Mississippi Masala (1991)

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Drama, Desi.
Language : English, Spanish, Swahili.
Country : India, USA, UK.
Cast : Denzel Washington, Sairta Chaudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton.
Directed by : Mira Nair
Run Time : 118 min
Release Date : 5th February, 1992 (USA).

Synopsis :

“Mississippi Masala” is a lively and seductive tale of interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States. The director touches gently on the irony of this discrimination being practiced in an area synonymous with racial strife, and by a man who is subject to the same kind of exclusion by whites!

While the film focuses on a hot romance, it's also a fascinating study of a unique immigrant community with a richness of detail that borders on the ethnographic, as well as a telling examination of class and status anxiety. The smouldering, sensual attraction between the two leads has such an explosiveness that it's clear they were meant to be together!

Plot :

“Mississippi Masala” is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Jay (Roshan Seth), a third-generation Ugandan Indian lawyer, is forced by the bigoted Idi Amin’s regime to take his family and flee the country. Jay is deeply hurt by the “Africa for Africans” sentiment growing among the black people of Uganda, particularly with the changed behaviour of his childhood friend Okelo (Konga Mbandu). He vows to hate and distrust all blacks - at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government!

Jay moves with his wife, Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore) and daughter, Mina to Greenwood, Mississippi to live with other family members who own a chain of motels there. Now in 1990, Mina (Sarita Choudhury), a child with sketchy memories of Africa, has grown into a ripe beauty of 24, with an American accent that immediately suggests she does not share all of her family's ideas. She works at Anil’s family motel (the Monte Cristo) and helping her parents in earning their livelihood.

Accidently, Mina makes the acquaintance of Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a local African American carpet cleaner. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. This is not the sort of social life Mina's parents approve of; they expect their daughter to marry within their extended community of Indian exiles, and forbid her to see Demetrius.

The ban only serves to underline the isolated nature of the young woman's life, and there are ironies in the racism and colour consciousness she faces. Within her own community, she is considered too dark-skinned to make a desirable wife (her mother explains that ‘if you want to catch a husband, you can be dark and rich, or light and poor, but not dark and poor!’). Within the black community, the Indian woman is at first accepted with friendliness when Demetrius takes her to meet his family at a backyard party. But after all of the local Indian motel owners boycott Demetrius’ rug-cleaning company, the blacks get angry, too.

The respective families erupt in turmoil after the pair is confronted by members of the Indian family during a weekend picnic in Biloxi. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized in Uganda. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Ultimately, the two families cannot come to terms with the interracial pair, who flees together in Demetrius' van!

After a brief return to Kampala to attend a court proceeding on the disposition of his confiscated Ugandan house, Jay relinquishes his long-nurtured dream of returning to Uganda, the place he considered home!

Cast :

■ Demetrius Williams (Denzel Washington)

■ Mina (Sarita Chaudhury)

■ Young Mina (Sahira Nair)

■ Jay, Mina’s Father (Roshan Seth)

■ Kinnu, Mina’s Mother (Sharmila Tagore)

■ Okelo (Konga Mbandu)

■ Tyrone (Charles S. Dutton)

■ Williben (Joe Seneca)

■ Pontiac (Mohan Gokhale)

■ Jammu Bhai (Anjan Srivastava)

■ Anil (Ranjit Chowdhury)

■ Dexter (Tico Wells)


Awards :

1. It won the Critics Special Award at the 1991 São Paulo International Film Festival.
2. It won the Golden Osella Award for Best Story and Screenplay at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival.
3. It won the Best Actor Award at the 1994 NAACP Image Awards - Denzel Washington.
4. It was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival.
5. It was nominated for the Best Picture Award at the 1993 Independent Spirit Awards.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 6.5/10;  AllMovie.com = 3.5/5; Amazon.com = 4.5/5; SunTimes.com = 3.5/5; RottenTomatoes.com = 6.7/10

[Source : Wikipedia, MirabaiFilms, IMDB, AllMovie, Amazon, Chicago Sun-Times, RottenTomatoes]

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Bear's Kiss (2002)

Genre : Romance, Fantasy, Fiction, Drama.
Language : English, Italian, Spanish, Russian.
Country : Russia, Germany, Sweden, Spain, France, Italy.
Cast : Rebecka Liljeberg, Sergei Bodrov Jr., Joachim Król.
Directed by : Sergei Bodrov
Run Time : 101 min
Release Date : 13th Sept, 2002 (Italy).

