Bollywood Queen

No surprise that some nice white boy decided to cash-in on the bollywood phenom and what a trite mess he makes of it. Enough saccharine to make your teeth peel and enough sub-standard filmmaking to make you reach for your movie mantra and pray forgiveness for those who know not what they do. Pretty girl with nice song does not a movie make. Story? Let see... Boy meets girl. Girl from strict asian background. Boy not. It must be love. Everybody dance. Annoying & ludicrous twaddle.

The only solace is I didnt pay to watch this. I give my deepest sympathy to those who did and were conned by a fancy poster and promise of magic realism.

The British filmmaker blended Bollywood with the Western film world to make a sweet story of a nice Indian girl living in London. Her family, of course, wants her to marry a nice Indian boy and carry on the family traditions, but she meets and falls instantly in love with Jay, a nice boy that is definitely NOT Indian. The songs (of which there are many) are delivered in the Bollywood style of breaking into song at any moment (even more so than in American Musicals). All songs are in Hindi, even though the main character states in the film that she cannot speak Hindi. The music is so obviously fantasy in the movie that it seems okay, though. This was a lot of fun, and an enjoyable story.

Bollywood Queen does a clever job of taking the genre of the typical mass-produced Indian film and weaving in a contemporary theme. The satire on the "Bollywood" movie is what makes this movie. If you haven't seen a Bollywood movie, expect to be a little baffled at the random song sequences and somewhat ludicrously simple themes (boy-meets-girl, forbidden love) . If you are familiar with Bollywood movies, you'll appreciate the caricatures that are played out.

The thing that makes this movie especially clever is that beyond the caricatures, there's humor and irony. For instance, the song sequences are obvious satires, but instead of the schlocky lyrics of a real Bollywood flicks, these satirical songs have hilarious lyrics.

Wow. This movie was HORRIBLE. There was a song after every 5 minutes. This movie unfortunately stereotypes way too much! Terrible plot and BORING. The lead actress is attractive, but needs to work on her acting. As an Indian, I am tired of us being portrayed as the bad characters in movies. Keeping our culture intact is very important to many and should not be portrayed as something bad. The heavy British accents are also hard to get used to. This movie had nothing positive to send to the viewer.

I rented this at the local Blockbuster and am glad that I did not see in it a theatre or I would have left early.

So there I am in Blockbuster, trying to decide which movie I want to see when I head on over to the foreign film section. Being burnt out on the teenage-market oriented films over the last fifteen years I'm hoping that the other six continents on the globe can offer good old fashioned mature film making (yes, I'll even include Antarctica ... maybe there's some U.S. Army research type trying to make the next "March of the Penguins" with a camcorder).

I perused the section, grabbed one title that won Cannes, another that Ebert raved about, then scrunch my lips as I examine the respectable (though somewhat limited) selection of foreign films. I see a plain white Blockbuster DVD case with "Bollywood Queen" written in plain black letters. I grab it, read that small dozen-word "paragraph" describing a small indy film, then shrug and head to the cash register.

When I get home I popped the thing in my player, began to watch it anticipating on popping in one of the other DVDs into the machine, but instead was captivated by a magical film making style.

"Bollywood Queen", as the title suggests, leans towards the Indian musical genre, but it isn't strictly a musical in the Bollywood sense. It is an existential homage and tribute to the genre, and an attempt to introduce it and rework it for a larger movie going audience who can appreciate good film making.

The classic Romeo and Juliet story is played out in this modern Londoner update. The two families in question are from different sides of the tracks and different cultural backgrounds. The young-hearts must overcome obstacles including, but not limited to, traditional family politics, racial prejudices, and criminality from both families to set themselves free. There's been some complaint by viewers of racial stereotyping. This is entirely incorrect, as the baser elements of society are not limited to any racial segment, but cut across both prevalent groups in the film.

Interspersed within this drama are of course the musical numbers. They're there more for paying tribute and to enhance the overall surrealism that is the film's predominant theme. They're not huge lavish numbers one might expect from a golden age Hollywood production, but nor are they ridiculously kampy fare so prevalent in Bollywood offerings. They're brief, heartfelt, and to the point, but also a pleasure to listen to.

The acting is very respectable and solid, though no Oscars will be won here, as was the intent. Humor, romance, intrigue and drama are mixed and balanced, but not overplayed. Director Jeremy Wooding and his cast definitely knew what they were doing as they create a warm world in which viewing couples can get pleasantly lost in for 90 minutes.

Definitely a good couples film, or a film for anyone who likes good independent features.