Dude, Where's the Party? (Where's the Party Yaar?) (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Introduction
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	107:46
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Benny Mathews
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Kal Penn Sunil Malhotra Prem Shah Tina Cherian Serena Varghese Sunil Thakkar Mousami Dave
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    Whilst in Australia the 'ethnic' migrant films tend to focus on the earlier migrant groups such as English, Italians, other Europeans and Chinese, in the US there's quite an industry forming around the movies based on Indian migrants.

    Mostly these are fairly low-budget independent features, sometimes comedies, sometimes more serious, but often a blend of both. Whilst some of the earlier 'comedies' focusing on migrants from the Indian subcontinent usually parodied the Indians, either using white actors with brown skin paint and exaggerated accents, the newer breed of films are thankfully more subtle. These latter-day films often use actual actors of Indian origin, and whilst they do find fun in the maladjustment of recent migrants, they don't usually result in parodies.

    Some of these films, especially those made in the US but about Indian migrants, are produced (or even directed) by Indians settled in the US who are often computer professionals in their 'day jobs', but take on film production to boost their often high incomes, or perhaps to gain tax advantages. Whilst some of the efforts have been pretty good and would appeal to a wider audience, in the main they would provide the greatest enjoyment to migrants who have faced at least some of the situations depicted on screen, and can empathise with the characters or predicaments.

    Dude, Where's the Party? is an example of a US-made film about the Indian migrant experience. In this film, the two main characters are Hari Patel (played by Sunil Malhotra, Indian Cowboy, 24, American Desi), and Mohan Bakshi (played by the best known face in this film, Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, Superman Returns, Van Wilder, American Desi). The film opens with Hari leaving India, complete with daggy clothes and oily hair, to study in the US where he boards with Mohan's family, a well-settled and rather well-off Indian family.

    Mo, as Mohan prefers to be known, is a cool Indian guy with plenty of friends, plenty of money and plenty of time (seeing that he doesn't seem interested in the Uni course he's enrolled in). He just wants to enjoy life and the girls on campus. However, Hari, being new to the city and the University, hangs around Mo, causing some embarrassment to the latter, especially amongst his 'gang'.

    Before he left India, Hari visited a fortune teller who predicted that he would fall in love with a girl whose name began with "P", and would meet her in a prescribed set of circumstances. Consequently, Hari is ever on the lookout for a girl, and situation, that meets those predictions.

Video

    Although the film was made in 2003, the picture quality, both the original print and DVD transfer, make it look far older. The lighting quality is uneven and the colour palette likewise. I daresay this is a fault with the original filming rather than due to the DVD transfer.

    The transfer is very disappointingly a 1.33:1 pan and scan of the original 1.85:1 ratio. This, combined with the comparatively poor lighting and colour, just makes it look like a tele-movie.

    The picture sharpness varies throughout the feature, but is never particularly sharp, nor too soft. Shadow detail is adequate. There is some grain visible, though it never becomes a nuisance.

    There are occasional positive and negative film artefacts, though these are very small and few in number.

    There are no subtitles on this DVD, apart from a few burned-in subtitles during the occasional Hindi dialogue. These subtitles are clear and in a white font.

    There is no layer change point during the feature.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The only audio track on this disc is English Dolby Digital 2.0.

    A rather ordinary, low budget type of soundtrack which is almost in mono, except for the music which spreads out into the front left and right speakers.

    Dialogue is clear at all times and in sync with the actors' lip movements.

    The music consists of plenty of Hindi and Punjabi songs, both old time and plenty of the Bhanghra rap style.

    The rear surround channels are not used at all.

    The subwoofer supports the bass notes in the frequent dance music numbers.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The R4 version appears to be identical to the R1 version, even down to the full-screen pan and scan transfer and lack of extras.

    This story contains many elements which are probably best enjoyed by Indian migrants, whether in Australia,  the US or elsewhere who could appreciate or have even experienced similar situations themselves. This makes the comedy a lot more personal and accessible. While it does have some elements of parody, especially of Bollywood films, it's done in a fun and non-offensive way. There are some genuinely funny scenes scattered through the otherwise bland story. The direction shows nothing exceptional and does look somewhat amateurish at times, as does some of the acting by the support cast.

    For those wanting to rent this as a comedy, thinking it's in the vein of Dude, where's my Car? or other similar films, you may be rather disappointed. This is really only funny for those who might have lived through similar experiences, or who are desperately in need of watching some ordinary comedy.

    The DVD transfer appears to be fairly good, given the relatively poor quality of the original source material. However I'm very disappointed with the 4:3 pan and scan transfer of the 1.85:1 ratio original. This just adds to the 'cheapish' home-video look of the film. The audio transfer is adequate. The extras are non-existent. All in all I'd say this rather limited-appeal DVD is destined for the 'bargain bin' or for the rental market only.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall