San Francisco’s Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Film Festival is back this year with an interesting theme – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. The festival spotlights and celebrates Asian American films, music and food from March 9-19, 2017 in San Francisco and Oakland.

Filmmaker Lena Khan’s debut feature The Tiger Hunter is the opening night film at the historic Castro Theatre on March 9, 2017.  Khan’s film is inspired by her father’s experience of migrating from India to America in the 1970s.This timely  film is laced with lots of humor and looks back to a different era in American history.The film gives you a sense of what drew people America and how they realized their American Dream.

The Tiger Hunter traces the journey Sami Malik played by Danny Pudi, who travels from a small town in India to Chicago to make his dreams come true. America is where he wants to find his greatness and also win the girl of his dreams from India. Sami does not land a job as an engineer, instead he is perished to the basement of a company as a draftsman. The company’s goal is to introduce a viable technical product that proves to be elusive to the engineering team. Sami figures out a way to make his way up the ladder and recruits his apartment mates (most of them are engineers)  to create that viable technical product. And that is how Sami realizes his American dream.

I need to make a special mention of Vineet Bailur’s music for the film. What caught my ears was the track Chicago Land that plays during the end credits.

The Tiger Hunter stars Danny Pudi, Jon Heder, Rizwan Manji, Karen David, Iqbal Theba, Kevin Pollak, Kay Kay Menon and others.

Check CAAMFest website for tickets and information.