Backdrop fallback

American Chai

American Chai

Share

American Chai

2001

1h 31m

10.0(1 votes)

Comedy

Romance

Overview

Sureel is a young first-generation Indian American. All he wants is to be like his American friends, but his strict immigrant parents keep a tight rein on his life. Will he realize his dream of performing rock-and-roll music?

Links & Resources

Social & External

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Aalok Mehta

Aalok Mehta

Sureel

Sheetal Sheth

Sheetal Sheth

Maya

Aasif Mandvi

Aasif Mandvi

Engineering Sam

Josh Ackerman

Josh Ackerman

Toby

Ajay Naidu

Ajay Naidu

Hari

Paresh Rawal

Paresh Rawal

Sureel's Dad

Bharti Desai

Sureel's Mom

Akshay Oberoi

Akshay Oberoi

Neel

Ravij Reddy

Young Sureel

Jamie Hurley

Jen

Creative team

Directed by: Anurag Mehta
Written by: Anurag Mehta
Produced by: Taylor MacCrae

Similar Movies

Nowhere

Nowhere

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.

Russian Dolls

Russian Dolls

Five years after their summer together in Barcelona, Xavier, William, Wendy, Martine and Isabelle reunite.

The Rules of Attraction

The Rules of Attraction

The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.

2 Days in Paris

2 Days in Paris

Marion and Jack try to rekindle their relationship with a visit to Paris, home of Marion's parents — and several of her ex-boyfriends.

Nothing

Nothing

After a terrible day, two good friends and housemates find the outside world converted into a featureless and empty white void.

Barfly

Barfly

Downtrodden writer Henry and distressed goddess Wanda aren't exactly husband and wife: they're wedded to their bar stools. But, they like each other's company—and Barfly captures their giddy, gin-soaked attempts to make a go of life on the skids.

The Wedding Banquet

The Wedding Banquet

A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.

The Matador

The Matador

The life of Danny Wright, a salesman forever on the road, veers into dangerous and surreal territory when he wanders into a Mexican bar and meets a mysterious stranger, Julian, who's very likely a hit man. Their meeting sets off a chain of events that will change their lives forever, as Wright is suddenly thrust into a far-from-mundane existence that he takes to surprisingly well … once he gets acclimated to it.

The Guru

The Guru

Bored with Bollywood movies but fascinated with their Hollywood counterparts from his youth, Ram dreams to become a singer and actor in America, the country where dreams are made. He is encouraged when his American-based close friend, Vijay Rao, comes for visit, and brags about driving a Mercedes and living in a penthouse.

Celebrity

Celebrity

The career and personal life of writer Lee are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife, Robin, and dives into a new job as an entertainment journalist. His assignments take him to the swankiest corners of Manhattan, but as he jumps from one lavish party to another and engages in numerous empty romances, he starts to doubt the worth of his work. Meanwhile, top TV producer Tony falls for Robin and introduces her to the world of celebrity.

Bollywood/Hollywood

Bollywood/Hollywood

Rahul Seth is a dashing young millionaire who believes he is "western" enough to rebel against his mother and grandmother. They are not too keen about his Caucasian girlfriend Kimberly who, to make matters worse, is a pop star. Before you can say "karmic intervention," Kimberly dies in a freak accident and Rahul is devastated. Instead of allowing him to mourn in peace, Rahul's mother sees the opportunity she's been waiting for. She threatens to call off his sister's wedding unless he finds himself a "nice Indian girl." Rahul enlists the services of Sue, a fiercely independent escort whom he believes to be Hispanic, and therefore not "married" to the conventions taught to young Indian women. With a wink in her eye, Sue accepts the deal to pose as his Indian bride-to-be. She needs the money and having never been a fan of the typical Indian male, she feels her heart is safe. The charade begins....

Transamerica

Transamerica

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

Human Nature

Human Nature

Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.

Straight to Hell

Straight to Hell

A gang of bank robbers with a suitcase full of money go to the desert to hide out. After burying the loot, they find their way to a surreal town full of cowboys who drink an awful lot of coffee.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin

Carolyn's sorority sisters set their sights on the Sorority of the Year award and coaching challenged athletes is their ticket to the trophy. But when the queen of formals finds herself mentoring Pumpkin, a disabled athlete, their two worlds collide.

Sweet and Lowdown

Sweet and Lowdown

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

The Wild Blue Yonder

The Wild Blue Yonder

An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.

The Bulgarian Pursuit

The Bulgarian Pursuit

Two Bulgarian intelligence agents arrive in Warsaw on a secret mission. Their task is to recover a microfilm containing compromising material on the Bulgarian intelligence service. They must face the ambassador's Siamese twin, who is a traitor. Danger lurks at every turn.

