Too much of everything

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely brilliant

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Why would such an apparently minor and lightweight movie attract stars like Donald Sutherland and Brie Larson? Because there's a surprise inside!Basmati Blues is, superficially, a simple, Americanized version of a Bollywood romantic comedy. It contains the usual elaborate song & dance numbers, many of them adapted to a Western audience, sometimes rather cleverly; and a fairly typical plot of a developing romance between two seemingly different and incompatible people who eventually find a way to be together. For a serious Bollywood fan, an American take on the genre might be worth watching as a novelty, and some of the musical numbers are not bad. What caught my interest, however, is the use of the movie to deliver a political message. The basic storyline involves a pretty young American woman, Linda (Brie Larson), something of a prodigy who works as a research scientist for a company called Mogil. (Mogil is very obviously intended to represent the Monsanto corporation; it even uses more or less the same logo.) Linda has developed a new genetically engineered form of rice. The company's CEO, Gurgon (Donald Sutherland), sends Linda to India to win over the farmers and convince them to sign on for the new rice variety. The scenes in India make good use of the beautiful landscape and give a positive impression of the close-knit farming communities. An idealistic young agriculture student from one of the farming villages begins a half-flirting, half-disputing relationship with Linda. As their romance slowly develops, the more serious part of the plot comes to the fore: the Indian farmers are at first unaware of the implications of accepting Mogil's engineered rice, and how it will change and possibly destroy their livelihood and way of life. One of the high points of the film is Donald Sutherland leading a song and dance number involving Gurgon and the Mogil executives, singing "The Greater Good," a musical explanation of Mogil's right to spread their product where possible, regardless of the possible loss of customers' savings, land, and way of life. Gurgon is a villain, but one who rationalizes his actions as benefiting the world in the long run, as it is right and natural for the superior person (himself) to control things. When the Indian farmers belatedly discover what signing on for the engineered rice might mean to them, a minor rebellion begins, and Linda must choose sides. A very well done musical interlude expresses the farmers' mass rebellion. Because this is a Bollywood-style movie above all, we are given a happy ending - and of course the elaborate Hindu wedding scene - along with the warning message.It may not be the most informative film about GMO crops in India, but it's certainly the most fun.

A brilliant scientist is plucked out of the company lab and sent to India to sell the genetically modified rice she created which she doesn't realize will destroy the farmers she thinks she's helping. Basmati Blues is one of those films where one actor will feel embarrased that even starred in it and that actor will be Brie Larson. This film is not original, not comedic and definitely not a good musical since the singing part doesn't even sound like Larson herself and that was disappointing since actors like Jackman do their own singing. Overall a disappointing film that makes sense for the 3.9 that it got and the 0% that it received on Rotten Tomatoes. (0/10)

Smart humor, relevant, and conscious storytelling about the impact of science on an entire culture. Clever use of dance and music which seamlessly embodies each character and drives the point of the story home. Brie Larson beautifully portrays her character of Linda and intelligently drives the point of the story forward. I also enjoyed the playfulness of Donald Sutherland and Tyne Daly throughout as well as how comfortably and artfully they delivered their characters whether dancing or singing. The photography was wonderful and the scenes of village life and people reminded me of my time in India. Well done. A story.that all my friends and family can enjoy regardless of age.

I saw this movie this morning knowing nearly nothing about it. However fairly quickly, as soon as the setting moved to India, it dawned on me that I was watching sort of a western take on a Bollywood movie with music, and romance, dancing, good guys, bad guys, a love triangle, a bit of suspense and a bit of mayhem. The standard elements, identified by some other reviewers here as rom-com are the expected elements in a classic Bollywood film. And, let me be perfectly clear, the bad guys here are clearly the westerners. In fact, part of the suspense comes from wondering how the well-meaning western heroine, a scientist who has naively allowed herself to be manipulated by American agribusiness into doing something very harmful, can possibly redeem herself. Finally she will have to realize that the small farmers who surround her, and who have taken her into their hearts, are living and working under a system very different that what we usually see in the United States. These farmers do not hop into a giant pick-up truck, drive into town, take out a loan and buy their seed from a farm supply store. In my opinion, this is not a great film but it was a lot of fun. I liked it a lot more than La La Land which I also saw very early in its run with no pre-conceived notions of what I would be seeing. However, as I write this, Basmati Blues has a 3.7 rating here while La La Land has an 8.1. I don't get that.... Tonight I did a search on this movie and discovered that an early trailer had ignited controversy.... because of a white horse? and because of the present day phenomenon where angry trolls seem intent on attacking and destroying a movie they could not have actually seen. Please, just don't listen to them!