AASRA, the Asian American Support and Resource Agency, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and serve as a resource agency for women and families of the Asian American community in the New England area. One of their most recent events was at the opening of the new Bombay Cinema 2 by Aap Ka Manoranjan in Allston, MA held on the evening of Thursday, September 26, where the proprieters of the theater, Arsh and Anil Mehrotra, were kind enough to sponsor them. AASRA was represented at the event by President Kamal Misra as well as fellow board members Anu Bandopadhay, Radha Jalan, and Archana Singhal. They requested $2 donations per patron and gave out information about the organization. Aap Ka Manoranjan was also kind enough to donate part of the proceeds from their raffle, the winner of whom received a round trip ticket to either Bombay or Delhi, to AASRA.

The film featured at this event was Dil Hai Tumhara, which starred Rekha, Preity Zinta, Mahima Chaudhary, Arjun Rampal, and Jimmy Shergill. The story deals with such issues as extra-marital affairs and stepchildren, the relationships between mother and daughter and sister to sister, making it an appropriate choice to feature AASRA, an organization that deals with such issues and many others that women face. The highlights of the movie were the lively performance Preity Zinta, who you cannot help but like whatever role she plays, and the incredible good looks of Arjun Rampal, male model turned actor.

All in all, the event was a major success with both rooms housing the two screens that the theater features being completely full and AASRA raising a significant amount of money for a very worthy cause. Next on AASRA’s plate is an event that they are hosting featuring the sensational Nandita Das, known for her moving and electrifying performances in such movies as Bawandar and the element trilogy Earth, Fire, and Water. Given the wide range of the roles she has played, from a rape victim or closet lesbian, to an ayah among many other things, she is the perfect person to bring to speak on female empowerment, one of the core things that AASRA seeks to bring out. The event will be held on Friday, November 22 from 7 to 11pm at the Hotel Wyndham on Concord Road in Billerica. For more information, go to http://www.aasranewengland.org/NanditaDas.html.

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