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See also World Cinema Collection, filter=European Cinema – Indian Cinema
3 idiots. 2009, 1 videodisc (107 min.). "Two friends embark on a quest for a lost buddy. On this journey, they encounter a long forgotten bet, a wedding they must crash, and a funeral that goes impossibly out of control. As they make their way through the perilous landscape, another journey begins: their inner journey through memory lane and the story of their friend--the irrepressible free-thinker Rancho, who in his unique way, touched and changed their lives"--Container. DVD 7996
36 Chowringhee Lane. 1981, 1 videodisc (ca. 108 min.). Violet, a middle-aged Anglo-Indian schoolteacher living alone in Calcutta befriends a former student and her boyfriend and has happy times with them. Then, after her brother, who lives in a nursing home, dies and the student and her boyfriend are married, Violet has no one left and must leave India to go live with faraway relatives. DVD 12766
Amar, Akbar, Anthony. 1977, 1 videodisc (168 min.). Lavish action-filled account of the separation, separate lives, and eventual reunion of three brothers: one raised by a Hindu policeman, one raised by a Muslim tailor, and one raised by a Catholic priest. DVD 3696
Andaz. 1971, 1 videodisc (156 min.). Rajoo and Sheetal get married despite strong opposition from their parents. Life is sheer bliss for the couple until one day Rajoo has a tragic accident and is killed, leaving a pregnant Sheetal totally devastated. She delivers a baby boy and also secures a job as a schoolteacher. She meets Ravi, a widower. In time they fall in love with each other and decide to get married. But Ravi's mom objects to this marriage, and accuses Sheetal of being a woman of questionable means. DVD 6825
Anjaam. 1994, 1 videodisc (163 min.). A rich man meets an airline hostess and falls in love. DVD 3586
Ankur. 1974, 1 videodisc (125 min.) Values clash as loyalties are tried and tested in a rural Indian setting. Class conflict of the idle-rich landowning class against toiling peasants is dramatized in a brief extra-marital liaison between an attractive village laborer and her young employer. This film launched a new style of naturalist acting deploying regionalised Hindi accents and helped define a "middle-of-the-road" cinema which adapted psychological realism and regionalism to the conventions of the mainstream Hindi movie. DVD 223
Anubhav. 1971, 1 videodisc (130 min.). A newspaper editor becomes estranged from his wife when his newly hired assistant turns out to be her ex-lover. DVD 239
Aparajito = The unvanquished. 1956, 1 videodisc (111 min.). Apu trilogy. Follows the life of the poor Bengali country boy, Apu and his encounter with the school system in Benares and later with the intellectual life at the university in Calcutta. DVD 3752 and Streaming video.
Apu Trilogy. 1955, 1956, and 1959, 3 videodiscs (323 min.). disc 1 Pather panchali = Song of the little road (1955, 119 min.) -- disc 2 Aparajito = The unvanquished (1956, 104 min.) -- disc 3 Apu sansar = The world of Apu (1959, 100 min.). Pather panchali: A poor Bengali family survives in a village but wider horizons tempt the father. The protection of family members’ reputations, the relationship of the family group to an elderly ’aunt’, and first confrontations with death contribute to the early development of the boy Apu. His father’s dreams prevail over the objections of his mother so that at the end of the film the family moves to the big city of Benares. Aparajito: Follows the life of the poor Bengali country boy, Apu and his encounter with the school system in Benares and later with the intellectual life at the university in Calcutta. The world of Apu: The shy young man, Apu, is drawn into marriage out of regard for friendship and Hindu custom. He quickly realizes his love for his wife. They are blissfully happy for a year, until she dies in childbirth, leaving him the desolate father of a child. DVD 3751 – 3753 and Streaming video- Pather panchali, Aparajito, Apu sansar
Apur Sansar = The world of Apu. 1959, 1 videodisc (ca. 100 min.). Apu trilogy. The shy young man, Apu, is drawn into marriage out of regard for friendship and Hindu custom. He quickly realizes his love for his wife. They are blissfully happy for a year, until she dies in childbirth, leaving him the desolate father of a child. DVD 3753 and Streaming video.
