Loins of Punjab Presents (2007)

A small New Jersey town is caught in the grips of Bollywood fever as five Indian-Americans and one Jewish Indophile step up to the mic to crown the one and only DESI IDOL!

Director:

Manish Acharya

Writers:

Manish Acharya, Anuvab Pal

Stars:

Shabana Azmi, Ajay Naidu, Ayesha Dharker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shabana Azmi	...	Rrita Kapoor
Ajay Naidu	...	Turbanotorious B.D.G.
Ayesha Dharker	...	Opama Menon
Michael Raimondi	...	Josh Cohen
Seema Rahmani	...	Sania Rehman
Jameel Khan	...	Mr. Bokade
Darshan Jariwala	...	Sanjeev Patel
Ishita Sharma	...	Preeti Patel
Manish Acharya	...	Vikram Tejwani
Kunaal Roy Kapur	...	Mr. White
Loveleen Mishra	...	Alpa Patel
Kory Bassett	...	Otto
Samrat Chakrabarti	...	Trance Sen (Judge)
Sanjiv Jhaveri	...	Chris G. (Judge)
Avantika Akerkar	...	Ashwini (Judge)

Storyline

A ruthless philantrophist. A bhangra rapper. An over-protected prodigy. A reckless actress. A lovelorn businessman. An entrepreneurial yogi. And a Loin King. Enter a roller-coaster world of seven strangers whose lives collide during a singing contest in a small New Jersey town.

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Plot Keywords:

singing | new jersey | song | singer | immigrant | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about life and other contests.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

User Reviews

Cinema Masala

And now for something completely different,from India. A film that isn't a Bollywood musical (but does feature music),isn't nearly four hours long,and,is in the English language (with the minor exception of a couple of lines spoken in Hindi,that is subtitled). The film is 'Loins Of Punjab Presents', a comedy about several groups of Indian immigrants,trying to compete for top honours in a talent contest,called 'Desi Idol',an Indian take on (guess what?).Desi,being a Hindi term for a victim of the Indian diaspora. We see several prospectives going through the various processes for being a contestant. Along the way are the usual monkey wrenches in the proverbial cogs:the ones that take up their own self perpetuating political agendas,and change the rules when it suits them (in short,the ones who always manage to screw things up for others,big time),the would be contestants who bomb out,to mention a few. This film seems to want to be shot in the Christopher Guest style "mockumentary" style (at first,but this is eventually dropped as the film's plot line develops). Besides the assortment of oddball characters (a would be Indian American rapper,a half caste singer,who sings in Hindi,although her handle of the language is nearly non existent,a talented teen aged singer,who is just a little too good for one of the other contestants,and my personal favourite,a young Jewish man who is obsessed by Bollywood musicals,as his girlfriend is Indian,herself),there are lots of songs by the various contestants,taken from various Bollywood musicals. Toss in all of the above,stir,and you have yourself a spicy,fun,good time film that will have you walk out the cinema with a smile on your face (as was the audience at the screening that I attended). No MPAA rating,but does contain some raunchy language,as well as some minor adult situations,and an unpleasant racial slur.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India USA

Language:

English Punjabi Hindi

Release Date:

21 September 2007 (Indonesia)

Also Known As:

Поясница подарков Пенджаба

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,850, 14 September 2008

Gross USA:

$39,891

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$39,891

Company Credits

Production Co:

Horn OK Please Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1