India, April 3 -- In Episode 2 of Bait, the protagonist Shah Latif (Riz Ahmed) seems to be recording a podcast with the legendary actor Patrick Stewart. Eventually, we realise he is talking to himself. Technically, he's talking to a frozen pig's head that responds to him in Stewart's voice.

This porcine lovechild of Yorick and Jiminy Cricket is one of many aces up Ahmed's kameez in Bait, the show he helms as creator, co-writer and star (now streaming on Amazon Prime). The pig's head was thrown at Shah's parents' house after tabloids leaked the news that he had auditioned for the role of James Bond. It is evidence of a hate crime. Yet, from its first appearance, the pink, dead-eyed, smiley-faced head looks incongruously friendly.

Once it...