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.
