August 24, 2005
Sakharam ShyamalanFilm
That *$ siren with wavy hair whom you’re ogling is Sarita Choudhury:
British actress Sarita Choudhury has been signed up for a role in M. Night Shyamalan’s next big film Lady in the Water… M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film tells the story of a superintendent of an apartment building who discovers a sea nymph in the building’s pool…Sarita Choudhury was born in London and spent her early years in Kingston, Jamaica. She has also lived in Mexico for a while…
In a previous interview, she put her variety of roles down to lack of opportunities for Indian actors. “Left to myself I would only play an Indian. But the reality was that there were hardly any Indian characters I could play in the films made in England and Hollywood. So I had to learn how to disappear into a variety of characters,” she said. She is currently working in three other films. [Link]
Wonder if one of those roles is a terrorist.
Over the Mountains is in post-production and will be the first to see a release. It is about a Pakistani involved in a planned attack in New York City who experiences a crisis of conscience. Indocumentados is currently in production, while work on For Real has not yet started. [Link]
Ding ding ding!
When I saw Shyamalan’s Praying With Anger, a student film that was a prototype for the American Desi/American Chai/ABCD wave, I’d never have guessed what would transpire. Over a decade later, Shyamalan tips his lid to one of the original 2nd gen actresses from his throne room in mainstream American film.
manish on August 24, 2005 12:54 PM in Film · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
London, Jamaica, Mexico and America - what a cool lady.
She looks good and tight in that sari too.
Manish - where can I get 'Praying with Anger'. I always wanted to see that one.
Here it is from a UK rental service. Not sure about the U.S.
Choudhury is another 50/50. Half Bengali half French - I was never a big fan of hers. The again, she does not have very many leading roles. Her performance in Mississippi Masala does not hold up well over time, but when you're acting opposite aces like Denzel Washington, Roshan Seth, and Sharmila Tagore - it would be tough for anyone. She was underutilized as a medical examiner in her brief stint on Homicide. I think she has had more luck in theater, as many other ethnic actors do.
I do not see why her playing a Pakistani terrorist should be a cause of criticism. India has been dealing with Pakistani terrorists for a long time, and the gunman who opened fire on the CIA HQ in Langley back in 1993 was Pakistani. Not every plot-line can have neo-Nazis as the villain.
Yeah but her role isn't a terrorist terrorising Indians, it's one aiming to take down the US...like any of the many many Asians cast to play anti-US terrorists ever since True Lies. Crimson Jihaaaaad!
I'm not a big of hers either. But medic and terrorist - she can now die happy that she's truly lived a brown actor's life.
'My summer vacation in India where I almost hooked up'? Totally 2nd gen.
Battery Aziz!
My boss's name is Aziz. I'm his cameraman.
I might be wrong but did she play an Iraqi mujahideen in one of the Law and Order Episodes?
I taped Praying With Anger on tape. I think, the tape must be somewhere in my parents' basement. Cinemax or one of those cable movie channels showed it a couple of times; one month in the mid 90s. It was the first movie by an ABCD that I was aware of. Perhaps I should sell bootleg copies if I find my copy.
But the movie is not that good really. Wooden, prentetious, and a bit all over the place. The two things that are most interesting about it are that Shymalan acts in it (he is the main character) and it's set in India.
Yep, and it's slow like all his films, but the cinematography is very pretty. I'm a sucker for honeyed summer tones.
This is so exciting. I tried to incite Amardeep to write about The village but he refused. I saw it as a deeply racist movie. The premise that the perfect society was one with complete homogeneity held together by a common fear of an unknown enemy and deliberate lying by the leaders seemed like the ultimate right wing fantasy. Even the use of the "Anne of Green Gables"-esque english to suggest some fabricated antebellum fantasy seemed suggestive. It is possibly fantastically good satire, but how come he never mentioned that aspect of it ever?
There seem to be fair number of film (Anangbhai?) and theory people (Amardeep?) here. Maybe I can get an answer finally.
Suvendra-
I'm scared to admit, your theory actually has me now interested in seeing "The Village".
qubits, she did. I saw that ep too.
Sarita Choudhury was terrific in LITW. Other than Paul, she was a bright light. If only her role was bigger....
No I won't feed the trolls. LOL now I know the password. Manoj, Manish, Night, Whatev.
Wow, I thought The Village referenced older Indian tales...villages or cities of people bordered by forests full of Rakshasas.
True lies.