Synopsis :

"Bear's Kiss" is a fantasy tale of a lonely circus girl trapped in the cheap and tawdry world of circus, who falls in love with a shape-shifting mysterious bear. The film has also been distributed under the titles - ‘Il Bacio dell'orso’ (Italy), ‘Le baiser de l'ours’ (France), ‘Der Kuss des Bären’ (Germany), ‘El beso del oso’ (Spain), and ‘Medvezhiy Potseluy’ (Russia).

Plot :

The film tells the story of Lola (Rebecka Liljeberg), a lonely and sullen 14-year-old circus girl, whose mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) and stepfather are circus artists. Apart from Groppo the Clown (Joachim Król), who keeps an eye out for her, Lola's only real companion is her bear Misha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.) whom she raised from cub hood.

Later, Carmen confirms Lola's suspicions that she is not her real mother and abandons her. A year goes by. One day, when she discovers that the bear can transform into a young man, a secret romance between the two ensues. Because of his free-spirited nature, Misha cannot abide living in a cage any longer and begins to roam the streets where he rescues Lola from an attacker. The authorities get involved and they are forced to leave the circus.

The two of them, along with the clown, join a street-performing sideshow, a motley crew of misfits who are led by a man named Lou. When her father, Marco (Maurizio Donadoni), is killed in a tragic car accident, the circus caravan travels to Spain, where several gypsy fortune-tellers explain the mysterious art of shape-shifting and the responsibilities it entails. Lou has plans for the bear and wants to wrestle him for money in front of wagering audiences. When the bear humiliates him in the first match, Lou in frenzy whips him, and then goes on a drunken rampage during which he tries to rape Lola. Misha kills Lou, but is captured by the police. A frantic Lola visits the gypsy woman again, but she tells Lola that Misha will now remain a bear forever because he has killed a man!

With the help of Groppo, Lola manages to free Misha and the two lovers drive across Europe back to Misha's home. It looks like Lola will have to sacrifice her one true love because she knows that in his bear-state he yearns for the freedom of the wild. She begs him to leave her. When he finally does, she hesitates but then chases after him in desperation. Suddenly now, two bears are running together through the endless Siberian woods!

Cast :

■ Lola (Rebecka Liljeberg)

■ Misha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.)

■ Groppo, The Clown (Joachim Król)

■ Carmen, Lola’s Mother (Ariadna Gil)

■ Marco, Lola’s Father (Maurizio Donadoni)

■ Lou (Keith Allen)

■ Margarita (Anne Marie Pisani)

■ Anna (Marcela Musso)

■ Ringmaster (Silvio Orlando)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 5.8/10;  RottenTomatoes.com = 3.3/5; HKFlix.com = 4/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, RottenTomatoes, AllMovie, HKFlix]

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Windstruck (2004)

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Crime, Action, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Jeon Ji-Hyun, Jang Hyuk, Lee Ki Woo, Kim Chang-Wan, Cha Tae-Hyun.
Directed by : Kwak Jae-Yong
Run Time : 123 min
Release Date : 3rd July, 2004

Synopsis :

“Windstruck” (Korean : Nae Yeoja Chingureul Sogae Habnida a.k.a. Yeochinso; Literally means, ‘Let me introduce (you to) my girlfriend’) is a 2004 South Korean romantic-fantasy comedy film starring one of the most famous Korean actress Jeon Ji-Hyun and up-and-coming actor Jang Hyuk. The film was a major success, ranking as the 8th-highest grossing Korean film of 2004.

In fact, some critics have retorted that ‘Windstruck’ is just another sappy version of ‘My Sassy Girl’. This is true, to a certain extent. However, you could say that Kwak's style of directing has been recombined to give a new bittersweet formula. It seems that Kwak has drawn from his experience in directing comedies such as ‘My Sassy Girl’ and melodramas such as ‘The Classic’, and decided to try both formulas in the same project. The result you get is – ‘Windstruck’!

Plot :

In an interesting opening, the movie has ‘Jeon Ji-Hyun’, standing at the top of a building, attempting to commit suicide, with ‘Jang Hyuk’ as the background narrator. It then moves on to a flashback and switches to a narrative mode to tell the story of the preceding events which eventually lead to the opening scene. Throughout the narration, we witness the encounters of our two protagonists and how they eventually end up together. There were a couple of hilarious moments and scenes which tickle the audience's funny bone!

