Review of Leela

Leela (2002)
6/10
Reworking "40 Carats" with Indian emigrants in the US
15 March 2003
I do not know anything about Somnath Sen, the director of the film. If this is indeed his first film, I congratulate him for pulling together a good cast and some fine production quality that lifts up the film.

However, the script is nothing more than a reworking of "40 carats" and/or "Summer of '42". If the film is aimed at the Indian or South Asian community in Asia, the film will draw some attention. This is because the line up of the commercially accepted Indian movie actors--Dimple Kapadia, Deepti Naval and Vinod Khanna--will pull the crowds out of curiosity to see them act in an English movie. Compared to an average Indian film, the camerawork, editing, and music of this US film are all used with considerable finesse. Sen's work stands out for these factors not the screenplay, the performances or the story. Ms Kapadia and Ms Naval prop up the film as they are both beautiful and evidently quite talented. I wish they could act in films of some top-notch European director!
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