Film done, Kal Penn returns to White House

The Indian-American community and Democratic activists have hailed the return of actor turned White House staffer turned actor again -- at least for the summer -- Kalpen Suresh Modi alias Kal Penn, 32, to his old job in the Obama administration as associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Modi, co-star of the hilarious 2004 comedy Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and its sequel Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, joined the White House in July 2009 but left the administration this summer to fulfill a prior commitment to film a third in the series of Harold and Kumar comedy series. Titled A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, it is scheduled for release next year. After filming ended more than a month ago, Modi obviously found the tug from the political hustings too irresistible.

In October and during the tail-end of the mid-term elections, he campaigned for the likes of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada and stumping along with President Obama for California Senator Barbara Boxer, both of whom were re-elected after tough races.

ABC News reported that Modi had also campaigned for Democratic incumbents and candidates running for open seats in Florida and Illinois.

Shin Inouye, director of Specialty Media, White House Office of Media Affairs, told rediff.com that "the White House is pleased to have Kalpen Modi join the Office of Public Engagement as an associate director."

He said, "While the Office of Public Engagement works collectively on conducting outreach to the American public and various organizations, he (Modi) will be the point person for those in the arts, youth, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities."

Inouye acknowledged that when Modi left the White House in the summer, his position had not been filled but his "previous portfolio split some of the responsibility with some of the current members of the staff."

He said Modi had not taken a leave of absence at the time, but had resigned to fulfill his movie obligations and hence had been hired back as a new appointee though to the same job he held earlier.

Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, an advocacy and civil rights organization on behalf of South Asians, told rediff.com that "SAALT is excited that Kal has rejoined the White House to serve as a liaison to Asian Americans and the Pacific Islander communities."

"As an organisation that raises awareness within government agencies about policies affecting South Asians," Iyer said, "We greatly appreciated him serving as a gateway between the community and the administration during his previous tenure."

She said now that he was back at the White House and charged with the same portfolio, "We look forward to continuing our relationship with him as we elevate issues issues of concern that impact South Asians."

Kathy Kulkarni, president of the Indian American Leadership Initiative, a political organisation that supports and funds Indian American Democratic candidates at the local, county, state and national levels, said, "One of the threads that run through everything that IALI does, is the encouragement of public serve and honoring those who make this type of commitment."

She said, "Kal is a prime example of this -- despite being at the top of his game in his chosen profession, he remains committed to something greater than himself."

"We've seen a number of Indian Americans in this administration make that same choice and we're all better for it," Kulkarni added.

Declaring that "it's great news indeed," Modi's close friend and Democratic strategist Toby Chaudhuri said, "No one wants a sequel to the economic failures of the last decade, but if there's one movie worth watching over and over again, it's them going from White Castle to the White House."

"We missed his star power in the nation's capital and it's great to have him back," Chaudhuri, now director of a new political consulting firm he founded called Revolution Messaging, said.

And obviously referring to the fact that Modi starred in Mira Nair's The Namesake, Chaudhuri said, "He's a symbol of our Namesake generation, and his return to the Obama administration provides another opportunity to put real solutions to everyday problems facing real people in our communities back on center stage."

However, he said "in terms of full disclosure," he was also a communications consultant "to multiple White House initiatives, including the one directly under Kal's portfolio that focuses on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that works with Kal's primary constituency areas."

During the recent mid-term campaign, Chaudhuri also helped the campaign of Reid, as well as those of Senators Michael Bennet of Colorado and Kristen Gillibrand of New York, win their hard-fought elections.

ABC News reported that while he was filming this summer, Modi had worked in his personal capacity to promote the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' policy with regard to gays and lesbians in the US military as well as the passage of the immigration DREAM Act. Also, that he had met with artists, arts businesses and youth entrepreneurs in the Detroit area where the latest sequel of the Harold and Kumar series was shot.

It said he had also visited US troops in Hawaii, South Korea and the Korean Demilitarized Zone on a USO tour in August.

During Obama's presidential campaign, Modi criss-crossed the length and breadth of the country speaking at high schools, colleges, and other youth-oriented events, besides keynoting several fund-raisers put together by second generation Indian Americans, about the change Obama offered and hence why it was imperative to elect him president.

Besides the Harold and Kumar series and The Namesake, Modi also appeared on the popular Law & Order series on television and Fox's medical drama series House. But when he got the White House job, his character, Dr Lawrence Kutner, was written out of the series when he (Kutner) inexplicably committed suicide.