Marigold

Marigold is by far the best "outsider's" take on Bollywood I have ever seen. (I didn't grow up with Bollywood, but I've seen a few hundred of them now.) I'd say it leaves Gurinder Chadha, Mira Nair, and even Merchant and Ivory (of Bombay Talkie) almost in the dust. Willard Carroll, the director, really loves Bollywood, and he has the self-confidence to allow us to know it - there's humor, but no arch, ironic distancing, no "of course I don't really mean this" stuff. As Jerry Lee Lewis would say, he "gets it," and so he can let us have it too - the joy of a Bollywood movie experience, along with touches that are supplied by a westerner's stepping into the story-teller's role.

It's a story about a caustic, bitchy, beautiful American B movie actress (she's only been in movies with numbers in their titles, like Fatal Attraction 3) who finds herself in a different Bollywood movie from the one she went to India to be in (Kama Sutra 3 has folded its tents while she was en route, apparently because its producers are now in jail). Salman Khan, in real life a Bollywood mega-mega star, is the dancing master of the delightful written-on-the-fly movie she has now been pulled into ("is this before or after I go blind?"), and through the sweetness of his mildly psychically gifted character, she learns more than how to find her inner ecstatic dancing ability.

The strong beginning gives you both Bollywood - a super-energetic troupe of dancers in front of the Taj Mahal (both funny an familiar to the western viewer, as well as providing the high-velocity musical thrill we love in a Hindi movie), and Salman on screen from the outset - no Bollywood 20 minute wait for the hero. He has on an Indian costume embellished with Kit Carson-style Western movie fringe (all in white).

Ali Larter's actress character is pleasing to the western viewer - she's blonde, which is "traditional" for a "white" person in a Bollywood movie, and visually understandable casting - but she's a robust girl, not the ethereal kind of blondie we're usually presented with, and she's a more or less three-dimensional total bitch, carrying on profane and abusive cell-phone conversations with a boyfriend and agent in the US.

We also have scenes of women who are having problems with each other going out to a bar to deal with them - the capacity for people not getting along to relate and have emotional conversations is traditional in Hindi movies, but we seldom see much of any such thing going on between women (other than the discussion between mother and daughter about the daughter's choice of groom), let alone "strangers" - unrelated people - let alone bar-going. So the spirit is the same, the details are fresh, and I was completely delighted by this.

I only saw it once, at a preview showing, attended by the director, a fine speaker and question-answerer - he and Salman got to be "brother-like" good friends over the making of it, he loves India, he has plans to make a Wizard of Oz movie in India. I can't get too detailed about songs when I've seen them just once, except to say I liked them all. They range from a happy parody of the Bollywood number in the movie-within-the-movie - the ladies' costumes, with Leghorn hats and seashell-cased bodices (it's a beach scene) on flowy dresses - are worth the cost of a ticket alone -- to a lovely reflective many-scened romantic song in a sadder and more serious part of the movie.

Mix of Hindi and English in the music, and it works.

Salman Khan gets a lot of credit from me for openness to unusual projects - this and Jaan-e-Mann - and good judgment about which ones to be in. Carroll said he was full of suggestions and ideas all along the way, and totally fine (i.e. not narcissistic at all) whether Carroll accepted or rejected them - clearly just a pro who loves being involved and collaborating.

Mention Bollywood to anyone with a slight familiarity with the genre and the images usually conjured up are of tacky, over the top musical numbers peopled with costuming that makes Vegas seem a bastion of conservatism. This perception is not helped by the whiff of condescension that permeates most movies that have approached Bollywood from an outsider's perspective. Willard Carroll's romantic comedy Marigold, however takes a different tack. It is not a nudge-nudge wink-wink look at those silly people and their clueless antics but a sincere appreciation of Bollywood for its vitality, its lack of irony and self-consciousness.

It is obvious that the director has a tremendous affection and respect for Bollywood while at the same time is bemused by its kitschier aspects. And if you have a familiarity with Bollywood, you can appreciate what he does here in making a true hybrid of Bollywood and Hollywood movie conventions. From one of the opening shots, a flashback of the Salman character as a child by the sea, talking with his grandmother (played by Helen! - how many Salman movies start with this same premise?) to the flashback sequence that is incorporated into the movie that Marigold and Prem has been filming, anyone who has seen enough Bollywood movies will recognize these references. The story itself incorporates tried and true conventions from both Hollywood and Bollywood as well – the fish out of water meets duty-to-one's-family-at the expense of personal fulfillment. The structure of the film follows the typical Bollywood plot line of the more comical set up of the first half giving way to a more dramatic resolution of the second. Yet ultimately the sensibility of the film is that of Hollywood, with its understated, wry humor and its story of a woman learning to believe in herself, to reach self-affirmation.

