In New York City, scientist Linda (Brie Larson) produces the genetically modifiedrice 9 with her father Eric (Scott Bakula) for the company Mogil. One of Mogil's executives, Evelyn (Tyne Daly), in a press meeting, celebrates the rice's nutritional value as well as resistance to drought and pests. CEO Gurgon (Donald Sutherland) hires Linda as the new sales representative.
Gurgon plans to sell 9 in Bilari, India in order to corner the nation's rice market, and demands Linda convince the town's farmers to grow it. Although initially skeptical out of her ignorance of the country's culture, Gurgon threatens to cut lab funding if she doesn't do it. Linda meets a local son of a farmer Rajit (Utkarsh Ambudkar) on the train to Bilari, and William (Saahil Sehgal), an Agricultural Office representative, when she arrives.
William, in addition to flirting with Linda, is interested in the Mogil deal, wanting it to go through to be able to live in New York City and gain appreciation from his father. Rajit, to further his college education, plans to make money by selling a pest-deterring stink weed.
Linda continues to view more of India by riding in a car. However, the vehicle breaks down and the phone dies, meaning she has to walk out of her comfort zone and encounter Indian culture in person. There, she again meets Rajit, who initially, for fun, messes with her lack of knowledge of the Indian lifestyle. William invites Linda to a family dinner, which involves another accidental encounter with Rajit as well as more bonding between them.
Mogil has set a "Rice Exchange Day" for the local farmers to make contracts, and trade in their old seeds, with the company. They are quickly convinced of Linda's rice, particularly its ability to deter beetles, except Rajit. Suspecting a big multi-corporation wouldn't provide genetically-modified rice in good faith, he instructs the other farmers to not sign with Mogil right away, and schedules a contest the day before Rice Exchange Day for the farmers to determine if the rice or Rajit's stink weed is better. Rajit sets it up without informing Linda.
William, reading the contracts, is alarmed the farmers' work with the contract will be permanent, as well as the fact that 9's grain are sterile, meaning seeds would have to be bought annually. When meeting with Gurgon and Evelyn, they attempt to change William's mind by presenting the corporation as altruistic, and offer him a trip to New York.
William and Linda go out to a dance club during the night. Rajit and his sister Sita (Lakshmi Manchu) sneak in to dance with her, only for William to bribe the bouncer to kick them out. Linda stumbles on Rajit's farm and finds out about the contest. Initially she's mad at Rajit until her rice outperforms his weed at the contest. Linda indicates a lack of awareness towards the sustainability of the methods that will result from Mogil's contracts, which enrages Rajit. William bribes the authorities to arrest him over accusations of trashing Linda's lab.
The Rice Exchange Day goes as planned, until Linda publicly states the truth to the farmers. A revolt against Mogil, led by her, ensues. The local cops are also on the farmers' side and release Rajit, and William stalls the train out of a change of heart. As the train starts moving again, Linda uncouples it, William and Eric burn the contracts, and Rajit halts the train by parking his car on the tracks. Mogil's business plan is ruined, the farmers have their rice back, and Rajit and Linda are together.
Production
In January 2013, Brie Larson joined the cast of the film, with Dan Baron to direct, and Dan Baron and Jeff Dorchen to write the film.[4] Filming first took place in 2013 in Kerala.[5][6] It was originally set to take place in Tamil Nadu, but dry weather made the planned locations unsuitable so the production was forced to relocate weeks before it began.[6] Not enough scenes were shot in 2013 because the last weeks of the production coincided with monsoon season and sets were damaged.[6] A reshoot took place in 2015 and the post-production ended in May 2017.[5]
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 10% based on 29 reviews, the website's consensus reads, "Like the genetically modified grain at the center of its story, Basmati Blues is probably best locked in storage and saved for cases of cinematic famine."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10]
Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson summarized, "this attempt at an American-style Bollywood musical is earnest at best and sappy, naïve, and overly sweet at worst. It does have lively moments, but it mainly inspires aggravation and eye-rolling." Anderson praised Brie Larson's performance, but found her character too much of a pushover and easy to manipulate, contradictory to what a scientist should be. Anderson described the songs as "instantly forgettable, and it's frankly embarrassing when Sutherland and Tyne Daly are asked to step in and sing a villainous tune". Although respecting the film's condemnation of profit-over-people corporations, he still criticized the portrayal of Indians, describing them as "filtered through the Westernized views of uninformed tourists".[11]
Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times said the "film is unbelievably and insultingly racist." He continues "this isn't the loving homage to Bollywood musicals that was originally intended. It isn't a takedown on global capitalism and the corrupt food industry. And it most certainly isn't a celebration of India."[12]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2019)
Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers, known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockbusters. Larson is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
Basmati, pronounced ['bɑːsmət̪iː], is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. As of 2019, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%. Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to certain districts of India and Pakistan.
