Anupam Kher Movies

The very British sensibilities of Jane Austen are introduced to the exotic flavors of the Bollywood musical in this romantic comedy with songs from the director of Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha. Lalita Bakshi (Aishwarya Rai) is the lovely and eligible daughter of her socially ambitious mother and father (Nadira Babbar and Anupam Kher). Mother and father want to be sure that Lalita, the most beautiful of their four daughters, settles down with a man worthy of her, but she has proven resistant to matchmaking, announcing that she will choose her own husband, and will choose him for love. While mother is keen on the profoundly annoying Kholi (Nitin Chandra Ganatra), Lalita has had her head turned by a handsome vagabond from England, Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gilles). But while attending the wedding of a friend, Lalita meets Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), a college buddy of family friend Raj (Naveen Andrews) who is the son of a wealthy hotel magnate. Lalita finds that Will makes a strong impression on her -- she can't stand him, but she also can't get him out of her mind. Will feels the same way about her, and as they inadvertently chase one another over three continents, will morbid fascination grow into true love? Bride and Prejudice marked the first English-speaking role for Aishwarya Rai, who had firmly established herself as India's leading female star when this film was made. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An independent-minded young woman discovers the joys of football, much to her family's chagrin, in this upbeat British comedy drama. Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is an 18-year-old growing up in West London, where her family has taken every effort to stay in touch with its Indian heritage. Jess' father and mother (Anupam Kher and Shaheen Khan) are after their daughter to go to law school, learn to cook a traditional Indian dinner, and settle down with a nice Indian boy -- the latter of which is high on the agenda of her older sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi), who is soon to wed her longtime beau Teetu (Kulvinder Ghir). However, her family is unaware that Jess has a secret passion -- football (or soccer, as it's known in North America). While Jess' enthusiasm for football star David Beckham is obvious, given the fact his photos cover the walls of her room, her parents don't know that in her spare time she likes to play a friendly game in the park with some of the boys in the neighborhood. One day, while Jess and her pals kick the ball around, she meets Jules (Keira Knightley), who is quite impressed with Jess' skills. Jules plays with a local semi-pro women's football team, the Hounslow Harriers, and she thinks Jess has what it takes to make the team. Jess knows that her parents would never approve of their daughter playing football, so she doesn't tell them, and starts spinning an increasingly complex series of lies as she tries to keep up a double life as a student and a footballer. Jess soon discovers a number of her new friends have their own problems to overcome; Jules dreams of playing pro ball in America, but has to deal with her stubborn and disapproving mother (Juliet Stevenson), while Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Hounslow's Irish coach, still struggles with the disappointment of a career as a professional athlete which was dashed by a knee injury. Bend It Like Beckham was a significant box-office success in Great Britain and Europe, but didn't reach American theaters until nearly a year after it debuted in the U.K. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A poor boy and a rich girl enter into an internet romance in director Kathir's musical take on the Hollywood hit You've Got Mail. Raja is a poor boy who was surfing the internet when he struck up a romance with the wealthy and beautiful Roja. Unbeknownst to either, however, is the fact that Roja's father is the man responsible for Raja's college admission. While Roja's father has mapped out his daughter's future down to the last detail, he never anticipated that his daughter would fall for the lowly Raja. Now, as Raja discovers the true identity of his online lover, their one chance at true romance quickly threatens to fall apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Recalling the subtle, understated films of master director Satyajit Ray, this is a quiet drama about a lonely, unfortunate middle-aged woman. Banalata (Kiron Kher) has lived a solitary existence since her husband-to-be died the night before their wedding from a snake bite. Never having quite gotten over the tragedy, she rarely ventures out and is clearly very lonely. This changes when she agrees to allow a film production to shoot in a wing in her sprawling estate. Suddenly her house is filled with movie stars and glamorous people, including the beautiful actress Sudeshna (Rupa Ganguly) and charming director Deepankar (Chiranjeet Chakraborty). Though she knows that not only is Deepankar married but that his former lover Sudeshna still holds a torch for him, the lonely widow finds herself drawn to the director. He is exactly the sort of worldly character whom she has always longed to meet. The rakish man flirts back and even persuades Banalata to appear in a bit part in the movie. Yet once the film crew decamps, things at the estate return to the same grinding tedium as before, though the woman feels her isolation all the more acutely. The letters that Banalata writes to Deepankar go unanswered, and her bit part in the movie ends up on the cutting-room floor. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Few films made in Japan have created such international outrage as Shunya Ito's Pride -- an affectionate biopic on that country's most notorious prime minister, Hideki Tojo, who was hanged in 1948 during the Tokyo trials for war crimes. Funded by renown ultra right-wing investors, this film struck many in China and Korea -- two countries on the receiving end of much of Japanese war crimes -- as close to a deliberate provocation, especially since Japan has yet to officially come clean about such wartime atrocities as the Rape of Nanking or the murderous Unit 731. Instead of the incarnation of evil that U.S. propaganda portrayed him as, Tojo, played by Masahiko Tsugawa, is presented as being a brilliant leader, a passionate nationalist, and a loving family man. His goal was not the subjection of Asia under a Japanese empire, but to cast off the yolk of Western colonialism. American prosecutor Joseph Keenan (Scott Wilson) is seen as shrill, ignorant, and scheming, while Indian judge Radhabinod Pal as the sole dissenting jurist is the film's only non-Japanese hero. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this Bollywood romantic drama, Shyam (Salman Khan) is a wealthy young man whose family is from India, though he was born and raised elsewhere. When Shyam's mother passes away, she makes a final request of her son -- that he marry a girl from India so that he will retain ties to the traditions of his family. Shyam travels to India in hopes of honoring his mother's wishes, but as his uncle Hasmukh (Anupam Kher) shows him around, he finds that Bombay is a major metropolis just like those in Europe, and he wonders if the "real" India of which he's heard still exists. Shyam then meets a beautiful woman named Radha (Sridevi) who tells him that India's ancient cultural traditions are still very much alive in the outlying rural villages; as Radha shows Shyam the "real" India, he begins to suspect he's also found the women of his dreams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This Hindi melodrama is set during India's fight for independence from the British. Although lavish song and dance numbers are unexpectedly common in Indian cinema, the soundtrack, prepared by prolific film composer Rahul Dev Burman remains a favorite among Indian fans. This musical tells the story of two lovers during this politically turbulent period. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide