Indira Varma Movies
In this visually striking saga of one woman's search for personal and sexual freedom in 16th century India, Maya (Indira Varma) is a servant girl who is a handmaid to Tara (Sarita Choudhury), a princess. Maya and Tara have been close friends since childhood, and when Rasa Devi (Rekha), an elegant courtesan, is brought in to instruct Tara in the lessons of the Kama Sutra, the handbook of the art of physical love, Maya is allowed to observe. Rasa teaches Tara the Dance of Enticement as a prelude to her upcoming marriage to the King, Raj Singh (Naveen Andrews), but the beautiful Maya turns out to be the more capable student, and when Raj invites Maya to his bedchamber, he proves to be no match for her seductive powers. Needless to say, Tara is furious when she learns that Maya has stolen Raj's heart, and Maya is banished from the palace. On the road, Maya soon meets a handsome sculptor, Jai Kumar (Ramon Tikaram), who is entranced by Maya's beauty and sexual prowess; she soon becomes his lover and favorite model. However, King Raj is still obsessed with Maya, and while Tara has won his hand in marriage, he has taken to drowning himself in opium and mindless sex with his mistresses when not trying to win Maya back. Several of the erotic scenes in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love were trimmed so the film could receive an "R" rating for its American theatrical release, but it appeared uncut on home video; the film had to be trimmed more extensively to gain a theatrical release in India, where it was filmed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Indira Varma, Sarita Choudhury, (more)
- 1997
Disabled activist Firdaus Kanga scripted this autobiographical British drama by adapting his novel, Trying to Grow. Born in 1962 with brittle bone disease, Brit Kotwal (Kanga) grows up with the support of his middle-class Bombay family, but adulthood brings a series of suicides, accidents, and other disappointments. Kanga played the role of the central autobiographical character at various ages, beginning at age eight. Shown at the 1997 Mill Valley and London film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Firdaus Kanga, Souad Faress, (more)
- 1998
Those familiar with Pakistan's history will be most likely to appreciate this elaborate tribute to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the man who created the Muslim nation in the wake of Great Britain's relinquishment of control over India. The story begins on a fantastical note, as an ailing Jinnah (Christopher Lee) expires and then finds himself in a heavenly place awaiting final judgment on his deeds. That could take some time, for the celestial bureaucrats in charge have misplaced Jinnah's file and the whole heavenly computer network is down. With nothing but time on his hands, Jinnah answers the many questions of his guide (Shashi Kapoor). His responses comprise the main story. Jinnah's tale begins in 1947 as England prepares to grant India its freedom. Muslims have always been a minority in the diverse country and Jinnah wants to create a country especially for them. The Muslim leader's nemesis, Viceroy Mountbatten (James Fox) finds Jinnah's proposal disturbing and so attempts to convince Ghandi (Sam Dastor) and Nehru (Robert Ashby) to dissuade Jinnah from starting more trouble, but it is to no avail. The story then jumps backward to 1916 when Jinnah (played as a young man by Richard Lintern) served as a prominent member of the India Congress Party. It was during this time that he married a beautiful Parsee (Indira Varma). As the guide continues his questions, a deeper understanding of Jinnah and the bloody events surrounding the genesis of Pakistan emerges. Jinnah played at the 1998 Montreal Festival of New Cinema & New Media. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, James Fox, (more)
- 1998
Duncan Roy wrote and directed this British horror-comedy about popular celeb TV cook Clancy (Mark Aiken), a bisexual caught between his girlfriend and his boyfriend. As his fame grows, so does his paranoia that leaks about his homosexual life could ruin his career, prompting a plan to ditch the boyfriend and marry the girlfriend. But everything goes askew after he accidentally kills a pet dog owned by a homophobic psycho. Shown at the 1998 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Aiken, Rocky Marshal, (more)
- 2001
Amanda Burton starred in this intense two-part British miniseries as Laura Tracey, a minor employee of a major international banking firm. While going through a routine record search, Laura found a number of irregularities in the bank's overseas accounts. Further investigation revealed that certain of the bank's CEOs were using company funds to finance a large drug cartel. Upon reporting her findings to the authorities, Laura realized that the lives of herself and her family were in danger, thus she agreed to enter a witness protection program. This middle-aged "change of life" forced Laura and her husband Dominic (Neil Pearson), previously a college professor, to assume jobs that both have been avoiding all their lives: Now she was nothing more than a housewife, while he was reduced to teaching grade-school children. Worse still, a Mexican hit man, hired to shut Laura up before she could go to trial, was coming ever closer to locating and eliminating the fugitive family. Capped by a truly startling denouement, The Whistle-Blower was first telecast in the U.K. on April 14 and 15, 2001, and has since been seen as a single, 170-minute "movie" over the BBC America cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Burton, Neil Pearson, (more)
