmed created the show, clearly mining his own anxieties. And while the premise is ripe for showbiz parody with gags about self-involved actors, a darker existential thread sets “Bait” apart from some of its more satirical peers. Ahmed plays Shah Latif, whom we meet as he is doing a screen test to play 007 — and totally blowing it. Anxious to reclaim the narrative, Shah gets himself photographed by waiting paparazzi, who are eager for any glimpse they can get of the next potential Bond. He doesn’t anticipate the havoc (and potential danger) that extra attention will bring to his close-knit family — all while they are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. At first, Shah, doesn’t think through what it means to be a Muslim and a man of color vying for a part historically held by white men. He finds himself facing racist hate but also criticism from people in his own community, who argue that he is assimilating to a culture that wants to oppress him. Ahmed mines the psychological toll this all takes, and the circumstances grow increasingly surreal as the half-hour episodes progress. “Bait” is a brisk and thrilling watch with very funny bits. Still, Ahmed doesn’t seem interested in easy laughs. He challenges viewers with hard questions, asking whether success is worth losing one’s authenticity and sense of self. Amazon MGM Studios, which has creative control over the James Bond franchise, is a producer of “Bait,” and Daniel Craig’s successor remains unchosen — this could conceivably be Ahmed’s audition. But “Bait” isn’t just his best Bond impression. The show is much messier and more layered than that. It must be said, though: The man looks great in a tux. Also this week
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