Roshan Seth Movies

Mani Ratnam teams with Aishwarya Rai, a woman considered by some to be the most beautiful actress of her time, in the Bollywood musical Guru. The film concerns a man, Gurukant Desai, from an average village who, starting from very modest means, attempts to build a successful business in Bombay. His troubled private life includes with his frustrated wife, Sujata, who must adjust to being in a marriage she never really wanted. He must overcome a number of personal and professional problems in order to fulfill his ambitious dreams of success. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Five unlikely acquaintances make their way across Afghanistan as war looms on the horizon in this satiric comedy from filmmaker Kabir Khan. Suhel (John Abraham) is a broadcast journalist from India who is given an important and potentially very dangerous assignment. New York City's World Trade Center has been attacked by terrorists, members of the Afghan-based Taliban are believed to be involved, and the United States is expected to launch a major attack on Afghanistan in a matter of days, so Suhel and a cameraman, Jai (Arshad Warsi), are flown in to get a front row seat for the upcoming fighting. As they search for genuine Taliban fighters to interview, Suhel and Jai make their way across Afghanistan in a Land Rover with their driver Khyber (Hanif Hum Ghum). The television reporters are soon joined by an American photojournalist, Jessica (Linda Arsenio), and before long they find a cooperative (if surly) member of the Taliban to guide them, Imran (Salman Shahid). However, as the miles pass the traveling companions find themselves less concerned with terrorism or international politics than sports scores and seating arrangements, and they encounter a number of strange characters along the way who make the absurdity of the coming war all the more obvious. Kabul Express received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An elegant con-man adept at pulling off small-time swindles gets in over his head when a simple truck job inadvertently gets his crew involved in the black market immigrant trade in this stylish caper comedy that takes it's title from a British slang term for one who earns their keep through underhand dealings. Jack Pike (Ken Scott) can grift with the best of them. A lifelong criminal who gets by with a little help from his aimless brother-in-law Goat (Dominic Monaghan) and his faithful right-hand man Steve (Nick Moran), Pike has established himself as a virtual underworld aristocrat. When he agrees to partake in what appears to be a by-the-books truck job with his alluring rival Jenny (Kate Ashfield) and ends up with two Albanian children on his hands, however, double cons turn to triple crosses in a deadly game where survival, not money, is the only true sign of success. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Family differences and personal grudges add drama to an already tense situation as the lives of a team of mountain climbers hang in the balance in this action drama. Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell) and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney) are the children of Royce Garrett (Stuart Wilson), an avid outdoorsman and climbing enthusiast who died when an accident left all three hanging from a single rope; Royce ordered Peter to cut him loose to save the lives of his kids, even though he knew it would mean his death. Years later, Peter has given up climbing and become a respected nature photographer, while Annie, who holds Peter responsible for her father's death, is a famous world-class mountain climber who is hired by Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton), a self-made billionaire, to help him scale K2, a mountain in the Himalayas that's the second-highest peak in the world. In the midst of the climb, dangerous weather strikes, and Elliot, Annie, and their crew find themselves trapped in a cavern that's been sealed tight by an avalanche. Peter, who is near K2 working on an assignment, quickly organizes a crew of expert climbers to save Annie and the other mountaineers, who must work under a tight deadline before the trapped climbers run out of air. Peter's partners in the rescue include beautiful medic Monique (Izabella Scorupco), radical climbers Cyril (Steve Le Marquand) and Malcolm (Ben Mendelsohn), disciplined Pakistani crewman Kareem (Alexander Siddig), and Montgomery (Scott Glenn), an eccentric outdoorsman who has a score to settle with Elliot. While backgrounds were shot on location in Pakistan, most of the climbing sequences in Vertical Limit were actually filmed on mountain ranges in New Zealand. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on Robinton Mistry's biting epic novel of the same name, this drama recounts the spiritual and physical consequences that result when a decent man allows himself to be convinced to perform an illegal act in the name of patriotism. The story takes place in India, 1971, a time when the country was fighting Pakistan for control of Bangladesh. Middle-aged Parsee Gustad Noble (Roshan Seth) has spent most of his adult life caring for his wife and children. With a sickly daughter and an estranged grown son, Noble feels dissatisfied and bored with his life until he reunites with his estranged friend Jimmy Bilimoria (Naseeruddin Shah), who asks Gustad in a letter to launder money for his cause. Though normally known for his impeccable morals, Gustad agrees to do so, employing the assistance of his dimwitted co-worker Dinshawji (Sam Dastor). This film was shown in the "Special Presentation" category at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. It also received numerous "Genie" awards in its native Canada. