Immigrants
from India to the United States, according to census statistics,
have the highest incomes of all ethnic groups, including Caucasians.
But economic success does not mean that they are without cultural,
family, and personal problems. Leela,
directed by Somnath Sen, focuses on why the conflicts arise
and how they are handled within Indian culture. Although the
film's title directs our attention to Leela (played by Dimple
Kapadia), a visiting professor at a university in Southern
California (much of the filming is on the USC campus), the
center of attention is instead Krishna (played by Amol Mhatre),
an eighteen-year-old sophomore at the university who enrolls
in her class on world cultural studies, and his mother Chaitali
(played by Deepti Naval), another university professor. Krishna,
who prefers to be called Kris, is a handsome, lightskinned
Indian American who is popular with his classmates. He lives
with his mother Chaitali because his parents are divorced.
His father Jai (played by Gulshan Grover) married a Caucasian
woman, but his mother did not remarry. Leela and Chaitali,
as academic colleagues, become good friends. Against his assimilationist
impulses, Kris is taking lessons to learn how to play Indian
string instruments from his father, and he complains that
Jai otherwise takes little interest in him. Meanwhile, Kris's
mother is having a secret affair with another university professor;
the two are intimate on days when Kris is with Jai. Kris's
classmates dare him to have sex with Leela, and the two see
a lot of each other; Kris learns about his roots, while Leela
begins to understand American culture. Then the equilibrium
of Kris's life comes crashing down when he catches his mother
at home with the professor, so he moves out to live with his
father whom he later persuades to fund the cost of an apartment
on his own. He also frequents Leela at home, where one day
he strips to a condom in her bathroom and then comes out naked,
hoping for sex with her to increase his popularity with his
classmates, all to no avail. For Kris, the hypocrisy of a
disciplinarian mother having an affair behind his back was
the last straw, but he also has to endure her false accusation
that he has been shacking up with a "whore." Chaitali,
having driven the second man in her life away, then tries
to light fires under everyone to rectify the situation, but
she only succeeds in bringing about a breakup with the professor,
the third man in her life to leave her. And she spreads hatred
not only toward Leela, whom she believes has betrayed her,
but also toward her former husband's current wife. Carrying
on as if she were in India, Chaitali cannot help but make
the situation worse for everyone, while the men in her life
try to reach out to one another, especially to Kris. Meanwhile,
Leela places a call to her husband Nashaad (played by Vinod
Khanna), a renowned singer-poet, only to find a woman answer
the telephone. Inferring that her husband is engaging in yet
another affair, she realizes that her marriage with a womanizer
has stifled her, and she gets so emotional that she cries
on Kris's shoulder, and the two have sex. Soon, Nashaad arrives
from India to save the day, explaining in person that the
woman who answered the telephone was merely his niece, and
he declares to all that Leela has been the light of his life
ever since they were married. Kris then withdraws his personal
interest in Leela, who explains that she wants to be her own
person, not a prize for a pursuer. A party in Nashaad's honor
fortunately provides one of several opportunities in the film
to enjoy Indian music. When Leela realizes that Kris's mother
is still in turmoil, she realizes that she alone has the duty
to do what she can to comfort her. Indeed, the film tells
us that Indian culture stresses tact, respect, and concern
for others, even in America, and the situation happily calms
down due to the application of Buddhist principles. But Leela
is also a plea for Indian women to seek happiness on their
own terms rather than living in the shadows of their husbands.
MH
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want to comment on this film
