Just what is Totally Basmatic?

Astute new reader manythoughts has posed this question to me:

I am curious about one thing, though: What does your blog name mean?

That, my friend, is a very interesting question. I don't know that "totally basmatic" has a solid definition. Its fluidity as a term has been a great asset to me, as I can describe nearly all films, horribly good or just plain horrible, as "basmatic" in one way or another.

I can tell you how I came up with the name. As far as I know, "basmatic" isn't a real word. It came from a play on words with "basmati," however. This is how I came up with the idea.

Sometimes when I pop a DVD in the player to watch a movie, there are film previews and also commercials for assorted things. Oftentimes it is impossible to skip these commercials, as the DVDs won't allow it. Sometimes these commercials are for wedding halls in Edison, New Jersey, or jewelry shops in Jackson Heights, Queens. Sometimes these commercials are for basmati rice.

There is one particular basmati rice commercial that stars a woman, her daughter, an infant, and a dog. In the commercial the mother is teaching the daughter to cook, instructing to always use "this brand" basmati rice for the best results. The acting is hokey, but better than many Bollywood films. At the end of the commercial, everyone puts sunglasses on (including the infant and the dog) and when the lid of the rice pot is removed a beam of light pours through the kitchen.

I came up with "totally basmatic" because I wanted to evoke that same sense of both wonder and ridiculousness in my blog. I think it's become somewhat of a joke because many Bollywood viewers, especially those of us in America, find ourselves subjected to this commercial over and over and over and over again. When I say something is "totally basmatic" it's a little facetious but it also means that it is something that I greatly enjoy, whether in a bad film or a good one.

So, to those who read this blog, what is your definition for "totally basmatic"?

And if you know what basmati rice commercial I'm talking about, could you send me some screenshots so I don't look like such a lunatic without photographic evidence? I've been desperately going through my DVD collection to find it, but it doesn't help when said collection is split across three states and two continents.