The Perfect Bollywood Ending

Could you end a trip to India more perfectly? On our last full night we attended a special premiere of a new, Bollywood drama. One of the Americans we met at church on Sunday is attending one of the top film schools in the world here in Mumbai, the home of Bollywood. So when we heard about a special screening of a movie coming out in the next few days, we jumped on it. To our surprise some pretty big film stars showed up. I had no idea who they were, but I always wondered what it would be like to be a paparazzi. This was my golden chance. Pretty funny!

This was the the movie we watched. Although it was all in Hindi (w/ no subtitles), I still really enjoyed it. It was based off a novel from the most famous writer of Gandhi's time. It was sort of a Shakespearean love story, pretty good plot. I sat next to one of the girl's Indian roommates so she could paraphrase what was going on. I still want to see it again with subtitles.

This was a funny sign on our way into the movie. Next time someone stops you at a movie theater in America and says you can't bring food in, just tell them it's an eatable.

The school is located in the middle of Film City, which is the town where all the movies are shot. This is a fake forest they were building for an upcoming movie.

Here's a few other highlights from Mumbai (yes, we did work, but you probably wouldn't enjoy pictures of me sitting around working on the computer or sitting in meetings).

This is the Taj Mahal Hotel. It's the one the terrorists ran inside of and held people hostage for nearly two days. It is a really nice hotel where all the delegates and celebrities stay when they visit. Several were in the hotel when they stormed in. The tower on the right is the one they set on fire (it's been rebuilt of course). Our driver gave us a tour of South Mumbai telling the story of where the terrorists arrived (on an inflatable boat on the beach) and went on their massive killing spree throughout the city.

That Taj Mahal Hotel is right next to the Gateway to India. It was built for King George V and Queen Mary's visit to India. Nice gesture right? Well, when the Indians officially kicked the British out of their country for good years later, they sent the soldiers packing through the same gate and on to the boat (immediately on the other side is a big loading dock into the ocean).

This was a police cricket league game going on. We stopped to watch for a bit. I bought a starter cricket set. Now I have to learn how to play it. I bought a miniature cricket bat for CJ that I can't wait to give him.

I've seen a lot of interesting things while we've been driving around. This one was pretty crazy. A Sikh riding in a showcase automobile. Our driver wasn't exactly sure why.

I figured no one would believe me if I didn't get a picture of this. The typical family car for a family of four. You'd see this all the time on the busy streets and even highways. Dad, with the oldest kid in front of him and the mother side straddling the motorcycle holding her child. I'm a bit of a risk taker, but even I was nervous for them, because the mother typically can't hold on.