Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon!

Director Chandan Arora hits gold with his debut film, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, an unusual, self-reflexive look at Bollywood's reality versus its public image and the dreams it fosters.

The story concerns an innocent girl named Chukti (Antara Mali), who lives in the farming village hinterlands of India and who loves the work of Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit. Most of the village turns out during their free time to watch the latest films on a makeshift screen in a makeshift theater. Chukti has a talent for mimicking Dixit, a fact she exploits by putting on public performances of her own--dancing on a small stage to Dixit songs playing on a boom-box.

Chukti dreams of moving to Mumbai and becoming a film heroine. Of course her parents are traditional, so they won't hear anything of it. When they realize she's serious enough to consider running away, they plan to marry her off as soon as possible.

Enter Rajeshwar Singh (Rajpal Yadav). He's the only person in the village who sincerely believes in Chukti, and he's also in love with her, although she seems oblivious to it--she only cares about becoming a star. He suggests that if he can talk his father into arranging a marriage between them (which they'll keep secretly platonic), he'll take her to Mumbai as his wife. There, they can pursue Chukti's dream.

The bulk of the film is about Chukti trying to make it in Bollywood. The dramatic hinge is the clash of her dreams with the realities of the film business and big city life.

This is a unique film in that it forgoes many of the staples of the Bollywood genre. Yes, there are songs, there is a romance of sorts, and there is even a kind of love triangle, but these are all very unusually incorporated. The songs are exclusively present for realistic, dramatic purposes. Songs only appear when characters are engaging in stage performances, "celebrations" with music, film performances, and so on. Arora always has the music at a level of remove--we're watching people watching or engaging in performances.

The romance aspect is almost exclusively implicit. There is something of a resolution to it in the end, but the resolution is extremely subtle--it basically amounts to a character putting on a piece of jewelry, and the action easily enables multiple interpretations.

The "love triangle" takes place between the party who "secretly" loves Chutki and a party who is only trying to manipulate her dreams to take advantage of her. It is resolved in an incredibly powerful dramatic moment that in a lesser film would be followed up with a clichéd vengeance subplot. Here, it's not brought up again--this says much more than the stereotype would.

"Incredible dramatic power" is apt for much of the film, even though there are extended comedic segments, as well. Most of Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon is constructed more like a tragedy with brief comic relief. All of the plot developments are very realistic. And as such, the theme of the film is often a "necessary medicine" disillusioning from unrealistic dreams.

Some might think it is a flaw that most characters are slightly caricatured in the film. However, it is not as if there aren't people in the real world like this. There is no shortage of the relatively naïve, coming from the heartland to Los Angeles, New York City, and presumably Mumbai, hoping to make it big in a stroke, yet having very little knowledge of how the arts and entertainment industries work. For another example, it's certainly not the case only in fiction that some parents are bilked out of money via funding requests from their offspring for non-existent projects and studies.

That the film is so unique should be expected once one realizes that it was produced by Ram Gopal Varma. Varma is well known for advocating breaks from various Bollywood traditions that have become clichéd. He's made films completely void of musical numbers. He's made films without romance elements. He's made films with vastly different pacing and plot structures than the typical Bollywood film. There's nothing wrong with the traditional Bollywood formula, except that variety is necessary. Varma is doing much to set the Indian film industry on the right road in that regard.

So it's fitting that Varma is behind this well-acted, well-directed, well-photographed, etc. film that looks at Bollywood with a critical eye. It is just as intriguing for its insights into the real world of film-making as it is for its plot about Chukti and Raja. Varma and Arora show us that often, a director is more someone who merely tries to keep a lid on burgeoning chaos, partially emerging from underlings who'll make stupid decisions in an attempt to please, and partially from "grunts" who don't know what the heck they're doing. They show us the complicated world of agents who mean well, but who have to be shysters a bit because it's in the job description. They show us how catty and competitive other entertainers can be. They show us the realities of working one's way up. They show us the difference between image, such as the idea that Bollywood, or even Hollywood, is some kind of glamorous, unified entity, and the scattered, somewhat grungy reality--Chukti and Raja have to live in a rat-hole, next door to someone who has been involved with over 50 films, and some participants don't even live in the same country. They show us how important it is to learn to take rejection. They show us a transparent look at studio guards and security. They show us that manipulative/exploitative fraud isn't limited to the entertainment industry. And so on.

Whether you just want a unique, humorous, powerful and moving film about charming characters, or an "inside" look at the film industry, or a bit of both, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon fits the bill.

Terrific movie! And completely unexpected with unforgettable performances from Antara Mali and Rajpal Yadav. People do not give Antara Mali enough credit and type cast her as a wanna be Urmila Matondkar and Toy of Ram Gopal Varma. I've not seen her latest offerings yet (Nach and Gayab) which I understand are the eye of storms, however, she did her homework for this role of an innocent and naive village girl with huge aspirations and pulled it off perfectly.

Not to mention, she does a terrific Madhuri Dixit! I'm sure Mrs. Nene herself would approve

In the meantime, Rajpal Yadav brings a character to life that the audience can not help but identify with and root for. You really wish that his lovable underdog will get the girl! The cutesy chemistry of the two is enough to recommend this movie.

Add to this a refreshingly original storyline and Ram Gopal Varma's slick and tight style of film making, and you have a cute, feel good, and surprisingly fun movie to watch.

The movie is about Chutki (Antara Mali), a small town village girl who sees herself as the iconic Madguri Dixit. She dances and sings her way around the village and all adore her but none more than Raja (Rajpal Yadav) a childhood playmate who believes in her potential. Chutki ends up marrying Raja so they can go off to Bombay and Chutki can realize her dreams.

But her copying Madhuri ends up getting her jobs as part of the dance troupe, as an item girl. She wants to be a leading lady but she is like a babe in the woods - the vulnerable outsider - both Bombay and the biz are completely unknown to her and her husband. In fact one is expecting dire things to happen at any moment - the slightly shady looking neighbor, who turns out to be pretty benign, the hoodlum who turns out to be a cowardly fellow, the cabbie who merely price gouges, the agent who seems so ominously shady yet turns out to be a real agent and helpful at that.. These personalities in the world around her underline the fact that nothing should be taken at face value.

The movie also had some very funny moments - Choli ke peeche kya hai wil never seem the same to me! And the part where Rajpal Yadav goes to plead on her behalf and ends up being offered the acting role instead, ironic yet funny.

I liked Antara's looks - she was a strange blend of attractive and ordinary and she acted very well as the village belle who was so self assured in her village environment and so vulnerable and unsure in the big city. Rajpal Yadav was very good as the self effacing husband. I particularly liked the fact that the "Madhuri" moments were brief and Antara managed to make them her own. Music was unobtrusive and worked well in the film. I also liked the fact that not much was made of the Chutki Raja romance and the fact that the marriage was in name only!

Pace of movie is so much fast of the movie. Women with ambitious dreams to become actor is not a easy task there are lots of struggles involved in this process. Where uncertainty waits for you. Its an optimistic movie.

Today, most people suppress their desires and wishes thinking they are ridiculous or unrealistic, but Antra Mali's character pursues her dreams of becoming a popular actress like her idol, Madhuri Dixit. It was nice to see the opposite of the movie star prototype take the male lead in this film. A 4-foot, nonmuscular, humble, and shy man proves himself a worthy actor. However, the amount he supports, encourages, and sacrifices for Antra in the movie I don't think any man can do in the real world, sorry to say.