ABCD

Description

Krutin Patel's award-winning film ABCD ("American Born Confused Desi") is the story of an Indian family living in suburban New Jersey. Madhur Jaffrey (Cotton Mary) stars as Anju, a widow tugging on tradition and reluctant to accept the mores of North American society. Her main goal in life is to see her two children get married to respectable Indian partners. Raj (Faran Tahir) and Nina (Sheetal Sheth) are polar opposites; Raj is the "good son," engaged to a devoted and traditional Indian girl; and Nina is the wild child, rebelling against her mother and all aspects of Indian custom, including only sleeping with white men. Both of their lives change dramatically when they find themselves attracted to the person who they least expected. With a mix of humor and poignancy, Patel presents a compelling look at the emotional consequences of growing up without a firm cultural identity.

Customer Reviews:

Quite Impressive.......2007-06-24

I half expected this to be an "Indian movie", Bollywood without the singing. It's not. It's a well-written romance/comedy/drama that just happens to be about a particular set of people with their particular cultural issues.

But the issues and emotions conveyed are sure to be shared by anyone who has friends and family with ties to competing and conflicting cultures.

One of the worst desi movies.......2006-02-26

It had alot of promise but it falls flat on it's face in every way.
plot idea - good
acting - bad
plot/script - BAD
If you really want to watch this movie, rent it. But I wouldn't even waste the 2 dollars and the 2 hours of your life this movie will take.

Disappointing...very.......2006-01-13

This moive has all the makings of a good story love, sex, culture, & finding one's self, but the actual plot was horrible. The moive drags on and on.. the inital plot seems to be just that a shell of a story, it has no real depth and didn't tackel the whole Desi's theory like I thought.. I learned more form American Chai than this.

This Film Received Great Reviews.......2004-03-21

"Reminiscent of early films by Wayne Wang and Ang Lee..."ABCD" is the groundbreaker...a wryly observant comic drama... a film that reminds us that our country is less of a cultural melting pot than a crazily tossed salad." -Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

"Stunning...extraordinary. [A] funny touching and haunting film." -Peter Travers, Rolling Stone Magazine

"Witty, smart, intelligent, superbly acted and passionately told." -Harry Knowles, Aint It Cool News

"Possesses exceptional depth and perception. Well-paced and graceful...brought alive by stellar performances." -Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

"A real treat...SEE this motion picture...a total delight." -Aint-It-Cool-News

"Sensitively acted." -Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"About as honest a finale as you'll ever see in a movie about relationships." -Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News

"Affectionate and Affecting. That I found myself yelling out loud at a character about to get engaged to someone unworthy is a sign of how psychologically involved I'd become with Patel's characters." -Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Enquirer

"ABCD is an engaging bittersweet tale...It's compassionate, funny and honest." -Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

"ABCD is a marvel to watch; it breaks ground." -Harvey S Karten, Compuserve

"The acting in the film is very accomplished as is the direction - specially in scenes that call for either highly charged emotional moments or subtle, understated ones...you could swear that this wasn't acting, that it was really happening." -P. Sebastian, The Deccan Herald

"This is a deeply layered, multi-textured piece that continually weaves a meaningful theme which, although easy to follow, is quite complex...ABCD is a finely crafted, wonderfully paced, beautifully written and perfectly directed film...This is American filmmaking at its finest. Final Grade A+ " -Lodger, filethirteen

"An honest ending that, despite obvious opportunities to do so, refuses to give in to cheap sentiments....A smart, finely crafted debut that recalls the early work of Wayne Wang, Ang Lee, and Mike Leigh." -Jody Seaborn, Austin American Statesman

"ABCD is a triumph for the independent filmmaker that echoes the fact that independent film is the source of renew and evolution for film making." -Vin Geer, Desiclub

"The dialogue is so strong and colorful, so real, the actors molded to fit their characters skins so adeptly that one could feel like a voyeur at times, peering guiltily through the window into this family's private lives." - Kalyani Giri, The Indo-American News

"A touching, honest feature film." -Anika Van Wyk, Calgary Sun

"ABCD is full of intimate touches...offering a refreshing alternative to the slick fare on art house screens lately." -John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

"A surprising, even unsettling conclusion that offers no easy answers, ABCD makes much of its complicated and culturally rich material." -Kimberly Jones, The Austin Chronicle

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.......2004-03-11

One more movie about immigrant troubles, and the agony of "culture clash"... told from the point of view of a second-generation immigrant. By this point it's just gotten boring. Guys, GET OVER IT. There's really no need to be that confused about your identity you know. You have a choice: Be Indian, Be American. Better yet, you could actually choose the good parts of both cultures and combine them...but no, this movie choses instead to be a rant against India. Very well, whatever makes you happy....but as a movie it just sucks. Oh and a correction is necessary - in one scene, the lead actress and her boyfriend are at an Indian wedding. The lead actress makes a comment about how in Indian culture, the bride leaves her family "forever" and becomes a part of the groom's family... they way she puts it, it's like the bride will never see her family again, and this is a part of Indian culture. Absolute hogwash. Two people getting married are two people getting married, not the bride marrying into the groom's family and forgetting her own. The director of this movie needs to get their facts straight. Avoid this one like the plague.

Average customer rating:

ABCD

Manufacturer: Ayngaran
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000GTDPIO

Average customer rating:

Thambi / ABCD (2 Movies In 1 DVD)
Starring: Thambi -Madhavan , Pooja , Vadivelu , ABCD - Sneha , and Sham
Director: Thambi - Director - Seeman , and A B C D - Director - Saravana Subbaiah
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000MCH2TS
Release Date: 2006-07-10

Average customer rating:

ABCD
Starring: Sneha , and Sham
Director: Saravana Subbiah
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000MCH2LQ
Release Date: 2005-08-02

DVD:

DVD

DVD