Pakorakorner

Title: My Name is Khan Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol Language: Hindi The increasing trend among Hollywood production companies to make forays into Bollywood, plus the success of Slumdog millionaire has resulted in Indian film directors attempting themes with universal and global appeal.  While this is a welcome development, it is a lot harder to translate this intent into meaningful cinema without forgoing the traditional  formula for success in Bollywood. Trying to please a very broad audience is a tall order. Karan Johar attempts ...

A year has gone by since President Obama took the oath of office. After the extremes of the George Bush years and the unimpressive McCain-Sarah Palin campaign, Obama seemed like a breath of much-needed fresh air.  With a clever Internet savvy campaign, Obama positioned himself as the right transformational candidate to repair the  endless damage caused by Bush and his team. Despite being relatively unknown, he ran a truly inspirational campaign that captured the imagination of many, especially the young. ...

Title: 3 Idiots Starring: Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Kareena Kapoor Language: Hindi This a story of three friends who meet at an Engineering college. Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi play the three friends while Kareena Kapoor as the heroine and Boman Irani as the heroine's Dad and college Principal comprise the rest of key star cast. The Director of the film, Raju Hirani (of Munnabhai fame) clearly has a great flair for comedy and always manages to blend "messages" into his films. There is ...

Title: If Today be Sweet Author: Thrity Umrigar The story is about a Parsi family. The son (Sorab) immigrated to the US after coming to the US as a graduate student. He later marries an American (Caucasian) and settles down in the mid-west.  His mother (Tehmina Sethna) visits the US after her husband's demise and has to grapple with the decision of where to spend the rest of her life.  She could go back to Mumbai and live by herself or chose ...