''Praying with Anger'' is a 1992

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by

M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an Indian-American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings. He was born in Mahé, India, and raise ...

, who made his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. Shyamalan also wrote, produced, and starred in the film. It is about a young

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

's return to India and explores the clash of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

values with those of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

Plot

Indian American Dev Raman returns to his native country to spend a year as part of a college exchange program. He is initially reluctant, but his mother insists, and he respects her wishes. While there, he discovers that his cold and distant father, now deceased, carried a quiet and profound affection towards him. While he is in India, he receives guidance from his friend Sanjay. As the visit progresses, Dev ignores Sanjay's suggestions, and the interaction between Indian and Western cultures quickly precipitates into misunderstanding and violence. Dev realizes that one may pray to the deities of the Hindu pantheon in almost any emotional state except indifference. As he explores his past and sees the miscommunication between the two cultures, Dev is overwhelmed and finds himself only able to pray with anger.

Release

The film never received a wide release for mainstream distribution and has been shown primarily at film festivals. ''Praying with Anger'' screened at the 1993 AFI Fest, where it won the "First Film Competition" for American independent filmmakers.AFI Catalog
/ref>

Cast and characters

as Dev Raman * Mike Muthu as Sanjay * Richa Ahuja as Rupal Mohan *

Sushma Ahuja Sushma Ahuja is an Indian director, writer and actor who has worked on Hindi and Tamil films and theatre productions. Career Sushma began her career as a singer with All India Radio and a dancer during her teenage years, before becoming involv ...

as Mrs. Mohan * Arun Balachandran as Raj Kahn * Christabal Howie as Sabitha

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Praying With Anger 1992 films Indian drama films Films about Indian Americans Asian-American drama films Indian diaspora in the United States Films directed by M. Night Shyamalan Films produced by M. Night Shyamalan Films with screenplays by M. Night Shyamalan 1992 directorial debut films American drama films Films set in India American independent films 1992 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films