Go watch Loins Of Punjab Presents
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You’ve may have read a bit about this movie and its director already. But now that it has secured its theatrical release in India (yay!), it is time to encourage you to go see this movie.
Because Manish Acharya’s Loins of Punjab Presents is freaking hilarious! Even though I watched it back in May in a screening room in the basement of NYU’s Tisch School, I still laugh when I think about it.
Loins of Punjab Presents (let’s just call it Loins for fun) is about a bunch of random characters who are thrown together over a weekend in New Jersey as they compete for the title of Desi Idol.
Who are these people? Well, there is the rich-bitch socialite, Mrs. Rrita Kapoor (Shabana Azmi) who is desperate to win, but even more desperate to show up her socialite competitor, Bubbles Sabharwal.
Ajay Naidu is Turbanotorious BDG, a quintessential angry young man who also happens to be a gay bhangra rapper. Oh and his partner in his act is also his life partner – an African-American-bhangra-rapping sidekick.
Josh Cohen (Michael Raimondi) is the token white guy in the competition (hey, Hollywood has token black guys and token international guys! We have truly arrived when Indian films have token white guys ;) ) who loves all things Indian, including his girlfriend Opama Menon (Ayesha Dharker), who loves the fact that he loves all things Indian.
There’s sugary-sweet Preeti Patel (Ishitta Sharma), who’s been ruled by her parents her whole life. The poor kid is surrounded not just by the overly controlling parents, but the entire clan of Patels – at least one of whom is constantly attached to Preeti. The true talent of the competition, she seems fated to win.
Sania Rahman (Seema Rahmani) is the good-looking ABCD wannabe-Bollywood-actress who can’t speak a word of Hindi. Ah well, she’s convinced she can just fake it.
And finally, the director takes on the role of Vikram Tejwani, the stats-addicted geek who’s job has been outsourced. The competition is his last chance to make enough money to give him some financial freedom.
Confused? Not at all. Manish manages to introduce the audience to a whole host of characters very effectively – each in his or her own element. For example, Turbanotorious BDG is introduced in a club as he does his own version of gansta’ rap as his family looks on, aghast at the cursing. Mrs. Rrita Kapoor is learning music from her guruji when she receives a call about how her rival Bubbles is one-upping her. Reaction? A severely-arched eyebrow and a furiously-churning brain. Preeti Patel and her parents are introduced in her counselor’s office as her parents plot her life for her. Despite the plethora of characters, I never really had to struggle to remember them since each one was introduced in a way that imprinted their key attributes in my mind.
Take these characters, a slew of others including judges and random family members, put them in a confined space two days, shake vigorously and you get a cocktail of humor that is Loins. Oh wait – I forgot to mention one of the funniest characters, the event manager for the competition, the I’m-laughing-at-you-not-with-you Bokade (Jameel Khan). I mean look at him – an over-the-top choice that is perfect for the character who will have you rolling on the floor laughing!
There was so much to like about the film, but before I make this a dedicated rah-rah review, let me quickly hit a couple of things that I didn’t love. Sometimes it felt like there were snippets that were thrown in there just because… Preeti’s overweight, porn-watching kid-brother was “eh, whatever” – almost a been there done that, “haven’t we seen that character before?” moment. And some of the Idol contestants were a touch over the top and not that believable. However, these and a few other small cinematic things are minor quibbles in an otherwise really enjoyable film.
One of the things I loved about the movie was the instant association. You feel you know some of these people. You start laughing from minute one because you know what they are going to say and it is just the perfect thing for them to say! Part of feeling you know some of these people is the casting – it was close to ideal. And the acting was excellent – Shabana shines with her nuanced gestures, Ayesha Dharker nails her role as the tougher half of the in-love and idealistic couple, Seema Rahmani is sexy and touchingly sweet when she needs to be and Jameel Khan is… brilliant!
The first part of the film introduces you to all the characters and gets them into the hotel for the competition. The second half of the film is where things come together really nicely as the true characters are revealed. In the intro, Manish sets up each character in the way in which he wants you to see them. But is that who the person really is? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The “Ahh, ice runs through her veins!” realization makes the characters much fuller, much more real.
This is a film that has stayed with me since I’ve seen it. Yes, there are some underlying messages of what it means to belong, but that’s not why it stayed with me. It stayed with me because the characters were so funny, so real and so endearing (slimy Bokade is now a favorite!) that any time I think of the movie, I smile.
Want more Loins lovin’? Well, you’re in luck – it opens in India on the 21st of September and it also opens the SAIFF festival in New York on October 3rd.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
can’t wait to see it! hope it releases soon here too…
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Striker, I think Manish is working on that.
Manish – any update on where that stands?
Also, here’s the theatrical trailer for your enjoyment-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOix2mlTIk8
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looks intersting 4 sure. will catch up.
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I am pretty excited about the film. Didn’t go completely through your review, Shripriya, fearing it might have spoilers.
The promos are doing frequent rounds on TV and have created quite a buzz.
Way to go, Manish!:)
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Phoenixnu – definitely tell us what you think after you see it.
Tushar – The review has no spoilers, don’t worry
If it did, I would put a spoiler warning up front.
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I’ll be there for LoP at SAIFF, and our short movie will be in the festival on Sunday, too! How many others are planning to go?
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Evelyn – I don’t know if I’ll be there for LoPP, but I am planning on checking out SAIFF for sure.
