Sheetal Sheth

Shamim Sarif's autobiographical novel serves as the inspiration for this film directed by the author, and concerning two women from deeply diverse backgrounds who discover that the love between them is too powerful to deny. Tala (Lisa Ray) is a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian descent. She's a spirited Christian in the midst of planning her wedding to her handsome Jordanian fiancé. Leyla (Sheetal Sheth) is a shy Muslim who's currently dating Leyla's best friend, Ali. Brought together by chance, Tala and Leyla form a slow bond that grows deeper with every minute they spend together. Eventually, the two girls reveal their true feelings to one another, and realize that they have fallen in love. But Tala is bound by her cultural heritage, and books a flight back to Jordan as Leyla's wedding date draws near. Back in London, a heartbroken Leyla decides to be honest with herself and her family by coming clean about her feelings for Tala. Inspired by Leyla's fearless commitment to Tala, Leyla's sister and Ali make it their mission to reunite the two girls. But before Tala can be truly happy with Leyla, she must first define for herself what true love really means. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A hotel plays host two four couples who are having problems coping with their relationships in a variety of ways in this independent comedy-drama. In one room, a young man who has had bad luck with women is spending the night with a hooker, which proves very uncomfortable for both of them. Elsewhere, a married couple who think the thrill is gone from their sex life decide to add some variety by inviting another woman to join them for the evening. In room number three, a woman who often laments her bad taste in men argues with her former beau about her current significant other -- except that the former lover is only present in her imagination, she's in the bathroom, and her new man is listening to her on the other side of the door. And a couple are planning to spend their anniversary together until the man gets the bright idea of bringing one of his no-account buddies along, much to the woman's annoyance. Starring Kip Pardue, Roger Fan, Jennifer Siebel, Jordan Belfi and Emily Liu, The Trouble With Romance is the first feature film from writer and director Gene Rhee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Erick Avari, Mimi Rogers, Louise Fletcher, and Kal Penn star in director Bob Roe's heartfelt tale of devastating loss, unfading love, and the courage that it takes to carry on despite being consumed by grief. The living embodiment of the American Dream, Indian immigrant Madhav Singh (Avari) was a successful businessman, loving father, and happily married husband until a sudden tragedy claimed the life of his beloved wife Jaishree. These days the shattered widower wanders through a series of meaningless routines by day, and spends sleepless nights attempting to ward off the mournful nightmares that lie just on the other side of consciousness. When Madhav's son Samir (Penn) and his girlfriend Nicole (Sheetal Sheth) arrive in town for the weekend to celebrate the engagement of a close friend, the shattered father is surprised to find himself becoming reacquainted with his old friend April (Rogers). April always had a special place in her heart for Madhav despite the vocal objections of her mother (Fletcher), and now it feels like the connection between the longtime friends has grown stronger than ever before. But Madhav isn't quite sure he's ready to let go of the past just yet, a fact that becomes painfully obvious as the difficulty of balancing his grief with his will to carry on starts to take a heavy emotional toll as he is faced with one of the most important decisions of his entire life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A twenty-something student finds himself caught between contemporary American culture and the long-standing traditions of his family in this independent drama. Sureel (Aalok Mehta) is a college student in his last year of studies, and things seem to be going well for him -- he's nearly completed his degree in music, his grades are good, he has a cute girlfriend, and he sings with a local rock band whose career is on the upswing. However, Sureel's father (Paresh Rawal) doesn't know about most of this; Sureel is a first generation Indian-American, and his immigrant father wants his son to become a doctor -- and would not be happy to learn his son's girlfriend is Caucasian. Sureel's dad eventually learns the truth about his son's college career, and is quite furious over the news, but his anger is eased when he discovers Sureel has broken up with his girlfriend and has started dating a fellow Indian-American, Maya (Sheetal Sheth). But Sureel and Maya's parents quickly begin arranging a marriage that the students aren't the least bit prepared for, and Sureel's tensions with his father begin to reach the breaking point. Just as Sureel has enough problems to deal with, he finds himself on the outs with his band, and soon takes a gig with another group; as luck would have it, Sureel finds himself facing his old bandmates head to head in a campus Battle of the Bands. American Chai was shown in competition at the 2001 Slamdance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Feature. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide