AMERICAN DESI
Year: 2001
USA: Eros International
Cast: Deep Katdare, Ronobir Lahiri, Rizwan Manji, Kal Penn, Purva Bedi, Sunita Param, Anil Kumar, Eric Axen, Ami Shukla, Sunil Malhotra, Sanjit De Silva, Laura Lockwood
Director: Piyush Dinker Pandya
Country: USA
USA: 100 mins
USA Release Date: 16 March 2001 (Limited Release)
Synopsis
AMERICAN DESI is a fun-loving romantic comedy focusing on the lives of second generation Indians in America. The story is set on a college campus and follows the exploits of an Indian freshman whose path in life takes a sharp detour down a road to self-discovery.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Krishnagopal Reddy (Deep Katdare) is the typical boy next door: handsome, athletic, and adventurous. The only son of immigrant Indian parents, he has adopted the American ideal of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, as his credo. He has long resisted the Indian traditions and values that his parents have tried to enshrine in their home. Fuelled by the need to fit in with his peers, Krishnagopal has shortened his birth name to the more palatable 'Kris' while striving to become the best 'American' he can. Kris' home is infused with what he finds as embarrassing traditions and he cannot help but feel alienated from his family. He is what a knowing ex-patriate desi (literally "one from our land") would call an American Born Confused Desi.
Accepted into the engineering program at the local State University, Kris can't wait to depart for college in the hopes of finally living a normal 'American' life and live it as he chooses. At a college party, Kris falls for a beautiful Indian girl named Nina Shah (Purva Bedi). As Kris vies for the affection of Nina, he is opposed by the smooth-talking, but slimy Rakesh (Anil Kumar) who wants to thwart Kris' attempts at happiness.
What follows is the story of a young man who learns about the intricacies of friendship and the frailty of the ties that bind us to ourselves. It is the story of a young man who falls in love and finds his destiny in the heart of a woman.
