American Desi

Deep Katdare (Kris Reddy)	Poorva Bedi (Nina Shah)
Anil Kumar (Rakesh Patel)	Ronobir Lahiri (Jagjit Singh)
Kal Penn (Ajay Pandya)	Rizwan Mani (Salim Ali Khan)
Sunita Param (Farah Saeed)	Aladdin (Gautam Rao)
*Direction*: Piyush Dinker Pandya	*Script*: Piyush Dinker Pandya

A romantic comedy about the second generation of Indians (Indian Indians, not American Injuns) in America, American Desi is a delightful movie. It's about an Indian freshman, Kris (Deep Katdare) who goes to college. He is the archetypal American youngster, strapping, enthusiastic and unfettered by traditions. He has also shortened his name to "Kris" to keep up with his American peers. He feels embarrassed when his Indian roommates address him as Krishna Gopal Reddy.

Kris falls in love (at first sight) with a pretty young girl, Nina Shah (Poorva Bedi) at a party. While introducing himself, he goes overboard complaining about his "Indian" roommates. He is aghast later to discover that Nina is actually an Indian. Still, he pursues her with vigour, stumbling almost all the time because of his anti-Indian feelings. Nina believes in her Indianness and finally, with much help from his friends, specially the delightful sardar, Jagjit Singh (Ronobir Lahiri), Salim Ali Khan (Rizwan Mani) and Ajay Pandya (Kal Penn), he wins over his lady love.

This, despite the villainous tricks of Anil Kumar (Rakesh Patel). Meanwhile, Salim, who wanted to get married to a girl born and brought up only in India (for the food!!), also finds himself in a bind as after initially rejecting the girl who is chasing him, Farah Saeed (Sunita Param) he realizes he is in love with her and almost loses her.

This movie won a lot of critical and public acclaim in the US. And deservedly too. For a storyline that is now stale, the movie lifts itself to a sublime level at times because of the way it has been handled. The subject of the confused second generation of Indians is, however, now becoming very weather-beaten. Someone should take a leaf out of Shyamalan's book and produce different movies.

Back to the movie though. This is a very very delightful and spicy comedy. The theme has been handled very well and the comedy does not become over-bearing or obnoxious at any time. Deep Katdare and Poorva Shah are very refreshing indeed and come across very strongly. Actually, Ronobir Singh, Rizwan and Sunita Param have come through very well too. They are all very talented actors and there is a fresh candor to their histrionics. Deep's training as an actor shows through.

Piyush's direction is pretty slick as his script. He keeps the viewers pretty well amused and entertained almost throughout. There are a couple of jarring flaws in the script though. The scene in the Indian grocery shop where the salesman cheats the customers is not something I remember seeing in the many Indian grocery shops that I visited. Also, the Indian Assistant to the Engineering Professor, Aladdin was an exaggeration. Sure, Indians are fond of food and do not know the etiquette, but surely the character was an exaggeration.

That apart, the script had a lot of funny moments. The movie does explore, without going into hyperbole, the confusion of the second generation of Indians (cruelly called "ABCDs" - American Born Confused Desis).

Yet, if Indians want to get into mainstream Hollywood, they must start making mainstream movies. Movies like American Desi will appeal only to a limited audience. The current phase can only last so long. Movies like � Signs� or �The Sixth Sense� will endure. So will �Elizabeth�. American Desi is definitely a worth-see.