The story of this movie revolves around Officer Yeo Kyung-Jin (Jeon Ji-Hyun), an ambitious young female police officer serving in the Seoul police department. One day while chasing a purse snatcher, she accidentally captures Ko Myung-Woo (Jang Hyuk), a physics teacher at an all-girls school, who was actually trying to catch the thief. Later, Myung-Woo discovers the stolen purse, but just as he picks it up, Kyung-Jin spots him and tries to arrest him again. Later, Myung-Woo was released as the real thief was caught by the police with the help of the sketch drawn by him!

Kyung-Jin is then given the job of escorting Myung-Woo who was volunteering for patrolling through a dangerous district, only to be distracted when she tries to break up a meeting between Russian Mafia and Korean gangsters. With Myung-Woo handcuffed to her, Kyung-Jin almost single-handedly brings down the two rival gangs (although she is helped when she accidentally causes the groups to start shooting at each other)!

The first half of the film, told from Myung-Woo's point of view, details the couple's growing attraction and love for each other, which climaxes with a trip to the countryside where Myung-Woo tells Kyung-Jin that if he were ever to die, he wanted to come back to earth as the wind. Kyung-Jin narrates a local folklore about the romance between a Princess and her Prince charming (pinky effect!) to Myung-Woo. Soon after, he is almost killed in a freak car accident, but Kyung-Jin saves his life.

The film takes a turn into the fantasy genre in its second half after Myung-Woo is accidentally shot dead by another police officer, Yeong-Ho Kim (although the situation is such that Kyung-Jin thinks that it was her shot that killed him) as Kyung-Jin chases after a notorious criminal, Chang-Soo Shin. Kyung-Jin falls into a suicidal depression over his death and attempts to kill herself several times, almost succeeding when she throws herself off a building, only to be saved when a giant hand-shaped balloon floats under her. Soon after, she experiences visitations from Myung-Woo, who appears as the wind, sending her messages and, at one point, he even appears in her dreams in order to give her the will to live after she is nearly shot to death by the same criminal.

Ultimately the film follows a similar path set out by the American film ‘Ghost’ with Myung-Woo and Kyung-Jin communicating and sharing one final gesture of love before he moves on to the afterlife. Myung-Woo said that he will whisper, when she hears him whisper in the wind, and she will meet someone with a soul like him. Myung-Woo told Kyung-Jin that he will always be beside her inside a book with a photo left by Myung-Woo in the restaurant before he rushed to meet Kyung-Jin who was chasing the insane criminal.

In the first half of the film, Myung-Woo told that his only memory of high school was his high school trip. The book and the photo is found and returned to Kyung-Jin in the police station. The photo showed that on Myung-Woo's trip, Kyung-Jin was also nearby with her friends. This proved Myung-Woo's "I'm always beside you!" was true to Kyung-Jin. Kyung-Jin rushed out to locate the finder of the book, ultimately ending up in the train station, where she is saved by Cha Tae-Hyun's character (credited as ‘The Guy’) from being hit by the arriving train. Myung-Woo whispered that ‘The Guy’ is the one with the soul like him. Kyung-Jin whispers that "he is always beside her!”

Connections to ‘My Sassy Girl’ :

‘Windstruck’ shares the same leading actress and director as an earlier popular South Korean film, ‘My Sassy Girl’. As a result, ‘Windstruck’ contains several subtle references to the previous film. For example, a photo of Jeon Ji-Hyun from ‘My Sassy Girl’ is visible on Kyung-Jin's piano (while playing the piano). Plus the final scene of ‘Windstruck’, in which Kyung-Jin meets her new soul mate (played by Cha Tae-Hyun, the male lead from ‘My Sassy Girl’) on a train platform, is similar to the beginning scene of ‘My Sassy Girl’ and her character from ‘My Sassy Girl’ is distraught over the death of her true love!

Also, when Kyung-Jin is chasing Chang-Soo Shin in ‘Windstruck’, she tells a random citizen to act as a steppingstone to climb over the wall just like in ‘My Sassy Girl’, when she accidentally steps on a runaway soldier (played by the same actor) when she and Cha Tae-Hyun visited the amusement park during her birthday.

Jeon Ji-Hyun also plays the piano in both movies. However, "Windstruck" is not a full 'prequel' to "My Sassy Girl" in the literal sense of the term, but you can feel the connection between them!

