First, the timing: The film was released on the Friday/Saturday of Labor Day weekend in the US. It is when most students including the 'Fresh off the Boat' types who are the focus of this film -- come to campus for the start of the Fall semester.
Second, the central premise: Indian students newly arrived in the US, or FOBs as they are derogatorily referred to, have a whole slew of adjustments to make; this period of adjustment brings with it moments fraught with acute embarrassment and unintended hilarity in equal measure; the whole process of settling in can result in life-changing lessons.
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Hari Patel (Sunil Malhotra, who bears a passing resemblance, especially in profile, to a very young Akshay Kumar) is due to fly to America to study engineering.
Shortly before his departure, his parents conduct a pooja. In the course of it, the pandit (Indreven Trivedi) tells Hari the great love of his life will have a name that begins with a 'P', that she will come to him during a great fever
Hari lands in the US and takes up residence with his father's friend, a successful doctor, and his family. One member of said family is Mohan 'Mo' Baksi (Kal Penn), born in the US, integrated into the social whirl of the college, and contemptuous of ham-handed FOBs.
The rest of the film is about Hari's attempts to settle in, and find the love of his life amidst that 'great fever' the pandit had warned him of.
Peripheral characters who help move the story along include Mo's heartthrob Janvi Walia (Serena Verghese, making her screen debut); fashion major Priya Verghese (Tina Cherian), who teaches Hari the basics of dressing even as Hari attempts to teach her the basics of algebra; Ray, the party animal/impresario (Prem Shah, veteran character player in television serials and small indie films), whose mission is to get hot girls to his parties and keep FOBs out of them; Poonam (Mousmi Dave), the 'P' factor in Hari's life and Shyam Sundar Balabadrapatramukh (Sunil Thakkar, who co-wrote the script), a student of two years standing but yet to shed his desi stamp.
The single biggest problem with the film is that it reduces the FOB to an embarrassingly clichéd caricature, with the result that the audience just cannot buy into his tribulations.
To take just one instance from the initial sequences, no Indian these days, no matter how farm-fresh, is unfamiliar with luggage carousels and trolleys in airports. He is not, in this day and age when the smallest of small towns boast multilevel malls, unfamiliar with an escalator.
Thanks to an attempt to milk humour from such props, the opening scenes of Hari's arrival in the US fall flat. And it only gets worse.
The score is cacophonous. A pity, considering the many talents working on it, ranging from Cheb-I-Sabah through Bhangra specialists Panjabi MC and Bikram Singh and hip-hop artists Karmacy and RDB.
Director Benny Mathews, who co-wrote the screenplay with Thakkar, could have done so much better by spending time with genuine FOBs and their seniors, and collecting real-life material to use in his film. The result could well have been characters and situations that resonate with the target audience.
As it is, only two parts of the film really gel: the relationship between Mo Bakshi and Janvi Walia that, as it runs its course, changes the 'don't give a damn' Mo into a more centered, responsible, mature student.
The other is the part where Mo attempts to keep Hari away from an upcoming party; Hari finds out, is hurt, and leaves the Bakshi residence to live with a bunch of FOB students. The incident, and Hari's subsequent refusal to accept Mo's apology, serves as catalyst for change in the latter's character and, as such, is well-etched.
Acting-wise, it is Kal Penn an alumnus of the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA and one of the leads of American Desi who lives his role with panache. Serena Verghese is good in support. On occasion, Sunil Malhotra shows potential, but the character he plays is so grossly campy that it weighs him down.
In writing this review, one thing I've kept in mind is that the cast and crew are mostly young, enthusiastic Indians attempting to carve a niche in the American movie space. That takes courage, and deserves some kindness.
Yet, the bottomline is that the film promises so much. And, unfortunately, delivers so very little.
For further details of cast and crew, as also theatres, see http://www.wtpy.com/