The story of an Indian man who comes to San Francisco on a one month tourist visa, but has dreams of going to UC-Berkeley to studying engineering, and staying longer. As the people he was planning to stay with aren't in town because of an emergency, he finds himself staying in a sleazy hotel in the Tenderloin, one run by an Indian American lady, who was a great character. His money situation isn't good, he's rejected by Berkeley, and soon the immigration authorities are asking him to leave the country. Despite the dire sound of all that, it's a light-hearted depiction of the struggles of people who want to come to America, one free of stereotypes or a predictable outcome.
I have to say, the fact that he overstays his Visa, breaks into a house with the intent to rob it, and desperately tries to arrange a fake marriage is the kind of fodder conservatives might look at and say aha, yes, beware, this is how it is. But the other side of that coin is how that shows just how much people like this young man want to better their lives, taking menial jobs along the way, and bringing the benefits of cultural diversity to the country along with them. He isn't a bogeyman to be feared, and that's what comes across here.
This is a small film with little organic moments, with some wonderful shots in San Francisco serving as the background. One scene that stands out is when he plays a cassette tape of Hindi music from Bollywood films at a party, and soon everyone is dancing to it. Another is when he breaks into a Bollywood performance of his own at the end. There is an upbeat, positive feeling to the film, one that makes you almost forget how little of the real-world complexities are resolved at the end. Somehow it seems these characters are going to make it though.
