Just wanted to let you guys know that I watched both "Being Cyrus" and "Blue Umbrella" at the South Asian International Film Festival. I'll give an in-depth review on these films later but I can't remember the last time I've seen two magnificent films back to back. These two films are definitely worth watching on the big screen and I, for one, cannot wait to seem them again when they officially make their respective release across the world.

Homi Adajania, director of "Being Cyrus", makes a splendid entry into BW with his maiden venture. In the process, he extracts wonderful work from his cast whether it's Saif (his best act since EHT), Boman, Dimple or even Simone Singh (TV's Heena). The movie is primarily in English with sporadic instances of Gujrati. Though there are a couple chinks in some instances, Adajania's overall vision and screenplay, chock-full of black comedy, deserves the highest adulation. This is a stunning, unpredictable, taut thriller - nothing like Bollywood has ever brought us before.

Vishal Bharadwaj proves he is no fluke at all with his latest film, "The Blue Umbrella". In his earlier masterpiece, "Maqbool", Vishal showed us the ugly underbelly of Mumbai through Shakespeare's "Macbeth". In his latest gem, Bharadwaj does a complete 180 and projects a bittersweet tale about the lives of an old man, a little girl and the umbrella that causes chaos, conflict and ultimately friendship between the two. This is a triumph for Bharadwaj which includes a world-class performance from Pankaj Kapur. If you thought his act in "Maqbool" was impressive, you'll be completely unprepared for his brilliant work in "The Blue Umbrella".

These are 2 films that should not be missed, Both of them are already reserved on my best of '06 list.

Ah, glad to hear that both of these films are being seen and appreciated. Looked for a while there that they'd just be forgotten. I doubt that they'll be widely released in theatres, so I guess we'll have to hope for a decent DVD.

I'm especially glad Bharadwaj took a pause from gangster-Shakespeare adaptations.

Thank you so much, Hal! I've been waiting for these films (and 15 PARK AVENUE) too!