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Every Saturday &
Sunday
Admission: Free, $10 minimum
Showtimes: 11am - 4pm
BOLLYWOOD NEW WAVE:
recent picks curated by Nick Hallett
Saturday and Sunday, August
5 & 6
Koi...Mil Gaya
Bollywood's "remake" of E.T.
dir. Rakesh Roshan (2003)
India's answer to the Spielberg sci-fi epic: a vanguard scientist
makes
contact with outerspace aliens by beaming the melody of Kraftwerk's
"Trans Europe Express" (on the syllable OM, no less)
through the cosmic
airwaves. On the drive home from having his research denounced,
he and
his pregnant wife are visited by the aliens' spacecraft, which
-- in a
scene reminiscent of 1975's "The UFO Incident" -- runs
them off the road. The car crashes and the scientist is killed.
But his wife survives, giving birth to a son, Rohit. Years pass,
and we see this special boy grow into young adulthood. Tragedy
strikes again when we learn that Rohit suffers from pre-natal
brain damage, as a result of the car accident. The film tells
the story of how Rohit learns to overcome the obstacles of life
in order to become a hero when the aliens (who also listen to
Art of Noise, Brian Eno, and Giorgio Moroder, no joke!) send a
representative to bestow upon him some of their unearthly powers.
"Trans Europe Express" is reimagined as a romantic musical
duet, performed by heartthrobs Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta
in the snowcapped Canadian Rockies.
Saturday and Sunday, August
12 & 13
Chachi 420
Bollywood's "remake" of Mrs. Doubtfire
dir. Kamal Hassan (1998)
Subsitute Kamal Hassan for Robin Williams.
Subsitute "Dauda Dauda Bhaaga Bhaaga Sa" for "Dude
(Looks Like A Lady)"
Add dancing and a cute kid.
Saturday and Sunday, August
19 & 20
Holiday
Bollywood's remake of "Dirty Dancing"
dir. Pooja Bhatt (2006)
"Dirty Dancing" blatantly stolen nearly shot for shot.
The story begins
with the family of Dr. Daksh Suri arriving in Goa for a month-long
vacation. Accompanying Dr. Suri are his wife and two daughters,
the
extroverted Samara and shy, bookish Muskaan. Muskaan befriends
a group
of dancers who perform risqué and exotic routines to Salsa
music (the
song exposing the girl to such forbidden pleasures is aptly titled,
"The Sound of the Future.") at the hotel’s discotheque.
One among them
is pregnant, and Muskaan—always eager to make things work
out for the
best—boldly decides to step in as her replacement when she
goes for her
abortion. Completely clueless when it comes to the dance, rugged
and
rebellious Dino steps in to train her, and in the process helps
her
overcome her fears. And in case you didn’t guess, they also
fall in
love. "Move with my Body," another ridiculously sultry
R&B breakdown
is performed against a Che Guevara backdrop. Onjolee Nair as the
awkward Muskaan even looks something like Jennifer Grey. Not to
be
believed!
Saturday and Sunday, August
26 & 27
Swades
dir. Ashutosh Gowariker (2005)
As a follow-up to his classic "Laagan," which told an
empowering tale of
how India overcame its colonial past, director Ashutosh Gowariker
has
turned towards India’s industrial and technological future,
as its
booming economy and thriving democracy comes to terms with its
ancient
legacy and traditions. The story follows NRI ("Non Returning
Indian" — a
somewhat popular and insulting term for expatriates) Mohan Bhargav,
played by India’s most popular leading man, Shah Rukh Khan
(he thinks
he is Tom Cruise, but he comes across more like Tom Hanks). Mohan
is
living in the States, working as a project manager for NASA. On
impulse, he decides to take a vacation and revisit his childhood
nanny
back in the small village where he was raised. At first overwhelmed
by
all of the problems India faces, he falls in love with the headstrong
schoolteacher, Gita, who shows him the value of investing in India’s
future. Mohan must decide either to stay in the land of his birth,
or
return to the land of opportunity. Eventually, he finds a way
of doing
both.
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