Rajit Kapur is an Indian film and theatre actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1996 film, The Making of the Mahatma for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Other notable roles are as the protagonist Unni in the Malayalam film Agnisakshi, and the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi in the eponymous television series, directed by Basu Chatterjee and broadcast on Doordarshan. His debut film was Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992), directed by Shyam Benegal.
Rice production in India is an important part of the national economy.
Dan Mackenzie is an American songwriter-producer.
Pankaj Tripathi is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi films. He debuted in 2004 with a minor role in Run and Omkara, and has since worked in more than 60 films and 60 television shows. Tripathi's breakthrough came in the year 2012 with his antagonistic role in the Gangs of Wasseypur film series. He has established himself as one of the finest Indian actors.
Zoya Afroz, is an Indian actress, model and a beauty pageant titleholder. Afroz won the title of Miss India International 2021 competing at the Glamanand Supermodel India contest and will represent India at the Miss International 2022 beauty pageant in Japan. Afroz was previously crowned as the second runner-up at Femina Miss India 2013.
Vierendrra Lalit is an Indian-born cinematographer and film director. He has worked in Indian Hindi and Telugu film industries as well as in Malaysian cinema. He owns two film production companies called Roop Chitra Visual and Roop Chitra Films.
Captain Marvel is a 2019 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet also contributing to the screenplay. Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law. Set in 1995, the story follows Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel after Earth is caught in the center of a galactic conflict between two alien civilizations.
Room is a 2015 drama film directed by Lenny Abrahamson and written by Emma Donoghue, based on her 2010 novel of the same name. It stars Brie Larson as a young woman who has been held captive for seven years and whose five-year-old son was born in captivity. Their escape allows the boy to experience the outside world for the first time. The film also stars Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, and William H. Macy.
Phir Se is a 2018 Indian romance film, directed by Kunal Kohli and Ajay Bhuyan. Initially slated for 2015 release, the film released after 3 years on video streaming platform Netflix in 2018. The web film stars Kunal Kohli, Jennifer Winget and Sumona Chakravarti. Rajit Kapoor, Dalip Tahil, Kanwaljeet Singh and Sushmita Mukherjee are in supporting roles. This is the first web film of director Kunal Kohli as an actor and the debut web film of Jennifer Winget. The tagline of the film is "I'm not 40—I'm 18 with 22 years [sic] experience." The trailer was released on 7 April 2015.
Jacob Tremblay is a Canadian actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Canadian Screen Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award, two Saturn Awards and an Empire Award.
Amira Nature Foods Ltd is a food company primarily engaged in the distribution of basmati rice and related food products.
Begum Jaan is a 2017 Indian Hindi period drama film. It is written and directed by National Film Award-winning director Srijit Mukherji and produced by Mukesh Bhatt, Vishesh Bhatt and Play Entertainment. The film is co-produced by Sakshi Bhatt and Shree Venkatesh Films with executive producer Kumkum Saigal. The cinematography is done by Gopi Bhagat. Lyrics, additional screenplay and dialogues have been penned by Kausar Munir and Rahat Indori.
Monica Gill is an American model, actress, beauty pageant title holder.
Raazi (transl.Agree) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language spy action thriller film directed by Meghna Gulzar and produced by Vineet Jain, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under the banners of Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions. It stars Alia Bhatt and features Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapur, Shishir Sharma, and Jaideep Ahlawat in supporting roles. The film is an adaptation of Harinder Sikka's 2008 novel Calling Sehmat, a true account of an Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent who, upon her father's request, is married into a family of military officers in Pakistan to relay information to India, prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Principal photography of Raazi began in July 2017 in Mumbai and was completed on 27 October 2017. It was shot across several locations including Patiala, Nabha, Malerkotla and Doodhpathri.
Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is a 2022 Indian biographical drama film based on the life of Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist and aerospace engineer of the Indian Space Research Organisation, who was accused in the ISRO espionage case and later exonerated. The film is written, produced and directed by R. Madhavan, who also plays the lead role. The story spans across Narayanan's days as a graduate student at Princeton University, before exploring his work as a scientist and the false espionage charges placed upon him.
Elijah Allan-Blitz, is an American actor, musician, and Emmy award winning film director. He is known for his direction of the Emmy-nominated virtual reality experience "Take Every Wave: Laird in VR", which won a Lumiere Award.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