Arzoo. 1950, 1 videodisc (129 min.). Samrat collections. Kamini and Badal are childhood sweethearts. When a charred body is found in Badal's room after a fire he is presumed dead. Kamini marries another man, but never forgets Badal. Then one day she meets him again. DVD 4517
Ashani sanket = Distant thunder. 1973, 1 videodisc (92 min.). Set in India in 1942 before the Bengal famine, a Brahmin (Soumitra Chatterjee) and his beautiful wife (Babita) find their village, despite a successful harvest, overrun by famine as all available grain is diverted to British troops for World War II. Village social order collapses as the situation grows increasingly desperate and the man is forced to abandon his priestly identity and his bourgeois aspirations. DVD 5303
Astitva. 2000, 1 videodisc (113 min.). Srikant, a businessman totally engrossed in his work, discovers that his wife has been unfaithful and that his son is not really his. He too has cheated, but justifies it because he is a man. He demands a divorce. But will everything that the couple has built up over so many years be destroyed? DVD 8796
Bandini. 1963, 1 videodisc (145 min.). Kalyani, a model prisoner, must choose between a jail-doctor who offers fulfillment or her former lover who offers a past full of disillusionment and broken promises. DVD 233
Bandit Queen. 1994, 1 videodisc (ca. 119 min.). Phoolan Devi was a murderer, kidnapper and living folk legend who had endured a life of rape and abuse after beng sold into marriage at the age of eleven. A spree of murders known as the Behmai Massacre to avenge the death of her lover made Devi the object of a police hunt. In prison from 1983 until 1994, she spent years being prosecuted by the Indian police, only to be turned into a legend by the Indian press. This true story shocked the world and brought the Indian government to its knees. DVD 1292
Before the rains. 2007, 1 videodisc (98 min.). After a British spice planter falls in love with his alluring servant, an idealistic young man finds himself torn between his ambitions and his family, his village, and his past. Loyalties are tested and destinies decided as two worlds collide. DVD 8809
Bharat Mata = Mother India. 1957, 1 videodisc (163 min.). Depicts, through one woman's life from marriage to old age, the joys and tragedies of village life in rural India. DVD 3178
Bhumika = The role. 1976, 1 videodisc (139 min.). Usha rises fast in the film world and eventually becomes a well known actress. She is influenced by four men she meets at various points in her life: her first husband, Keshav; the narcissistic male co-star, Rajan; the effete filmmaker, Sunil Verma; and the landowner, Kale, whose second wife she eventually becomes. DVD 3503
Bombay talkie. 1970, 1 videodisc (111 min.). The Merchant Ivory collection. A troubled romance laced with barbed wit and pointed melodrama and an affectionate view of the Indian film industry (aka Bollywood). A visiting English author becomes involved with a married Indian movie star; when the romance fizzles she flees to an ashram. DVD contains special features: documentary: Helen, queen of the nautch girls. DVD 661
Bumbai = Bombay. 1995, 1 videodisc (130 min.). A Hindu man and a Muslim woman fall in love in a small village and move to Mumbai, where the have two children. However, growing religious tensions and erupting riots threaten to tear the family apart. DVD 235
Bunty aur Babli. 2005, 1 videodisc (163 min.). Two ambitious dreamers, Rakesh and Vimmi, set out from different small towns to find fame. Instead, they find each other and form the duo, Bunty and Babli. They commit criminal capers, with an ambitious police inspector, DCP Dashrath Singh, hot on their trail. DVD 10270
Chak de! India. 2007, 2 videodiscs (152 min.). Kabir Khan knows what it's like to come back from the dead. The ex-Indian captain has now come back in the avatar of the coach of the Indian Women's National Hockey team. A team that exists more on paper and less in reality. The girls have never known the thrilling energy of being Team India. But Kabir, once a captain, now forgotten, does. Despite his past, he believes that if only the girls played as one, anything would be possible. DVD 10273
Charulata. 1964, 1 videodisc (119 min.). Set in late 19th-century, pre-independence India, this film is about a woman's artistic and romantic yearning. It is about the lonely wife of a workaholic newspaper editor, Charulata, whose beautiful face masks a burning creativity. When her husband's poet cousin comes to stay with them, Charulata finds herself both inspired by him creatively and dangerously drawn to him physically. A delicate tale of a marriage in jeopardy and a woman taking the first steps toward establishing her own voice. DVD 8905
Chennai express. 2 videodiscs (141 min.). The entertaining action-packed, hilarious story of a 40-year old bachelor, Rahul, who lands up on a totally unexpected journey that makes him realize the importance of love, life, relationships, and sacrifice. It's a train journey that not only takes Rahul accidentally to his destination, but also makes him realize the power of true love. DVD 11295
