Hooray for Bollywood

Been meaning to post about two great movies I have seen in the last few weeks.

Growing up, my closest friend was a self-professed 'ABCD' (American born, confused desi - though Priya actually was born in India and came to the U.S. at the age of 2) -- in other words, the first generation child of immigrant parents, struggling to reconcile her life in suburban Jersey with her cultural ties to India. So, I've always been fascinated with all things Indian -- the food (god, I miss Cambridge! There is no decent Indian food here), the literature, the music.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that The Two River Film Festival, which is housed at the University I work at was hosting the NJ premiere of The Namesake. This movie is based on the amazing book by Jhumpa Lahiri. My mom and I both read, and loved, this book, so we jumped at the chance to see the movie (and, for free, natch!).

What a beautiful movie! I highly recommend it. The story is wonderful and pulls you right in, and the movie was just so visually appealing, too. I'm not sure that it will hit mainstream theatres, but if it comes to an Art House near you ... go see it!

I also put Deepa Mehta's trilogy (Fire, Water, Earth) in my Netflix queue. Watched Water first, then subsequently pushed the others further down my queue, and interspersed them with lighter fare. The move was very powerful, very moving, and very well done. But, it was heavy and really stays with you. I do recommend it, but just be prepared.