The Compliment:

This movie is beautiful.
There area lots of great scenes of New York.
The story is compelling.
And, the classic Bollywood dance scenes are worked into the storyline cleanly in logical places.

The Complaint:

Be forewarned, I ordered this 2-disk special edition from Amazon (not the marketplace) and I was sent the single-disc, double-layer version. Unfortunately, I had torn off the plastic wrap before I realized there was only 1 disc inside, so returns seem to be out of the question. I understand that the covers of the single-disc and double-disc versions are almost the same. This was probably a picking error. So when you buy this, check it very carefully before opening it.

I saw this movie on a SAS Flight to Copenhagen. I had never seen a Bollywood movie before and I was so impressed with this particular movie that I watched it a second time on the flight and now I'm ordering the DVD from Amazon. I am considering buying and downloading at least some of the mp3s from the soundtrack via Amazon as well.

The movie is in Hindi. I speak no Hindi, but it has English subtitles. The movie was lighthearted entertainment. I found it very funny, with a good soundtrack, it had a thought provoking theme, and an engaging plot. It probably won't be widely acknowledged outside of the greater Hindi speaking world, but it is definitely worth the effort to find it and deal with the subtitles. I've recommended it to several of my colleagues who I know either speak Hindi or are interested in foreign films.

I don't collect DVDs so I rarely purchase movies. Only those that have a significant impact on me in terms of being entertaining enough for multiple viewing and sharing with friend and family motivate a purchase. I think this movie is worth it and am adding it to my "collection" of approximately 5 or 6.

If you don't purchase it at least make the effort to rent it! You won't be disappointed.

3 Idiots DVD

It appears Gurinder Chadha is going to suffer for a while from the "Bend It" problem: every movie she makes, people are going to tsk-tsk and say "it's not as good as 'Bend It Like Beckham.'" Well, honestly,how are you going to top that? It's too bad that many people aren't going to allow 'Bride and Prejudice' to stand on its own merits. That includes most mainstream reviewers who have generally been lukewarm about it. For many people though, 'Bride' will be an introduction to the Bollywood Musical genre and - for that reason alone - it's a can't miss. Far from being lukewarm, I was in stiches throughout most of the movie.

It's a brilliant set-up by Chadha and husband/writing partner Paul Mayeda Berges, finding and drawing the parallels between Jane Austen's 1813 novel and the small-town India of today. In both cases, a woman is considered meaningless until she marries.

There are brilliant Bollywood productions in blazes of color, most notably "Balle Balle (Punjabi Wedding Song)," which hits you like a thunderstorm within the first 10 minutes of the movie, and the hilarious "No Life Without Wife" (and for those of you who have seen the movie, I did Mr. Kholi's little gesture with my hand when I wrote that).

In 'Bride,' you grasp right away why Aishwarya Rai has transfixed a nation. With wide-set eyes that seem six inches in diameter, you look at the set pieces that have 50 - 100+ on screen at once and immediately spot her as the standout. Even for the uninitiated, it's going to take five seconds or less to pick her out as the star.

I also have to note Nitin Chandra Ganatra as Kholi. This guy is a real comedic talent. Here he portrays the Indian off to America ("A-Merka" as he calls it) and made good. Now, he's back to his home town to claim a bride.... This guy not only gets all the great lines, he delivers them *perfectly*. "This is my crib. It's all good" he says, showing guests around his house. Trust me, it's all in the delivery. What I like about the movie is Kholi turns out to be a really good guy. Maybe a bit too rabid in his pursuit, but a wonderful soul at heart.

Fans of 'Bend It' will note that Anupam Kher, as Rai's dad 'Mr. Bakshi,' was Jess' dad 'Mr. Bharma' in 'Beckham.' This is one classy actor and a regal presence on the screen.

Three and a half stars for this one.

Okay, SINGH IS KINNG is pretty silly, but tubloads of fun. It's mostly a comedy but with several action sequences thrown in. And, naturally, a romantic subplot creeps in.

