In New York City, scientist Linda (Brie Larson) produces the genetically modified rice 9 with her father Eric (Scott Bakula) for the company Mogil.

One of Mogil's executives, Evelyn (Tyne Daly), in a press meeting, celebrates the rice's nutritional value as well as resistance to drought and pests.

Gurgon plans to sell 9 in Bilari, India in order to corner the nation's rice market, and demands Linda convince the town's farmers to grow it.

Linda meets a local son of a farmer Rajit (Utkarsh Ambudkar) on the train to Bilari, and William (Saahil Sehgal), an Agricultural Office representative, when she arrives.

William, in addition to flirting with Linda, is interested in the Mogil deal, wanting it to go through to be able to live in New York City and gain appreciation from his father.

However, the vehicle breaks down and the phone dies, meaning she has to walk out of her comfort zone and encounter Indian culture in person.

When meeting with Gurgon and Evelyn, they attempt to change William's mind by presenting the corporation as altruistic, and offer him a trip to New York.

[5][6] It was originally set to take place in Tamil Nadu, but dry weather made the planned locations unsuitable so the production was forced to relocate weeks before it began.

[10] Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson summarized, "this attempt at an American-style Bollywood musical is earnest at best and sappy, naïve, and overly sweet at worst.

Anderson described the songs as "instantly forgettable, and it's frankly embarrassing when Sutherland and Tyne Daly are asked to step in and sing a villainous tune".

Although respecting the film's condemnation of profit-over-people corporations, he still criticized the portrayal of Indians, describing them as "filtered through the Westernized views of uninformed tourists".