Presented as a typical Indian "FOB" (a derisive acronym for "fresh off the boat"), Sunil Malhotra arrives in America with a loud floral shirt, a thick striped tie, white suspendered pants that climb over the waist, and tennis shoes secured with Velcro straps. He speaks with a goofy accent, double-majors in electrical engineering and computer science, fumbles with the ladies, and walks around with a greasy black mop attached to his skull like a giant leech. To his hip American-born cousin Kal Penn, Malhotra is a horrible embarrassment, unfit to run with Penn's cool, Americanized buddies on a Houston college campus. But Malhotra has clearly been studying the culture closely, because he's a dead ringer for Robert Carradine in Revenge Of The Nerds. His appearance alone speaks volumes about Where's The Party Yaar?, an amateurish, shamelessly broad cheapie that considers Indian-American identity issues through the prism of a mid-'80s slobs-vs.-snobs comedy. Save for the crusty dean, no stereotype goes unexploited. Before heading off to the land of opportunity, Malhotra seeks advice from a bug-eyed local astrologer, who piques his expectations by predicting that Malhotra's true love will fall from the sky and her name will begin with "P." (Another piece of advice: Never trust a seer who conjures spirits with the words "Oogly Boogly Boo.") Taking residence at his aunt and uncle's lavish suburban home, Malhotra expects Penn to show him the ropes, but finds him reluctant. Things come to a head when Malhotra vies to get into the exclusive Desi Party, where he hopes to seduce ditzy fashion major Tina Cherian, who calls herself "Priya." But the smug promoter demands that Penn and his staffers leave all FOBs behind the velvet rope. The line between Malhotra and Penn could not be more boldly drawn: The former represents Indian values (traditional, hard-working, an aptitude for science, a little square in foreign places), while the latter represents American youth (lazy, vulgar, spoiled, disrespectful of his elders, and uncertain of his future, yet trendy, street-smart, and essentially decent). From the start, it's easy to tell that the characters are headed straight into the melting pot, where they emerge as friends with the best attributes of both worlds. Though harmless and reasonably good-natured, Where's The Party Yaar? ("yaar" translates as "dude") doesn't add many novel touches to its predictable formula, except for a couple of limp nods to Bollywood song-and-dance numbers. Once a mustachioed convenience-store clerk in a turban makes his entrance, any remaining hopes for cultural enlightenment pretty much go out the window.