The courtesans of Bombay. 1983, 1 videodisc (74 min.). Pavan Pool is an enclosed area of Bombay where the city's singing and dancing courtesans ply their trade. Crammed tenements house thousands of men playing up to the camera as they seek out forbidden pleasures - and the courtesans themselves, who appear more as entertainers than sex workers. It shows how young girls are groomed in the arts of singing, dancing, and by inference, seduction. The film is about a tradition with a special place in Indian society: the entertainment of paying customers - always men - by songstresses and dancers who perform in the classical Hindustani styles of the ancient "nautch" girls. DVD 11491
Deewaar. 1975, 1 videodisc (160 min.). This film is about two brothers, one a cop and the other a criminal. The brothers share a mutual adoration for their mother and though they care for each other, they end up at odds due to their respective choices in life. DVD 225
Dhoom. 2004, 1 videodisc (292 min., 52 sec.). Dhoom: A police officer enlists the help of a motorcycle mechanic to catch a gang of chopper-riding uber-criminals. DVD 10270
Dhoom:2 Back in action. 2006, 1 videodisc (151 min., 52 sec.). Mr. A, a master thief that baffles the police at every turn, finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse when his rival, the clever thief Sunehri, threatens to beat him to his latest target in Mumbai, India. DVD 10271
Dil deke dekho. 1960, 1 videodisc (171 min.). Neeta is an heiress, the only daughter of U.K. based Industrialist, Jagat Narayan. She falls in love with Raja. Things take a dramatic turnn when Jagat and Neeta find out that Raja is not who he claims he is. When Raja defends himself, and calls himself Roop, his very own mother denies this claim, and instead states that Chandra is Roop, her only son. Raja alias Roop must now make attempts to prove himself, and realizes that this is indeed an uphill task. DVD 8838
Dil se. 1998, 1 videodisc (165 min.). Romantic drama set in an atmosphere of political turbulence; incorporates fantasy sequences of dance and song. DVD 1621
Dilwale dulhania le jayenge. 1995, 1 videodiscs (179 min.). Rahul and Simran fall in love while travelling in Europe on an inter-rail holiday. Simran's father, settled in London for twenty-two years, is determined that his daughter should marry a family friend, back in their homeland of rural Punjab. All his plans undergo serious revision once the family travels to India and Rahul also shows up. DVD 3693
Disco dancer = òDisko òdåaçnsara. 1982, 1 videodisc (135 min). Jimmy is a singer and disco dancer who amasses wealth and fans enough to kindle hostile envy in his arch rival. His quick rise to fame and riches also makes him a highly sought after personality at social events, and he uses his clout to avenge an old insult to his mother. He now has a whole new set of enemies, and his singing and dancing career acquires a dangerous note. DVD 2715
Dor. 2006, 1 videodisc (147 min.). Tells the moving story of love, loss, friendship, hope and redemption. It is a tale of two women from two different worlds. The emphasis is on spirit and emotions. DVD 9025
Dostana. 2008, 1 videodisc (ca. 204 min.). "After the passing of her parents, Neha Melwani lives in Miami with her aunt. She rents out a room in her apartment to two seemingly gay Indian men, Kunal Chauhan and Sameer Acharya, a photographer and nurser respectively. She introduces them to her departing gay boss, Murli, and falls in love with her new boss, Abhimanyu Singh. She will soon realize that she has two rivals for her new love - none other than Kunal and Sameer." --IMDb. DVD 7259
Dry summer. 1964, 1 videodisc (246 min.). Criterion collection: Martin Scorsese's world cinema project: Dry Summer: Follows a selfish farmer who builds a dam to prevent water from flowing downhill to his neighbor's crops, and a love triangle between the farmer, his more decent brother and a beautiful villager. BLU 11209
Earth. 1999, 1 videodisc (101 min.). A romantic drama set in 1947 in Lahore before India and Pakistan became independent, where Hindu, Sikh, Parsee, and Muslim share a peaceful co-existence. Events are seen from the point of view of eight-year-old Lenny, a girl from an affluent Parsee family. Lenny's nanny, Shantya, is involved with the Muslim Masseur. When a train of Muslims arrives at the local depot and all the passengers are found murdered, the various sects turn against each other, and the city is soon aflame. DVD 4675
An enemy of the people. 1989, 1 videodisc (99 min.). A principled doctor meets opposition when he charges that the holy water at a local temple is the cause of sickness in his community. DVD 9944
English, August. 1994, 1 videodisc (102 min.). PAL format. Irreverent story of a watershed year in the life of a young and reluctant civil servant dispatched to Madna, the hottest small town in India. DVD 1471
Firaq. 2008, 1 videodisc (101 min.). In the midst of the 2002 riots between the Hindus and the Muslims in Gujarat, the lives of people from different walks of life are all tested, from a couple desperately trying to decide whether or not to stay in their home, to a woman who must deal with the guilt of sending someone away, to a group of men bent on revenge. DVD 7864
