Miss India America plays on cross cultural references

Miss India America is a coming-of-age comedy that will satisfy viewers young and old. Directed by British-Indian director Ravi Kapoor, the film stars up-and-coming actress Tiya Sircar as over-achieving protagonist Lily Prasad. She is joined by fellow actresses Hannah Simone and Kosha Patel. With a cast and crew comprised of mainly South Asian actors, Miss India America pays a hilarious, but honorable homage to the cross-cultural values of Indian-American youths.

The film follows high school valedictorian Lily Prasad, who has never had a difficult day in her life. Successful, attractive and in full control of her own fate, Lily believes she has it all until her dream boyfriend, Karim, leaves her for a stereotypical beauty queen. Enraged because she planned her entire life with Karim in a book, Lily decides to compete in the Miss India Golden State pageant and is determined to win back his affection with her own crown. With the help of her best friend, Seema, Lily gets back in touch with her Indian roots by training in various tasks, such as wearing a sari and performing in traditional Indian dances. In order to win the pageant, Lily dedicates herself to connecting with her culture. Despite her competitive relationship with fellow pageant contender Sonia and her determination to triumph over others, Lily realizes in the end that she found what she had lost long ago — a love for her culture.

Miss India America is a campy and enjoyable comedy film. With countless cultural references and hysterical situations, the film aims to connect with youths who are, in a way, stuck between two cultures. Though slightly obvious in terms of comedic conventions, the film demonstrates the enormous potential of the filmmakers and actors in the small but growing South Asian-American acting community. Sircar does a phenomenal job at portraying an image of the classic over-achiever, who gains a sense of her own identity after competing in the pageant, despite the actions she takes to win.

A particularly notable scene in the film is when Lily convinces her best friend Seema to drop out of the pageant so she can enter it. This is a perfect representation of Lily’s over-dominating ambitions at the beginning of the film. The writers of the film, Kapoor and his wife, Meera Simhan, did a particularly wonderful job of weaving together characters in the film and connecting them with quirky, relatable references to those who have an understanding of Indian-American culture. Interestingly, Simhan based this screenplay on her personal experiences competing in an Indian-American pageant contest, according to her interview with the Los Angeles Times.

The film has received a considerable amount of praise. At the 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Kapoor and Simhan won an award for their screenplay of this film. Though not perfect or completely relatable, Kapoor and Simhan’s Miss India America has made a tremendous impact on Hollywood’s cultural barriers. By creating an entire film based on South Asian-American youth and culture, Kapoor has done the much-needed task of showcasing the hidden, but amazing, talents of today’s diverse actors and
actresses.

Miss India America will be released on Digital HD and On Demand April 5.