Cast :

■ Yeo Kyung-Jin / Princess (Jeon Ji-Hyun a.k.a. Gianna Jun)

■ Ko Myung-Woo (Jang Hyuk)

■ Yeong-Ho Kim, Assistant Inspector (Kim Jeong-Tae)

■ Police Chief / Sheriff (Kim Chang-Wan)

■ Prince (Lee Ki Woo)

■ ‘The Guy’ at Platform / New Soul Mate (Cha Tae-Hyun)

■ Chang-Soo Shin, Criminal (Jeong-Ho Bin)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.1/10;  RottenTomatoes.com = 4.1/5; HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; MovieFilmReview.com = 5/5

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, RottenTomatoes, HanCinema, KoreanFilm, MovieFilmReview]

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Sivaji - The Boss (2007)

Genre : Political Thriller, Romance, Comedy, Action, Musical.
Language : Tamil
Country : India
Cast : Rajinikanth, Shriya Saran, Suman, Vivek.
Directed by : S. Shankar
Music : A. R. Rahman
Run Time : 184 min
Release Date : 15th June, 2007

Synopsis :

“Sivaji: The Boss” (Tamil: சிவாஜி) is a Tamil political thriller film focused on the menace of corruption in Indian politics and bureaucratic system. The movie revolves around a well-established NRI software engineer, Sivaji, who returns home to India after working many years in the United States. On his return, he dreams of giving back to the society with free medical treatment and quality education to the poor people. On his way to implement his charitable plans, he has to face many obstructions and difficulties!

This movie has a plenty of Styles and Mannerisms by the Superstar ‘Rajinikanth’, who is also known as the ‘King of Style’ in India! The music and cinematography of this movie helped it to become a phenomenal success across the globe!

Plot :

The film begins with a masked convict being brought to the Central Prison in Chennai on the charges of scam. The masked convict is revealed to be Sivaji (Rajinikanth). Now, the story goes to flashback mode. Sivaji, a NRI software engineer returns home to India from the United States after many years. He brings with him earnings of up to 250 crore rupees, with an aim to start a charity organization called the Sivaji Foundation in order to provide free education and medical facilities to the poor people. However, his noble ambitions have to face many obstacles of the corrupt bureaucracy and a political kingpin, Adiseshan (Suman) who sabotages his works!

Meanwhile, Sivaji wishes to marry a traditional and cultured Tamil girl. He and his Mama (Vivek) go on their search for an eligible girl in temples, and finally, they found a cute and traditional girl, Tamizhselvi (Shriya Saran). Initially, Tamizhselvi and her parents are against the marriage with a stranger, but after some funny incidents (interactions) they agree to the same. However, just when things were going good, Tamizhselvi refuses to marry Sivaji because of the astrologer’s prediction about Sivaji’s death after this marriage! After some convincing and a funny bollywood-style song, she agrees and marries Sivaji.

Using his political strings, Adiseshan repeals the permits and clearances issued to the Sivaji Foundation by the government, and the construction work of the foundation is stopped by the court’s stay order. Adiseshan mocks Sivaji and gives him a one-rupee coin, challenging him to try and survive with it! Sivaji collects information and robs the black money from the corrupt people and sends the money to USA through hawala route to get it distributed into small denominations by his NRI friends. The same amount is routed back to India in the form of white money as donations to the charity foundation run by Sivaji. Thereby he virtually runs an alternate government by using the black money, helps the poor and develops infrastructure in the state. The jealous and corrupt politicians play some tricks, and finally Sivaji was killed!



The second half of the movie is about the revenge of Sivaji! Now, it is revealed that he has faked his death to the conspirators. After a few days when everyone wonders about the future of Sivaji Foundation, the revived Sivaji returns to take control over the foundation in a disguise of a friend, M.G. Ravichandran (Rajinikanth). Though Adhiseshan realizes that it is Sivaji himself, he is unable to prove this to the police due to the tangible evidence of Sivaji's death. Ravichandran promises to avenge Sivaji's death and eventually manages to corner Adhiseshan and challenge him. After their fight, Adiseshan is killed in a stampede. As a conclusion, the audience are informed of the foundation's success and fulfilment of Sivaji's dreams!

Cast :

■ Sivaji Arumugam / M G Ravichandran (Rajinikanth)

■ Tamizhselvi Ramalingham (Shriya Saran)

■ Adisheshan, The Villain (Suman)

■ Arivu Mama, Sivaji’s Maternal Uncle (Vivek)

■ Dr. Chezhian (Raghuvaran)

■ Sivaji’s Mother (Vadivukarasi)

■ Sivaji’s Father (Manivannan)

■ Tamizhselvi’s Mother (Uma Padmanabhan)

■ Tamizhselvi’s Father (Pattimandram Raja)

■ Tamizhselvi’s Neighbour (Solomon Pappayya)

■ Main Dance Girl in ‘Balleilakka’ Song (Nayantara)

Awards :

