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| Cast: Shabana Azmi, Ayesha Dharker, Samrat Chakrabarti, Shantanu Mukherjee and Darshan Jariwala | | Director: Manish Acharya |
Anupama Chopra
This week's second release Loins of Punjab Presents is about a singing contest called Desi Idol.
The contest, which takes place in New Jersey and has a prize of USD 25,000 attracts all sorts of amateur singers -- a silently ambitious Gujarati girl accompanied by dozens of Patel relatives; a superbly belligerent, gay Sikh who is the Bhangra-hip-hop king; a scheming, air-kissing socialite who only wants to win so she can donate the prize money to charity and score points over her high society rival; and even an angelic looking American who only knows two songs: Yeh Hai Bambai Meri Jaan and Jaan Gan Mann.
The event is being organized by the greasy-looking Mr Bokade who first tests the hotel bed by vigorously thrusting into it and then confirms the location. What follows are three days of heartache, manipulation and absolute, side-splitting fun.
Debutant director Manish Acharya, who also co-wrote the script, takes a swipe at everything: Gujju NRI's who carry their theplas with them; parochial Indians who are themselves immigrants but treat resident Americans as interlopers; second-generation NRI's whose only cultural reference is Bollywood.
But he does this with such affection, insight and good humor that no one can take offense.
Loins works because the characters aren't caricatures. Despite the frankly ludicrous surrounding, their emotions and longings are real.
In terms of craft and budget, Loins, like Nagesh Kukunoor's first film Hyderabad Blues, seems like a high-end home video. But the writing and performances are just sparkling.
Loins is easily one of the funniest movie I've seen this year-at one point, the Patels try to influence a flamboyantly gay judge by taking him to a strip joint. That scene alone is worth the price of your ticket.
Don't miss it.
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Surfer Speaks....
i enjoyed the movie alot. it si just not a 1 time watch. -- shradha
i enjoyed the movie alot. it si just not a 1 time watch. -- shradha
it is a crazy movie, and as iam a bit crazy myself,i loved it .it is really funny. and sweet too. the changing face of indian cinema reflects in movies like this. this is very encouraging for us moviegoers. -- charu
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