Hyderabad Blues

Rating:
Summary: Home to Home - An interesting journey
Review: Hyderabad Blues is refreshing and sincere in its portrayal of the internal conflicts and the material adjustments that one has to go through when returning to India from the USA. What is honest is the predicament that a lot of first generation Indian professional settled in the USA are faced with. Where we work and live is home and where we are from and who we are is also home. I believe that this predicament is unique to Indians because their assimilation with the mainstream in the USA is just beginning.

Nagesh Kukonoor in the lead role as Varun is very comfortable in his debut as actor/producer/writer and director. He addresses the complex multi cultural issues and the emotional conflicts of an unmarried American returned professional male through the eyes of Varun who is bride hunting.

The film is rich in it's under current of sensitivity while retaining the honesty of the story line. There is levity in the film using commonplace daily routines which is brilliant and captures the essence without having to fall back on torturous monologues or tirades.
While the ending may seem clichéd to the average viewer the underline message is important. Through his own experiences he conveys the possibility of a happy medium.

Good movies need not essentially be tragedies or about tortured souls. What is unique about this movie is its intelligence and skill in capturing the story of millions of Indian professionals settled in the USA, sticking to the fundamental honesty of the representative experiences and still creating a celluloid treat.

Highly recommended for all those who interact with such Indian professionals in the USA.

Rating:
Summary: A clash of values
Review: Hyderabad Blues is the story of Varun (Nagesh Kukunoor, who also wrote, produced and directed) who returns home to India for a visit and has to deal with his matchmaking parents. It takes a humurous look at the customs and behavior, from an American perspective. He meets childhood friends who have of course changed over the years to embrace what he can't contemplate. Eventually he falls in love with Ashwini (Rajshri Nair) setting up some melodrama. The last act is a little disappointing as it moves towards a cliche ending. The movie works for the most part despite the low budget and amateur (yet natural) acting. The comedy is spot on and is very authentic, mixing dialogue in English, Telugu and Hindi. This is not typical Bollywood fare with the obligatory songs and fights. I also recommend 'American Desi' for something along the same lines..

Rating:
Summary: A clash of values
Review: Hyderabad Blues is the story of Varun (Nagesh Kukunoor, who also wrote, produced and directed) who returns home to India for a visit and has to deal with his matchmaking parents. It takes a humurous look at the customs and behavior, from an American perspective. He meets childhood friends who have of course changed over the years to embrace what he can't contemplate. Eventually he falls in love with Ashwini (Rajshri Nair) setting up some melodrama. The last act is a little disappointing as it moves towards a cliche ending. The movie works for the most part despite the low budget and amateur (yet natural) acting. The comedy is spot on and is very authentic, mixing dialogue in English, Telugu and Hindi. This is not typical Bollywood fare with the obligatory songs and fights. I also recommend 'American Desi' for something along the same lines..

Rating:
Summary: Lots and lots of profanity means you're all-American?
Review: This movie does a wonderful job of depicting the superficiality and simple-mindedness of so-called Indian ex-pats, whatever that means. It's very much like Shyamalan's first movie, "Prayer With Anger", but with about 1/1,000,000th of the budget. You know, it's the story of an Indian guy who's become all smart and progressive after living in the U.S. for 10 months. He comes back with his great accent and modern way of looking at things and rails at evryone in India for being so...Indian.

The excessive and juvenile use of profanity is, as they say, "spot-on", whatever that means. Kokunoor and his cast just have a ball spewing all the profanity non-stop. I guess that's his concept of being westernized - using the (...) and (...) words every 2 minutes. That means you're all westernized and superior. The horrible acting and crude camera work give the "flim" a feel of authentic...lack of creativity. As was mentioned by a previous reviewer, this is not at all like any Bollywood movie. It is even less entertaining than that, if you can believe it. But I guess you have to give the boy credit. He got the thing made and it's selling on Amazon. Certainly something I haven't come close to doing. So I guess there's something there. Just be careful how you spend your money. (...)