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Jay Chandrasekhar

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Jay Chandrasekhar
Born
Jayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar

(1968-04-09) April 9, 1968 (age 56)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationLake Forest Academy
Alma materColgate University
Loyola University (withdrew)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer
  • director
Years active1996–present
Known forBroken Lizard
Spouse
Susan Clarke
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
RelativesSendhil Ramamurthy (cousin)
Websitejay-chandrasekhar.com

Jayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar (born April 9, 1968) is an American comedian, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for his work with the sketch comedy group Broken Lizard and for directing and starring in the Broken Lizard films Super Troopers, Club Dread, Beerfest and Super Troopers 2. Since 2001, he has also worked frequently as a television director on many episodes of Community and The Goldbergs, among dozens of comedy series.[1] He has also occasionally worked as a film director outside of Broken Lizard projects, most notably on the 2005 film The Dukes of Hazzard.

Early life and education

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Chandrasekhar was born in Chicago to parents who lived in the adjacent suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. Both his father, Arcot Jambulingam "AJ" Chandrasekhar,[2] and his mother, Hema Chandrasekhar,[3][4] are physicians of Tamil origin and are originally from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.[5] The hospital where he was born, old Cook County Hospital, was where his parents worked.[4] Chandrasekhar has an older sister as well as a younger sister named Sandhya Chandrasekhar, who are both lawyers.[6]

Chandrasekhar lived in Oak Park until his family moved farther west from Chicago to the suburb of Hinsdale. He graduated from the boarding high school Lake Forest Academy.[4] He graduated from Colgate University with a major in European history and a minor in philosophy.[4] During college he spent a semester at Chicago's Loyola University.[4]

Career

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Broken Lizard comedy troupe

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Chandrasekhar formed Broken Lizard with former members of comedy troupe Charred Goosebeak and Beta Theta Pi, people he met during college at Colgate University.[1] Chandrasekhar said he found his path to comedy after acting in high school and college. He did some open mic standup comedy work in Chicago and founded a sketch group called "Charred Goose Beak" at college. After moving to New York, the group was renamed Broken Lizard.[1]

Chandrasekhar began making shorts featuring the troupe, then made the self-funded movie Puddle Cruiser in 1996.[7] The film made it into the Sundance Film Festival in 1997.[8] Then in 2001, they made Super Troopers as an independent movie, which Harvey Weinstein helped to develop at Miramax Films, but did not end up distributing.[9]

Directing

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In 2005, Chandrasekhar directed The Dukes of Hazzard.[10] The action comedy film based on the 1970s American television series of the same name was the debut of pop singer Jessica Simpson as an actress. While financially successful, the film was met with negative reviews from critics. He has become an established television comedy director, directing episodes of Undeclared, Happy Endings, Chuck, Community, Psych, New Girl, and Arrested Development.[1] He says that the earlier a director joins a show, the more impact he or she will have on its look and feel.[1]

In 2012, Chandrasekhar made the movie The Babymakers.[11] He directed several episodes of Blue Mountain State. Amazon released a pilot in the 2014 Amazon Original Series that he wrote and directed called Really.[12]

Between 2014 and 2018, he directed 16 episodes of The Goldbergs.

In June 2018, the filmmaker revealed that he is in discussions with Marvel Studios to direct one of their upcoming movies.[13]

In February 2021, Chandrasekhar was announced as the director of the family comedy Easter Sunday, starring Jo Koy.[14]

Acting

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Chandrasekhar guest starred alongside his cousin Sendhil Ramamurthy in a 2009 episode of Psych,[15] which Chandrasekhar also directed. He appeared as the cab driver in the "Terror Taxi" skit from Jackass: Number Two. He appeared as racist comedian Gupta Gupti Gupta in the episode "Basic Email Security" of Community, which Chandrasekhar also directed.

Stand-up

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Chandrasekhar often does stand-up comedy, sometimes touring with fellow Broken Lizard friends, Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan.[16] His stand-up is a mix of jokes and stories.

