Bollywood/Hollywood

B/H stands up as a comedy AND an affectionate parody of Bollywood formula romances. The very title underscores the love-hate relationship many contemporary South Asian filmmakers feel about the Hollywood hegemon (see http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue9/bollywood.html ). As such, it offers a sly reworking of the Pretty Woman formula, with an Indian twist – which raises the question of why Mehta's writers chose THAT Hollywood movie to build a comic plot upon. One answer requires examination of how women, especially young women, are depicted in Bollywood movies, which valorize – even enforce – Ramayana-like ideals of female purity versus the reality and problems of female identity in a modern world. Compare Mehta's Fire. The comedy and parody in B/H offers a different take on a Mehta theme. The Shakespeare-quoting grandmother reflects another aspect of the film's comic concern with the clash between tradition and modernity – here, the kind of British-inspired education the grandmother would have received, which often required students to memorize whole scenes from Shakespeare (whose plays were and are very popular in India). The comic turnabout at the end might be examined in light of equally sudden turnabouts in movies like DDLJ, the difference being that the main blocking character at the end of B/H is Sunita herself. Her father, minutes before, reverses himself BECAUSE he has seen movies like that one. A very "filmi" intrusion into the comic plot, but (true to Mehta's sympathies) it is Sunita herself who becomes – for a moment – the blocking character whose needs must be recognized. It's a matter of HER identity, albeit within the framework of Bollywood comic romance. As such, her situation offers, for the perceptive, a bittersweet comic take on a question Mehta raises more seriously elsewhere. B/H is a parody, yes, but it has a serious side as well. Think about this while you laugh.

Rahul is quite well off, hard working, young and handsome. However when he tells his mother and grandmother that he has been seeing a white woman, they bully him into letting them help him select a nice Asian girl – a promise he made to his dying father convinces him to give it a try. Naturally it is a disaster but he cannot get out of it now. Consoling himself in a bar he meets a woman called Sue – she looks a bit East Asian but maybe Spanish, regardless she could certainly pass for Asian if it wasn't for her very western attitudes and dress. It occurs to him that she may be able to help him and he offers her money to pretend to be his Asian girlfriend. She accepts but getting her dressed correctly is only the first step.

Sold as an affectionate cross between the structure and style of an American (well, Canadian) romantic comedy and the Bollywood films, this film manages to have enough of each to be recognisable and still produce sufficient mutual good to be enjoyable. In truth, neither cinematic culture is that well represented here because neither is the best it has to offer but the mix still works for the most part. The story is pretty obvious but, aside from the odd moment here and there, flows well with a bit of spark and energy. From the "American" side of things it is engaging and occasionally sweet even if it plays pretty much to formula the whole way. The Bollywood stuff is mainly the song and dance routines and, although they are OK, they don't quite have the size and style of the best that Indian cinema has to offer – although the film still does well enough and the songs are quite cool.

The cast take to the mixed material well. Khanna plays up the Indian background well in contrast with his Canadian home; he isn't great but he does the job. Ray is a lot more fun because she has a sassy character that works well with her as an actress. Her looks and her attitude make her an appealing character and actress and she helped the energy level of the whole film. The rest of the cast are so-so but nothing special. I enjoyed the turn from Pathak but Chowdry, Malik and Mann weren't that good.

Overall this is an OK film that I quite enjoyed but not one that will still in my memory for that long. It has enough life to it to be entertaining without ever threatening to be that original, clever or memorable. Worth a look if you like Bollywood films because it does work as a slightly different take on them but generally it probably isn't good enough to draw a much wider audience.

I enjoyed this film immensely, and found it a humorous take on second-generation Indo-Canadian life. The songs were enjoyable (my only complaint about the film is that the songs weren't subtitled - a bit frustrating for those of us that don't speak Hindi!), and I recommend the film highly - great fun!

For all those who felt the film was not the most fabulous or felt it wasn't a representative of the Bollywood industry etc., then you need to know this:

1) This movie was sold as a spoof of the Indian film industry like 'Not another teen movie' was a parody of 'Chick Flicks' and as the 'Scary Movie' series are for horror films; this film was meant to be exaggerated and outrageous.

2) Also to understand the humour of this film, you need to a know a lot about the Indian film industry and the references to the 'gossip' and films; even the music that is played as a score are insinuations to various Indian films. The transvestite driver, 'Killer Khalsa' sequence are a citation to a lot of stereotypes; Indian movies have transvestites as they are a part of society and as for the 'Killer Khalsa' sequence, the allusion to the food and the absurdity of the matchmaking are ever present in Indian films.

3) The segments of the film where it is obvious that Deepa Mehta's first language is not English are the segments where there are references to Indian sayings or style of speaking and that is true of many N.R.I's.

I am astonished at the people who disliked it; the audience should be aware of the context of this movie because admittedly there are people who appreciate Indian style films (in which case that audience should not have watched this film). Deepa Mehta is renowned for her art films ('Fire' (1996), 'Earth' (1998) and the upcoming 'Water') and this movie was created for a satirical view of the current films, especially the N.R.I. films.

What is commonly seen as a flaw of this movies is actually a part of the sardonic look at Indian films; of course if there are are filming discontinuities, I have not noticed. I give this film a 9 out of 10 due to the technical flaws (for example, 'Kim's' accident and the 'ghost' sequence) and also because of Lisa Ray's stylists' lack of fashion IQ as she was made to look pretty horrid through out this movie.

This homage to Bollywood movies is actually a melodramatic farce with vibrant colors and a just dose of romance. The movie does have some charm and is funny in more than one way. But more musical numbers would have been nice. Good to get a taste of what life is for the Toronto's East Indian community. Nice way to address the culture clash of Toronto's multi-cultural facade. The acting is good by Rahul Khanna and gorgeous Lisa Ray.

Out of 100, I give it 80. That's good for *** out of ****.

Seen in Toronto, at the Alliance Atlantis Cumberland Cinemas, on November 3rd, 2002.