Meeting mtvU's new stars: Anish Patel and Faheem Ahmed

2/12/09 6:00pm

A month ago, an anonymous A&E editor stumbled upon an email titled "Report at the Oscars w/MTV!", inviting ambitious, outgoing college journalists to send in videos showing why they should be chosen to represent their colleges as interviewers at this year's Academy Awards. Nonchalantly, the editor forwarded the message to the Thresher reviewer and Sketch Comedy founder who seemed the most comfortable in the public eye, Faheem Ahmed.Little did she know she had created a monster. A few weeks later, Faheem received a call announcing his and his cameraman Anish Patel's placement in the contest's top ten contestants. Hundreds of Rice kids and other supporters screamed, cried and voted online with fast fingers and high hopes. A triumph seemed near, and on Monday, mtvU announced that Rice's team had made the cut as one of the three picked to cover (and film!) pre-Oscar events and compete for the final honor of Red Carpet correspondent.

Their facebook group says it all, loyal voters. You sent them to L.A., now help Faheem and Anish go all the way. Head to www.mtvu.com/on-campus/contests-sweepstakes/oscars/faheem-ahmed-and-anish-patel and make history happen for A&E and Rice students. Then read this Q&A.

The Rice Thresher: What kind of deodorant do you wear?

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Faheem Ahmed: None.

Anish Patel: I like to use a little Taco Bell sauce.

Thresher: Faheem, you've mentioned before that you find Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire highly attractive. How does your girlfriend, Ahona, feel about that?

FA: Ahona thinks she's hot, too, but she prefers Aishwaria Rai, who's in The Pink Panther 2 and Bride & Prejudice. But Freida is hot because she's our age. Aishwaria Rai is like 35.

Thresher: Are you under Rihanna's umbrella?

FA: I think this whole interview should just be about Rihanna.

AP: I want to be Chris Brown. Oh wait, no, I don't.

Thresher: Assuming you make it there, who are you the most excited to interview at the Oscars?

FA: Edward Norton. I'm really impressed with his ability to play multiple roles, as in American History X.

AP: There are so many. Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, William Hung ...

Thresher: What's your favorite comic book?

AP: Dark Victory.

FA: Long Halloween.

AP: They're both Batman.

Thresher: What would you tell the other teams in the top three about going to school in Texas?

FA: We're all bigger here.

AP: Come to think of it, I guess the teams represent all three coasts: West, East and Third.

Thresher: What's one mistake you're afraid you'll make at the Oscars?

FA: Making too much fun of the actors we're interviewing.

AP: Humping Frieda Pinto.

Thresher: If you could be anyone on YouTube, who would you be?

AP: The Stars Wars Kid. I've always wanted to be a Jedi.

FA: Afro Ninja. I've always wanted an afro.

Thresher: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

FA: We're really stoked and proud to be representing Rice in L.A. And we thank Slumdog Millionaire for all our success, because everyone thinks I'm Dev Patel. You can keep voting for us until the 20th! If we make it to the Oscars, I'll give everyone in the Facebook group a shout out. I'll go through the whole list. For five minutes.

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