VTLIB(Video 419), BB-DRAMA, VU-DRAMA

Gandhi (1982)

Sweeping account of the life and times of Mohandas K. Gandhi, who rose from a position of simple lawyer to become a nation's leader and a worldwide symbol of peace and understanding. Storytelling at its best, in the tradition of great Hollywood epics, though film's second half is less riveting than the first. Kingsley gives an unforgettable performance in the lead. Eight Oscars include Best Picture, Actor, Director, Screenplay (John Briley). Look for Daniel Day-Lewis as one of three youths who accost Gandhi in the street.
 
 

VTLIB (Video 5848)

Emerging Powers: India

Examines India's transformation from socialism to capitalism, from poverty to prosperity. Looks at India's liberalization program, large industrial base, nuclear energy program, and market reforms.
 

VTLIB(Video 4857), BB-DRAMA

Little Buddha (1993)

Lama Norbu comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje. His search leads him to young Jesse Conrad, Raju, a boy from Kathmandu, and a Indian girl. Together, they journey to Bhutan where the three children must undergo a test to prove which is the true reincarnation. Interspersed with this, is the story of Siddharta, later known as the Buddha. It traces his spiritual journey from ignorance to true enlightenment.
 
 

BB-FOR

Bandit Queen (1994)
 

Action-packed, fact-based adventure/drama/character study of the notorious female Indian outlaw Phoolan Devi (Biswas), who emerged from a life of poverty and ritual brutalization to be charged with numerous kidnappings, robberies, and killings. Yet she remains beloved by many of her country's poor as a Robin Hood-like legend. The film was as controversial as its subject; while based in part on diaries authored by Devi while in jail, she eventually repudiated the material.
 
 

BB-DRAMA, VU-DRAMA

City of Joy (1992)

An American surgeon loses a young patient, quits the medical profession and goes to India to find himself. There he runs into a nun who is trying to establish a free clinic in a neighborhood of untouchables. He resists the call back to medicine, but eventually begins helping them build the clinic, which angers the local "Godfather" who tries to stop the project by intimidation.
 
 

VTLIB (Video 2307)

Salaam Bombay! (1988)
 
 

Gut-wrenching chronicle of young country boy Syed and his various experiences among the street hustlers, drug peddlers, and prostitutes of Bombay. Unravels as a novel, with a gallery of vividly drawn supporting characters. Fine feature debut for director Nair.
 
 

VTLIB(Video 882), BB-DRAMA

Passage to India, A (1984)
 

Meticulous adaptation of E. M. Forster novel set in the late 1920s, about an East/West culture clash, as a young, headstrong British woman goes to India for the first time, accompanied by the mother of her fiancé. Not a great movie, but so rich in flavor, nuance, and the sheer expressiveness of film that it offers great satisfaction, despite its shortcomings (and extreme length). Ashcroft won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her fine performance as Mrs. Moore.
 
 
 

VTLIB(Video 4639)

Raj Sippy's Satte pe satta aka Seven upon Seven

A musical comedy about seven brothers who live on a ranch and fall in love with seven city girls. A wicked uncle of one of the girls wants her murdered so he can inherit her  money. He sends an ex-convict to do the job, but this man becomes fond of the family and falls in love with the girl.
 

VTLIB(Video 494)

Heat and Dust

Englishwomen Scacchi and great-niece Christie, sixty years apart, fall in love with India and become pregnant by natives--yet still remain outsiders in a land they can never fully comprehend. Intelligent drama, lovely performances. Screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, from her novel.
 

VTLIB (Video 1051)

Shakespeare Wallah (1965)
 

The story of a family troupe of English actors in India. They travel around the towns and villages giving performances of Shakespearean plays to raise enough money to go home to England. Based on the travels of Geoffrey Kendal with his daughter Felicity Kendal.
 

VTLIB(Video 1104)

Staying On (Video 1104)

Staying on portrays not only the lasting affection between Lucy and the Colonel, but of their overriding passion for a country and a way of life that exists only in their memories. Repressed by years of British reserve, their love is reawakened when they are faced with the loss of their home and way of life in the picturesque Indian resort village of Pankot.
 

VTLIB(Video 1957)

The River (1951)

Three teenaged girls are living in Bengali (India) near a big river : Harriet is the oldest child of a big family of english settlers. Valerie is the unique daughter of an American industrialist. Melanie has an American father and an Indian mother. One day, a man arrives. He will be the first love of the three girls.

VTLIB (Video 3285)

The Pathans

Looks at the long struggle of the Pathans, a group of detached and independent tribes living on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, to hold on the their territory.

BB-DRAMA, ADVENTURE, VU-ADVENTURE

K2 (1991)

Taylor and Harold are good friends and avid climbers. While climbing one day, they meet a man who it seems might be
attempting to climb K2, the world's second-highest peak.   Always pushy, Taylor bugs the man for a spot on the team,
claiming that he and Harold are good enough. They may be   very good, but K2 is a very tough mountain.