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The quartet of short films for this British anthology, compiled by Women Make Movies, were all made for the British Film Institute and BBC Films in 1994. The central theme unifying them is death. In the first short, "White Men Are Cracking Up," from Ngozi Onwurah, several prominent British colonialists commit suicide. The detective assigned to the cases investigates and discovers that each of the deceased saw an enigmatic African woman perform a traditional dance. Pratibha Parmar directed the second vignette "Memsahib Rita," to chronicle the internal culture class suffered by a London girl with a British mother and a Sri Lankan father. In Dani Williamson's "Get Me to the Crematorium on Time," a recently widowed middle-aged, financially comfortable black woman struggles to keep her sanity while trying to cope with her husband's death, finding comfort only by conversing with his ghost. Finallyj, in Frances-Anne Solomon's "Bideshi," a comatose middle-aged man from Bengal attempts to put his life affairs in order before leaving his injured body. His life flashes by in brief episodes beginning with his emigration to Britain. He then sees his daughter's birth and from there watches as she rebels, grows distant and prepares to have a black man's child, something that has caused a great rift between father and daughter. Still while drifting in sleep, the Bengali sends his spirit forth to make peace with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This British romantic comedy examines a trouble relationship between a behavioral psychologist and a paleontology lecturer with serious sexual hang-ups. Currently Dr. Daniel Becker is holding seminars for teaching body language to executives. Katie, the lecturer, seems to defy all he seems to know with her habit of knocking out any male she suspects of harboring sexual thoughts about her. They go out on a dinner date. Immediately, Katie-the-mind-reader smacks the waiter. Intrigued, Daniel blindfolds her to see if she really can read thoughts. Katie, who sees no future in their relationship, plans to go on a research trip to India with her peer, Sandip. Daniel tries to thwart her plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this comedy, George Grant (Peter Bowles) is a successful television personality. He has shaken hands with the Queen, and has even met Elizabeth Taylor - and he has the photos which prove it prominently displayed in his office. One day, after obnoxiously humiliating yet another spineless guest on his tabloid-type news show, he heads for home. From here on, every single circumstance in his life seems tailor-made to knock him down off his oh-so-high horse, back to where the rest of us live. His wife has put up with his arrogance for years - why she picks today to leave him is a mystery. Then, his car is stolen, his house keys go missing, and a million-and-one sufferings become his lot. One of the funniest is an encounter with his "loving and caring" bank manager (Roshan Seth). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The made-for-cable film Stalin relates the story of the ruthless Soviet dictator and his tyrannical rule. Robert Duvall gives an excellent performance as the dictator and the photography is beautiful, as are the sets, since much of the movie was shot on location in Russia. The screenplay also does a good job of detailing Stalin's aggression, not only on his citizens, but also his young wife (Julia Ormand). Nevertheless, the story is very detailed and viewers need to pay close attention in order to make the film a rewarding experience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Screenwriter Hanif Kureishi marked his directorial debut in this slice-of-life chronicle about a collection of drug-dealing slackers in London. Centering on a band of delinquents calling themselves "the posse," the group is led by an ambitious male hustler named Muffdiver (Steven Mackintosh). His friend, Mr. Clint Eastwood (Justin Chadwick), begins to wonder about Muffdiver when he announces that he will no longer sell drugs for the gang. But soon Clint is wondering about himself, and after being beaten and stripped naked, he decides to go legitimate and look for a real job. He applies to a chic restaurant for a job as a waiter. The owner, Hemingway (Brad Dourif), promises to hire him if he comes back to the restaurant wearing a good pair of shoes. Obsessed with landing the job, he tries any way he can to get the pair of shoes. Impressed by the efforts of Clint and Muffdiver to get normal jobs, Sylvie (Emer McCourt), a drug addict who lives with the two, is inspired to leave the street life behind herself and pursue a more ordinary vocation. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this docudrama based on true events, a mid-'80s Michigan housewife finds her life turned upside down when a vacation to Tehran with her Iranian husband turns into virtual imprisonment for her and her young daughter. Betty Mahmoody (Sally Field) is reluctant to visit the wartorn homeland of her doctor husband, Moody (Alfred Molina). But, depressed about the racism of the American medical establishment and pining for contact with his family, Moody convinces her to join him for a two-week jaunt. The Islamic fundamentalism and strange customs of Iran bewilder and frighten Betty and her daughter, Mahtob (Sheila Rosenthal). But nothing prepares her for Moody's announcement that the family will be remaining in Tehran indefinitely. Despite beatings and more pervasive psychological control from her husband and his relatives, Betty makes it to the Swiss embassy (there is no American ambassador at the time). There, she learns that as the wife of an Iranian, she is now automatically considered a citizen and that she has absolutely no parental rights over Mahtob in this country. Betty then endures several years as a virtual prisoner, escaping only with the help of Westernized Iranian friends. Based on the book by the real-life Mahmoody and William Hoffer, Not Without My Daughter was coincidentally released during the long build-up to 1991's Gulf War. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In a post-apocalyptic world, a fugitive named Byron (Bob Peck) is captured by cop Will Tasker (Mark Hamill) and his beautiful partner Belitski (Kitty Aldridge). But when bounty hunter Matt Owens (Bill Paxton) learns that there is a price on Byron's head, he tricks the police and absconds with the prisoner. In order to escape detection, Matt flies off into the slipstream --an environmental curiosity of high and harsh winds treated by a local religious cult as a god. The religious cult captures them and holds them captive. Byron has healing powers and the cult decides to bind him up to a giant kite in order to determine whether he is a good or bad spirit. Tasker and Belitiski re-appear and they free Matt after he agrees to help them get the kite-born Byron back down to earth. Matt flies upward to free Byron, but Belitski, not trusting Matt, flies upward herself. A violent wind tosses all three into parts unknown, while Tasker is almost killed by the kite. Matt is found to have been poisoned by Tasker and seeks to accompany a cave dweller named Ariel (Eleanor David) to her homeland, where he can get an antidote to the poison in his veins. Meanwhile, Byron is revealed to be an android. The three journey to a settlement dedicated to sensual pleasure. While they partake of the services, Tasker and Belitski shoot their way into the settlement, looking for Byron. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi