Loins of Punjab Presents

A handful of Indian-Americans vie for overnight stardom in a competition for amateur singers in this mockumentary comedy. The Loins of Punjab meat company is sponsoring a televised contest in which fans of Indian pop music will be given the chance to put their talents to the test, with the grand prize winner claiming a 25,000-dollar purse. A diverse array of aspiring singing stars arrive in New Jersey for the competition; some are Indian émigrés who've made their way to America, others were born in the United States to South Asian parents, and one is a Jewish guy, Josh Cohen (Michael Raimondi), who picked up his fondness for Indian music from his girlfriend, Opama (Ayesha Dharker). Other contestants include Sania Rahman (Seema Rahmani), a would-be actress often accused of not being Indian enough by casting agents; financial advisor Vikram Tejwani (Manish Acharya), who is out of work now that his job has been outsourced to India; a militant gay rap artist who calls himself The Turbanotorious BDG (Ajay Naidu); Preeti Patel (Ishitta Sharma), a teenage girl who just wants to be noticed by her large and growing family; and Rrita Kapoor (Shabana Azmi), a wealthy and unscrupulous housewife who isn't above bribing the judges with money or sex. Loins of Punjab Presents was the first feature film from writer and director Manish Acharya, who also plays Vikram.