In the Punjab region there sits a tiny village, in which dwells the well-meaning but ridiculously accident-prone Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar). When Happy's most recent escapade - in which he tries to capture a runaway chicken - ends up wrecking half the village, the outraged villagers concoct a scheme to get him out of their hair. The scheme pays off as it results in Happy volunteering to go to Australia to fetch back the notorious gangster Lucky Singh, who hails from this same village and is causing it massive levels of shame with his illegal exploits. So off Happy goes.

Except that a ticket mishap has him making a brief stopover in Egypt, where he meets and falls for the gorgeous law student Sonia (Katrina Kaif). Finally in Australia, Happy finds himself getting the brush off from Lucky, who'd rather stay in Australia and keep on living it up as a powerful gangster. But when Lucky is paralyzed (in a hilarious sequence), Happy is, sort of, elected as the new don, the new king of the Australian underworld. So, now, Singh is Kinng.

Yes, the plot is absurd and over-the-top. The characters are full-on stereotypes. And if you haven't seen a lot of Bollywood films, this one might make you groan quite vigorously. One constant in Bollywood is the big coincidence, and that's here, too. I don't think it's much of a shocker when you find out that the girl Happy meets and falls for in Egypt turns out to be the daughter of the kindly old woman who befriends him in Australia.... And following that age-old Bollywood story device, of course, the daughter is already engaged.

Speaking of that old woman, the plot takes time to borrow a page from Frank Capra's Lady for a Day. Seems that, once upon a time, the old woman was very rich but since then has fallen on tough times. Her daughter, Sonia, is returning from her time abroad, expecting to still be rich. Happy Singh, as the new and wealthy crime lord, decides to have himself and his gang pose as the old woman's household servants. He also lets her pass off his opulent mansion as her own.

Now, can Happy not only pull off this masquerade, but also rehabilitate his incorrigible henchmen? And can he get the girl? By the way, these questions are purely rhetorical, since the answers are pretty much no-brainers.

This movie ended up ruling the box offices in India, and it's largely because of Akshay Kumar, who is right up there now amongst Bollywood's current royalty. Akshay has by now proven that he can cover both dramatic and comedic roles. He's amusing here as Happy, but then convincingly cool and heroic when the story calls for it. Happy Singh is reminiscent of Akshay's backwoods character in Namastey London DVD. And a bit like in NAMASTEY LONDON, there are moments here in which Akshay indulges in wistful glances at Katrina. SINGH IS KINNG is Akshay's fourth film with Katrina Kaif, and, by now, this teaming is a proven recipe for box office success. NAMASTEY LONDON is what put Katrina on the Bollywood map and also the film which shows off her best acting performance. Here, her acting is okay and, as usual, she looks stunning. But I wish there were more depth to her film character.

SINGH IS KINNG offers up harmless, exuberant entertainment, zany shenanigans, and lavish musical numbers. And lots of bright, sunny colors. The end credits showcase the "Singh Is Kinng" track, with this one featuring Snoop Dogg. It's worth it just to see Akshay and Snoop side by side. By the way, just about every song in the soundtrack is good and catchy, but my favorite has to be the very smooth "Bas Ek Kinng."

There are parts which will make you smile. I liked everything involving "Saint Divine Finger" (the nickname of the ex-mob boss Lucky, after he became paralyzed). Those familiar with Bollywood will get a kick out of one particular sequence, in which crooks masked as famous Bollywood actors kidnap one particularly annoying character. Of course, as mentioned, there are parts which will probably make you groan. Me, I didn't care too much for the hen-chasing scene or any of the scenes with the brother who's nearly blind and deaf in one ear. Like I said, much of this is silly. But Akshay makes it fun, and I enjoy ogling Katrina Kaif.

What I have is the fancy "Kinng's Edition" 2-disc dvd package. It comes with six "Singh Is Kinng" postcards, a "Singh Is Kinng" decal, and some kind of green bauble. Disc 1 has the feature film. Disc 2 has the following: the "Making of the Movie" segment (with cast interviews, partly in English); "Making of the Music" (but with barely a mention of Snoop); the title track (featuring Snoop Dogg), the tight "Bas Ek Kinng" remix, the full "Teri Ore" song, "Kinng in Toronto" - a live promo segment in Toronto, with appearances by Akshay and RDB (the great British bhangra group who wrote and helped perform "Singh Is Kinng"); and the theatrical trailer. Not half bad for bonus stuff (but I suspect the green bauble is worthless).

