Straddlers: Actors of Parallel and Mainstream Cinema, part 2

In the concluding part of our conversation with Carla of Filmi Geek about actors who have tried both mainstream and parallel cinema, we cover more key members of the cast who have been successfully straddling worlds for years as well as some newer performers:

• Rekha (Carla: "She's just so much better when she gets to be fiery.")
• Om Puri (Carla: "...and then he's in Disco Dancer.")
• Aishwarya Rai (Amrita: "She has 'righteous face' going on.")
  
• Kay Menon (Amrita: "I have no idea why he isn't a huge star.")
• Konkona Sen Sharma (Beth: "Once again, KSS is the great hope of our podcast.")
  
• and apologies to Neha Dhupia, Mahie Gill, and Abhay Deol, whom we talked about for several minutes, but the computer garbled their segment into unintelligible gibberish. As for the latter, we all three love him very much and he'll have to feature in a later episode.
  

Also for discussion:

• What other actors would we like to see in Indian—and non-Indian—art films?
  
• Would any moneybags out there like to make Carla's "Shabana Azmi + Helen Mirren" film?
  
• Should the US have followed India's lead in banning Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for its insane depiction of the country by blocking My Name Is Khan?

This episode is the second of a two-part conversation. You can listen to Masala Zindabad: Straddlers part 2 by clicking the player above, subscribing to our feed, on iTunes, or downloading here. Part 1 is available for download here.