Mumbai, Oct. 5 -- Hours before the film releases and a day before the reviews appear, here's what you can expect from this week's release(s).
Film: English Vinglish
Cast: Sridevi (last seen in Judaai; 1997) and Amitabh Bachchan (in a cameo role) among others
Storyline: An Indian housewife in America, who is known for her great laddu making skills decides she has take English lessons to earn her husband's respect and get a life.
Director
Gauri Shinde (debutante director)
The ad-filmmaker, who is married to director-producer R Balki, has previously made two short films - Y Not? (2004) and Oh Man (2001). The story of this film has been inspired by her mother.
Music
Amit Trivedi
The title track of the film, 'English vinglish', is bursting with happiness and flooding most radio stations as we speak. Appreciated for its non-Bollywood sound, the album has received pleasant reviews.
Controversies/stunts
Surprisingly, there was not much pre-planned drama surrounding the release of this film.
Marketing/hype
Srivedi's return to the movies after 14-odd years has created enough excitement to last the industry a year. The actor, meanwhile, has gone all out promoting her film on reality shows, shaking a leg with once-competitor Madhuri Dixit-Nene as well as Amitabh Bachchan.
Our assessment
Put a typical Indian housewife in an ever more typical American setting and then throw in a feel-good scene of her walking down a Manhattan sidewalk, and you have already brought tears of pride to half of India's female population. The ones who want watch the film - due to the promo or Sridevi - will do so in any case. The excess patriotism in the promos is the only hitch.
-Compiled by Serena Menon
For the final verdict, look out for Anupama Chopra's review tomorrow in the Watch & Listen page in the Hindustan Times
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.