Fire. 1996, 1 videodisc (108 min.). Banned in India, this film was the first to confront lesbianism in that country. Radha Kapur (Azmi) is in a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy. Her life takes an irresistible turn when Mundu (Chowdhry), her beautiful young sister-in-law, seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage and they find solace and love in each other's arms. DVD 184
Garm hava = Hot winds. 1974, 1 videodisc (150 min.). Dramatization of the plight of north India's Muslim minority during the Partition upheavals. A Muslim shoe factory owner must decide whether to emigrate to newly-formed Pakistan or remain in his ancestral home and business. DVD 6247
Gulabi Aaina = The Pink mirror. 2003, 1 videodisc (40 min.). A colorful funny look into the Indian homosexual closet, this film pits two Indian drag queens against a westernized gay teenager in a battle to woo a handsome hunk. Underneath the humorous exterior, the film is an exploration of the Indian gay landscape and understanding of the deep, humanly tender bondings that exist between drag queens who form unique non-patriarchal families. DVD 3692
Haré Rama Haré Krishna. 1971, 1 videodisc (140 min.). Brother, separated from her in childhood, attempts to save sister from cult. Since his sister won't recognize him, his fiancée doesn't understand. DVD 3502
Hey! Ram. 1999, 1 videodisc (199 min.). A glimpse of the tumultuous moments of Indian history. The story begins at the bedside of Saket Ram, 89 years old Saket Ram is trying to die as gracefully as possible. Astride waves of nostalgia and his memories, the story goes back to the 1940`s. Saket Ram (Kamal Haasan)and his close associate and friend Amjad Ali Khan (Shahrukh Khan) are archeologists working under Mortimer Wheeler at the excavation sites of Mohenjodardo. Saket Ram and Amjad do not see the need for such division of India, Gandhiji never did like this division to accommodate an Islamic state. He wanted to accommodate all within one country as brothers and equals. DVD 226
The home and the world. 1984, 1 videodisc (138 min.). Series 40: Late Ray: Eclipse (Criterion Collection) Satyajit Ray surveys a love triangle amid social revolution in this fiery adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's classic novel . DVD 9943 and Streaming video.
The householder. 1963, 1 videodisc (101 min.). Merchant Ivory collection. The story of a shy, Delhi schoolteacher who marries and then, little by little, gets to know his wife during their first year together. This story, derived from the culture of modern India, is able to relate to the problems of young couples everywhere. DVD 4018
Hum aapke hain koun. 1994, 1 videodisc (195 min.). Two families are brought together by a marriage; when the wife dies, leaving a child, the wife's sister is pressured to marry the widower and become the mother of the child. However, the husband's brother has already fallen in love with the sister. DVD 241
Jalsaghar = The music room. 1958, 2 videodiscs (99 min.). Director Satyajit Ray brilliantly evokes the crumbling opulence of the world of a fallen aristocrat desperately clinging to his way of life. His greatest joy is the music room in which he has hosted lavish concerts over the years, now a shadow of its former vivid self. An incandescent depiction of the clash between tradition and modernity, and a showcase for some of India's most popular musicians of the day, The Music Room is a defining work by the great Bengali filmmaker. DVD 8677
Jewel thief. 1967, 1 videodisc (ca. 179 min.). When sweet-natured Vinay is mistaken for his look-alike, jewel thief Amar, his search for the real culprit entangles him with a bevy of jewel-spangled love-hungry women. DVD 8915
Jo jita vohi sikandar. 1992, 1 videodisc (159 min.). Sanjal Lal and Ratan Lal are poor local kids in the beautiful scenic college town of Dehradun. Before a crucial cycle race between rival colleges, Shekhar and his friends almost kill Ratan who is now unable to compete in the race. Sanjay takes over and with the moral support of his father and his brother he tries to win the race. Shows the comedic conflict between the "rich kids" and the "poor kids" and is all about young minds and egos. DVD 3743
Junun = Junoon. 1978, 1 videodiscs (132 min.). Set during the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, features the doomed romance between a Pathan and an Anglo-Indian woman. Explores ethnic, class, and religious differences. DVD 7129
Kaho naa-- pyaar hai. 2000, 1 videodisc (171 min.). A poor singer and the daughter of a rich man fall in love. But fate has surprises and tragedy in store. DVD 10329
Khal nayak. 1993, 1 videodisc (DVD) (178 min.). Ballu, a notorious villain and murderer, is captured by police inspector Ram Sinha. When Ballu escapes, Sinha's girlfriend, Ganga, a prison guard, goes undercover as a belly dancer in order to recapture him. But Ballu and Ganga begin to develop a mutual attraction. DVD 11130