I originally saw American Desi when it was first released in theaters and I was in the 8th grade. At the time, I enjoyed the movie's humor immensely and proudly showed the film to several of my non-Indian friends. However, now in college, I look back at the film and compare it to the atmosphere amongst Indian Americans on my college campus.
What themes does the movie promote? Krishna (Kris) is the "white-washed" Indian guy leaving for college, where he hopes to escape Indian culture and immerse himself in American society. However, by the end of the film, Kris's questions about himself as well as his relationship problems with Nina are all resolved entirely by a revival of ethnicity or a "return to roots." This suggests that not only was Kris's "white" lifestyle preceding this transformation (a good 17 years) one of confusion and illegitimacy but that also his "rediscovery" of his Indian heritage seemingly acted as a panacea, curing all his apparent woes.
While some may suggest that the film actually promotes an embrace of both American and Indian cultures, neither the plot nor the characters suggest such a moderate theme. Kris not Nina undergoes character development throughout the film and allegedly emerges a better individual because of it, thus suggesting that only his "confusion" could be faulted for the couple's incompatibility. Furthermore, the white characters we see (while few and far between) are negatively depicted. Eric, Kris's white friend, is a bumbling, lecherous fool, who falls out of the plot completely (and inexplicably) and serves only as an invisible reminder of Kris's past confusion. Similarly, Kris's relationship with Nina is almost ruined when she finds him with a drunk, promiscuous, and conveniently white woman, who patronizes Indian culture by claiming to want to learn more about the Kama Sutra. Lastly, we see a white student rushing into the first day of his engineering class only to hear his professor remark that 1 in 3 students in the class will fail by the end. He forlornly looks to his left and right: an Indian student and a student of unidentified Asian origin. As if seeking revenge against the stereotypical depictions of Indians in traditional cinema, the film seems to suggest that these few, shallow, white characters represent the supposed stupidity, drunkenness, and immorality of American culture.
After witnessing the extensive self-segregation of Indian American students on my college campus, I couldn't help but acknowledge these messages in film that I had enjoyed so much. Who defines the parameters of culture? While Nina utilized her own definition of "white American culture" in her criticism of Kris, many students hailing from India (not Indian American) often believe students like Nina to be confused in their fervent embrace of what they believe is true Indian culture. By the end of the film, Kris has adopted much of Indian material culture (food, garb, dance) and has accepted the notion of having Indian friends (and apparently no white friends), but how has his behavior changed? What new core ideas, if any, emerge after this transformation? While it might be too much to ask a comedy like American Desi to answer these questions, considering how comfortably we accept ethnic self-segregation and similar ethnic revivals in college, we must ask ourselves if the questions of culture and identity can be so easily resolved by mere association or material changes.
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