A Windows Media version of Leena Pendharkar’s short film, “This Moment,” is downloadable over at Cinequest Online (via Hollywood Masala). You can watch the film in its entirety by registering with the site, which is free. The 15-minute film stars Purva Bedi (“American Desi”) and Danny Wooten. From the film’s official web site:

Can love really conqueror all? Uma Balachandran, a 20-something Indian American woman is at a unique crossroads: faced with a romantic, sunrise proposal from her African American boyfriend John Ray, her instinct is to say yes. But she’s haunted by her father’s wishes for her to marry the perfect Indian man. What’s worse, Uma’s old flame of 4 years, the all-American Troy Black, wants Uma back so badly, he’s planning to storm in on Uma and John and break up their sunrise tryst. But an unlikely stranger alters his destiny. Does love really conquer anything? Maybe. Maybe not. Set in front of the rising sun behind the beautiful backdrop of San Francisco, A Moment is about choices. (15 minutes, Super 16 mm)

Unfortunately, Cinequest disdains cross-platfrom compatibility, so the film only plays on Windows Media Player 9 for Windows 98/2000/XP. I won’t be able to watch it on my trusty Mac, so you’ll have to guide me with your reviews.

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Interesting stats on the $$$ behind the flick “American Desi” –

The budget for “[American] Desi” was roughly $200,000 and was released in 2001 on a limited basis — in about 40 U.S. art house movie theaters. The film earned about $1 million in U.S. ticket sales. Overseas receipts took in another $1 million in the United Kingdom and India. “All of the investors (families included) were able to get their capital back, plus the agreed 25 percent,” said Pandya. …Pandya said a sequel for “American Desi” is in the works. Most of the investors who funded the first film are already committed to the second project.

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The February issue of National Geographic Magazine has a comprehensive feature about Bollywood by “Maximum City” author Suketu Mehta. While he offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the hit film “Veer-Zaara,” the true gem of this package is a narrated photo essay by William Albert Allard. The magazine also delves into the Indian film industry’s less-than-stellar counterpart in Pakistan, dubbed Lollywood.

National Geographic Magazine: Photo Essay (requires Flash), Lollywood, Feature Article

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Watching Bollywood films can often strike you with a maddening case of deja vu. You think you’ve seen the movie before, but you just can’t identify the what, when and where of your suspicion. Enter Bollycat (via Nirali Magazine), a new web site started by a team of students at SUNY Rockland, which aims to link Bollywood films to their Hollywood “inspirations.”

“It’s wrong to even use the word inspiration here,” said web site creator Haydur Agha in a press release. “It’s really stealing someone else’s creation and molding it to fit the Indian taste without ever officially mentioning or paying for the rights to the original content. And it’s not fair to the fans either.”

The site invites visitors to submit their own listings, and currently cites more than 100 such cases of plagarism: “Shree 420,” a story about a young man’s self-destructive journey to the top, allegedly derives its source from Orson Welle’s classic “Citizen Kane.” My personal favorite, “Dil Chahta Hai,” might have taken its story of post-college estrangement and reunification from “St. Elmo’s Fire,” and “Reality Bites.” I submitted my own Bollycat — last year’s “Kal Ho Naa Ho,” a NRI-flavored tale about an ill-fated love triangle, clearly took its cues from adult megahit “Three-Way Betty IV: Dildo’s Revenge.” Go ahead, try to prove me wrong.

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In a recent interview about her upcoming film Namesake, Mira Nair mentioned the following about her lead actor Kal Penn:

…after meeting him I felt that he was just the right man for the job. He is the fastest rising Indian American star. His film Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle is a big hit out here and all the 13-year-olds in America know and love him. The Namesake will be his first dramatic role. He is an extraordinary actor. He has just signed on as Superman’s best friend in the new movie called Superman Returns.

What? Oh my gosh, that is so cool. An Indian guy as Superman’s best friend instead of as a terrorist? Wait. It can’t be. Ign.com cures me of my delusions:

Penn confirmed that he will portray one of Lex Luthor’s henchmen (one of a handful seen in the film). Penn – who has been friends with the new Man of Steel, Brandon Routh, for about four years – admitted that he will only be reading the script for the first time this week and that he has yet to meet Kevin Spacey but is excited to work with him. A fan of director Bryan Singer’s films, Penn added that he is scheduled to go to Australia closer to the summer to film his scenes. His stint on Superman will last about two months.

