ABCD (1999)

The only goal of an ageing Asian-American widow is to see her son and rebellious daughter (described as an American Born Confused Deshi or ABCD) married off to respectable Indian families.

Director:

Krutin Patel

Writers:

James McManus, Krutin Patel (screenplay),

Stars:

Madhur Jaffrey, Faran Tahir, Sheetal Sheth

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Madhur Jaffrey	...	Anju
Faran Tahir	...	Raj
Sheetal Sheth	...	Nina
Aasif Mandvi	...	Ashok
David Ari	...	Brian
Jennifer Dorr White	...	Julia
Adriane Forlana Erdos	...	Tejal
Rex Young	...	Sam
Gil Grail	...	Mark
Bob Bonnet	...	Cop
Alexander Lasky	...	Gordon
David Mann	...	Tony
Janan Raouf	...	Jennifer
Vince Byrne Sr.	...	MacKenzie
Nicki Cochrane	...	Asha

Storyline

The only goal of an ageing Asian-American widow is to see her son and rebellious daughter (described as an American Born Confused Deshi or ABCD) married off to respectable Indian families.

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Plot Keywords:

indian | acronym in title | indian pakistani | happiness | dating | 

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Taglines:

Its about choices!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Laxmi / The Business

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2000 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Laxmi Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title stands for "American Born Confused Desi" (pronounced "Deshi" in the film. The confusion refers to the clash of cultural identities and Desi to a person of South Asian descent. Variations on the term extend the acronym to all letters of the alphabet, from A to Z.

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Connections

References Saturday Night Fever (1977)

User Reviews

Pitiful excuse for a movie

Once you've seen the movie you have to stop and ask yourself something. What the hell was it? Was it a comedy? If so why wasn't it funny? Was it a drama? If that was the case where the hell did the plot go? Nothing is accomplished in this movie. Most movies either result in the end with something either being gained, or else something being lost. This movie didn't go anywhere: It started out with one screwed up sister, and a shady (but likeable) brother. It ended with a screwed up sister, and a shady (no-longer likeable) brother. Generally when an inconclusive ending is presented it is because the producers are leaving you something to play with or leaving room for a sequel. This left an inconclusive ending, but there's nothing to think about and there's no place for a sequel (Thank God). The movie started off strong, creating several conflicts and gradually weaving possibilities of a correlated ending. But it all went to waste because absolutely no avenue was taken by any of the characters that served to any major benefit or disbenefit (one or the other is important, as long as it keeps things moving). The dialogue was ridiculous, and the actors and actresses recite them as ridiculously. There is only one scene in the entire movie where the dialogue was deeper than a paper-cut, and that all went to waste too. Another occurence that gave rise to emotions (an unfortunate death) was completely wasted also. So basically, what did the producer (the same guy directed and wrote it, I wouldn't be surprised if his family did all the acting and the cooking and provided the ties) intend out of this? If he wanted to waste time atleast he could have cranked the humor up and made it fun, instead he made it depressing and astounding. I am not an Indian, or a Hindu, but I can easily imagine why people of both those categories would be brutally insulted by some of the scenes in this movie. What's sad about that is that the writer (also the producer and director, as I mentioned before) is Indian and Hindu also. If the dude wanted to violate Indian and Hindu customs he could have drawn conclusiveness and purpose to it, he didn't bother doing that so what can I say? I wasn't Confused until I actually saw this movie!