Channel Nine Entertainment Ltd. has bought the theatrical, satellite and video Rights for India from American Desi. that will release simultaneously in India, Australia and South Africa on September 20, following its success in the US, Canada and UK Markets. The film marks the debut for Channel Nine Entertainment Ltd, a well-known production house, in the Hollywood film distribution business. This is the first of the many Hollywood films slated for release by Channel Nine. Encouraged by the success of Monsoon Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham, the company believes that there’s an audience for such films in India that are about “now” and all too real. “The theme would appeal to the desi Americans of India as much as it did to the American desis in America”, says Sunil Mutreja, the Indian spokesperson for American Desi Films.

American Desi is a romantic comedy in the genre of the ’80s hits 16 Candles and Prety In Pink. The hip-hop style of House Party has been cleverly blended into this teen love story which has a distinct Indian flavour. The film is full of music (that includes a song by David Bowie) and dance—the bhangra and the garba, no less.

It opened in North America last spring and immediately caught the eye with its freshness and contemporary theme. It also got a great opening in the United Kingdom, becoming one of the top-grossing limited-release films in that market. Several multiplexes have reported that American Desi was their biggest picture on the weekend of September 28, trailing behind only Steven Spielberg’s A.1. which was the nation’s No. 1 film during the period. It was a film patronised by teenagers or moviegoers in their 20s, with females slightly outnumbering the males.

CREDITS

Written and directed by Piyush Dinker Pandya.
Music by Wigm, with songs by David Bowie, Penn Masala, Karmacy, Punjabi MC and Raj Pandya & Group.
Produced by American Desi Films.
Starring: Deep Katdare (Krishna Reddy), Purva Bedi (Nina Shah), Ronobir Lahiri (Jagjig Singh), Rizwan Manji (Salim Ali Khan), Kal Penn (Ajay Pandya), Eric Axen (Eric Berger) and Anil Kumar (Rakesh Patel).