We went to the Sundance Film Festival today and attended the screening of a documentary. During the Q&A, the director said that a good documentary should be able to make it’s point visually, even if there was no audio. Nice challenge.

We enjoyed hearing about your “trip to the movies” in India. Way to broaden your horizons! We also enjoyed hearing from Uncle Todd.

Love you guys!

The movie experience in India is totally unique. I went to many Tamil and Hindi films during my stay in India.

They are a window into the local culture. If you are interested you can actually find studies on the Indian film phenomena in sociology and anthropology literature.

I remember one case study in particular. The Hindu panthion took on a new goddess named Santoshi Ma after her introduction in a 1960′s Hindi film. There have also been a few film heros that have turned into the politicians (something Californians are familiar with too!). Years ago I remember watching a Tamil film a few months before a Tamil Nadu election. Rajini Gant, the star of the film, was also running for state office. I laughed out loud during a music/dream sequence of Rajini Gant passing out handfuls of gold and gems to a mile long line of people dressed in rags. It was a not so subtle campaign message. It was fun to laugh, but the reality is that US politics are not much different.

Apart from the cultural experience, they are also a great escape from the heat, especially if you sit in the AC Balcony.

Talk to you later; have a masala dosa and some idly for me. I love the idly with coconut chutney.

Uncle Todd