Little Voice

Little Voice

After the death of her father, Little Voice or LV becomes a virtual recluse, never going out and hardly ever saying a word. She just sits in her bedroom listening to her father's collection of old records of Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe and various other famous female singers. But at night time, LV sings, imitating these great singers with surprising accuracy. One night she is overheard by one of her mother's boyfriends, who happens to be a talent agent. He manages to convince her that her talent is special and arranges for her to perform at the local night club, but several problems arise.

Recommended Movies

Easy Virtue

Easy Virtue

A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.

What's Love Got to Do with It?

What's Love Got to Do with It?

Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.

Wedding Season

Wedding Season

Pressured by their immigrant parents to find spouses, two Indian-Americans pretend to date in order to survive a summer of weddings – but find themselves falling for each other as they struggle to balance who they are with who their parents want them to be.

Dinner in America

Dinner in America

An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with a local band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.

Sex Appeal

Sex Appeal

Avery, a teenager with a tendency towards perfectionism, enlists her friend Larson to help her prepare for her first time with her long-distance boyfriend.

Let's Make Love

Let's Make Love

When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.

Desperados

Desperados

A panicked young woman and her two best friends fly to Mexico to delete a ranting email she sent to her new boyfriend. On arrival, they run into her former beau, who soon gets caught up in their frantic scheme.

Bye Bye Love

Bye Bye Love

With varying degrees of success, recently divorced friends Dave, Vic and Donny are trying to move on with their lives. Vic feels vilified by his ex-wife's parents, while Donny has a shaky bond with his teen daughter, Emma. Dave, meanwhile, has an enviable problem -- he has more dates than he can handle. As they confront their post-marital challenges, the men take solace in one another's plights.

How I Got Into College

How I Got Into College

High school senior Marlon Bowne is smitten with overachieving classmate Jessica Kailo. But, if he wants to have a shot with her, he'll have to find a way to get into Ramsey College, Jessica's top choice of schools. It won't be easy, since the college is highly selective and Marlon's grades are hardly impressive. That means the lovelorn teen will have to find a way to score high on the SATs and win over the college admissions committee.

Relative Values

Relative Values

A comedy of discriminating taste and dirty little secrets. In 1952 England, Nigel, the Earl of Marshwood, woos Hollywood star Miranda, upsetting both Nigel's mother, Countess Felicity, and Miranda's former love fellow Hollywood star Don. Right before the engagement party at Marshwood, Moxie, the Countess's personal maid and best friend, reveals that Miranda is her estranged sister. Crestwell, the Countess's butler, devises a plan - but an inebriated Don's arrival at Marshwood to talk to Miranda causes all chaos to break loose.

The Dog Problem

The Dog Problem

In the film, Solo is a down-on-his-luck writer who is encouraged by his psychiatrist to get a dog. Solo meets his love interest, who he assumes to be a dog owner when meeting her at a dog play park, but dog problems stand in their way.

Yoh! Bestie

Yoh! Bestie

Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.

Good Advice

Good Advice

An investment banker loses everything and must discover what's really important in life.

¿Quieres ser mi hijo?

¿Quieres ser mi hijo?

Lu, a conformist woman in her forties, learns that her 15-year partner has been having extramarital affairs. Starting from scratch, she gets involved in an unexpected relationship with a young womanizer.

The Right Kind of Wrong

The Right Kind of Wrong

A stubborn idealist spies a bride on her way to her wedding and immediately falls in love with her.

Girl on a Bicycle

Girl on a Bicycle

Paolo, an Italian tour bus driver living in Paris, has just summoned up the courage to propose marriage to his German girlfriend Greta. However, a chance encounter with a French woman on a bicycle the very next day turns Paolo's life upside down.

Chasing Papi

Chasing Papi

Playboy Thomas Fuentes has so far been able to skate by in life on good looks and charm alone. But when his duplicitous relationships with three women -- impassioned waitress Cici, meticulous lawyer Lorena and bored socialite Patricia -- spiral out of control, he suffers a mental breakdown. His doctor recommends that he choose just one girlfriend -- but can he choose in time before they discover his deception?

The Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure

The Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure

One year after their royal wedding, King Edvard and Queen Paige of Denmark receive an invitation to attend the wedding of Princess Myra of Sangyoon. Upon their arrival, Paige finds Myra is unhappy with her arranged marriage to the brooding and sinister Kah and is secretly in love with a young elephant handler named Alu.

A Nice Girl Like You

A Nice Girl Like You

Lucy Neal is thrown for a loop when she is accused of being too inhibited by her ex-boyfriend. In an effort to prove him wrong, Lucy creates a rather wild to-do list that sends her on a whirlwind and surprising journey of self-discovery, friendship, and new love.

Cuban Fury

Cuban Fury

Beneath Bruce Garrett's under-confident, overweight exterior, the passionate heart of a salsa king lies dormant. Now, one woman is about to reignite his Latin fire.