We've watched a couple of excellent Indian films recently. Firstly, My Name Is Khan, featuring George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Shahrukh Khan (who actually manages to do some acting, which is astonishing). A study of autism and terrorism.



Secondly, Guru which has Big B's son doing an excellent bit of acting as a Gujurati cloth businessman who has a stroke after getting exposed for corruption but fights back in an excellent courtroom speech climax. Topically it manages to skewer the paradox about big business and corruption, namely that businesses need to get their way to make money for the people whatever the cost, but a country can't allow corruption because everything goes wrong. (Likewise in A Few Good Men where Jack Nicholson points out that we need psychos on the front line to defend us rational people.)



(Normally I would call these films "Bollywood" films but (as an outsider) I'm beginning to think that that term is better reserved for the colourful singing and dancing films. Guru has songs and dancing but maybe it's vestigial and there's a new wave of more thoughtful Indian film-making, harking back to the days of Satyajit Ray and the social conscience of Raj Kapoor.)

(Both of these films recommended by my sister-in-law Pari - thanks!)

This post was originally on LiveJournal.