Bollywood and beyond

Celebrate the extravagant music-filled cinema of India at the 6th annual Bollywood Night at 6:30 p.m. today in the Peter White Public Library community room. The evening will include a screening of Om Shanti Om, the story of an aspiring actor who is murdered and immediately reincarnated. This year's Bollywood Night includes an appearance by the Belladonnas, Marquette's own belly dancing troupe. South Asian snacks will be served during intermission. Seating is limited and donations appreciated.

There is a growing Marquette area fan base for the Indian musical film genre known as Bollywood, and the library is adding new Bollywood titles to its DVD collection. After being shown, most films in the CineArts series can be checked out. See these and other favorites at www.pwpl.info.

Carry on Munnabhai is an amusing but meaningful film following the trials of an engaging Mumbai gangster who tries to pass himself off as a professor of Gandhian studies to win the heart of a radio talk show host.

Devdas is the classic tragic story of Devdas' inability to marry his childhood sweetheart followed by his descent into alcoholism, death, and eventual redemption.

In Dilwale dulhania le jayenge (The Brave-Heart Will Take The Bride), Raj and Simran are second generation British Asians who meet and fall in love one summer, but Simran's traditional father has arranged for her to marry the son of an old friend from India.

Jodhaa Akbar is an epic telling of the 16th century marriage between the Mogul emperor, Akbar, and the Rajput princess, Jodhaa.

Mughal-e-Azam is a spectacular drama set in the time of the Mughals at the height of their power and splendor.

In Swades, a bright young scientist working at NASA returns to rural India on a quest to find his childhood nanny and is drawn into the village life and problems.

Bollywood Night is one part of the Peter White Public Library's CineArts Film Series featuring international and independent films. The winter series began in January with Everlasting Piece, which tells the improbable and humorous story of a Catholic and a Protestant barber who join forces to corner the toupee market in Belfast, Ireland (available to check out).

CineArts will continue at 7 p.m. March 6 with Ushpizin, a heartwarming and humorous Israeli drama set in the customarily closed world of ultra-Orthodox Jews. A married couple pray for relief of their financial crisis, but instead of a miracle, two suspicious strangers with criminal pasts appear on their doorstep.

In the Belgium film Eldorado (March 18) a young burglar tries to rob a 40-year-old car dealer who becomes strangely attached to the would-be thief and agrees to drive him home to his parents.

The Israeli film The Band's Visit (April 3) tells the story of a small Egyptian police band who arrive in Israel for a concert, but are left stranded at the airport. The band finds shelter and surprising friendships in a desolate Israeli village.

In The Counterfeiters, (April 15) the Nazis round up dozens of skilled Jewish craftsmen from concentration camps to create perfect counterfeits of British and U.S. currency in a last-ditch ploy to wreck the economies of the two allies. This film from Austria won a 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.

- Claire Rose

Deputy director