Personal life

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Chandrasekhar has been married to actress Susan Clarke since 2005.[17] They have twin daughters and a son.[18] Chandrasekhar's middle name, Jambulingam, is in honor of his grandfather, and is also his son's middle name.[5] He used the name Jumbulingam for his editorial credits in Puddle Cruiser and Super Troopers.[5]

Chandrasekhar's cousin is the actor Sendhil Ramamurthy, who played the role of Mohinder Suresh in the NBC superhero drama Heroes and also appeared in the Broken Lizard film The Slammin' Salmon.[19]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Director Writer Notes
1996 Puddle Cruiser Yes Yes Also editor
2001 Super Troopers Yes Yes Also editor
2004 Club Dread Yes Yes
2005 The Dukes of Hazzard Yes No Also additional editor
2006 Beerfest Yes Yes
2008 Held Up (TV movie) Yes No
2010 Broken Lizard Stands Up Yes Yes
2012 The Babymakers Yes No Also co-producer
2018 Super Troopers 2 Yes Yes
2022 Easter Sunday Yes No
2023 Quasi No Yes

Acting roles

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Year Title Role
1996 Puddle Cruiser Zach
2001 Super Troopers Arcot "Thorny" Ramathorn
2004 Club Dread Putman
2005 The Dukes of Hazzard Arcot "Thorny" Ramathorn
2006 Beerfest Barry Badrinath
Jackass Number Two Himself/Terror Taxi host
2009 I Love You, Man Party Guest
The Slammin' Salmon Nuts/Zongo
The 2 Bobs Spam King
2010 Broken Lizard Stands Up Self
2012 The Babymakers Ron Jon
Freeloaders Porn Director
2018 Super Troopers 2 Arcot "Thorny" Ramathorn
2021 Plan B Pharmacist
2022 Easter Sunday Nick
2023 Quasi King Guy/Blouin

Editor

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Television

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Director

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Year Title Episode
2001–2002 Undeclared
  • "Hal and Hillary"
  • "Hell Week" "Rush and Pledge"
2003 Andy Richter Controls the Universe
  • "Saturday Early Evening Fever"
2004 Oliver Beene
  • "Kissing Babies"
Cracking Up
  • "Grudge Match"
2003–2004 Arrested Development
  • "Justice is Blind"
  • "Altar Egos"
  • "Beef Consommé"
  • "My Mother The Car"
2006–2007 The Loop
  • "The Dutch"
  • "CSI: Donut Idol Bowl"
  • "The Rusty Trombone"
  • "The Tiger Express"
2007 Human Giant
  • "Ta Da"
  • "Lil 9-11"
  • "Let's Go"
2008 Lipstick Jungle
  • "Chapter 4: Bombay Highway"
  • "Chapter 17: Bye, Bye Baby"
2008–2009 Knight Rider
  • "Knight of the Hunter"
  • "Fly by Knight"
2010–2011 Blue Mountain State
  • "Superstition"
  • "The Peak"
  • "Riot"
  • "Drunk Tank"
  • "Marathon Monday"
2008–2012 Psych
  • "Let's Doo-Wop It Again"
  • "Chivalry Is Not Dead... But Someone Is"
  • "Bollywood Homicide"
  • "The Greatest Adventure in the History of Basic Cable"
2008–2012 Chuck
  • "Chuck Versus the Ex"
  • "Chuck Versus the Suburbs"
  • "Chuck Versus the Living Dead"
  • "Chuck Versus the Balcony"
  • "Chuck Versus Sarah"
2009–2012 Royal Pains
  • "The Hankover"
  • "A Guest House Divided"
  • "Hank and the Deep Blue Sea"
  • "Am I Blue?"
2010–2015 Community
2011–2012 Happy Endings
  • "The Girl with the David Tattoo"
  • "Meet the Parrots"
  • "You Snooze, You Bruise"
  • "More Like Stanksgiving"
2011–2012 Up All Night
  • "First Night Away"
  • "Baby Fever"
2012 Warehouse 13
  • "No Pain, No Gain"
Animal Practice
  • "Dr. Yamamazing"
Ben & Kate
  • "Career Day"
2014 Really
  • "Pilot" (Also wrote and produced)
2014–2018 New Girl
  • "Sister III"
  • "The Crawl"
  • "Jeff Day"
  • "Mario"
  • "The Cubicle"
2014–2021 The Goldbergs 23 episodes
2015–2016 The Grinder
  • "The Curious Disappearance of Mr. Donovan"
  • "A System on Trial"
  • "Full Circle"
2016 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
  • "When Will Josh See How Cool I Am?"
2017–2019 Fresh Off the Boat
  • "A League of Her Own"
  • "Workin' the Ween"
  • "TMI: Too Much Integrity"
2018 The Mayor
  • "The Lockdown"
Instinct
  • "Long Shot"
Us & Them
  • "Corn & Cancer"
2019 Lethal Weapon
  • "Dial M for Murtaugh"
Single Parents
  • "That Elusive Zazz"
2019–2020 Schooled
  • "Tamagotchis and Bells"
  • "CB Likes Lainey"
  • "The Rudy-ing of Toby Murphy"
  • "FeMellor"
2019-2023 Good Trouble
  • "In The Middle"
  • "New Moon"
  • "Baby, Just Say Yes"
  • "About Damn Time"
2021 Resident Alien
  • "Birds of a Feather"
  • "Love Language"
2022 Monarch
  • "About Last Night"
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
  • "Trade Rumors"
  • "Summer Breezers"
2023 Home Economics
  • "Gallon of Milk, $4.35"
2023–2024 Animal Control
  • "Dogs and Bears and Minks"
  • "Cows and Raccoons"
  • "Peacocks and Pumas"
  • "Dogs and Chickens"

