FOUR SAMOSAS

Official Selection, 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Audience Award (US Narrative), 2022 Newport Beach International Film Festival

Loser? You can’t be referring to Vinesh, aka Big Boy Vin, the sari slinger with the giant smile and gold chain. Sure, he’s a rapper who’s too scared to rap. And sure, his ex-girlfriend would rather marry the self-proclaimed “king of cow dung” than be with Vinesh. But loser? Nah. Not when he’s got friends like Bollywood dreamer Zak and bubbly journalist Anjali who will go to war for him. And by war, he means dressing up like aunties and uncles to pull off a caper at the local cash and carry.

That’s right, Vinesh is the mastermind behind the Little India grocery store heist comedy we didn’t know we needed. As Vinesh, Venk Potula is a triple threat (actor, producer, singer) surrounded by a bona fide squadron of South Asian talents, from up-and-coming scene stealers (Sharmita Bhattacharya, Nirvan Patnaik) to auteurs-in-the-making (Karan Soni, Sujata Day) to cameo kings (as if I’d tell).

Give ‘em all TV shows, I say. And throw director Ravi Kapoor more cash to write and direct gems like these. Along with Miss India America (SDAFF ’15), Kapoor makes the freshest quixotic comedies featuring sweet suburban troublemakers. With FOUR SAMOSAS, he merrily ups the style, blending hip-hop swag with Bollywood theatrics and a happy heap of early Wes Anderson. An irresistible comic confection, FOUR SAMOSAS steals the heart.

—Brian Hu