There is something mischievous about American-Indian actor Kal Penn that makes him suited to teenage comedies. Real name Kalpen Modi (and pictured on the left), the actor was last seen in the popular teenage film Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. He also had a brief role in Superman Returns as a sidekick to Lex Luthor.

Even though there was no suggestion of him going away, the irrepressible actor is back. In 2002 he played a support role in Van Wilder, a film that didn’t do too well in cinemas but became wildly popular on DVD. So the studio decided to extend the franchise to Van Wilder II but this time Kal Penn takes the lead.

In Rise of Taj, Penn continues with his previous character as an Indian student (with a thick accent to boot). This time he heads to Oxford University to continue his studies and ends up showing the “stuffy Brits” how to party. You can’t accuse the Americans of stereotyping then. You can watch the trailer from their website. The film also stars British actor Kulvinder Ghir as Kal Penn’s dad.

Next year he will be seen on Mira Nair’s film The Namesake and on Fox Television’s action series 24. The only way for him is up, despite the dodgy accent.