In terms of box office, India has always been the best market for movies, though with its plethora of languages and regional tastes in entertainment, the country has been impervious to imports. In recent months, however, there have been deals struck between Hollywood and Bollywood that allow for movement in both directions, specifically California money going into productions in India and Indian personnel traveling to the United States to make films there.

With all this activity and Bollywood's product being more popular than ever, it's easy to overlook those independent Indian films that also benefit from the national cinema boom but channel more idiosyncratic visions. These movies reflect Indian society in a more realistic fashion and use more conventional narrative devices, meaning essentially plots that aren't interrupted by gaudy musical production numbers.

That also means they provide outsiders with a glimpse into social issues one usually only hears about on the news. In fact, three Indian films included in the Window on Asian Cinema section at this year's Pusan International Film Festival have as their backdrop the tense Muslim-Hindu relationship that is a fact of life in India.