panelarrow

Samosas and Bollywood

| 0 comments

 

Many people may not know that the Dallas- Fort Worth Metroplex is home to one of the biggest Indian Diasporas in America. The introduction of Indian culture into Texas can be seen by traveling to Richardson. Richardson is home to Indian markets, authentic Indian restaurants, and Bollywood theaters. Before our class trip to Fun Asia, Nicole, Eva, and I took a pit stop at Royal Sweets and Fast Food. The restaurant was mainly a sweet shop with desserts in vibrant colors and strange shapes. As we stared at these sweets it quickly dawned on us that we had no clue what anything was and none of us really liked Indian Sweets. So we pushed ahead to the counter and ordered samosa chaat. As we sat down and devoured out chaat we watched as costumers buzzed around the store. Whole families came in and sat down for dinner while others quickly ordered packages of sweets and left.  With our stomachs full and our eyes watering from the spice, we got into the car and headed to Fun Asia.

 

Fun Asia, also in Richardson, is a Bollywood theater that also serves as a banquet hall. The theater is decorated with posters of famous Bollywood films and has a snack bar that serves tasty Indian snacks. The theaters themselves are no different from a typical movie theater. Not many previews play before the movie starts but there are advertisements that promote relators, lawyers, and doctors in the community.

 

The film Shaandaar did not receive great reviews so I went into the movie with low expectations. The movie tells the story of two sisters as one falls in love and the other gets married. The main character, Alia, was adopted into a very high profile family. She is very close with her father and sister but was never accepted by her mother or grand mother. The movies follows Alia as she falls in love with the wedding planner JJ and as she find out the truth about her birth parents. Alia’s sister, Isha, if being forced into an arrange marriage in order to secure a business deal that will bring wealth back to her family. The movie takes place in a mansion as the two families prepare for the wedding. Ultimately the wedding does not occur and the moral of the story is reveled; listen to your heart and don’t let anyone influence what you want. Much of the criticism directed at the movie stems from the use of animation. The film starts out as an animation that tells the history of how Alia joined the family. When the movie flips to current day it changes to film. Through out the rest of the film there will be specific objects that remain animates, such as the frog. This gives the film a fun and whimsical feeing but it also is distracting and seems out of place. The film was not as horrible as I had expected and it managed to keep my attention and I actually found it funny. I really enjoyed my experience at Fun Asia and can’t wait to see more Bollywood films.

shaandaarposter759

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *.


Skip to toolbar