Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal Join Conan O’Brien’s India Episode as ‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’ Returns for Season 3

Conan O'Brien's unpredictable travels are bringing him to India — and Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal are joining him for part of the journey.

The Bollywood actor-producer couple will appear in the India chapter of Conan O'Brien Must Go Season 3, the HBO travel-comedy series in which the American comedian visits different countries, experiences local cultures and connects with people — including fans he has previously encountered through his podcast.

This isn't merely a reported collaboration. HBO released the official Season 3 trailer on August 6, while Warner Bros. Discovery's official programming information confirms that the four-episode season begins on August 21, 2026, with episodes arriving weekly.

The new season takes Conan through India, the Netherlands, Morocco and the Philippines, with the India material providing one of the season's most immediately recognisable crossovers for Indian audiences.

What happens when Conan meets Richa and Ali?

The trailer offers a brief taste of the trio's interaction.

Rather than presenting Richa and Ali through a formal celebrity interview, the footage points towards the loose, conversational style associated with Conan's travel series.

At one point, Ali jokes about letting a white person enter before Conan responds by exaggerating his own whiteness — a typically self-deprecating exchange that establishes the tone without revealing too much of the finished segment.

The trailer also shows Conan attempting Bollywood dance during his time in India.

That combination matters because Conan O'Brien Must Go isn't structured like a conventional celebrity chat show transplanted to another country. HBO describes it as a travel series in which Conan experiences local cultures and connects with fans he has previously encountered through his podcast.

Richa and Ali therefore appear within a larger India journey rather than functioning as the entire purpose of the episode.

Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal describe the conversation as spontaneous

The couple have also spoken publicly about filming with Conan.

In a joint statement circulated with the announcement, Richa and Ali said they had admired his comedy for years and described getting to participate in his India journey as surreal.

More importantly, they characterised their conversation as “unfiltered, spontaneous” and humorous.

That description fits the format.

Conan's travel work has traditionally depended less on polished destination-tourism presentation and more on awkward encounters, improvisation, conversations with local people and his willingness to make himself the punchline.

Richa and Ali's existing off-screen equation potentially gives the India segment another dynamic: Conan isn't meeting two actors independently, but a couple accustomed to bouncing off each other in public conversations.

Why Richa and Ali are an interesting choice for Conan's India stop

The casting is more interesting when viewed beyond the easy “Hollywood meets Bollywood” label.

Neither actor fits neatly into a purely mainstream Bollywood identity.

Richa's filmography ranges from Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Gangs of Wasseypur to Fukrey and Heeramandi. Ali has similarly moved between Indian productions and international projects, including Victoria & Abdul, Death on the Nile and the Fast & Furious franchise alongside his widely recognised role as Guddu Pandit in Mirzapur.

Together, they also run Pushing Buttons Studios, extending their work beyond acting into production.

That makes them useful guests for a programme attempting to engage with India through personality and conversation rather than simply placing an American host opposite the most commercially obvious Bollywood star available.

Their participation doesn't mean they “represent India” — an enormous country cannot meaningfully be reduced to two film personalities — but their careers do sit at an interesting intersection between Hindi cinema, streaming, independent filmmaking and international work.

Conan O’Brien Must Go works differently from a normal travel show

Understanding the format also helps explain why the appearance is worth more than a celebrity cameo headline.

Conan O'Brien Must Go grew out of Conan's interactions with international listeners through his podcast. The programme turns some of those remote encounters into actual visits, putting the comedian in unfamiliar environments and allowing his personality to collide with local customs and people.

HBO's official description of Season 3 retains that central concept: Conan experiences local cultures and reconnects with fans he previously met through his podcast.

That creates a deliberately different relationship between host and destination.

Conan isn't positioned as an expert explaining India to an American audience. Much of the comedy depends on the opposite proposition: he is the outsider who doesn't fully know what he's doing.

The distinction is important.

International entertainment programmes can easily reduce countries to food, landmarks and simplified cultural shorthand. Conan's self-deprecating persona at least gives the format an opportunity to make the visitor — rather than the country being visited — the source of some of its biggest jokes.

Whether the complete India episode achieves that balance can only be assessed once it airs.

Season 3 is the show's biggest season so far

The India episode also arrives as the series expands.

Warner Bros. Discovery confirms that Season 3 contains four episodes, compared with three in the previous season, making this the show's largest season to date.

The season begins on August 21 and rolls out weekly.

The four destinations are India, the Netherlands, Morocco and the Philippines, with the final episode scheduled for September 11.

The series is produced by Conaco, with Conan O'Brien and Jeff Ross serving as executive producers, according to HBO's official programming information.

The show arrives during another major Conan O’Brien chapter

Season 3 also comes during a particularly visible period for Conan.

His decades-long television career already stretches from Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show to Conan, podcasts and international travel specials.

The Television Academy lists him with 36 Emmy nominations and six wins, and he was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2025.

Conan O'Brien Must Go has itself become part of that later-career reinvention, shifting the comedian away from the traditional late-night desk and into a format built around longer interactions outside the studio.

That context makes the India visit particularly interesting.

Indian actors have appeared on American talk shows many times. What Richa and Ali are participating in is different: the American host has entered their environment rather than inviting them into his studio.

What the trailer doesn't tell us

There are still some things the promotional material cannot establish.

We don't yet know how much screen time Richa and Ali will receive in the finished India episode.

Nor should their segment automatically be described as an extensive interview. The available material establishes an informal conversation and comic interaction, but not its final duration or complete subject matter.

Similarly, promotional descriptions promising cultural observations and an entertaining view of India should be treated as descriptions of the intended programme rather than independent assessments of how successfully the episode represents the country.

Those judgments belong after the full episode airs.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The easiest way to sell this story is “Bollywood meets Hollywood.”

It's also the least interesting.

Conan O'Brien has spent decades interviewing celebrities. Simply placing Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal opposite him would not, by itself, make this collaboration unusual.

The location changes the equation.

This time, Conan is the visitor.

Richa and Ali aren't travelling to an American studio to explain their careers to a foreign host. They become part of a programme in which the host deliberately places himself outside his familiar cultural surroundings and turns his confusion, curiosity and awkwardness into comedy.

That reversal is what makes the India chapter worth watching.

There is also a test hidden inside the entertainment.

International travel television often struggles with India because the country is easy to package through familiar visual shorthand. Conan O'Brien Must Go has an opportunity to avoid that trap because its format is fundamentally personality-driven rather than documentary-driven.

Richa and Ali's appearance can contribute to that if the finished episode allows them to challenge Conan, joke with him and participate in the comedy rather than simply serving as recognisable Indian celebrity guides.

The trailer suggests that is the direction the programme has taken.

On August 21, audiences will get to see how much further the conversation actually goes.

Sources & Verification

The Celebrity Hour reviewed Warner Bros. Discovery/HBO's official August programming information and official Season 3 trailer listing to verify the series, four-episode order, August 21 premiere and production credits. Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal's participation and their joint statement were cross-checked against multiple reports carrying material from the announcement. Details visible in the trailer were treated separately from promotional descriptions of what the finished episode will deliver.