Pardes

<p>Surajdev greets his childhood friend, Kishorilal, who is an visiting India after many years. Kishorilal spends time at Suraj’s house in his village, and is impressed by the of his daughter, Ganga. Seeking to marry her to his son Rajiv, he returns to the US and sends his adopted son, Arjun, to India. Arjun sets about “westernizing” Ganga’s household, which Ganga opposes. Starting off on the wrong foot, the two eventually become good friends. Rajiv arrives to India a few days later. Rajiv is initially shocked by Indian customs and traditions, though he approves of Ganga. Ganga turns to Arjun to understand Rajiv better, but he paints a perfect picture of Rajiv to her, including lying about Rajiv’s vices. Ganga agrees to the match as well, and departs for the US with Rajiv’s family, after being engaged. In the US, Rajiv’s extended family are cold towards Ganga, whom they consider an implant into their Americanised household. Ganga starts relying on Arjun for emotional support, and the two become close. Rajiv’s vices come to light, as Ganga realises he is an alcoholic and a womanizer. She blames Arjun for lying to her about Rajiv and Kishorilal requests her to try to understand Rajiv better and fix the household as she will be married to him. On a trip to , Rajiv insists Ganga sleep with him . Ganga states her wish to abstain until they marry, after which Rajiv insults Indian traditions. Offended, Ganga slaps Rajiv and then cancels the relationship by discarding her ring. As a result, a drunk Rajiv slaps and forces himself on Ganga, who fights back and injures Rajiv and then runs away. Arjun finds her crying at a train station, and he safely flies her back to India. Upon returning to the village in India, Ganga’s father, thinking Arjun and Ganga have eloped, attempts to kill Arjun and Ganga for betraying them. Later, Rajiv and Kishorilal also reach the village in India, where Ganga has been reunited with her family. Arjun and Rajiv end up fighting, where Arjun is bleeding badly, but Kishorilal intervenes. He demands an explanation from Arjun, whom he raised as his own son but thinks he has seemingly betrayed him by “eloping” with Ganga. Arjun clarifies he was only protecting Ganga from Rajiv and wasn’t trying to elope with her though he does confess his love for her. After Arjun leaves, Ganga then corroborates his story by showing them the marks on her body from Rajiv’s assault. Embarrassed by his son’s actions, Kishorilal slaps Rajiv and orders him to go back to the US. He calls off Ganga’s wedding with Rajiv and declares she will marry Arjun instead. The two return to the US, where they live out a happy married life. Ghai wanted to compose the music of this film, but he was too expensive and didn’t fit the budget of the film. However, they collaborated on Ghai’s next, (1999). The soundtrack of was then composed by and the lyrics were penned by . The song “I Love My India” is composed in Raag (known as in Carnatic Music). For their work, Nadeem–Shravan received a nomination and won a . This was the only album where sung a Hindi song for Nadeem–Shravan. started their review by saying, “The music of is one of ‘s best ever.” grossed in India and ( ) overseas, for a worldwide total of ( ), against its budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of , and grossed in its first week. It is the 4th-highest-grossing film of 1997 in India. It opened on Friday, August 8, 1997, across 210 screens, and earned nett on its opening day. It grossed nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of nett. The film earned a total of nett, and was declared a “super-hit” by . It is the 4th highest-grossing film of 1997 in India. It earned ( in 1997) outside India. Overseas, it is the 2nd highest-grossing film of 1997 after , which grossed ( in 1997). received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Praise was given to the music and the cast’s performances; however the story and screenplay of the film received criticism. cites it as one of the first major Bollywood pictures to succeed in the United States. In their book, , Gita Rajan and Shailja Sharma view the film as a depiction of the good versus bad NRI, with Khan depicting the good immigrant, who assists the rowdy Indian American playboy Rajiv ( ), the bad. Khan’s character of Arjun is perceived as a metaphor for cosmopolitanism or Indian cultural nationalism in the wider sense, in direct contrast to Rajiv who represents wealthy Westernization and all its negative vices and connotations.</p>