Okay. THAT I can believe.

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Salon writer Cara Anna became a Bollywood extra through casting agents who stalk backpacker hostels in Bombay. She played many a blank, blond backup dancer, getting a taste of reverse exoticization (via Attempt to Be Hip):

[Casting agents] wait patiently… skimming over the dirty and the clearly stoned, looking for the freshest faces… Lonely Planet guidebooks in hand… Want to be in a film? Just get in this car…Westerners resemble certain Mexican laborers — picked up from street corners, without the proper work papers, by shady middlemen who keep a generous dose of a long day’s pay for themselves…

I could… eavesdrop on actors complaining about Bollywood’s gay casting couch. Being foreign and assumed ignorant, I was harmless…  I not only met stars but became a casting agent, a dancer, a pitch-making screenwriter, a documentary assistant and an aspiring film journalist, all in less than four months…

I met a man from New York who, knowing nothing about Bollywood, became a bodyguard for one of India’s biggest actors. He worked his new connections, appearing in runway shows, and made the Mumbai tabloids as the rumored new lover of a dimpled starlet.

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No, but the Scandinavian country of 4.5 million people is pumping out South Asian entertainers at a fantastic clip.

Last week we read about, heard, and ultimately shredded the musical offerings from Norway-born Deeyah. This week we present actress and model Negar Khan, who was born in Iran, but raised in Norway, and considers the country her home. You’ve probably never heard of her, but she has appeared in several music videos and starred in Bollywood films as an “item girl.”

Khan’s name was on everyone’s lips yesterday when the industry learned that she was deported from India for allegedly working without valid visa documents. From Indo-Asian News Service:

Police officials said Khan had been working in India without a proper work permit and that she had refused to respond to repeated notices sent by authorities on the issue.

“We sent her a notice one month back but she didn’t respond. She was working here without proper documents,” Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy told reporters.

Bollywood reacted with shock to the sudden deportation of Khan, terming the treatment meted out to her as inappropriate. “The manner in which she has been deported is absolutely indecorous,” said leading filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

But were the reactions of shock just another bad Bollywood acting job? It appears that the deportation of Khan is part of an effort that was prompted by peers who were tired of losing jobs to outsiders:

Police officials said Khan’s arrest and her deportation was part of a larger crackdown against foreigners working in India’s film and advertising industry without valid papers.

They, however, did not say if any other film personalities were facing a probe.

Indian actors and models have for long been complained that non-resident Indians come to India on tourist visas and pick up plum projects.

Today’s temperature in Oslo is expected to hit a high of 32 degrees. This marked the first time that it sucked to be a Khan in Bollywood.

IANS/Yahoo!: Negar Khan deported for visa breach, industry stunned

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Reviews for “Bride & Prejudice” are starting to trickle in, and none are more integral to the film’s box office prospects than the bi-directional thumbs of critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper

The verdict? Two thumbs up.

If you weren’t able to watch the show last weekend, here’s a brief recap:

: Go see this on the big screen. You need to fully appreciate the vibrant colors and the great music.
: Oh, I loved it too and I’ve seen a lot of Bollywood movies in recent years. They combine everything. And I have to admit, Aishwarya Rai has your eyes.
: Fo’ real? Whenever Gurinder Chadha waddles into a screening, I can’t help but think of you.
: Let’s make out.
: Okay.

Aw’ yeah, how’s that for some romantic diction? Sure, that recap might contain some inconsistencies or entire fabrications, but you get the gist. If you want to hear the real review, click here to download the MP3 (size: 250 KB). It’s worth the time, if just to hear the entertaining pair debate the placement of Rai on their list of most beautiful women in the world. (Roeper has her at #17; Ebert at #1).

“Bride & Prejudice” opens on February 11.

Sepia Mutiny: Fisking the “Bride and Prejudice” campaign; “Bride and Prejudice” postponed to February; The New York Times on “Bride and Prejudice”; Gurinder Chadha on her “Bride and Prejudice”

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