Bandhak

{{Infobox film

| name = Bandhak

| image =

| caption =

| director = Hyder Bilgrami

| producer = Ramzan Lakhani

| writer =

| narrator =

| starring = Farokh Daruwala
Aasha Patel

| music = Shyam-Das
Nicholas Noor

| cinematography =

| editing =

| distributor = Digimax Studio

| released = {{Film date|2003}}

| runtime =

| country = United States

| language = Hindi

| budget =

}}

Bandhak is a South Asian American film directed by Hyder Bilgrami and produced by Ramzan Lakhani. It explores the theme of racism against South Asians in the United States in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 through the story of Baldev Singh, an Indian immigrant in New York City who, facing harassment in his workplace, takes his boss hostage with a toy gun.{{cite news|url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/041120/149/2hzwm.html|publisher=Yahoo! India|date=2004-11-20|accessdate=2007-01-10|title=Tale of injustice|last=Fernandes|first=Venetia}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}

Critical response

Bandhak received media coverage in both the United States and India; it was first screened at a California film festival on September 11, 2004, and was brought to India by the Indo-American Art Council.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/919424.cms|title=Now a 9/11 film, B'wood ishtyle|date=2004-11-10|accessdate=2007-01-10|last=Datta|first=Jyotirmoy|publisher=Times of India}} A press release from the distributor Digimax Studio describes it as the first Hindi film in the United States.{{cite press release|title=Digimax Studio launches Bandhak (the hostage), the first Hindi film in US|url=http://www.digimax.us/site/html/press_release2.html|publisher=Digimax Studio|date=2003-12-23|accessdate=2007-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922212846/http://www.digimax.us/site/html/press_release2.html|archive-date=2006-09-22|url-status=dead}} One New Jersey film critic likened it to a South Asian version of Do The Right Thing. Producer Ramzan Lakhani described his motivation behind the film in an interview with a local New Jersey newspaper, stating that while second generation South Asian youth were producing many films in the United States, he hoped to target the immigrant first generation, and hence tried to tailor the film to Indian sensibilities, including Bollywood-style dance numbers and the use of Hindi.{{cite news|url=http://www.injersey.com/pulse/story/0,21493,1352512,00.html|title=Hindi film explores post-9/11 immigrant backlash|last=Jordan|first=Chris|date=2005-09-09|accessdate=2007-01-21|publisher=Home News Tribune}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}