Shankara

This can be said to belong to a genre popular during Indian's turbulent 70s and 80s; the archetypal example of which is Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, 75). I suppose you could loosely call it action orientated, romantic melodrama; it was heavily influenced by westerns but is as different from Clint Eastwood's better films as it is possible to be. If you can suspend your dramatic tradition as well as your disbelief you'll enjoy this film.

Firstly, you have to stop worrying about petty things such as shot balancing, maintaining a coherent shooting arc and invisible editing. This is melodrama not realism, and as such these concerns need not apply. Secondly, expect dancing, in the romantic tradition dance and song are used to express emotion, so don't expect them to drive the plot forward. This is not an opera.

Thirdly, remember this is romantic, comic, action, melodrama and you should be ready to slew wildly between these diverse aspects. You might have been watching a badly choreographed, accidentally comic, fight scene a second ago but now we are singing in a giant birdcage.

Finally, here everything is curved. Not in the way a number of complementary character arcs bend together to provide a satisfying, complete ending. Oh no, here there are only circles. This film begins with a woman searching for the love she has known throughout countless lives. The ending only guarantees this search will inevitable begin again. Consequently, the flash back, a seemingly random 20 minute digression, is not so much a meander as a concentric circle.

I think I have dutifully proved this is the best film ever made, give me a second and I'll unify the world religions. But seriously now, Indian cinema is wonderful precisely because it is true to its own indigenous philosophical, dramatic and musical traditions; so please don't criticise it simply because it does not play by the rules of western film-making.