Bollywood/Hollywood (2002)

Deepa Mehta takes a break from her much more serious Earth, Fire, Water trilogy to present a very light bit of Indo-Canadian fun filmed in Toronto.Boy has to find a date to fill a family obligation, boy/girl fall in love-forget obligation, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again. Of course.Even so, the female roles are quite strong and cultural norms (the little I understand them) are pushed and, in some cases, shattered. That doesn't change from Mehta's other films that I've seen. Consequences in this go around, however, are much more fun. Family remains central.Did I appreciate it? Very much.Do I know Indian culture? Very little.It holds up very well to other light, large-family-oriented (aunts, uncles, 3rd cousins, grandparents, etc.) comedies. A terrific break from fare that makes one think a great deal.Also recommend Monsoon Wedding if you liked this one.I do wonder, though, if there are comedies from Indian culture that present other than rich folk. In spite of one character identifying himself as "middle class", I have to say that in my experience "middle class" doesn't mean chauffeured limo.

I saw a recent interview with Lisa Ray in which she stated that upon meeting Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham (her co-star in 'Water'), she never really expected much of him as an actor. Well Lisa, you aren't exactly Meryl Streep yourself. As a matter of fact, you ain't even a Jennifer Lopez. The nerve of this woman to believe that she is much of an actress just because she speaks English clearer than most other Indian actresses or the fact that she was born in Canada? Please! Right off the bat, I can name 5 actresses from India who could act circles around you starting with your contemporaries Rani Mukherjee, Kajol her cousin, Tabu, Preity Zinta and even Aishwarya Rai! Next time Miss Ray, refrain from thinking low of others because even John Abraham has got a better acting range than you! Only God knows what has got her thinking that she is to be considered something of a great actress enough to put others down.Phew! glad I got that off of my chest. Now to the drastic pseudo-spoof of a film! Deepa Mehta embarrasses herself as she attempts to poke fun at Bollywood and Hollwood clichés (she has the audacity to do so because she is the director of such internationally acclaimed profound stunner-s as 'Fire', 'Earth' and the most recent 'Water'). Her Hollywood scapegoat is 'Pretty Woman' starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (Okay, I'm fine with Rahul Khanna in the Gere role but Lisa Ray's asthmatic-like acting makes Julia Roberts seem like Bette Davis), and her Bollywood scapegoat is a toss up, I narrowed it down to 'Chori Chori' starring Rani Mukherjee and Ajay Devgan (Okay it's a long road from Ajay Devgan to Rahul Khanna but at least he's closer than Miss Ray is to Rani Mukherjeee who is in the stratosphere in comparison). Khanna's character is the first son of a dysfunctional but very wealthy NRI family living in Ontario, Canada. One day he brings home a Gori (Hindi for White Girl) and his family flips. They succeed is scaring the poor girl off and Khanna's character's mum threatens to put off his sister's wedding if he doesn't find an Indian girl to marry ASAP. Frustrated, Khanna's character goes to a bar where his meets Sue/Sunita (Ray's character) with whom he strikes an agreement for her to pretend to be his fiancé. Ray plays Sunita like a wooden recent graduate from the Angelina Jolie school of drama and performing arts. It's either that or she has just seen way too many Angelina Jolie movies.Every cliché and stereotype imaginable is employed before this film is over and not a moment too soon.Akshaye Khanna shows up half way through, playing a spoof-like version of himself. The only thing bearable about this film are the songs, especially the Sonu Nigam ones. Oh! and Mehta forgot to spoof the playback singers! perhaps it's because she needed them to make her film look lively and sound good. Hmmm!

This movie was a tad formulaic, but it's a nice formula and one that is sure to please. In many ways it's similar to DOUBLE HAPPINESS (1994), though instead of Chinese culture, this film centers on Indians living in Canada. Rahul brings home a Caucasian girl to his mother and grandmother, who immediately disapprove--they demand that he MUST marry an Indian woman. Well, this being a VERY strange movie, the girlfriend is soon killed in a freak transcendental meditation accident (I am not kidding). Mom and grandma continue to hound him to find a nice Indian girl but with no success. Then, out of desperation (as well as a need to be controlling hags), Rahul is told that his younger sister will not be allowed to marry the man she is engaged to until he brings home an Indian fiancée. In a bind and wanting to do the right thing, he meets and convinces a woman named Sue to pose as his fiancée to make everyone leave him alone. He offers her thousands of dollars and she agrees. The problem, though, is that although she LOOKS Indian, she doesn't sound very Indian. In fact, she speaks both English and Spanish--and tells him she's from Spanish Harlem. So how will he manage to fool everyone and get his sister married? Well, tune in and find out.The movie features wonderful acting, weird and quirky touches (the dead ex-girlfriend and his deceased father come back for occasional visits and the chauffeur has a double life as a female impersonator), song and dance numbers almost exactly like those always found in Bollywood films and a sweet script--making this a must-see experience. Also, when the film concludes, do not turn off the film--keep watching for a nice song and dance number featuring about all the characters from the movie plus the crew. It's highly reminiscent of the end of the latest ZATOICHI film (by Takeshi Kitano).By the way, the URL that flashes on the screen for Killer Khalsa in the middle of the movie is a working site. Photos of his friends, this movie, etc. are at http://www.killerkhalsa.com/

First of all: I LOVE Bollywood movies. I know quite a lot of them. I think I got most of the references to Indian culture/Bollywood here. I loved the trailer and expected an exhilaratingly funny parody.But after having seen this movie, I just thought it was utter cr*p.The dialog had a terribly "papery" feel to them - as if someone without any sense of humor had tried to write something 'funny'. (Akshaye Khanna saying about his real-life brother Rahul 'He's like a brother to me' - oh, what a laugh!)And worst of all: the song/dance scenes are just bad - they are boring, badly directed and choreographed, and utterly uninspiring. This is probably the worst thing one can say about any movie that tries to have something to do with Bollywood...The only redeeming feature here is Lisa Ray who is indeed a very charming, lively actress. So it is even sadder that she had to star in such a bad-bad film....P.s.: 'Fire' was a quite good (albeit not perfect) movie though - maybe Deepa Mehta should stick to dramas instead?!