A cross-cultural, British-and-Bollywood-meets-Hollywood take on Austen's most famous novel, the film is pure joy a riot of original musical numbers, colourful costumes, chaos, culture clashes and, of course, romance. You may think it wouldn't work, but it does. Released after the huge success of Bend It Like Beckham, Chadha spent two years filming Bride &Prejudice across three continents. It's a homage to the Bollywood films she grew up watching with a modern, western twist a cinematic expression of her hybrid identity.
In 1975, Indian cinema released one of its greatest films, Ramesh Sippy's "Sholay." For this young grade-schooler, watching it with my parents in Chicago's Arie Crown theater, it was among the most captivating movie experiences of my life. Fifty years later, I'm sure every South Asian man of my generation still remembers "Sholay" with the most fondness. A local officer, Inspector Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar), hires two small-time convicts, Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra), to capture the renegade scoundrel Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan).
"Are we here or not? If we are, where and if not, where have we gone? If we exist, for whom and when? Sir... were we ever there, or never at all?" This powerful dialogue from 'Haider' captures the existential questions surrounding the identity and presence of Kashmiris amid conflict.