Loins of Punjab
Presents is entertaining enough, a light
piece of fluff that tries to capitalize on the
new found Western interest in all things Bollywood.
The film is set over three days Friday-Sunday
at a hotel in New Jersey Town that hosts a Bollywood
singing contest to select a 'Desi Idol' with a
grand prize of US $ 25,000. So enter the main
contestants - a bitchy socialite who wants to
show up her rival and donate the winnings to a
fundraiser, a gay bhangra rapper, an over-protected
Gujarati prodigy, a Bollywood aspiring actress
who doesn't know Hindi, a data analyst about to
be sacked and an american who loves everything
Indian among the others who come to battle it
out.
 The
film begins energetically and wittily enough as
the contest is announced and the various contestants
introduced one by one. While the film is engaging
enough to begin with with some extrelemy good
one liners thrown in, the film soon begins to
lose steam and energy as it proceeds to a limp
climax. The screenplay is much too simplistic
with most of the tracks too pat and predictable
as it traces the events over 3 days - Friday where
registrations take place, Saturday where auditions
and first round of singing takes place and Sunday
where the grand finale takes place. Some of the
tracks like the Gay Bhangra rapper are extremely
interesting and could have been the highlight
of the film but poor writing and lack of proper
development do them in. Another track that simply
does not work is that of the American elderly
couple where the man seems to thing everyone around
is a terrorist. The finale of the singing contest
is too lame and falls flat instead of being the
high of the film. The end leaves you gobsmacked
as who becomes the Desi idol and how!
The film does have its good share of engaging
one-liners and tongue-in-cheek moments that are
genuinely funny like when Kunal Roy Kapoor drinks
from the mug and we see the pigs face at the bottom
of the cup or when the journalist asks Jameel
Khan a convoluted question which he cannot comprehend
and he asks her if she's from Kolkata. The kitschy
elements of the Desi community are well-worked
out and the stereotypical elements of the Desi
community are used nicely to make you smile. The
over protected Gujarati girl Preeti Patel's track
has some nice surprises while the love story between
the statistic obsessed computer programmer and
the aspiring Bollywood actress though simple and
predictable is cute and charming and works in
its own way.
 The
film does capture some typical quirks and is not
averse to laughing at ourselves and our peculiarities.
The Gujju denies watching porn in the hotel and
reasons that why should he pay $ 11.95 if he can
get the same thing pirated for $ 4! It shows how
we may be brown but we are racist in our little
way towards the whites and blacks. The film also
makes fun of the Americans and brings out the
plight of the Muslims post 9/11 as a man called
Saddam Hussain finds the going tough having being
fired from his job and unable to find a new one.
(We wonder why!)
The performance of the entire ensemble cast is
energetic, engaging and makes the film work beyond
its screenplay. Shabana Azmi is purrrfect as the
catty numerology obsessed socialite Rrita Kapoor
not averse to arm twisting tactics and getting
other contestants to drop out so she could win.
Isshita Sharma looks fresh and is spot on as the
over protected Preeti who seems quiet and overawed
by all around her but reveals a surprisingly strong
independent streak to her. Ajay Naidu does what
he can as the gay Bhangra rapper - his entry on
stage post-interval is a hoot but as mentioned,
this track is defeated by the script. Seema Rahmani
and Manish Acharya make a nice enough romantic
couple. Michael Raimondi and Ayesha Dharkar are
adequate, their track making no high histrionic
demand from them as re Darshan Jariwala and Lovleen
Mishra as Preeti's parents. Jameel Khan is comparitively
way over the top but does get his share of laughs.
Technically the film is so-so, nothing special.
All in all, entertaining enough.
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