Comments on: Law & Order: Sri Lankan Episode?

By: hungry

hungry — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:00:37 +0000

i saw this a couple nights ago and it took me forever to figure out what coutnry the freedom fighters were supposed to represent. a question for any actor/actress mutineers out there: when you come across a script about desi characters or plotlines, do you ever try to correct them? wasn’t madhur jaffrey in this? i don’t know why a cast full of brown people couldn’t help the directors out a bit.

By: Tharsica

Tharsica — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:09:23 +0000

The episode didn’t make sense at all. I was excited when I heard Sri Lanka / Tamil mentioned on TV but someone should have done a lot more research!

By: V.V. Ganeshananthan

V.V. Ganeshananthan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:16:20 +0000

If you dislike brownface, check out “Short Circuit” and see how far we’ve come. Fisher Stevens, dude… no wonder you ended up being George on “Lost.” (If you don’t know what I am talking about… rent Short Circuit I and II.)

By: Zara

Zara — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:48:09 +0000

-I’ll acknowledge the possibility of a Sri Lankan with the last name of Khan -I’ll even overlook the fact that the brother’s name was Rani..because, you know, it’s such a common male name -But: Ajay = AJ!?! It didn’t bother me at first, since it was said by the (white) detectives, but even Indira Varma’s character pronounced it that way a few times.

I mean, I know it’s “just a TV show”, but c’mon, seriously? And I thought that Numb3rs episode with a white man using brownface to infiltrate a Pakistani organization was ridiculous.

By: Brahmastra

Brahmastra — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:08:34 +0000

Worst episode of law and order ever – They used to be a bit more intelligent and thoughtful.. I guess they are a dying franchise.

By: Preston

Preston — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:28:37 +0000

Maybe things would have been better if they had done this episode for the regular "Law & Order" since it is executive-produced and often written by a desi -- Stephanie Sengupta. She worked on "Criminal Intent" until last year.

By: V.V. Ganeshananthan

V.V. Ganeshananthan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:48:47 +0000

I thought it was Ronnie.

By: the scoop

the scoop — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:32:01 +0000

Just to satisfy curiosity, the script started out as being a Bhutto-inspired story about Kashmiris, and the script was changed at the last minute to be about Sri Lanka. Not really sure why (whether the writers thought they would get in some sort of political trouble, some producer just didn't think people would know about Kashmir, controversy over Hindu/Muslim issues, the NYC desi community being unhelpful, or whatever), but that's why your Tivo summary says Kashmir, and why the names are obviously neither Tamil nor Sinhalese, and probably also why everyone looks very North Indian.

Can't answer any more questions or tell anyone how I know what I know, but I feel OK revealing that teensy smidge of details...

(funny nobody caught that the main brother, who goes down in a hail of bullets at the end, has the name Rani. a very popular male name, right?)

By: louiecypher

louiecypher — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:10:57 +0000

Doesn't Haavad dominate screenwriting? Must be possible to graduate from Haavad without even the basics of cultural geography. I am going to lay off Pomona for a while and start making fun of Haavad.

I can expect hillbillies to say "Hindoo or Mooslim what's the diff?" but shouldn't Haavad alums be held to a higher standard?

By: NYC Chatwala

NYC Chatwala — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:55:02 +0000

Bela Khan, a Tamil freedom fighter? I did NOT know there are Tamil Pathans. lol