American Chai is a 2002 film written and directed by Indian American director Anurag Mehta. His brother, Aalok Mehta, played the starring role opposite Sheetal Sheth

Sheetal Sheth

Sheetal Sheth is an actress who is known for her wide range of roles in an impressive body of work in film, television, and theater. She has starred in many feature films, perhaps best known for starring opposite Albert Brooks in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World...

, who had previously starred in the similar genre film ABCD. The film also had a minor role played by Paresh Rawal

Paresh Rawal

Paresh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.- Family and early life :...

.

The film deals with an Indian American

Indian American

Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...

 student who wants to pursue his love of music over the more 'typical' academic endeavors of Indian Americans (e.g., medicine, engineering, and law).

The film won the Audience Award at the 2001 Slamdance Film Festival

Slamdance Film Festival

As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...

, with the New York Post

New York Post

The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...

describing it as a "slight but sweet film". The movie was Mehta's directorial debut and his only film to date.

The Philadelphia-based hip-hop band Fathead also appears in the movie.

Summary

Sureel is a first generation Indian American college graduating senior music major who's controlling father still believes that he is pre-med. His desires in life conflict with both his family's traditional values, and the usual Indian way of assimilating into America by becoming a doctor or engineer. As graduation approaches, he has an opportunity to be nationally recognized for his music which will simplify telling his father the truth. Value conflicts are explored as the rationale behind internal racism and dating objectives are also explored.

Cast

• Aalok Mehta - Sureel

• Sheetal Sheth - Maya

• Aasif Mandvi - Engineering Sam

• Josh Ackrman - Toby

• Ajay Naidu - Hari

• Paresh Rawal - Sureel's Dad

• Bharti Desai - Sureel's Mom

• Akshay Oberoi - Neel

• Rajiv Reddy - Young Sureel

• Jamie Hurley - Jen

• Reena Shah - Sejal

• Anand Chulani - Raju

• Jill Anderson - Lisa

• Kyle Koehl - Young Boy

• Marlee Kattler - Young Girl