The incredibly talented Wil Smith plays Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, a “date-doctor’; a sentimental advisor who teaches men how to date the women of their dreams. He gets a new client, a nerdy financial consultant Albert (played by Kevin James of the King of Queens fame) The story revolves around Hitch helping Albert to date the wealthy and…
Sanskrut and Greek are the two oldest Indo-European languages. So, it is difficult to figure out when the relationship between India and Greece began. The first contacts we know of occurred in the Mahabharat Era. The Mahabharat War (The Great War of the Bharats) is considered to be the end of the post-Vedic age in Indian History. By many accounts,…
“Mahatma Gandhi could transform the soul of a nation but could not save the soul of his own son.” – so ends the description on the DVD cover of “Gandhi my father”. This is the story of the relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his eldest son Harilal, who wandered the streets of India destitute and…
A couple of years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing an address by Professor Salman Akhtar, a noted observer of Bollywood and a renowned psychoanalyst. In his speech, Dr. Akhtar laid out what he thought were characteristics traits of the Global Indian or Desi men. These are: Trait 3 – At a party, the…
The conversation described in this note took place on Friday, May 16 between Mark Haines and Erin Burnett, co-anchors of the daily “Squawk on the Street” show aired on CNBC from 9 am to 11 am. Picture the setting of this conversation. Erin Burnett calls Mark Haines from India. She has set a table with a variety of Indian food items, one of which is a…
Rarely have I liked an India Special on American TV as much as I liked Erin Burnett’s One Hour Special on India. This show aired on CNBC Friday, May 16 at 2 PM on her daily show StreetSigns. CNBC will post clips of this show on http://www.cnbc.com soon. I would strongly encourage all readers to view the segments of this special on…
An informed European-American reader of this blog told me that Bollywood films always make her feel good. It would be very hard to make any one feel good about the tragedy in Myanmar and the historic city of Yangon or Rangoon as it used to be called. The only way I know is to bring you the great song…
The New York Times has reported that a boat carrying some of the first aid to Myanmar sank, apparently after hitting a submerged tree. The article uses this fact to highlight the enormous logistical difficulties of delivering aid to the region. But, the article does not mention what happened to the crew of the boat, the crew…
This is the second article in our series about Bollywood Interpretations of Hollywood Films. In the desi tradition of using short forms, going forward, we will use our phrase Bolly-Holly (copyright of and by CinemaRasik) for this category. Changing Lanes is a 2002 film that stars Ben Affleck and Samuel Jackson. IMDB (www.imdb.com) describes the film as…
Witness and Paap – Bollywood Interpretations and Hollywood Originals – I A young boy is waiting in a Philadelphia station with his mother. He goes to the bathroom and becomes a silent witness to a murder. The detective in charge of the case discovers that the murderer is a senior police officer. He shares this…