Brick Lane

  I tried to finish reading Monica Ali’s much lauded debut novel Brick Lane before going to a recent screening of Sarah Gavron’s film adaptation, but only got as far as Nazneen’s first pregnancy.   The film opens with the briefest of gloss over Nazneen and her sister’s early days in Bangladesh (the part I […]

Dasavatharam

  Amazingly enough, those of us in the US got to see Kamal Hassan’s big, big, big release hours before it plays on some 1000 screens in India. The theater in Newark was 3/4 full, many people coming straight from work, laptop bags in tow, and the film started spot on at 8pm.   No […]

Rajnesh Domalpalli interview

  On the occasion of the recent DVD release of his debut film, Vanaja, here’s the first part of an interview with the film’s director, Rajnesh Domalpalli:   Can you talk more about how this film took some inspiration from a cry in Sophie’s Choice? I remember seeing Sophie’s Choice a long time ago, before […]

Sarkar Raj in another NJ multiplex

  With RGV’s latest movie, there was an interesting addition to the multiplexes usually showing the occasional big Hindi release in New Jersey: the AMC Loews Newport Centre 11, in Jersey City. This cinema is located in a mall this is literally steps away from the PATH train.   Tickets cost $10. At the show […]

Sarkar Raj

  The new Sarkar Raj  is a love letter from Ramu to the triple-A Bachchan trio.   If triple-X connotes slimy, sleazy and anything-goes nangi antics, then triple-A here is the highest of star heights, fullest of full-on media attention to every Karva Chauth, barefoot temple pilgrimage, phoren fillum festival, product endorsement, movie launch, music […]

Not since bhangraton…

has there been such a desi-Latino mash-up recently….yelo…Jessica Alba in a sari:   The photo’s a still from the soon-to-hit-the-screens The Love Guru. And on the subject  of Mike Myers’ latest release,  here’s an interview I did for Khabar magazine with Manu Narayan about his work on the film and his career.