Divya Dutta Movies

A quick trip from the USA to India turns into a life-altering journey of self-discovery for a man traveling with his ailing grandmother. Upon arriving in Delhi with his grandmother, Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) begins to experience an inner transformation that he never anticipated. The ancient walled city is a character unto itself -- embodying the chaos of the Indian people, their beliefs, and their religion -- and before his trip is over Roshan will have fallen deeply in love with Delhi. The pin code of Delhi is 110006, though the locals affectionately refer to it as "DELHI-6." ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A young courtesan kidnapped from her home and sold into slavery ultimately transcends her grim fate in director J.P. Dutta's adaptation of author Mirza Haadi Ruswa's classic 1905 novel. Previously adapted for the screen to great acclaim in 1981, Ruswa's novel tells the story of a middle class girl kidnapped by a habitual offender who had been imprisoned for ten years as a result of her father's damning testimony. Determined to curse his accuser with a fate worse than death, the vengeful ex-convict spirited the man's daughter away and sold the young girl - then known as Amiran - to a brothel in Lucknow. Subsequently given the name Umrao, raised in the lap of luxury, and trained to be a great entertainer, the young girl would grow up to become one of the most beautiful and popular entertainers of her time. Yet despite all of her success, something was missing in the life of the girl now known as Umrao. Though fortune seemed to smile down on her against all odds, Umrao soon fell in love with the powerful Nawab Sultan and longed to start a family with the influential figure despite the fact that their love seemed doomed from the onset. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A star-crossed love affair has political as well as emotional repercussions in this Bollywood romantic drama. Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) is an officer and pilot in the Indian Air Force who one day meets a beautiful Pakistani heiress, Zaara Hayaat Khan (Preity Zinta), as she travels to a small Indian village to scatter the ashes of one of her family's loyal servants. Veer has family in the village, and while most Indians show no affection for Pakistanis, his aunt and uncle are willing to take Zaara in for the night. It isn't long before Veer finds himself falling for her; however, Veer learns that Zaara is engaged to another man, Raza (Manoj Bajpai), a cruel and humorless Pakistani. A friend of Zaara contacts Veer and tells him that Zaara wants out of her engagement and has strong feelings for him, but when he comes to her rescue, matters take a turn for the worse and Veer winds up in jail. Twenty years later, Veer is still behind bars, and finds that his case is being given a new trial, but while he has a new chance at freedom, he discovers his lawyer will be going up against a state attorney who has never lost a case. Veer-Zaara was one of the first Indian blockbusters to open in India, the United States, and the United Kingdom at the same time. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The winner of India's 46th annual National Film Award for Best Film, Samar offers both commentary on India's caste system and a spin on those seeking to observe and provide their own commentary on it. In a small village located in the Madya Pradesh province, the Thakur and Dalit castes fight over the installation of a water pump. When a Dalit, Nathu (Kishore Kadam), fearfully protests against what he feels is an unjust situation, he arouses the ire of the nasty Thakur landowner Chamak Singh (Ravi Jhankal), who duly imposes economic sanctions that threaten to starve the Dalits out of town. After Nathu's house burns down in mysterious circumstances, he goes to the local temple to ask God for help, but his contrition only gets him beaten and urinated on by Singh for breaking the ban on Dalits (also known as India's "untouchables") in a place of worship. At this point, it is revealed that the conflict is the subject of a film that is being made by a pompous Bombay director (Rajit Kapur), and that the "real" Nathu (Raghubir Yadav) is actually an energetic fellow who, wife in tow, busies himself on the film set by providing advice and factual clarification. The real Singh is now dead, and the actor playing him is an egomaniacal hipster. Tensions abound on the set, resulting in the sort of violence that the film-within-a-film purports to denounce. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Racially motivated violence begins to invade even the most peaceful communities in Train To Pakistan, a drama about the troubled years following India's independence. In 1947, Mano Majra, a small Punjab community along the border, has long known peaceful coexistence between the dominant Sikhs and the minority of Muslim citizens. That begins to change when word of political and ethnic tensions elsewhere in the country begins to infect the people of Mano Majra, with gang violence and forced Muslim emigration soon following. Based on a novel by Khushwant Singh, Train To Pakistan was directed by Pamela Rooks, who previously made Miss Beatty's Children and whose husband is Conrad Rooks, a noted director in his own right. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide