My Indian friends (Hindu, Jain, and Muslim) enjoyed the movie, while being moved as any must by the poverty and plight of the protagonists. They all saw elements of truth in depiction of India. While there is a great deal of new wealth and increasing secularism (among urban youth), the over-bearing poverty both within cities, linked with a similar level of poverty and lack of education in rural areas make India a study in contrasts. Just as it possesses some of the most advanced technical achievements (space program, nuclear arms), it is still in many ways a developing/3rd world country that is very self-aware and self-conscious.

This was not a movie about America’s, or the West’s relationship with India. Anyone who saw even the trailer knows that. If you went into this movie thinking that it was going to speak to that relationship . . .