(A maven is a Yiddish word meaning a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word maven comes from Hebrew, meaning “one who understands”.)

I’ve been an avid watcher of movies for over 30 years, but Indian cinema is my latest obsession.  In the past two years, I’ve seen over 250 Indian films, mostly Hindi but a growing list of regional films.  I’m a huge fan of Shahrukh Khan, after starting my Bollywood binge by watching Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge on Netflix.  I’ve watched 50 of his films alone.

I started this blog because I happened to write an answer to a Quora question, “Does Anyone Besides Indians Watch Indian Movies?”  My answer was an emphatic yes.

I love old Hollywood musicals like Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly films.  Hollywood does not make them anymore.  I love the singing and the dancing in Indian cinema, but also the earnest love stories are not the kind of films that Hollywood makes either.  Rom Coms are becoming rarer and rarer in American films which tend to be more cynical.  The emotions in Bollywood films are something that is rare to see in Hollywood or English films.  People joke about how much Shahrukh Khan cries in his films, but I really respond to the emotions shown in Indian cinema.  Also, the colors on screen!  Bhansali’s film Ram-Leela is an example of this.

I listen to Bollywood music all the time, as well.

Indian films just give me things I cannot get from Hollywood or other Western cinema.

I’m a cultural omnivore.  I love mainstream popcorn super hero movies.  I love foreign films.  I love independent cinema.  I’ve attended the Sundance Film Festival most years since 2008.

I keep track of my diary of films watched on here on Letterboxd.

You can find me on twitter at @moviemavengal and Tumblr here.

Executive producer of How To Tell You’re A Douchebag, which premiered at Sundance 2016, now available on iTunes!