The much awaited Fiji Hindi movie, Pump Up the Mandali, is here at last.
The first feature length Bollywood-Fiji movie is being launched tonight, Monday August 9, in Auckland at the Berkley cinemas in Botany Downs.
The musical comedy, shot in Auckland, Fiji, and Napier, carries a strong Fiji flavour blended with a generous dose of Bollywood.
The movie centres around four village youths from Fiji who dream of becoming star musicians, but their dream is shattered by devastating floods which hit their village.
Fellow villagers then help them to get to New Zealand to compete in an international talent quest.
The four friends also find themselves out of favour with New Zealand Indians who are not too keen on their Fiji lingo and habits.
They soon turn bhajan into hip-hop and end up stealing the limelight when they win in the talent quest.
The 115-minute movie stars Leonard Kumar, Kunal Kartik, Bhushan Mishra, Sarvesh Singh, Neha Jaura and Bali Virk in lead roles.
Monti Issar, the movie’s writer and director, told Indian Weekend earlier that Fiji was an untapped niche market as far as acting talent was concerned.
The script for Pump Up The Mandali was written by Issar, while the soundtracks and the songs were produced in Bollywood by Raj Sharma, better known for his work on Antakshari and Sa Re Ga Ma.