After the viral sensation that was New York City’s
Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest
, the South Asian guys of the Bay Area also heard their siren call.
On Sunday, a Dev Patel look-alike competition drew hundreds of people to San Fransisco’s Dolores Park. Many messy-haired brown men put forth their faces for judgment: singing, dancing and parading themselves in front of the massive crowd of screaming girls.
Eventually, a doppelganger of the “Slumdog Millionaire” actor was anointed.
San Jose resident Jaipreet Hundal, 25, took home a giant check for $50, a “Monkey Man” statue and a bouquet of flowers, organizers confirmed.
“Shoutout to all the Dev Patel look-alikes,” Hundal said in a
speech following his win
. “If the real Dev Patel shows up, I don’t know who would win, me or him.”
The British Indian actor, who has charmed the world and become the “internet husband” of many, did not in fact show up. But after Chalamet caused pandemonium by crashing his own look-alike contest last month, fans who showed up for Patel couldn’t rule anything out.The contest was put together by South Asian American friends Sitara Bellam, 26, and Tasnim Khandakar, 27. They said they were shocked by how big it got considering the minimal promotion they put into it.
“I was genuinely blown away by the crowd and the interest in the event! Tas and I made this event on a whim as a joke for our group of friends in SF and I put a single flier up in Berkeley,” Bellum told NBC News in a direct message on X. “I am really excited that we were able to center and celebrate brown / South Asian men.”
Khandakar told
NBC Bay Area
ahead of the event that a Dev Patel-centered competition felt fitting for a state with the
largest Indian population
in the U.S.
“I feel like everyone has met someone that even remotely looks like Dev Patel or kind of has the same facial features, structure,” Khandakar told the outlet. “I also felt like there is also a lot of diversity here in the San Francisco Bay Area. So, it feels like kind of a good way to celebrate the actor and the people who live here.”
After the Chalamet look-alike event became a national obsession (even
spoofed
on “Saturday Night Live” that week), similar contests have been sweeping the globe. A Harry Styles look-alike competition
took place in London
last week, and one for Irish actor Paul Mescal
drew crowds in Dublin
. In the South Asian community, excitement is brewing over a Zayn Malik look-alike competition set for Nov. 17 in Brooklyn.
While all of these events draw in fangirls eager to meet their celebrity crush, those looking to mingle with the No. 1 Dev Patel were out of luck Sunday.
“Are you single?!” someone shouted at Hundal as he gave his
victory speech
.
He pulled up a photo of his girlfriend on his phone and showed it to the crowd.
“I’m taken,” he said.
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