Cake   ·   Cosmopolitan   ·   Chutney Popcorn   ·   Drown Soda   ·   Junky Punky Girlz 

      About Nisha   

-------
Title: Cosmopolitan
-------

 Synopsis   ·   Reviews   ·   Screenings   ·   Crew   ·   Cast 

[*] DVD Now Available! Visit GiganticPictures to Buy DVD [*]

Synopsis

Indian-born Gopal (Roshan Seth) is shocked when his wife (Madhur Jaffrey) and daughter (Purva Bedi) desert him in the American suburb he's called home for twenty years. Alone for the first time in his life, Gopal turns to women's magazines and the Bollywood films of his youth for advice on navigating a romance with his next door neighbor, Mrs. Shaw (Carol Kane).

COSMOPOLITAN is based on a short story by Akhil Sharma, which first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and was included in THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 1998. COSMOPOLITAN was financed by the NEA, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Asian American Television Association.

External Link: Independent Lens - Cosmopolitan

Screenings          (updated: June 2005)

Juneau, Alaska: 8PM on June 17, 2005
   The Cinema at The Historic Silverbow Inn.

 

Completed Screenings

Northern California, TV: May 11, 11PM INPUT 2005, selected as one of ten PBS programs to screen at this international conferernce.

Varsity Theatre, Ashland, OR: March 31-April 4, 2005
   2005 Ashland Independent Film Festival

Wisconsin: April 1, 2005
   2005 Wisconsin Film Festival

San Francisco, CA: March 6 and 9, 2004
   NAATA Film Festival
   Sat 03.06 5:00PM AMC Kabuki 8 Theaters
   Tue 03.09 7:15PM AMC Kabuki 8 Theaters

Austin, TX: March 12-20, 2004
   South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival
Screening times and dates:
   Friday March 12 9:30 PM - Dobie
   Wednesday March 17 12:30 PM - Dobie
   Friday March 19 7:15 PM - Dobie
   SXSW Screening Updates


Premiere:
In New York City on Nov 5th as the opening night film for the IAAC 2003 film festival.

Reviews

Nisha Ganatra is one of America's best young directors when it comes to eliciting superb performances from her (always multicultural) casts. In Ganatra's Cosmopolitan, Carol Kane's middle-aged, next-door amour might be her loveliest piece of screen acting since Hester Street thirty years ago. -- Gerald Peary, Boston Phoenix

External Links         

Freelance writer Chuleenan Svetvilas chatted with the actors in April 2004 - AsianConnections Interview

NPR - All things considered audio - Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Roshan Seth

A 'Taxi' veteran in an unlikely romance - CNN.com - Carol Kane stars in Cosmopolitan

Carol Kane dances into PBS' "Cosmopolitan" romance - news item in the San Francisco Chronicle, online at SFGate.com

WNYC Article

Internet Movie Database link
imdb

Gigantic Pictures - Cosmopolitan

Father Figure - Mid-Day Article

Filmmaker Magazine Spring 2003 In Focus

The Atlantic Online - Fiction, Jan 1997, Cosmopolitan by Akhil Sharma

Crew         

   Nisha recently completed Cosmopolitan starring Carol Kane and Roshan Seth for PBS and ITVS. Cosmopolitan was selected by Input as one of the top ten films shown on public television this year. It was the only narrative film chosen for this distinction. Nisha is currently in post production on a new romantic comedy with Heather Graham, CAKE. The film also stars: Sandra Oh, Taye Diggs, Cheryl Hines and Sarah Chalke. Read more at the Filmmakers section on the Chutney Popcorn  page.

Sabrina Dhawan (Screenwriter) wrote MONSOON WEDDING for director Mira Nair while pursuing her graduate degree in film from Columbia University. MONSOON WEDDING received the Golden Lion at Venice and was released internationally to great acclaim. She subsequently scripted Nair's contribution to the omnibus project 09'11'01 for Arte. Dhawan is currently writing a screenplay for Christine Vachon's Killer Films.

GIGANTIC PICTURES (Producers) is the New York-based, independent production company run by Brian Devine, Jason Orans and Jennifer Small. In addition to COSMOPOLITAN, Gigantic Pictures recently produced THE SUITOR for PBS, a narrative film based on a story by the Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez. Additional productions include: an adaptation of Bernard Malamud's THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS, starring Israel Horovitz and Carol Kane, which was broadcast nationally on PBS; THE THIRD DATE starring Sandra Bernhard, Xander Berkeley, and Sarah Clark, which premiered at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and played the 2003 London Film Festival; Drena De Niro's documentary GIRLS AND DOLLS, which premiered on WNET; and Israel Horovitz's autobiographical documentary about 9/11, THREE WEEKS AFTER PARADISE, which premiered on Bravo 9/11/02. Gigantic is currently in post-production on SATELLITE, a feature film by the writer/director Jeff Winner (YOU ARE HERE).

Chris Rael (Songs) is the founder and leader of the legendary New York bang Church of Betty, and is the founder and manager of the independent label Fang Records. His many artistic collaborations include work with such artists as Najma Akhtar, Samir Chatterjee, David Byrne, Curt Smith, Elliot Sharp, Penny Arcade, and Steve Gorn.

Cast         

Roshan Seth (as "Gopal") received a Genie Award for his starring performance in SUCH A LONG JOURNEY. His major film appearances include MONSOON WEDDING, GANDHI (as Nehru, BAFTA Award nominee), INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, LONDON KILLS ME, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA, and A PASSAGE TO INDIA. He frequently appears on stage in London, New York, and India. Daily Variety called Mr. Seth one of "India's most distinguished actors working in the west."

Carol Kane (as "Mrs. Shaw") received an Academy Award nomination for her role in HESTER STREET. She has appeared in over thirty films, including ANNIE HALL, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, SCROOGED, and ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES. Recently, Ms. Kane appeared in Cindy Sherman's OFFICE KILLER and LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONEY. Her television roles include the unforgettable "Simcha" on the long-running show TAXI, for which she won multiple Emmy Awards.

Madhur Jaffrey(as "Madhu") in addition to her work on stage and screen, Madhur Jaffrey is the world's preeminent Indian cookbook author. Jaffrey's film credits include Merchant/Ivory's COTTON MARY, SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, VANYA ON 42ND STREET, and Nisha Ganatra's CHUTNEY POPCORN.

        

Film Makers

Director:
  Nisha Ganatra

Producers:
  Jason Orans
  Jen Small
  Brian Devine
  KTEH San Jose

Writer:
  Sabrina Dhawan

Original Story:
  Ahkil Sharma

Starring

Roshan Seth    Gopal
Carol Kane    Mrs. Shaw
Madhur Jaffrey    Madhu
Purva Bedi    Geetu
Taj Crown    Harish
Yolande Bavan    Prema
Neerja Sharma    Vandana
Kal Penn    Vandana's Fiancee
Stephen Barker Turner    Hans

Complete Credits

All the credits

Gallery

Image Gallery




[*] [*] [*]
[*] DVD Now Available! Click Here to Buy DVD [*]



About Nisha  ·   Cake   ·   Chutney Popcorn   ·   Drown Soda   ·   Junky Punky Girlz 


Copyright © 2003 Nisha Ganatra, <MataFilms@aol.com>
All rights reserved.

[[train.line.gif]]
Website Questions? Send Email To: webmaster@aczoom.com