Made in India

Whether it is the overwhelming infusion of colour into your wardrobe, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge paying homage to Indian dance styles or Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, India has arrived in a big way and western audiences are loving it.

We list some of the most popular recent English films to come out of India:

The Namesake (2007)
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Tabu, Irfan Khan, Jagannath Guha

Based on the novel of the same title by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake describes the struggles between two first generation Indian immigrants who move from West Bengal to the United States, Ashima Ganguli (Tabu) and Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and their children, Gogol (Kal Penn) and Sonali (Sahira Nair). Namesake is ultimately a story of American-born Gogol wanting to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family's unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways. A touching movie The Namesake speaks to audiences who know about the conflicting divide between divergent cultures and generations.

Bride & Prejudice (2004)
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews, Anupam Kher

A Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, the film plays along the theme of "Bollywood meets Hollywood… it's a perfect match". Lalita Bakhshi (Rai) is a daughter of a farmer (Kher). Lalita is introduced to William Darcy (Henderson), an American businessman. While trying to juggle William out of her life (while he tries to be in hers) she falls in love with Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gillies), a London tourist. Following the story in exactness to Austen's novel — except highly 'oritentalised' with music, dance, song and colour — this film is a riot of laughs.

Trilogy: Fire (1996), Earth (1998), Water (2006)
Director: Deepa Mehta

Director Deepa Mehta is best known for her "elemental" trilogy Fire, Earth and Water.

The first of the trilogy Fire starring veteran actresses Shabana Asmi and Nandita Das, is a controversial film that exposes the relationship between sisters-in-laws who turn to each other for comfort. Applauded worldwide for being ahead of its time, the film questions the destiny of marginalised Indian women.

The second, Earth is based on Bapsi Sidhwa's novel The Ice Candy Man AKA Cracking India and explores questions of religion, identity, friendship and family in the face of partition.

The most recent of the trilogies, Water is placed in 1930s India, when the country was seeped in the practice of child marriage and there was no societal or familial support for widows. Water explores the desperation and destitution a group of women face at a widow ashram — through the eyes of 8-year-old Chuyia, played by a Sri Lankan, Sarala — and through the eyes of a beautiful woman who is abused to raise funds for the ashram, Kalyani, (model Lisa Ray). Mehta's main point in making films is to challenge blind traditions in India, where she draws inspiration from her life and her experiences.

Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Vasundhara Das, Shefali Shetty

Monsoon Wedding is an award-winning film that depicts various romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi wedding in Delhi. The film's central story concerns a father, Lalit Verma (Shah), who is trying to organise a typically arranged wedding for his daughter with a man she has known a few weeks.

By virtue of it being an Indian wedding it is enormous, chaotic and highly expensive. The bride, Aditi Verma (Das), is nervous as she has a secret to hide. The film includes several subplots of abuse, patriarchy, stereotypes and romance between the domestic help. Simultaneously satirical and humorous, it is a touching film about the nuances of culture that make Indians who they are.

The writer is an afficionado of film

We ask: Do you watch Indian movies?

" Yes I do watch Indian movies. They are good entertainers."
— Noreen Malek, fashion designing , Centre for Executive Education

" Though I am from Afganistan, Indian movies really interest me because I think they have some skilled actors and even the storylines of most movies are just fabulous."
— Omaid Kamrani, BBA, Mahatma Gandhi University, Dubai

" For me, it is definitely the 'fashion factor' which is the most luring element in Indian movies. Bollywood movies have turned out to be the trendsetters nowadays."
— Zawar Hakeem, BBA, SZABIST

— Compiled by Aisha Shams Al Deen