RISH SHAH DOESN'T JUST WANT TO BE A SOUTH ASIAN SEX SYMBOL

WITH OVERCOMPENSATING AND BEYOND, THE BRITISH-INDIAN ACTOR IS PART OF A GROWING WAVE REDEFINING THE COMPLEX, SENSITIVE, AND STEREOTYPE-SUBVERTING BROWN CHARACTER ON THE GLOBAL STAGE.

- By SHAMANI JOSHI

There are enough outrageously absurd moments in Benito Skinner's searing coming-of-age comedy Overcompensating to leave your jaw gaping in your chest—used condoms inspected like forensic evidence, glass bottles smashed between barehanded palms, Charli XCX casually asking for cocaine at a college festival, and beer-blasting frat bros going apeshit in a full-blown Freudian phallic showdown. But one of the more pared-back moments in a show that's so gleefully, unapologetically over-the-top comes when Benny—the main character played by Skinner, who is grappling with his gay identity—first locks eyes with Miles, his will-they-won't-they romantic interest.

In the middle of a cringey freshman orientation routine, Benny spots the mysterious Miles sauntering across campus with a backpack slung over his shoulder and a shy smile flickering across his face. Despite the slow-motion shots and angelic background music, it's one of those moments that whooshes by faster than you can say "Super Bass." Yet, Miles walks across with such soft magnetism that, just like Benny, you can't help but stop and stare. He's the ultimate Brown boy crush, a heartthrob that doesn't need a neon sign to cinch the title. Then again, that's probably because it's a role Rish Shah, the British-Indian actor who plays Miles, has quite comfortably grown into.

"I think being a heartthrob, it's something that requires intimacy," Shah tells Rolling Stone India. "Attraction is something that's precious— It's not that I'm not trying to be confident in these characters, I think it's just [about] bringing a side of sensitivity and empathy that, yeah, I hope translates." Speaking over a video call, Shah's eyes light up as he recalls the process of auditioning and shooting for