1. It won the Silver Lotus Award at the 2008 Indian National Film Awards for Best Art Direction - Thotta Tharani.
2. It won the 2008 Filmfare Awards South for Best Music Director, Best Cinematography, Best Comedian, and Best Villain.
3. It won the 2007 Vijay Awards for Favourite Hero and Best Music Director.
4. It was nominated for the 2008 Filmfare Awards South for Best Actor and Best Film.
5. It was nominated for the 2007 Vijay Awards for Favourite Heroine – Shriya Saran.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 6.5/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 4.1/5; NowRunning.com = 3.5/5; IdleBrain.com = 3/5; MCTalkies.com = 3.25/5; MouthShut.com = 3/5.

[Source : Wikipedia, RottenTomatoes, NowRunning, IdleBrain, MCTalkies, MouthShut]

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My Little Bride (2004)

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Drama.
Language : Korean
Country : South Korea
Cast : Geun-Yeong Moon, Rae-Won Kim, Sun-Yeong Ahn, Bo-Kyeong Kim.
Directed by : Ho-Joon Kim
Run Time : 115 min
Release Date : 1st April, 2004

Synopsis :

“My Little Bride” (Korean : Eorin Shinbu) is a Korean romantic comedy film about an arranged marriage between a teacher and a student. It was the second most popular Korean movie of 2004 in Korea, behind the blockbuster hit ‘Taegukgi’, with 3,149,500 visitors. It was 4th most popular among all films.

“My Little Bride” is a Korean remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film 'My Wife is 18', starring Charlene Choi and Ekin Cheng. "My Little Bride" is not a milestone of Asian cinema, but better than a lot of similar movies of the same genre. A great chemistry between the two main protagonists; lots of loveable side characters and some very funny moments will let you dive into this insignificant joyful world with a smile!

Plot :

Park Sang-min (Rae-Won Kim) returns to Korea after his long trip from America. When he arrives, there are suddenly some family matters he has to take care of. Bo-eun (Geun-Yeong Moon) is an ordinary 15-year old high school girl who worries about grades and has a crush on her school's baseball team ace, Jung-Woo (Park Jin-Woo). One day, Bo-eun's grandfather orders her to marry Sang-min because of a pact he made with Sang-min's grandfather during the Korean War. With a heavy heart, Bo-eun agrees at her grandfather’s deathbed to marry Sang-min. However, she isn't very happy about it, because although she is friends with Sang-min since childhood she thinks of him as a playboy! Bo-eun's undercover married life begins: She pretends that she doesn't have a husband and starts dating Jung-Woo. Bo-eun believes that she can manage both men and live a double life!

Everything goes smoothly until Sang-min visits Bo-eun's school as a trainee teacher for his internship. There a teacher, called 'Miss. Kim' flirts with Sang-min and she later finds out that Sang-min and Bo-eun are married. She punishes Bo-eun by making her paint a huge wall of a stage. Sang-min and his friends then helps Bo-eun with the work of painting without letting her know. When the two families were busy at their monthly get-together, Bo-eun's elder brother accidentally shows a video of Bo-eun with Jung-Woo. Then after that she realises her mistake of cheating Sang-min and apologizes to him. She also learns from her friend that Sang-min had been helping her with the painting. She then breaks up with Jung-Woo. During a cultural festival at Bo-eun's school where Sang-min is asked to make a speech, it is revealed to the entire school that Sang-min and Bo-eun are married. Sang-min then tells everyone that Bo-eun was forced to marry him and begs everyone not to discriminate her and treat her just like others. Now, Bo-eun comes to the stage and tells Sang-min that she is not a kid anymore and tells that she loves him. The movie ends with Sang-min and Bo-eun living happily together!

Cast :

■ Park Sang-min (Rae-Won Kim)

■ Seo Bo-eun (Geun-Yeong Moon)

■ Miss. Kim, Lady Teacher (Sun-Yeong Ahn)

■ Ji-su (Bo-Kyeong Kim)

■ Bo-eun’s Grandfather (In-Moon Kim)

■ Bo-eun’s Father (Ki-Yoon Song)

■ Bo-eun’s Mother (Eun-Sook Seon-Woo)

■ Sang-min’s Father (Jin-Hee Han)

■ Sang-min’s Mother (Hye-Ok Kim)

■ Jung-Woo, Baseball Ace (Park Jin-Woo)

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.1/10;  HanCinema.net = 9.1/10; AsianMovieWeb.com = 6/8

[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, HanCinema, LoveHKFilm, AsianMovieWeb]

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