MUGHAL-e-AZAM (1960) is one of the three major classics of the Popular Indian Cinema, along with "Mother India" and "Sholay". The position it occupies in Indian cinema is perhaps comparable to "Gone With The Wind" in America, in that both are lengthy colorful epic costume dramas set in an idealized past, and featuring major stars of the time. The time in question here is that of the great Moghul Emperor AKBAR THE GREAT (on throne 1556 - 1605) who was not only a great conqueror but also an enlightend despot, who promoted the arts and was tolerant of Hinduism, altho he was himself a Moslem.
Akbar is played by the venerable old-time actor Prithviraj Kapoor (father of Raj Kapoor) in his last major role, and the role of his uppity son Salim is essayed by Dilip Kumar, considered by some to be the all time greatest Indian actor, often called "the king of tragedy". This is actually quite an offbeat role for Dilip as he didn't do many constume dramas, which is in itself a point of interest. Dilip/Salim falls in love with the low caste dancing girl ANARKALI and is so determined to marry her against the wishes of his father, Akbar, that he actually stages a military revolt against the throne to make his point. Thus we have a classic clash of wills between a powerful father and an intransigent son over a marvelously beautiful young woman Anarkali, played by the actress MADHUBALa -- often called the most beautiful Indian actress of all time --in one of her best roles.
This is like a Verdi Opera on the grandest of scales, staged by an Indian Cecil B. DeMille, with hordes of real elephants and a cast of thousands, with no expense spared to stage the spectacle.... The tale of ANARKALI who will eventually be buried alive behind a brick wall (much Like AIDA in the opera of that name) is part of modern day Indian folklore with the debate as to whether all this is historical fact or fancy, still unresolved. In any case, Anarkali, the legendary Punjabi slave girl, is one of the most beloved of Indian heroines and her reincarnation in this film by the ethereally beautiful Madhubala is one of the great female Indian screen portrayals of all time. The movie took almost twenty years to complete and was originally shot in Black and white but the current colorization is so good that I didn't even realize this was a colorized copy when I saw it. Like GWTW this is the kind of film you can keep coming back to and build an entire evening around. It has it all and is a must-have for any collector of the creme-de-la-creme of Indian cinema.
ALEXFARBA, LOS ANGELES

Having been a fan of the 1981 classic starring Rekha in the title role, I wasn't sure what to expect, but was more than staisfied by the amazing performances in this movie. The story centers around an aging courtesan Umrao Jaan Ada who tells her life story to another poet through a series of flashbacks.

The title character is played to convincing effect by Aishwarya Rai. It is not just her luminous beauty that shines through here - every facial expression, the lift of an eyebrow, her smile, her tears, are all beievable in conveying her character's emotions. The dance sequences were also very good - I never thought of Aishwarya as a great dancer until this movie, the movements are so natural, and authentic. Rekha, in the original was an amazing dancer too, and both in their own unique ways bring the character of Umrao Jaan to glorious life on screen.

Umrao Jaan's love interest, Nawab Sultan is played convincingly by Abshishek Bachchan, and their on-screen chemistry practically sizzles [they are now a real-life married couple]. Each love scene is beautifully and subtly done, and comes across as tender with an underlying passion that is hard to miss.

There are also secondary characters in this movie that deserve mention - namely, the brothel owner, Khanum Sahib, played by veteran actress Shabana Azmi. Her character's greed for wealth is also touched by some shred of humanity, and very well done. Sunil Shetty plays the dacoit who lusts after Umrao, and his character comes across as savage and ruthless whilst also tender when faced by Umrao's dazzling beauty and finesse.

The songs are all beautiful, and the costumes and sets simply sumptuous. This is definitely one of the best Bollywood musicals to come along, enhanced by a compelling plot and credible acting.... Highly recommended period piece!