Loins of Punjab Presents: A Unique Way To Make Audiences Participate In An Act of Stand Up Comedy! review

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'Loins of Punjab Presents' is cool and youthful. It displays what it aims to and leaves it at that, writes Nikita Shah

So, I'm thinking that there has got to be something about stereotypes and cinema scripts. They meet ever so often! In some cases, the viewer is left fuming, with an acerbic taste in the mouth. But aftertastes ought to be bittersweet, if not too pleasing and there are cases where a film dwelling upon a typical storyline wont make you want to create too much of a hoo-ha.

Newcomer Manish Acharya guides the film and Anuvab Pal - a prominent playwright and storyteller, impresses me twice over with his dishy presentation in 'Loins of Punjab Presents'. Yet another potshot on amreekan-desiness. A pert hotpotch brought alive with contemporary cultural stereotypes. A smart, satirical short-feature, if it can be called so (the film lasts about a good 45 minutes only) on aspects of life - as they are and mercifully, not prescriptive by nature. The film is a slice of life and resultantly, very,very vibrant. As with successful first attempts, here is a madly talented line-up of actors who team up to portray the residential diversity of New Jersey's "little india" and get on stage to feed us with an entertaining show of 'Desi Idol', in America. Appetising.

Seven contestants share a common-ness of greed for recognition and 25,000 dollars among other personal aspirations. They also share screen-space with a whole lot of talented others with bitsy, complimentary roles. We have our share of hoo-ha on several indian communities. Ah yes, everything is bordering on communal harmony and we don't feel the need to feel too piqued. Which urges me to make a special mention of a particularly astounding sequence in the film. Situation : We have a non-desi contestant who swears by his deep love for India; ignited by a visit of the recent past, where he enlightened him self about yoga and bollywood film music among other things. This is also the land where he met the love of his life and all that. He is faced with a surprise chance to perform on stage and claim his prize. Audiences begin to hoot, roar, boo and host mean, abasing and VERY demotivating placards saying. "DESI ONLY" , "GO BACK FOREIGNER". Ouch. Contestant is fumbling. And silently mumbling. And then he eventually saves grace by singing the ONE indian song he has been most mesmerised by - the National Anthem. A very witty super announces that he will now be singing the anthem and that we must all, dutifully and patriotically (ahem), stand up in respect. I stood up, instantly. To find a moment of interactivity in a cinema-watching experience and not participate is criminal! I did observe, that 90% of the audience was up and twinkling, as well. Quite a WOW! thing to happen during a film.

The dialogue in the film is purely colloquial. No great craftsmanship. No real subtleties.But yes, a great reminder of all those sidey, pun-filled and sometimes, humour-starved SMS jokes that go around. And come around too. Gujaratis eating "snakes" and tripping over their homegrown version of Khakhra and Englis. Punjabis confused with the new-age revival of Bhangra, deeply inspired by ghetto-ised expression and holding on to their pride. Foreigners interacting with the peculiar lot, wearing purely flummoxed faces almost all the time. You get the picture.

'Loins of Punjab Presents' is cool and youthful. It displays what it aims to and leaves it at that. It is straightforward.
As much as a groovy soundtrack would've packed a punch, I dont feel the need to complain. The film has enough killer musical treats to make up for this.

Watching it won't do you ANY harm. It'll make you feel like you were sitting next to the driver's seat and enjoying a nice, breezy drive through a city. Like they say these days, "de-stressing is important".