Tag: Pakistani

Pakistani wife (Nazanin Boniadi), hotel waiter (Dev Patel), and American architect (Armie Hammer) respond to noises in the hotel.

HOTEL MUMBAI

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

The events that occurred in 2008 at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India are depicted in “Hotel Mumbai” in a graphic, yet constructive manner from the viewpoint of Australian filmmakers.

So far, this film has been released in Canada and the USA, with opposition in India, which has even blocked Netflix from screening it.

I needed to see the beginning of this film twice, to better see how the events unfolded.

It appears that a Pakistani terror group landed by boat, then broke up into groups headed for various locations in Mumbai, India, one of which was the hotel.

The compassion of the hotel leaders, worked both for and against them.

On the one hand, they had very loyal employees, and on the other hand, they let the terrorists walk right into the hotel in the midst of a panicked group of civilians.

The terrorists have on head phones.

They are listening to directions and reminders of how these people, the wealthy, were responsible for their poor fortune.

And, of how they would be remembered as heroes that the whole world was watching.

Some of the terrorists felt that this was good enough reason to slaughter civilians, others were conflicted.

Dev Patel plays one of the loyal composite hotel employees, Arjun.

And Anupam Kher plays Chef Hemant Oberoi, a hotel chef.

Both were responsible for saving the lives of their hotel guests in a game of cat and mouse.

Armie Hammer plays an American architect staying at the hotel with his Pakistani wife, played by Nazanin Boniadi, who is actually an Iranian-British actress.

Armie Hammer most recently can be seen in the film, “On the Basis of Sex” as Martin D. Ginsburg (Ruth’s husband).

The power of prayer is highlighted, when the Pakistani wife saves her own life by quoting passages from the Koran to one of the conflicted terrorists.

Too bad she did not start it in time to save her husband and her Russian admirer. This was an interesting grouping.

Was sympathy for the American or the Russian? The Russian, played by Jason Isaacs, was not as squeaky clean as the clean cut American.

Jason Isaacs is probably most remembered for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

This film is full of controversy and I hesitated to review it because of the graphic violence, but I feel that its content has socially redeeming qualities.

A lot of different cultures are depicted, so you may or may not be offended, but timely messages give it value.

See this film at your own risk.

Pakistani wife (Nazanin Boniadi) is comforted by Russian admirer (Jason Isaacs).

Real versus Reel:

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Hotel-Mumbai-True-Story-45693994

Dev Patel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dev_Patel

Armie Hammer:

https://en.wikipeda.oirg/wiki/Armie_Hammer

Anupam Kher:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anupam_Kher

Jason Isaacs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Isaacs

Nazanin Boniadi:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazanin_Boniadi

Tilda Cobham-Hervey:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilda_Cobham-Hervey

Director Anthony Maras:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Maras

Screenwriter John Collee:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collee

Wiki for Hotel Mumbai:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Mumbai

No support in India:

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/no-support-for-hotel-mumbai-in-india-sensitive-content-legal-tussles-stand-in-the-way-of-dev-patels-films-release

4/12/2019 # Hotel Mumbai

Kumail waits at the hospital with Emily’s parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano)

THE BIG SICK

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

This is my favorite film, so far, this year.

“The Big Sick” is all about how a brave Muslim comedian, Kumail Nanjiani, (true story) meets an American girl, Emily V. Gordon (Zoe Kazan) in his audience, while he is struggling to become a comedian.

She brings out the best in him, and he responds by loving her forever.

As the story opens, Kumail is fighting his way out of the expectations of his Pakistani, Muslim family, who are not too subtle about hooking him up with a nice Muslim girl.

This is post 9/11, when all Muslims are under intense scrutiny by all Americans. In fact, Emily’s parents, are quick to ask him, point blank, “What’s your take on 9/11?”

Breaking out of his multi-faceted, straight-jacket, after having been confronted with this question, over and over, Kumail responds, “Yeah, it was bad, we lost 19 of our best guys.”

Clearly, Kumail is letting go of all sense of safety. He is saying go ahead and kill me now. A stressed-out Muslim, seeks suicide by stressed-out American parent.

I loved seeing Holly Hunter as Emily’s mother. As always, she is laser-sharp in her approach, but fair. She has disappointments in her marriage, but stays for the love and support.

As soon as we see Emily’s father, Terry, played by Ray Romano, we know immediately what attracted Emily to Kumail. He’s the spitting image of her father. Except, the real Terry Gordon, does not look that way at all. I guess the filmmakers felt a need to explain the attraction.

Kumail puts together a one-man, stand-up show to introduce Americans to his Pakistani culture. He innocently is trying to show us why he is proud of his country of origin.

Emily, a student therapist, suggests to him, that what would make this piece interesting to Americans, would be for him to tell us about how he really feels about his country.

This is the key that unlocks Kumail’s career as a comedian. There is nothing like extreme tension to make people laugh.

In his final stand-up performance, Kumail explains about how his parents do not approve of his chosen profession. “There is doctor, lawyer, hundreds of jobs, Isis, then, at the bottom of the list, is comedian.”

I have to say that before seeing this film, I was aware of the existence of a Muslim comedian, who talked about being a Muslim in America.

This film is a must see on many levels. It’s timely, relevant, real, and it tackles what matters in today’s definition of a marriage.