Munde U.K. De (lit. 'Boys from the U.K.'; distributed in English-speaking territories with the additional tagline "British by Right, Punjabi by Heart!"), is a 2009 Indian Punjabi-language romantic comedy film by writer-director Manmohan Singh. It stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Amrinder Gill, Neeru Bajwa, Rana Ranbir, and Gurpreet Ghuggi. The film was released in India 8 May 2009, and in Los Angeles, California, US, on 22 May 2009, among other territories. It has a running time of 149 minutes.
Contents
Plot
Two young British Punjabi men visit their homeland, Punjab: Roop Singh, comes to see his grandfather, Gurdit Singh and Roop's touristy pal DJ comes to see how Punjab is like. Roop meets Reet Brar, a university classmate of his cousin Deepi's, and falls for her, and DJ falls for brainy, Kulwant Kaur, another classmate. Roop agrees to let his aunt be his matchmaker and set up an arranged marriage for himself and Reet, but the modern-thinking Reet wants no part of what she considers outmoded provincialism. Her father angrily sets up an arranged marriage for her with Jagjot Gill. Reet, however, reconsiders and realizes she loves Roop after all, and Kulwant falls for DJ too. Reet tells Jagjot, that she loves Roop a lot, so to help the lovers Jagjot says he's not ready to get married. After this incident no boy will marry Reet so, Reet's father and her ne'er-do-well brother,Jaile, devise a plan to figure out if Roop really loves Reet: Her father will give his consent if Roop can find a British bride for Jaile, which will prove that Roop is ready to do anything for Reet. DJ calls in an old girlfriend from UK, party girl, Candy, who flies in to help. They plan a scheme which will scare Jaile away. Candy acts like a traditional, Punjabi girl, and wins Jaile's heart, so they fix, Roop and Reet's and Jaile and Candy's engagement for the same day. Candy tells Kulwant that DJ was in many relationships with many different girls, since she still loves DJ. After hearing this, Kulwant is heart-broken, and leaves DJ. Day before the engagement Candy reveals how modern girls really are, by bringing Jaila to a pub. On the engagement day Jaile runs away. Candy tells DJ, that if he doesn't sit in Jaile's spot, she will reveal the truth. So to help out his friend, DJ and Candy get engaged and so do Roop and Reet.
Cast
Jimmy Sheirgill - Roop Singh
Neeru Bajwa - Reet Brar
Gurpreet Ghuggi – DJ
Akshita Vasudeva—Kulwant Kaur
Amrinder Gill – Jagjot Gill
Deep Dhillon – Mr. Brar
Sunita Dheer- Mrs. Brar
Arun Bali – Gurdit Singh
Rana Ranbir – Khoji, the house manager
Khushboo Grewal – Candy
Binnu Dhillon - Jaile Brar, Reet's brother
Teenu Sharma - Deepi, Roop's cousin
Kulbir Badesron - Roop's aunt
Atro - Old lady on tractor
Soundtrack
Source: H. S. Communication press release
Reception
Frank Lovece of Film Journal International concurred, saying the "unexceptional romantic comedy won't turn any U.S. cineastes into Punjwood aficionados, and lacks the production values and star power Indian-American audiences have come to expect. ... The movie has modest charms ... but they're often drowned out by a bombastically melodramatic score, and lots of sitting-around-talking scenes with go-nowhere dialogue". Singah, he wrote, "shoots with dull, flattened lighting far removed from Bollywood's typical crystalline sheen". Maitland McDonagh of MissFlickChick.com took a middle ground, calling the film "overlong, painfully clichéd but occasionally surprisingly sly and clever".
Sequel
In February 2014 it was announced that there would be a sequel to Munde U.K. De, entitled Aa Gaye Munde U.K. De. The movie marks the third time a Punjabi film has had a sequel made. The film is releasing on 8 August 2014 and was featuring much of the same cast, including of Jimmy Sheirgill, Neeru Bajwa, Gurpreet Ghuggi and crew of the first film.