Movie Review | 18 Aug 2015 | Asia Samachar |
The compassion and the sevaa pavnaa (spirit of service) of Sikh cab in New York sprung out soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001.
Sir Ben Kingsley, an Oscar-winning English actor best who plays the role of a Sikh cab driver in Learning To Drive, brings this point to the general attention when he appeared in a US television talk show.
“You know. The Sikh drivers, after 9/11, turned off all their meters, were slowing down and asked all the people: “Where are your loved ones and I will help you find them. All the Sikh community….beautiful,” he tells in the The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on Aug 14.
Kingsley, best known for portraying Mohandas Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, made another reference to Sikhs.
“Actually, the first person I saw as I was coming here was a Sikh cab driver, very proudly getting into his yellow cab. I hope after the film, that the wonderful Sikh community, or the next Sikh that you see – with the great turban and everything – you maybe just give him a second look, and think about his past and his exile….where he comes from,” he says.
SEE THE NBC CLIP HERE.
Learning Do Drive will be released in the US on Aug 21.
This is the take of its official synopsis:
Wendy is a fiery Manhattan author whose husband has just left her for another woman; Darwan is a soft-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage. As Wendy sets out to reclaim her independence, she runs into a barrier common to many lifelong New Yorkers: she’s never learned to drive. When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her, her unraveling life and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit. But as he shows her how to take control of the wheel, and she coaches him on how to impress a woman, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the joy, humor, and love in starting life anew.
The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and was voted first-runner up for the People’s Choice Award.
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]
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