Nandita Das is the most beautiful Indian actress!

Ever since I saw her in Deepa Mehta's "Fire," I have been enamored of -- nay, besotted with -- the beautiful and talented Nandita Das. I know that Aishwarya, or Deepika Padukone, are equally beautiful, but I find their looks to be quite "westernized" and not typically Indian. Nandita Das, on the other hand, is a quintessential Indian beauty. As the great Indian director from Kerala, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, remarked -- Nandita has a "pan-Indian" face. She can, with equal ease, portray a character from any region of the vast sub-continent -- from the North, South India, Bengal, Maharashtra, or even Pakistan.

Nandita, please keep being your beautiful self, and keep up the good work!

I can't wait to see this new film of Nandita (and Rahul Bose) directed by the superlative Santhosh Sivan. Santhosh Sivan is one of the world's greatest cinematographers -- without question on par with the great Sven Nykvist, Ingmar Bergman's favorite cinematographer. Note Santhosh's work on "Dil Se," "The Terrorist," and "Asoka," with the latter two bearing the hallmarks of his directorial prowess as well. "Before The Rains" looks equally stunning and beautiful, from the trailers alone.