After a long time, a movie that you will want to see again and again. The story, the settings, the cinematography, the acting, the music - rarely does everything work out so perfectly. The few minutes of melodramatic silliness at the end are almost immaterial in the context of a movie for the times.

As a Chicago resident who grew up in Kolkata in exactly the period depicted in the movie, the authentic recreation of that city from those days is breathtaking and magical. The scenes under Howrah Bridge, floating on the Hoogly River, the magical songs set in Kolkata and on a train ride to Darjeeling, Rekha singing in a big-band era voice, the Elvis Presley backdrops ... one cannot compliment Vidhu Vinod Chopra enough for making a true classic. This is truly a movie you do not want to miss, and you will want to savor it in the theater and on DVD, again and again, like good wine. And ditto for the music.