I went to see my first Indian movie last night. It was so fun. I think it may have had more to do with the audience than the movie though. It was a romance (of course) where the young people fall in love, but the father (Babuji) of the girl insists she take part in an arranged marriage to a stranger . . . but how can she go on living with out her lover? Her lover is considered a 'westeral' by her Babuji (I don't know what a westeral is either, but something bad, maybe a cross between a rascal and a weasle) and the father will never approve the match.

The whole movie had the air of a never ending Mentos comercial, complete with cocky-smiling young man, pearly white teeth, head tilted to the side and a thumbs up for every accomplishment made.

But the audience (it's safe to say I was a minority white girl) was awesome. When the female main character danced in the rain singing about the perfect man she is waiting for (as all young women do) the men in the audience whistled and yelled out comments (in Urdu or Hindi so I'm not exactly sure what they said, but I have a pretty good guess from what was on the screen and how the rest of the audience reacted.) When the main male character proved his prowess on screen by scoring in rugby, slam dunking the basket ball and driving a fast car to graduation-- all the women in the audience screamed, and my friend leaned over to let me know this young actor was the "heart throb" of India.

It was an older movie, from the mid 90s. I'm sure most of the audience had seen it, most likely several times. I don't remember the name, something about the groom shall come for the bride . . . This movie came no where near the precision Hollywood gives to its movies-- but it was completely enjoyable for me because it was completely enjoyed by the rest of the audience.

Maybe I'm a crowd follower in the area of Indian movies.