Green Card Fever
* Feb 06, 2003: Green
Card Fever had proved to be a dud at the BO when
it released August 22 in the US, failing to duplicate
Desi's $1 million gross in North America.
USA, Aug. 22, 2003
Green Card Fever was released in 37 theatres in North
America on Friday. "Green Card Fever" valiantly
attempts to dramatize the disheartening Alice-in-Wonderland
world that confronts illegal immigrants in the United
States. This includes corrupt immigration lawyers,
Immigration and Naturalization Service bullies and
an entire judicial system.
The story of the movie is that the U.S. immigration
system is designed to reward deception and punish
candor. Its hero, a young Indian (Vikram Dasu) who
has overstayed his visa, struggles to find anyone
within that system who will truly help him get a green
card. Instead, he is exploited by shady lawyers and
opportunistic bosses as he hides out in an underworld
of fellow illegal aliens, living a furtive existence
that denies everyone his humanity.
There is one honest character, an attorney (Deep
Katdare) with a Sikh background. But he is such a
tiresome snob that even an eleventh-hour change of
heart fails to redeem him. Meanwhile, a fumbling romance
of sorts develops between our hero and an Indian-American
woman (Purva Bedi).
Rajashekaruni underwrites and overdirects every
scene, creating a host of superficial and shrill characters
while asking his actors to exaggerate every dramatic
moment. He also favors extreme close-ups of his actors,
a serious disadvantage when one's director adores
hammy acting. Much of the film is downright amateurish.
One actor, masquerading as a Sikh, wears an awful
fake beard and a shoddily tied turban. Technical credits
are rudimentary, and many actors appear to be nonpros.
