19 Revolutions

Directed by: Sridhar Reddy
When: 8 pm Friday April 1 2005
Where: Muvico 2 - Centro Ybor

Scene from 19 Revolutions

Guru is the playboy son of a wealthy Indian family, Nezar is a humble coffee shop waiter, Shireen is a beautiful socialite. Guru spends a significant portion of his time robbing the rich to feed the poor, while Nezar dreams of finishing college to become a respectable businessman, and Shireen laments the fact that her privileged caste status doesn't allow her to become a schoolteacher.

Their lives intersect one evening when Guru ambushes Nezar as he is leaving work and forces him to reopen the shop to feed Guru's favorite band of mendicants. Once done, Guru good-naturedly offers Nezar a ride home, and along the way, they discover that they have a common acquaintance in Shireen. Guru knows her from his circle of affluent friends, and Nezar admires her from afar each time she comes in for coffee.

The evening takes an unexpected turn when Guru invites Nezar to join him at an exclusive party where Shireen is sure to be in attendance. He literally gives Nezar the shirt off his back so he won't have to be seen in his coffee shop uniform, and introduces him to Shireen as the son of a Dubai coffee baron. Shireen and Nezar hit it off right away, and when the three grow bored with the party scene, Guru suggests an evening stroll that turns into a spirited discussion of what's wrong with the socio-political status quo in India.

Not content to settle for 'all talk and no action', with Nezar as an unwitting accomplice, Guru and Shireen hatch a late-night plan to get their hands on some big money to help fund India's 19th Cultural Revolution. But despite their best intentions, no good deed goes unpunished.

If one is willing to overlook the film's thinly veiled motives and obvious plot devices, 19 Revolutions is a well crafted and deeply analytical film that, while incapable of solving the problems inherent in India's still-thriving caste system, at least sheds some much-needed light on the subject.