The story line for the movie ‘Dhalsa’ reflects the challenges faced by (Asian) Immigrant Workers as they settle in the US and the cross cultural challenges faced by the children of Immigrants who have been resident in the US for many years.

The central character is Soni, a US born Indian in her early 20's who suffers from the paranoia being subject to two very diverse cultures. A very talented Salsa dancer, she finds her aspirations stultified and looks for an escape pursuing a new ‘fusion’ dance style she creates called ‘Dhalsa’.    

The story is about her aspirations, the challenges that she faces as she progresses in attempting to sell this idea to the dance clubs in New York. As her dance style finally gains acceptance and her popularity grows, she falls victim to the narrow mindedness of her community. Her family remind her of her roots and the expectation of an Indian woman and the negative impact it has when Asians attempt to be involved in ‘partner’ dancing. As a result she loses the affection of the (Asian) man she loves – his mother cannot accept this level of independence in her future daughter-in-law, and he abides by his mother’s wishes.

With no encouragement from her mother and additional sorrow of having put her dear father who has always supported her in an embarrassing social position, Soni leads her troupe on stage for a live performance in her only opportunity to gain the popularity needed to make Dhalsa a nationally acclaimed dance style. As the performance progresses and surpasses the expectation of the audience, she observes her ex lover and his mother in the audience. Memories of recent events weigh her down and she weakens to a state where she cannot proceed with her act.

With the future of Dhalsa at stake, and very little time to make this decision, she has to quickly resolve her internal conflicts and choose between her career and a secure life as a domesticated bride. She expresses the emotions that have been growing with her using song and dance exposing the impact of the narrow mindedness of the Asian community on those who have been born here in the US and cannot completely relate to it. Eventually, she chooses to release herself from the bondage of a male dominated Asian society and opts for the freedom and justice that is so dear to all Americans.

The other major characters are Ajay an (Indian) IT consultant recently arrived in the US on Work Visa and Susan, an independent American , who works as an Office Administrator at the same firm that AJ is employed. Maybe it was her blonde hair and blue eyes, maybe it was her charm combined with her sympathy for Asians who are being exploited in this country -whatever it was, it has resulted in AJ being totally in love with her. She, in turn, has slowly grown to like this kind, good natured Indian who appears to be genuinely fond of her.

Though of a sweet nature, Susan is excessive in her acceptance of compliments from male admirers and this upsets AJ who is very conscious of the opinion of the members of his society. He cannot get over her total disregard of his advice to her to tone down her frivolous nature in public. Asians expect women to be reserved specially when in male company and will misinterpret her actions. She on the other hand, is not interested in tuning her character to suit Asian standards. This is the barrier between them which appears unsurmountable but is resolved by their observations of Soni’s battle with society.

Other vignettes include the distaste of the Latino socialites of the Asian interference of their dance style, the separation of spouses due by immigration and the reminiscences of immigrants dreaming of returning to their motherland.

Dhalsa is a musical drama with original melodious songs composed as expressions to the powerful storyline.