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 thnic-minded films like "American Desi" have a
built-in advantage -- even if the film fails miserably in every other respects,
it can still rely on its little-known ethnicity -- in this case, Indian -- to
save the day. This is a good thing, because had "American Desi" been
just another movie about freshmen trying to adjust to life in college, it would
fail miserably. As it stands, the film just barely manages to stay afloat, and
that, as previously mentioned, is thanks to its Indian angle.
Deep Katdare stars as Krishna Reddy, an Americanized Indian
who is so out of touch with his roots that he refuses to be acknowledged by
anything other than Kris. Born and bred in America, Kris' best buddy is
Caucasian Eric (Eric Axen), who he has known since they were kids. When the two
leave home for college, Kris gets a rude awakening when he's put in the same
dorm with 3 other Indians, each one vastly different. There's the happy-go-lucky
Jagjit, who is a new arrival to American soil; Salim, an ultra-conservative
Muslim and, as it turns out, a total hypocrite; and Ajay, an Indian with
illusions of being a black ghetto youth.
The bulk of the film's comedy comes from Kris' reluctance
to embrace his cultural heritage and his dismay at his 3 roommates' odd (at
least in his eyes) behavior. Actually, I feel Kris' pain, because Jagjit, Salim,
and Ajay are obviously meant to be exaggerated caricatures of real-life Desi (a
slang word for Indians, I believe). Writer/director Piyush Pandya offers us a
brief glimpse into Indian culture, but it's much too brief and as a result,
we're forced to sit through the film's supremely predictable, generic, and
oh-so-cliché-it-hurts-to-watch storyline.
At his first class, Kris spots and becomes infatuated with
the pretty Nina (Purva Bedi). Although she's also Indian, Kris doesn't realize
it, and ends up insulting Indian and Indian culture in front of her. Apparently
feeling similarly attracted to Kris, Nina makes it her goal to try to get him to
come to terms with his heritage. Of course this is supposed to be the plot, but
besides forcing Kris to watch some lame Indian movies and do a traditional
Indian dance, she actually does quite a poor job of introducing Kris, and us,
the non-Indian audience, to what it means to "be Indian."
"American Desi" as a whole does a poor job of
explaining a lot of Indian terms, behavior, and why certain things are the way
they are. If Pandya had intended his movie to be just viewed by Indians or
knowledgeable non-Indians, then this is no problem. That means, of course, that
the rest of us need not bother. I wanted to know more about Indian culture and
why they do the things they do; wear the things they wear; and feel the way they
feel. Instead, the characters are so grossly exaggerated and the cliché
plotting so uninspired, whenever the film wanders away from the 3 roommates the
film loses its charm. What's the point of making a movie with an unexplored
angle as your foundation if you won't exploit that angle to its fullest
potential?
As the love interest, Purva Bedi is very easy on the eyes,
and it's a good thing she's around, although not nearly often enough. But it
doesn't help that Pandya expects me to buy lead Deep Katdare as a 19-year-old
freshman. For God's sake, the man looks like he has to shave before each take.
The same goes for the rest of the cast. Eighteen and nineteen year olds these
people ain't. Maybe if the screenplay had made them graduate students, or at
least older characters, they might be more believable. But as supposedly
wide-eyed freshmen? There's not enough curry in this movie to convince us.
It's interesting to note that Western Indians have begun to
assert themselves in the film industry. Besides "American Desi",
there's the British import "Bend
It Like Beckham" and, recently, the failure that was "The
Guru". While that last movie wasn't done by Indians, it did touch on
Indian culture, if just slightly. There are other recent additions to the Indian
film scene set in the U.S. that I haven't seen, but have heard about. The point
is, there seems to be a surge in Indian-made films, which is always a good thing
in an industry stale by cookie cutter products.
Of course, all of the good news above doesn't mean
Indian-made films can get away with being just as cookie cutter or generic as
their Caucasian brethrens. A bad film with a bad screenplay is still a bad film
with a bad screenplay, even if there are Indian names attached.
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