First-time writer/director Somnath Sen presents this film about the identity crises experienced by South-Asian Indians living in the United States. Dimple Kapadia stars in the titular role of Leela, a self-confident professor at the University of Bombay. When she is offered a chance to come to California to work as a visiting professor, she takes the opportunity, leaving her husband behind with the promise that she'll write every day. Once in the U.S., Leela meets Kris (Amol Mhatre), a college student who feels torn between two cultures, as he was born in the States to parents who immigrated from India. When she befriends Kris' mother, Chaitali (Deepti Naval), another professor at the university, Leela comes to realize that there is much that she can learn about herself from Chaitali. Also starring Vinod Khanna, Gulshan Grover, and Brendan Hughes, Leela premiered at the 2002 ReelWorld Film Festival.
~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide