Hari Puttar: Attack of the Clones

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Young’uns Shefali Chowdhury and Afshan Azad play Parvati and Padma Patil in the latest Harry Potter movie, the one with a goblet of masala pani. They’re Harry and Ron Weasley’s backup dates for Hogwarts’ Yule Ball:

Born in London in 1989 and brought up in a conservative Muslim family, Shefali is of Bangladeshi origin. Her parents had migrated to England from Sylhet, Bangladesh… She plays the role of Parvati Patil in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film. Prior to that her only recorded film appearance was an uncredited role in Kannathil Muthamittal in 2002.

She plays Harry Potter’s Yule Ball date in Goblet of Fire. Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter in the film… told This Is London: “I had a dance scene with Shefali. She was completely gorgeous.” [Link]

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p>I counted ~8 British Asian kids in the movie, one with a long closeup. Somewhere between installments two and three, casting got the diversity clue.

This movie was lovely and lots of fun, it held my attention. Numbers three and four have both been much better than the slow, dumbed-down numbers one and two. Favorite scene: underwater with the merpeople. What is it about smart girls named Emma? The movie obliquely referred to 9/11, King Kong and being misquoted by the press. The over-the-top reporter reminded me of the purring, Eartha Kitt-like gossip maven, Kitty DaSouza, from Bombay Dreams.

Favorite design touches: the asymmetrically puckered Beauxbatons Academy caps and the recurring Russian dolls motif (trumpets inside trumpets, steamer trunks within steamer trunks). Least favorite bits: The skull/snake design was pretty cheesy. Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort is hammy, not scary. The Bulgarian villains veer into camp, like Drago from Rocky IV. The visiting schools’ entrance routines were downright giggle-inducing.

Two desi girls joined at the hip, showing up in matching Indian clothes, getting annoyed if you don’t pay them enough attention, shooting glances like daggers and flouncing off with other guys? That’s not fantasy, that’s reality

Watch the trailer.

Related posts: Hari Puttar and the Order of the Phoenix, Psst… wanna buy a Harry Potter?, To me, “HP” will always mean Hewlett-Packard, Hari Puttar and the half-caste raja, Hari Puttar in Calcutta, The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe,…and some Indians

73 thoughts on “Hari Puttar: Attack of the Clones”

  1. Azkaban was definitely better, but Goblet had its moments as well. Loved the dragon fight.

    And for cryin’ out loud – can’t a girl just put a spell on a guy to make him ask her for the dance? Askmeoutos Rightonos!! It’s a School of Magic, for Chris’ sakes.

    Unless of course, the girl wants the boy to be interested on his own…

    M. Nam

  2. A girl can give a boy a love potion (see Book VI), but as we learned they are dangerous things!

  3. Hermie needs some Love Potion #9:

    It smelled like turpentine, and looked like Indian ink. I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink! I didnÂ’t know if it was day or night. I started kissing everything in sight.

  5. Thanks DD! It’s nice to see a person in my age range designing desi clothes.

    Thanks to Jane, too!

    🙂

  6. Hey DD is that you in the pics ?

    Loved the rangoli photo by the way — the way all the lamps are glowing etc.

  7. Don’t know nathan about Harish Puttar but random sartorial musings…

    Maybe the first generation aren’t as neurotic as us to think every minor decision has to be analysed under some simplistic colonialism/enlightenment rubric.

    The dozen or so simple-middleclass weddings in the motherland I have attended featured bride in the traditional red sari, groom in a simple dress shirt, slacks. The whole hand-embroidered sari/elaborate sherwanis are more a upper class thing. Male guests were all wearing half-sleeve mosquito shirts. Weddings are a rite of passage not a fashion show. Informal too, bride/groom do their march around the fire, no one’s paying attention, hundereds of peoples just mingling/gossiping till it’s time to hit the buffet. Your neighbor’s brother’s milkman shows up with his friends and no one’s the wiser. I like this feature rather than the somber by-the-numbers American/desi-American affair with precise place settings/invites. Not to mention no untalented rugrats parading around like Meena Kumari

    Also, any shlub can improve himself in a well-picked off-the-rack-suit. It’s generally harder for a man to look good in a shewani/nice kurta if you don’t have the right build. I would say the same thing for the sari vs the dress. That being said there is nothing more sublime than a raven-haired lovely in a sari, even when it doesn’t come off.

