Meet the Patels
We are attempting to make up for our lack of movie going this summer now that we are back in the city. Last weekend we saw the Second Mother. Really well done film around class barriers in Brazil that comes to light when the live-in housekeepers daughter comes to town. Of course before the film was the previews. We laughed out loud to Meet the Patels and made a mental note to see it.
Friday night we went to see Meet the Patels at the Angelika. Who knew that it was the premiere showing in NYC? There were several premieres across the country that night. The film has won several awards at Film Festivals. It is a new type of documentary about a first generation Indian son attempting to find love the old fashioned way – being set-up by the parents. The person behind the camera is his sister.
The movie has some laugh out loud moments. It begins with the families annual trip to India. Ravi, the brother is almost 30 and as far as his parents are concerned it is time to find a wife. His sister, Greeta, begins filming on this trip. 200 hours of film footage later, 7 years of editing and the film has now come to life.
The kids grew up in the states but they were raised as Indians. They have ties to that community and way of life. It is not so cut and dry. There are many cultures like this and it is easy to lose that connection when a generation leaves the country or their religion behind.
The film has animation and real life footage. We ended up getting to see both Ravi and Greeta speak at the end of the film. Glad we saw it. A worthwhile film to add to anyones list.
Comments (Archived):
Will make a note to see it and tell the two film-makers in our family to do the same. Always good to learn about other cultures and traditions.
I have some Indian friends that retold me the story of how they “met” their spouse. Have heard those stories from both the male and female perspective. It’s amazing how it just works. One of my friends told me, “My mother could tell if it was a match in the first ten minutes of meeting the other family in their house.”. Another friend of mine was going to school in the US. His father called him and said, “You have to hop on a plane and come home. You are getting married.” When he got off the plane it was the first time he had seen his wife. Crazy.
Crazy