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A major
Hollywood movie, 'The Darjeeling Limited' is about spiritual quest
as well as an emotional comedy involving three brothers (played
by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman) re-forging family
bonds. The brothers had been estranged for a year since their father's
death, and the retreat of their mother (Anjelica Huston) to a remote
monastery in India. The eldest, played by Wilson, hopes to reconnect
with his two younger siblings by taking them on a train trip across
the vibrant and sensual landscape of India.
The
fictional long-distance train, Darjeeling Limited, in the movie
is apparently named after the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan
Railway but looks more like the Palace on Wheels. Anderson first
scouted tea plantations in Darjeeling but found Rajasthan more suitable
for filming.
There
is some India connection in the cast credits too.
British
Indian newcomer Amara Karan has interesting encounters with the
three brothers and a scorching kissing scene. Indian actor Irrfan
Khan has a brief role as the grieving father whose son drowns by
accident. Waris Ahluwalia is a Sikh jewellery designer in Hollywood
who does acting and modelling on the side.
Credits
for the music for 'The Darjeeling Limited' include tracks from the
Ray classics 'Charulata', 'Jalsaghar' and 'Teen Kanya', and the
Merchant-Ivory films, 'Shakespeare Wallah', 'The Householder' and
'The Guru'. "I am very happy to have been allowed to use the
music from these films, which cast such a spell over me," Anderson
said.
The
Fox Searchlight film has recently won the Golden Lion Cub Award
and nomination for the Golden Lion Award at the 64th annual Venice
Film Festival. According to The New York Times, the film is an Oscar
hopeful.
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