Pigs from another world are ready to destroy the Earth, and only one mental patient can stop them in this absurdist comedy. Robert (Ian Fraiser) is an eccentric man living in a small British community, who after a stint of psychotherapy begins hearing voices in his head. This in itself is disturbing enough for Robert, but what really troubles him is what the voices are saying -- it seems he's being told about a band of alien invaders who resemble pigs and have a plan to destroy the world as we know it unless the United States stops its research in interstellar weaponry. Robert tries to tell the world about this dire news, but he soon proves to be a less-than-ideal cosmic messenger, and the only people believe he's serious are his on-and-off girlfriend Narendra (Indira Varma) and would-be musician Jimmy (Paul Barber). As Robert faces this unusual crisis, England reels from the effects of a strange plague that is apparently being spread by the nation's canines. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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
- Starring:
- Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, (more)
The first season of the lush, lavish and frequently lewd and lascivious British historical drama Rome covers the years 52 to 44BCE, beginning with the return of Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds) from the Gallic wars and ending with the fateful "Ides of March". Though returning to a hero's welcome, Caesar realizes that he's stepping into a snake pit of deceit and corruption. The Patrician ruling class, worried that Caesar will make himself emperor and abolish the Republic, intend to strip him of his power. His scheming niece Atia (Polly Walker) is already undercutting her uncle by forcing her daughter Octavia (Kerry Condon) to marry Caesar's most influential nemesis, the aging Pompey (Kenneth Cranham). Playing one side against the other to keep Caesar at bay, Pompey proves so effective that Caesar must ask his friend Marc Antony (James Purefoy) to help him vanquish his foes, even if it means all-out civil war. Meanwhile, a pair of humble soldier, the virtuous family man Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and the hedonistic Pullo (Ray Stevenson), simply try to stay out of everyone's way and survive--but instead find themselves at Ground Zero of virtually every major historical turning point during the series' turbulent eight-year timespan. Pullo in particular spends much of his time squeaking out of one death-trap after another, somehow managing to enrich or aggrandize himself without even trying. His main contribution during Season One consists of taking Atia's callow son Octavian (Max Pirkis) under his wing, teaching the boy the ways of warfare and women. Eventually Octavian will emerge as the greatest threat against the pro-Caesar forces of Antony after Caesar's assassination--and thus the redoubtable Pullo has once more unwittingly altered the course of history. Not only was Rome an international success during its first season on the air, but the series also garnered an Emmy award for its American run on HBO. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ciarán Hinds, Kevin McKidd, (more)
When the mysterious death of a major athlete prompts Scotland Yard detective Roy Washburn (David Thewlis) to order the investigation of best-selling crime novelist Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), criminal psychiatrist Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey) is slowly drawn into Tramell's seductive world of lies and sexual intrigue in director Michael Caton-Jones belated sequel to Paul Verhoeven's 1992 erotic thriller. Upon relocating from San Francisco to London, alluring crime novelist Tramell once again finds herself pursued by authorities when all clues point to her being somehow involved in the death of a popular sports superstar. Intellectually intrigued by his new subject and undeniably drawn to her physically, Dr. Glass finds it increasingly difficult to resist the cunning black widow's devious web of deception and physical temptation. When the professional boundaries between Glass and Trammel come shattering down in a shower of unbridled lust, Dr. Glass is forced to make a difficult decision that could mean the end of both his professional career, and his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, (more)
- 2006
The title of this CBS medical drama referred to the average weight of the human brain. Clearly inspired by the success of Fox's House, 3 lbs, like the Fox series, was built around the exploits of a brilliant but arrogant and witheringly sarcastic medico, in this case waspish neurosurgeon Doug Hanson (Stanley Tucci), who headed his own foundation. Wasting no time suffering fools (or at least, people whom he regarded as fools) and periodically plagued by mysterious visions which suggested that he suffered from more than his share of personal demons, Dr. Hanson was both mentor and tormentor of his idealistic new partner Jonathan Seger (Mark Feuerstein), better known to the Hanson Foundation staff as "The Sorceror's Apprentice." Also in the cast were Indira Varma as Hanson's gorgeous associate surgeon Dr. Adrienne Holland and Griffin Dunne as Hanson's equally prickly rival Dr. Cole. The cases at hand were generally "illustrated" with animated sequences, in which the protagonist's description of the brain as "wires in a box" was literalized. Debuting November 14, 2006, 3 lbs was made available to certain markets in both English- and Spanish-language versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Tucci, Mark Feuerstein, (more)