Acting roles

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Year Title Role Note
2004 The 100 Scariest Movie Moments Himself TV special
2007 Attack of the Show Co-host
Welcome to the Parker Episode 1
2009 Psych Jawaharlal 'Jay' Singh Episode "Bollywood Homicide"
2012 Royal Pains Jake Episode "A Guesthouse Divided"
2013 Call Me Crazy: A Five Film Joey TV movie
Franklin & Bash JD Altero Episode "Gone in a Flash"
2014 Really
2015 Community Gupta Gupti Gupta Episode "Basic Email Security"
2016 Family Guy Indian Man / Census Taker Episode "Road to India"
2018 Nailed It Guest judge Episode 6: "In Your Face!"
2018 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Himself Episode NutriBoom

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Rozeman, Mark (May 14, 2013). "Catching Up with Jay Chandrasekhar". Paste. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "Arcot Jamulingam Chandrasekhar – Illinois, Northern District (Eastern Division), Naturalization Index, 1926–1979". FamilySearch. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  3. ^ "Hema Varadan Chandrasekhar – Illinois, Northern District (Eastern Division), Naturalization Index, 1926–1979". FamilySearch. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Sotonoff, Jamie; Gire, Dann (August 7, 2012). "Hinsdale's Jay Chandrasekhar: A Broken Lizard makes good – Chandrasekhar's suburban upbringing serves him well in Hollywood, he says". Daily Herald. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Pais, Arthur J. (August 5, 2005). "Jay Chandrasekhar is big!". Rediff. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  6. ^ "Sandhya P. Chandrasekhar". Latham & Watkins. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  7. ^ Kelly, Brendan (October 27, 1996). "Review: 'Puddle Cruiser'". Variety. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  8. ^ "Puddle Cruiser". Sundance Film Festival. 1997. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  9. ^ Neumyer, Scott (April 18, 2014). "Altered State Police: An Oral History of 'Super Troopers'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  10. ^ "IGN Interviews Jay Chandrasekhar". IGN. August 3, 2005. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  11. ^ Chandrasekhar, Jay (August 2, 2012). "Things Have Changed Since Super Troopers". HuffPost. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  12. ^ "Really 1 Season 2014". Amazon. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  13. ^ "Super Troopers Director Met With Marvel About An MCU Movie". Screen Rant. June 5, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  14. ^ Kit, Borys (February 16, 2021). "Jay Chandrasekhar to Direct Family Comedy 'Easter Sunday' for Amblin (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  15. ^ Psych (Season 4, Episode 6: Bollywood Homicide) [first aired September 18, 2009]
  16. ^ Greenberg, Ruth (August 28, 2014). "'Super Troopers' star Jay Chandrasekhar slings jokes at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  17. ^ "The Jay Chandrasekhar File". Chai Time. January 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  18. ^ Chhabra, Aseem. "'We wanted to top Borat in The Babymakers'". Rediff.
  19. ^ @jaychandrasekha (April 22, 2013). "My cousin Sendhil joined Twitter. Late, ya bastard. He was the movie star in Slammin' Salmon. So if you want to follow him: @Sendhil_Rama" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2013 – via Twitter.
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