Aswin Punathambekar, UVA professor of media studies and author of “From Bombay to Bollywood: The Making of a Global Media Industry,” says that the UK has always been ahead of the US when it comes to casting actors of Indian origin. "Even in a popular TV show like ‘The Great British Bake Off,’ there have been Indian contestants and even winners. And actors like Archie Panjabi and Sanjeev Bhaskar – they play mainstream roles and not just Indian characters," he notes.