    I’ve always thought it curious that Indian politicians can’t politically wear a suit. Evil Western design that it is. And don’t tell me it’s b/c the suit is impractical. It’s hot in Africa and the Middle East, and I got a nehru jacket..it ain’t made for comfort. Bit silly. Few cultures hold their politicians to such exacting standards. My main man, Manny Singh looks distinguished in that Nehru jacket but he can’t rock a suit even if he feels like it. I’m sure he must have worn one at least once during his stint at Oxford. Even Mushy gives up his jungle fatigues once in a while when he wants to look natty. I blame Nehru and the Non-alignment non-strategy strategy.

  8. Definitely agree that the Asian/ehtnic dresses were cheap/flimsy/unattractve. It’s a wonder the poor actresses managed to look even “slightly” attractive in them. The middle pic definitely shows the oriental dress and hair to advantage compared to our desi garb – what fudge?
    Loved the movie but definitely have a beef with their depiction of “good ol’ Paki gals” (as all south asians in the UK are but clubbed together and lovingly called “Pakis”)!!!!!!!!!!!!! I say we MUTINYYYYYYYYYYYY

  10. Second gen thinks desi threads = luscious.

    Second gen males in the West — Yes. Second gen males back in India — Not necessarily, although it depends on the individual. They’re much less into it than those of us out here.

  11. If it’s important to that person, well maybe they have a reason (life experience, etc) for it, and far be it from me, to tell them they are wasting their time and should spend it elsewhere.

    forest from the trees please!

    anyway, i watch a lot of british stuff on NETFLIX, and sometimes i read reviews of documentaries and movies, and i’ve noticed a trend that reviewers (london based) are starting to complain A LOT about a lack of racial/ethnic diversity in casts, when they are only 3-6 people primarily. i think this is a mind-bot that media ‘elites’ are starting to repeat mindlessly like drones, ‘must have diversity, must have diversity.’ but, i also think it is prejudice, that is, london-based prejudice against the rest of the country! just like people in ‘red america’ express a conceit that they are the ‘real america,’ it seems to me that london based intellectuals forget that the VAST majority of britain is almost totally white. so, i’m getting pissed off at the belly-aching for diversity in some quarters. not necessarily in this case specifically, i’m all for browns in the movies (both of these girls are) as long as they don’t go topless like that class half-pak non-A+ glass blower down below. i’m just saying, the ‘must look like the nation’ type rhetoric gets annoying, the USA is 30% non-white. britain is 8% non-white. but the rhetoric is converging from what i can tell.

  12. Razib, I agree the glass blower lady isn’t terribly attractive, but what is wrong with brown girls in general going topless in films as opposed to whites?

  14. It’s generally harder for a man to look good in a shewani/nice kurta if you don’t have the right build.

    Sherwanis are usually pretty structured.

  16. Hi, new here but came across this thread on google.

    I was a little pissed of about the dresses as well. I have seen street kids wearing better laingas than that. Assuming they are second generation brits who can probably manufacture money with their magical skill, the poor/middle class girls excuse doesn’t work here. They must have had a stupid, ignorant costume designer. You would think they would get someone good and do a little bit of research for a $300 million movie. Better looking girls wouldn’t have hurt either. I am sure they could have dug up someone better in UK. Actually the girls aren’t too bad, I think he ugly dress just kills them.

  17. wow!!! Shefali is really hott. especially in the desi clothes. i can’t wait to see her in other movies.

  19. Shefali Choudhary has played a brilliant role in the movie “Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire”. They’ve done the job that Parvati of the previous sequel was lacking. Whatsoever she is a NRI Bangladeshi, she has maintained the Indian (Asian) culture on the screen also. She was looking more than gorgeous in the yuleball scene of the movie. In scene they were the most simple of all. And I’ve the motto also ‘Simple Living And High Thinking’. Hope for best for Shefali and her carrier. Krish kirtitaye@yahoo.co.in

  20. Quoting Kirti “Whatsoever she is a NRI Bangladeshi, she has maintained the Indian (Asian) culture on the screen also.” What is NRI Bangladeshi?