You couldn't have a movie inspired by Bollywood if there weren't any musical numbers and this movie does not disappoint with seven of them. Unlike Bollywood, however, the songs do not pop out of nowhere and transport its characters to a European locale or Goan beach; they exist as musical numbers that are part of the film that is being made, reminiscent of how musical numbers were justified in Busby Berkeley movies as being part of a stage show. Or they come out of a situation where music already has a reason to be there – a sexy nightclub scene where Prem teaches Marigold to dance or a beach scene where there are musicians (including a cameo from the playback singer Shaan) performing. All reflect the emotional state of the protagonists at that point in the movie. Often the music will take a conventional song from one genre and put a twist on it from the other. So in one of the highlights of the film where Marigold comes into her own, the song picturazation is fairly typical of its genre – the female star singing and dancing among a line of women – but in this case it's blond Ali Larter looking like a total natural Bollywood film star, emoting and lip synching to the Hindi lyrics with no subtitles.

Also synonymous with Bollywood are sumptuous visuals and Marigold fulfills that aspect beautifully thanks to some of the top talent working in Bollywood today. The cinematographer is Anil Mehta who was also the cinematographer for Lagaan and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The choreographer is Vaibhavi Merchant and production designer is Nitin Desai, both from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. You can really see the influence of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam on this film – in fact, the illuminated floor in one of the numbers was originally from Dholi Taro Dhol, which coincidentally has an embedded Marigold pattern.

As for the cast, Carroll obviously has a penchant for spotting acting talent as evidenced by Playing by Heart – one of the first movies for both Angelina Jolie and Ryanne Phillippe. And in this film he again hits the mark with Ali Larter. One of the main reasons the film works is because of Larter. She makes a bitchy, unappealing character sympathetic and her subsequent transformation believable and she is smart, funny, and sexy because she is smart and funny. She and Salman share excellent chemistry and that is one of the film's biggest strengths.

Salman Khan plays the role of Prince Charming here as filtered through his iconic role as Prem. This is old school Prem, however, so expect a quiet, subdued Salman - those used to him in his usual stripping avatar may be disappointed – or relieved! It's a sincere and sensitive performance from him marred only by poor enunciation of his English lines.

With a refreshing lack of cynicism and unabashed embrace of romantic love, the film is a love letter to Bollywood and Hollywood movies of yore.

In his first directorial endeavour since 1999's TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN, writer/director/producer Willard Carroll followed the lead of 2004's BRIDE & PREJUDICE in attempting to take Bollywood aesthetics to a western audience. Independently produced but boasting strong production values and a recognisable Hollywood actress in the lead (Ali Larter), MARIGOLD (2007) is notable for taking a Hollywood star to India and putting a Bollywood leading man in the romantic lead of a film intended to reach a western audience. Sadly the film did not make an international star of Indian Salman Khan and in fact it was little seen. There are probably few people who have even heard of it, which is a shame. While it's less than perfect it's a pretty successful attempt at a Bollywood/Hollywood crossover and an entertaining romantic comedy in its own right.

'Marigold' is pretty much one of those typical bad Bollywood films with all the ingredients of exotic locations, excessive songs, over the top drama and acting, disapproving parents...etc etc. While I mentioned the exotic locations, they are beautifully shown here. I particularly liked how Goa looked somewhat different from other films. The songs are totally forgettable.

I wonder how many bad Bollywood films Carroll watched and copied to make this mess. Even the actors seem to be in a state of 'I can't believe I'm in a Hollywood film'. For example, take a look at Salman Khan who's grinning all through the film. It wouldn't take more than a second for one to bet that his thoughts were 'God! I'm actually working with a Hollywood star'. Ditto for the rest of the cast. Nandana Sen is especially funny (unintentionally of course) as she reminds me of a chicken.

Now let's get to the one person that makes 'Marigold' somewhat watchable. Ali Larter. The actress looks drop dead gorgeous in the traditional Indian outfits, she's spot on in the comic scenes and she really seems to have gotten under the skin of the character. I also liked how she gracefully performed the Bollywood dances, especially in the item number that takes place in the middle of the film where she's dancing with Raj and his co-star. The way she conveys her feelings to Salman's character in that same song is superb. 'Wouldn't mind watching her in more Hindi films although she's already doing great for herself in Hollywood. So if there is anything at all to look our for in this film, then it's Miss Larter. She's far from the typical caricature blonde white girl seen in the usual Bollywood films.

This movie exceeded my expectations.

For the first ten minutes i was not sure I'd even finish watching. Ali Larter's character was thoroughly unpleasant and it looked like the whole movie would be filled with characters of pure plastic.

Instead, I was drawn into a surprisingly sophisticated blending of two cultures' film-making styles, with a modern romance melding almost seamlessly with the Hindi dance scenes being filmed for a movie-within-the-movie whose story line, as with many Bollywood films, was a myth-based love story well-spiced with humour.

Although the title character sped from ultra-entitled bitch to sweet, yearning young woman in love (about as fast as her learning to dance stunningly in a mix of Hindi style and American freestyle), the rest of the story flowed well enough to temporarily smother my natural incredulity about ancient family traditions being set aside for pretty blonds.

This is a fairy tale, after all, a nice blending of movie-making and mythos in both Hollywood and Bollywood, that should not be taken for a realistic portrayal of either culture, but for a charming story of love that will make you laugh as often as cry.