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It’s easy to see why this comedy-drama about a thoroughly assimilated Indian-American college student at loggerheads with his tradition-minded father has been such a big hit on the indie film festival circuit. Written and directed by Anurag Mehta and starring his brother Aalok, American Chai doesn’t have anything especially new to say about parent-child conflicts. We can see where this story is headed as soon as we learn that our hero is hiding his music studies from a father who thinks he’s pre-med and is obsessed with having a doctor for a son. Though the climactic revelation and resolution is expected, the film is full of fresh and unexpected observations about the cross-culturally complex lives of second-generation Indians living in the United States. “Fitting in” is difficult for any minority, but it has a very special flavor when you’re neither African-American nor Native American–but often confused for both. As an added bonus, the film includes some delightful parodies of India’s Bollywood musical numbers, satirizing and celebrating the form at the same time.
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