Flavors

Finally, after a spate of I_am_rediscovering_my_Indianness Indo American films, it was really refreshing to see one that is different. Here is a movie you will love for its raw charm, absence of stereotypes and good humor. Not just 'good' humor - 'excellent' humor I must say- I was laughing all the way. Of the four different stories that make up the film, my favorite was that of Vivek, a chocolate-faced, pathetic guy who obsesses about this girl back in India. If you are Indian, you can't help but notice how most characters resemble people you know in your everyday life. Well scripted characters and good performances. Bharti Achrekar and Anjan Srivastava steal the show. If this well-crafted feature is the debut effort of the directorial team, you bet I am going to be watching out for their upcoming releases.

It just happened one bored evening having seen all the movies in the theater. Flavours was last among the available choices, with all the credits unheard and lot of risk putting a few precious hours at stake. Cursing myself, I resigned to the fate of actually buying a ticket.

The film is not brilliant, but close to heart and can be felt. They best part about it, I was not in a dream or fantasy or a rebel with a cause. I was like looking in the mirror and at times I would laugh as well.

The ending was brilliant and one good watch.... The movie is not aspirational but is enjoyable and can be recommended.

I have seen a fair share of American Indian movies and can safely state that Flavors is definitely the best of the lot. The story follows the lives of different sets of Indians in the US of A like a three jobless bachelors, a desi guy about to marry an American woman and his parents , a bored house wife and two close friends living on the opposite coasts. The film makers have shown the American life from many viewpoints. The best part of the movie was the conversations between Rachna and Kartik. It reminded me a little about of 'When Harry met Sally'. The only flaw in the movie was a slightly confusing plot which tries to follow too many characters.

One of the better movies in the American-Indian genre.I mean its a whole lot better than the soporific and clichéd American Desi varieties where the entire film revolves around "getting in touch with ethnic roots" and "India is great" syndrome.The characters seem to be thoroughly fleshed out and identification with the issues they face comes easily( although I have never visited the USA).Great performances by Pooja,Reef,Mohit, Gauang, Gaurav...relatively unheard of names but quite believable performances.Bharati and Anjann are as ever ,superb..they looked more like the mature and aging Wagles . As an Indian living in India, I enjoyed it..the Americans would expect I guess a lot of background, far removed as they are from Indian realities and the Indian psyche. With no particular story line that has a beginning and end, this is just a movie that lightens the mood and leaves you amused all through.

Flavors was beautifully filmed, light-hearted, sweet and funny. Its leisurely pace allowed me to get to know all the characters; really, getting to know them and seeing how they develop and interact over the three weeks is the entire point of the movie. I like movies like that - think "Go!", "Barcelona", "Pulp Fiction". Also I think it does a good job of being an Indian movie, introducing Americans to the Indian perspective on living in America, while still showing situations that everyone can relate to.

The best thing about it was how light-hearted it was. It showed the humor in everything, brought out humor in everyday situations, smiled in bright sunshine the whole way through. I had a lot of fun and often laughed out loud.