Congratulations on your film being in the festival. My short played in it last year (on Saturday evening) and I ended up covering most of SAIFF on PFC last year. It was fun – you’ll enjoy the festival.
We should get together either at the festival or outside of it. Would be great to meet. Ravptor, Striker – either of you going to attend?
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Shripriya, do the “emerging” filmmakers have to get tickets to attend their own screenings?
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Evelyn – you (or the team) are given a filmmaker conference pass/badge (actually you get two of those) that gets you into every film. Then for your own film, in addition to those two passes, they give you 6 extra tickets for friends and family.
That’s what they did last year. I am sure this year is something pretty similar.
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Is it releasing in Houston or any other parts of US ?
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Varun, I think Manish is currently working on trying to get US distribution. But you could always come to the SAIFF premire on Oct 3rd and watch the movie and hang out with the NY gang…
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Can someone share the link for the song of the movie?
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Saw Loins.. TWICE in a single day in Mumbai – and loved it… I wish it would be seen by the entire NRI community all over the world! Not just the US
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LOPP is showing tonight at SAIFF in New York City. Shripriya, how would I know how to find you?
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Naresh – the song is on a You Tube trailer for the movie, but I don’t know where the stand alone MP3 can be found. My guess is that they will release the song separately.
Annabelle – glad you enjoyed it. I’m sure it will have a DVD release, at minimum, globally.
Evelyn – Actually not going to the premier tonight. Opening night is a bit of a zoo with the “red carpet” and a lot of who’s who socialites. But you will enjoy it – all the filmmakers get interviewed and get their photographs taken etc. A little bit of fun
I will be there on Saturday for the Browntown short to see Striker – any chance you’ll come to that?
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Shripria, is Browntown during or after the filmmakers’ lunch? Uh oh, do you mean I am getting my photo taken tonight? Or just the LOPP filmmakers?
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Evelyn, I think it is after – at 3pm.
If you don’t want your photo taken, it is easy to hide – I did. They just have a mini red carpet thing going since it is opening night.
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Shripriya, you should have gone. It was brilliant. The movie was hysterical, and there were peels of laughter everywhere. There’s a point where a quarter of the audience even stood up in response to what was going on in the movie.
The Q&A with Aseem Chhabra and the director, producer and cast was even more fun than the movie. There was a point when Darshan Jariwala, who plays one of the S. Patels (and Mohandas Gandhi in Gandhi My Father), got into an elliptical tale about his role in casting all of the Patels that was cracking up his fellow actors even more than it was us.
I didn’t catch your response before leaving for New York. I got my picture taken and was interviewed by Imaginasian TV. It was quite amusing.
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Well, I’ve seen the movie, remember? So I know exactly where the audience stands ;)
Glad you had fun. The Q&A sounds like a blast – I’m sure Manish was in his element!
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Shripriya, I probably should have mentioned to Manish Acharya that I read PFC.
Manish said during the Q&A that different people think different characters are the star of the movie, depending on their perspectives. I’m pretty sure it was Shabana-ji, but hopefully that doesn’t mean anything particular about me. One woman in the audience seemed to have confused the actor Michael Raymondi with his character, asking him when he got interested in Indian culture, which must mean he was well cast.
I really hope this gets wide distribution in the U.S.; it’s at least as deserving as its peers. Even if LOPP only gets sent to the standard Indian theaters, it still would have broad exposure in its native land, New Jersey.
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Oh, and I will try to get to Browntown tomorrow.
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evelyn, awesome.. look fwd to seeing you there
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Shripriya, were you there for Browntown? We met Striker. Did you see our movie Sunday?
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Hey Evelyn – yes I was there! I was sitting with Striker and Ravptor the whole time! How did I miss you? Was also there after the show till Striker left (I think I went to the loo for 3 minutes and if that’s when you came up to Striker, that’s such a shame!)
Unfortunately did not go to any show on Sunday since I had a guest in town. Sorry to have missed your short. Now that it has screened, is it online anywhere?
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oh crap.. how did you both miss each other? we were all in the lobby after the screening at the same time.. i would’ve figured you two had met by then.. that’s an oops at my end too i suppose.. sorry about that!
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Shriprya, we won’t be posting it on the Web for a couple of reasons. Striker can put you in touch with me, if you’d like.
Our event was pretty well attended, and to our relief, the movie was well received. The audience laughed in all the right places, they asked several good questions at the Q&A, and then a few fans came up to us to talk about it for half an hour afterward. Two audience members said they had come just to see our movie based on the description alone.
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Striker, no big deal. There will be other opportunities, I’m sure.
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Congratulations on getting distribution, Manish, if you are out there watching. Let us when and if it gets even wider release.
‘Loins Of Punjab Presents’ opens in US Sep 12
Sat, Aug 9 09:57 AM
Washington, Aug 9 (IANS) South Asian comedy ‘Loins Of Punjab Presents’, Manish Acharya’s feature directorial debut, will make its US premiere Sep 12 at two New York City theatres.
An Emerging Pictures release, the film goes on to open throughout the autumn in cities around the US, including San Francisco and San Jose, California; Chicago, Illinois; Union City, New Jersey; Connecticut; and Dallas and Houston, Texas.
More:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20080809/908/ten-loins-of-punjab-presents-opens-in-us.html
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