I almost never rate 10 for a movie. However, this was an exception. I was a bit skeptical when the movie started because I am not one for camcorder movies but this was done nicely. The start of their relationship left me wondering if I would do something like that but what the heck. Things like this happen. The movie is realistic. It is raw and it made sense. Amazing movie and amazing actors.

I found this interesting little movie on Amazon Prime streaming.It plays upon the notion that people from diverse backgrounds can connect when they find something in common, but cultural differences are usually difficult to overcome.Indian actress Mahira Kakkar is Asha, about 25, she is an aspiring filmmaker going to school in Prague.American actor Andrew Pastides is Hank, also in his 20s, also an aspiring filmmaker. He moved to New York for a year to see if he can make it there. When this story takes place he is driving a van as an errand boy.Hank has made a short film and it is shown in Prague where Asha see it. She likes it and is curious about the filmmaker and contacts him.Most of the movie is about Hank and Asha alternately sending each other videos, the modern equivalent of sending letters back and forth. They seem to have a lot in common, and when Hank finds out Asha always wanted to go to Paris he makes arrangements for them to go and meet there. But there is a hitch, Asha just got engaged, it is an arranged marriage, it was a deal she made with her mother to allow her to go to school in Prague.Will Hank and Asha go to Paris anyway? Will they find they have so much in common that Asha cancels her Indian wedding? We wonder all these things as the story unfolds. I am glad I came across this small movie, it is different and interesting.SPOILERS: As they get closer, from a distance, Hank begins to get upset at the situation, his culture finds it distasteful that a bright young woman would agree to an arranged marriage. He still seems to have hopes that when they meet in Paris they both will realize they belong together. But it never happens, Asha tells Hank she will not go to Paris after all to meet him, she "just isn't that type of person." She intends to stay committed to the arrangement.

I started to watch this movie a couple months ago and stopped after a few minutes because I wasn't in a contemplative mood. I watched it tonight and I thought it was lovely. If you don't need car chases, bullets, and explosions every four minutes to hold your interest. And your disappointed by the regular pap, and you think a film like 84 Charing Cross Road or Babette's Feast is wonderful, then you will probably enjoy this film. I certainly did.If your tastes tend to 'run American', you will not like it.So choose wisely. It's a movie for the long tail. If you live there you will enjoy it. But if you think Oprah makes interesting TV, you better look elsewhere.

Smart, endearing, and technically innovative: Hank and Asha is a must see film. Set in Prague and New York City, Hank and Asha is a long-distance love story that will engage you, and move you. From its sophisticated storyline, to its pioneering "two-camera" shoot during which neither of the principals--Hank (Andrew Pastides) nor Asha (Mahira Kakkar)--ever were in the same location together, Hank and Asha is a stunning piece of work. One would never know that this film is James E. Duff's and Julia Morrison's rookie outing. We eagerly await their next project, even if such a sophomore project has a lot to live up to. Bravo!Jim Foster & Mindy Soules