Synopsis

A ruthless philanthropist. A bhangra rapper. An over-protected prodigy. A reckless actress. A lovelorn businessman. An entrepreneurial yogi. And a Lion King. Enter a roller-coaster world of seven strangers whose lives collide during a singing contest in New York. Over three days, five Indian-Americans and one Jewish Indophile participate in an American Idol style singing contest with a Bollywood twist, sponsored by a pork company called “Loins Of Punjab”. These six people are pitted against each other in a singing and dancing extravaganza presided over by the wily contest promoter Sudarsh Bokade, a man with a strong preference for a few cocktails, beautiful women, and Gypsy Kings music. For seventy-two hours, these seven strangers will do anything for a shot at fame and a prize that could change their lives forever! Manish Acharya’s directorial debut, *Loins of Punjab*, follows a group of “would-be superstars” in a New Jersey-based, Bollywood-inspired “Desi Idol” singing competition, sponsored by a local butcher company ‘Loins of Punjab’. The finalists competing for the $25,000 prize represent the South Asian diaspora through a “delightfully eclectic cross-section” of personalities. The #1 English language comedy ever to open in India, *Loins of Punjab* has screened and garnered prizes at international film festivals including the First Run Film Festival, New York’s 2007 South Asian International Film Festival, and the 2007 San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival.

Director

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  • Manish Acharya
  • A former co-founder of a successful software company, Manish Acharya switched from management to filmmaking, studying film direction at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His short film *Partner* (2001) won the Calcutta Film Award. *Loins of Punjab* is his graduation project, which earned the Dennis Lee Award from the NYU faculty and the Best Film Award at the 65th First Run Film Festival. He currently divides his time between Mumbai and New York.