I know that "crossover" or "immigrant" movies like "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Bride and Prejudice" get made by Western companies, but some of this stuff is downright insulting (like Jimi Mistry in "The Guru").

Criterion sucks. They think that only Japanese, French, Italian, and Ingmar Bergman movies constitute the totality of non-english-language cinema.

Eddie -

You are right. Here are couple of Indian movies officially released in the US.
Sony - Apu Triloy, Lagaan
MGM - Salaam Bombay
New Yorker - Earth, Fire
Universal - Monsoon Wedding
Independent distributors - Kamasutra.
Criterion - NONE

I only can only get Indian movies through the Indian stores. Apart from this, there is no other way to get Indian movies. However, Eros Enternainment is the biggest distributor of Bollywood movies in the US and UK. The DVDs are good and new movies do get good special editions. I also feel that Bollywood film distributors are not willing to colloborate with Hollywood studios and vice-versa. There are so many good movies that don't get noticed here. The worst part Indian stores is - that they will copy the DVD movie on VHS and then it can be rented for $1 on average. With no control, the store pockets the entire rental revenue. I hate this as this violates the copyright act. That is why I rent out DVDs. Atleast I know that I am not supporting the illegal VHS copy. I wish someone can address this. I hate to see artists not get money for this.

Like I said quality is the main concern. I only watch about 15-20 Indian movies in a year. Well last year my wife made me watch 7 movies in 2 weeks.:)

Ranjan,

You know, aside from Sony releasing an Indian movie every few years, I don't see any media companies taking a chance on Indian cinema. This is awful because it forces fans of Bollywood to look for crappy DVDs and VCDs from video stores run by Indians. How do you manage to watch Indian movies?

Eddie

YCH,

There are couple of reasons for Indian movies not being reviewed on many websites including DVDtown -
1. Bad marketing from distributors.
2. Not many American studios are willing to market Indian movies in the US
3. Not many backers of Indian movies in Hollywood.

The problem does not stop here. As India creates largest number of movies in the world, 5% of these movies fall in the top bracket. Very few top Indian movies get noticed in the US. The rest 95 % are really bad.

I hate to say as I am from India. Having said this, Indian movie scene is changing a lot with the advent of new talented directors. I am sure things will change for the Indian cinema in the long run. Recommended ones - Black, Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding, Pather Panchali Trilogy, Lagaan etc.

--Ranjan

YCH,

DVD Town is sadly lacking in expertise on Indian cinema, but we have our strengths, too. Chris is the go-to guy for German cinema, and I've been trying to hold up my end by familiarizing myself with as many Chinese/Chinese-American movies as possible. Several of us are big fans of different sectors of Japanese cinema, too.

Besides, just because we don't know much about something doesn't mean that we don't know that we need to expand our horizons. ;)

Eddie

Thanks for the reply, Ranjan.

Here is a list of some Indian films that I have personally seen and enjoyed: Hey Ram, Dil chahta hai, Satya, Swades, Andaz apna apna, Vaastav, Company, Dil Chahta Hai and Chandini Bar. Some of these have nice R2 PAL releases but quality always seems to be an inherent issue with Indian DVD releases. I've had some success with hindimoviesonline.com with free US shipping, but these experiences can vary. I apply the same method to Indian releases as I do to the Shaw Brothers from dddhouse.com. I like to blindly pick a few unheralded titles and see what I come up with. Sometimes I come up bust, other times I get nice surprises like the above. You can check out the above films on imdb and see if they appeal to you.

chris's favorite indian movie is "kama sutra".