Pardes (Foreign Land), 1997, 191 min, Mukta Arts

Pardes (Foreign Land), 1997, 191 min, Mukta Arts If you like director Joel Zwicks My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), you will appreciate this movie. While Big Fat Greek Wedding is between two Americans of different sub-culture, Pardes is a story about Indians from two different cultures. There have been countless films about immigrants and collision of races, cultures, and classes. Movies that come to mind in recent past are Crash and Traffic, multi-character dramas about the illegal immigrant experience in Los Angeles. On a lighter note, there is Mira Nairs film Namesake (2006) about a tale of a first generation son of traditional Indian immigrant parents. Remember the Oscar-nominated Dirty Pretty Things (2003) by Steven Knight? This was a thriller about a gruesome London underworld preying on the fear and desperation of immigrants. How about Guru (2002)? Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer about Ramu (Jimi Mistry), a UK dance instructor who migrates to the US to become a film star but ended up becoming a sex guru for the rich and famous. While we are not short of immigrant films, none has ever captured the generational cultural gap so sensibly as Pardes.