The movie “Loins of Punjab Presents” is a 2007 comedy music film set in a small New Jersey town, where individuals of Indian descent and one passionate Indophile are competing in a Bollywood singing competition called DESI IDOL. Directed by Manish Acharya and featuring a star-studded cast including Shabana Azmi, Ajay Naidu, and Ayesha Dharker, this article will take you through the filming locations, and share some fun facts about the movie.
Where it Filmed?
“Loins of Punjab Presents” was filmed in two major locations. The first location was Manhattan, located in the heart of New York City, New York, USA. The second filming location took the crew across the world to Mumbai, Maharashtra, in India. Unfortunately, the exact filming dates are not available for this movie.
Cast Details
| Cast Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Shabana Azmi | Rrita Kapoor |
| Ajay Naidu | Turbanotorious B.D.G. |
| Ayesha Dharker | Opama Menon |
| Michael Raimondi | Josh Cohen |
| Seema Rahmani | Sania Rehman |
| Jameel Khan | Mr. Bokade |
| Darshan Jariwala | Sanjeev Patel |
| Ishita Sharma | Preeti Patel |
| Manish Acharya | Vikram Tejwani |
| Kunaal Roy Kapur | Mr. White |
| Loveleen Mishra | Alpa Patel |
| Kory Bassett | Otto |
| Samrat Chakrabarti | Trance Sen (Judge) |
| Sanjiv Jhaveri | Chris G. (Judge) |
| Avantika Akerkar | Ashwini (Judge) |
| Amar Adatia | Rickesh brown |
| Jinx Akerkar | Xenophobic white woman |
| Madhav Apte | Billoo Burman |
| Olivia Augustine | High School counselor |
| Rani Bansal | Hasina – Female MC |
| Alex Basil | Desi Idol band |
| Susham Bedi | Turbanotorious BDG’s Mother |
| Nikita Bhatt | Mrs. Kapoor’s friend |
| Tapan Bhatt | Preeti’s uncle Shirish |
| Sanyogita Bhave | Mrs. Kapoor’s friend |
| Major Bikramjeet | J.K. Singhal |
| Robert Carr | Xenophobic white man / Venture capitalist |
| Hemant Chaturvedi | Singer at audition |
| Chiquita | Mrs. Kapoor’s dog |
| Caroline Conway | Hotel receptionist |
| O’Neill D’Souza | Desi Idol band |
| Pravishi Das | TV Interviewer |
| Veena Dhandia | Mrs. Kapoor’s friend |
| Jay Dugar | BDG’s father |
| Baylon Fonseca | Cameraman |
| Ebenezer Irving Forbes | Hotel cafe manager |
| Vijay Gokhale | Protesting contestant |
| Xavier Gomes | Desi Idol band |
| Hugo | Dog in Riverside Park |
| Yusuf Hussain | Sania’s father |
| Alpa Joshi | Preeti’s aunt |
| Nakul Kamte | Mr. Khan |
| Ranvir Kapadia | Preeti’s brother |
| Kaarthik Kirubhakaran | Singer at audition |
| Anthony Machado | Desi Idol band |
| Vincent Madero | Rollerblader |
| Kishore Makwana | Desi Idol band |
| Shilpa Mehta | Mrs. Kapoor’s friend |
| Taral Munshi | Preeti’s uncle Shailesh |
| Kamlesh Oza | Preeti’s cousin |
| Anuvab Pal | Partho Banerjee |
| Pammy | Singer at audition |
| Drishti Parekh | Antara Joseph |
| Gargee Patel | Mrs. Kapoor’s friend |
| Pradeep Patkar | Mr. Kapoor |
| Nishant Radhakrishnan | Giggling man in elevator |
| Manjana Rodonjic | Stripper |
| Shaan | Self |
| Harry Shah | Singer at audition |
| Sheetal Shah | Vikram’s blind date |
| Shetal Shah | Blind Date |
| Ravi Kishan Shankar | Protesting contestant |
| Druv Singh | Ajay – male M.C. |
| S.M. Sivakumar | Mrs. Kapoor’s teacher |
| Karim Troncelliti | MC at open mic night |
| Vatsala Tyagi | Protesting contestant |
| Shabnam Vadhera | Harsha Patel |
| Preeti’s aunt |
Trivia and Facts
Did you know that Manish Acharya not only directed the film but also had a role in it? He played the character Vikram Tejwani. Or that the movie fell under the genre of both comedy and music, providing a healthy mix of laughter and foot-tapping rhythm? This film was also released in Indonesia on the 21st of September, 2007 and it had a runtime of 1 hour and 28 minutes. Furthermore, the movie is multilingual, with dialogues in English, Punjabi, and Hindi. Another interesting fact is that its official title in Russia was “Поясница подарков Пенджаба”.
