Recently, there has been a spate of films about the cultural experience of Indians in America. Asphyxiating Uma is a new kind of film.It is an Indian thriller set in Silicon Valley, a first of its kind. What happens after Indians have made money in the dotcom revolution and settled down in America? They assimilate… they are no longer geeks trying to adapt to American culture, or immigrants trying to come to terms with being away from home, or misfits trying to mix their culture with their American way of life. Asphyxiating Uma is the first Indian American film in the USA which is not about the “immigrant experience”. It is a story of murder and intrigue set in California, with Indians as the main characters.
Anil Vasvani is a colorless chemist who is quite contented with the three things he loves most – books, music and cooking. His only violent tendency, expressed through fantasies, is a belief that some people walking around him exist by mistake, and should be strangled and disposed of to make way for others. Living in California’s Silicon Valley among newly minted dotcom millionaires, Anil’s fantasy plays out in a manner even he could not have predicted, weaving his high-flying wife Uma and her cocky boy-friend Dinesh into a murderous plot that no one hatched.
The film has been written and directed by acclaimed director Sujit Saraf whose last film, BUGABOO, was a roaring success in Silicon Valley. BUGABOO also received rave reviews in the mainstream Indian press, and played in many film festivals all over the USA.
SAT Feb 2, 7:30 pm
SUN Feb 3, 5:30 pm
General: $12
Students: $8
West Valley College,
Saratoga, CA