Bombay to Bangkok

Well, Nagesh Kukunoor has once again delivered what he is famous for. A gripping story presented in light manner. Only, this time he has chosen to go for other things like love across countries, comedy and foreign actress. The movie is presented in a very narrative manner, and with excellent performance from the lead casts as well as the supporting casts. Shreyas Talpade has once again delivered excellent acting after his only disappointing role in Om Shanti Om. He is the main lead of the movie, he knows dancing well, acting well, and also delivers his dialogues well. Lina Christianson is very cute but strong in her role. she is certainly far better than any of young actresses of Bollywood, though it was her first lead performance film. Watching her remembered the korean movie "My Sassy Girl". Then, there is Dr Rati and her little romance with a Gangster delivered by Vijay Maurya. Both have acted very well to their roles. Watch the movie for a pleasant treat after so many disappointing movies from Bollywood. Go for it..

Bombay to Bangkok is the story of a small time cook in a dingy restaurant named Shankar (Shreyas Talpade). Faith leads him to Bangkok... well actually local Mafia goons makes him escape because he had stolen the money that they had received. There Shankar meets Jasmine (Lina Christianson). She is a masseur at a local club. Shankar falls in love with her. Because Shankar pretends he is a doctor and the Mafia keeps on chasing him Shankar hides the bag of money into one of the medical supplies going with the team of doctors that he is a part of now. Now after reaching Bangkok Shankar must take the help of his lady love to get the money hidden into one of the numerous medical supply boxes... Thats Bombay to Bangkok for you. The rest is all running around (read riding around)and some poor attempts at making this a comedy. The only highlights of the film are the songs that plays in the background whenever Shankar meets Jasmine and his dialogue "Ab bas mooh mat kholna!" (Now just don't open your mouth!) whenever Jasmin walks towards him because Jasmin cannot speak English properly and the only words that come out of her mouth are in Thai. Overall just a time pass film, that too if you have nothing else to do. Its hard to believe this as a venture of Nagesh Kukunoor. The same guy who gave us films like Hyderabad blues and Dor. Nagesh should stick to making 'his kind' of cinema and not try to be commercial. He has just proved he is not good at it at all. Good acting by Shreyas (as usual) and the man who played his friend 'Rashminder singh' or Rashes. The guy who plays KMK, the mafia Don's son definitely deserves special mention too. Other than that the whole cast of the film is a waste. Lina has a long way to go as far as acting is concerned. Lets face it - she is too wooden to act. Go watch it... if you have absolutely nothing else to do. NOTHING.

While 'Bombay To Bangkok' may not rank among Kukunoor's best films, it is a very entertaining, adventurous and sweet flick. Hearing all the negative comments, I was still hoping that the film wouldn't be as bad. It wasn't bad. Yes there are flaws. I found the pacing to be slow and I thought Kukunoor could have added some more spice by building more humour. Some have complained that there wasn't enough of the beauty of Thailand in the film. While that may have made the film more pleasant to look at, it's still a film not a travel documentary. So I don't hold this as a major flaw and we still get to see some sights and sound of the country.

In a few scenes, Kukunoor parodies his other film 'Iqbal'. He includes the cast: Shreyas Talpade, Yatin Karyekar and the great Naseeruddin Shah. There's part of the 'Aashayein' song which is hilariously used. There are plenty of such laughing moments. The love story between the doctor and the gangster rapper is hilariously endearing.

The songs are quite funny too. 'Sama Same but Different' is quite catchy while most of the other songs (there aren't as many) are included in the background.

Debutante Lina Christianson adds an exotic freshness to the cast. She has a lovely smile, good screen presence and shares a wonderful chemistry with Talpade. Shreyas Talpade totally owns up to the character. The actor is showing more of his versatility and becoming one of the finest actors of the current generation. Vijay Maurya is laugh out loud as the gangster rapper. One just has to watch it to see what I mean. Naseeruddin Shah is only there in one scene but he further adds to the comic relief.

I also liked how Kukunoor, in a subtle way brought forth taboo issues such as prostitution. There's a splendid scene where Shankar tries to convince Jasmine to leave her job and Jasmine cleverly answers to him that it's just a regular job for which she works hard. One has to listen to the dialogue to understand the full essence of the scene.

I would like to add that one shouldn't expect anything from 'Bombay to Bangkok' other than a fun comedy. It's certainly not as bad as critics have labelled it to be. It may not be as great as Kukunoor's 'Dor', 'Iqbal' and 'Teen Deewarein' but it is one that can be easily enjoyed with friends.

The usual stuff Kukunoor punch which keeps the viewers glued to the storyline is missing big time. "Dor" warranted a slow screenplay it but B2B seems painfully stretched to fill in the available time. Wonder if it was a result of Ghai's intervention.

Shreyas Talpade does his part fine. He is evolving into a fine and a mature performer.

Lina is strictly OK.

Yatin, Vijay Maurya & Jeneva Talwar are OK in their parts.

Manmeet Singh is a good discovery. Hope he gets a good footing into the Bollywood after this role as the lovable Sardarji.

Naseer is barely there for a few minutes.

Songs are definite force-fit. Sherlock Holmes famous phrase seemed to be a force-fit.

There is too much showcasing of Bangkok Tourism.

Definitely not belonging to Kukunoor's category by any standards.

I have not watched too many Bollywood films before, because to me, once you see one film, it is as if you watched it all. Really, the storyline is almost the same, the premise, the tearjerkers and whatnot. The differences that Bollywood films may have are its actors and actresses, the location, and the film title. That was how I perceived Bollywood films.

So, with much persuasion from my friends to give this film a try, I watched it with a heavy heart, thinking that I am definitely gonna waste my time watching it.

Boy, was I wrong. This film is not the typical Bollywood-style film. In fact, this film is so different that I believe maybe this is a new genre of India-made film, and I believe it will revive the rather slump in the movie-goers interest in Bollywood film.

Whilst this film maybe a bit slow in the beginning, it does pick up momentum in the later parts of the film. Which is quite good actually, as there is more time to understand as to why the lead actor were in Bangkok, far from his hometown in Bombay.

A special mention to the mafia's son character, which outperformed even the leading actor and actresses, being the tough guy outside but a soft soul at heart. He is very funny in a clumsy kind of way, without being spastic and an annoyance.

A score of 8 for this film, for its commendable effort in making a film that moves away from the typical and predictability Bollywood films is usually associated with.