My Bollywood Bride

Hey, saw the film in NY at the festival. It was cool. Hot girls and guys, great shots of India, drama and comedy! My girl loved it and I know some of her friends whom are Jason Lewis fans are dying to see this! I saw one other Bollywood film and this was much better and made for a western audience. This was also a family cool film with hardly anything in it to offend but one innuendo...maybe. Where Bobby K speaks of the ocean but Alex (Lewis) thinks he means something else! Funny! I also loved the Producer guy, Shekkhar and his little "I'm too sexy for my shirt!" stuff! If you want an easy colorful romantic comedy to watch...I recommend watching it for sure!

I didn't expect much when I saw this at the Palm Springs Film Fest this weekend. It was an alternate choice when two other films were sold out. Still, I held out hope. It sounded a bit much like "Bride and Prejudice" (L.A. guy falls for an Indian beauty, parental conflict, blah blah blah). B&P was not perfect but it was an enjoyable film with some good laughs and likable characters.

"My Bollywood Bride" had none of that. The acting seemed stilted and way to by-the-numbers. Characters were so cliché the story seemed like it could have been written by high school freshman drama student. Technically, the sound really bothered me. It seemed as if there was a lot of over-dubbing of dialogue. I mean a lot. I know sometimes it's necessary but it sounded like half the film was shot in a closet and it became very distracting.

Two stars is being somewhat generous.

Unbelievable!

this film gets a 7 out 0f 10. This has to be one of the worst films i have seen in years. not only was the acting incredibly bad, the storyline (if you can call it that) was just as bad. Offcourse everyone knows what's going to happen within the first 5 minutes. Which is not a bad thing if you can captivate the audience during leading up to that moment. That however, is not the case. There is no action, no suspense, not even a spark between the 2 leading actors. It was unfortunately a waste of my time, and certainly a waste of my money.

and the 2 of merely for trying

I came across this film while flipping through the satellite channels one rainy Saturday afternoon, and left it on for a while because with over 357 channels, there was really nothing on. Bruce Springsteen needs to update his song.

I don't know how many Americans are familiar with Bollywood movies, but I'm given to understand that most of them involve a man and a woman who fall in love and must overcome many obstacles in order to be together. Also as I understand it, there must always be a happy ending. We have our own clichés, like the monster in a horror movie must always show up for the sequel, no matter how dead it was before, or that cars must fly through the air during accidents. Me, I kinda prefer the happy endings. Indestructible monsters and cars bouncing around like ping-pong balls leave me cold.

The movie itself was simple, straightforward, and predictable, but there was one thing it had that made me watch it again. That was the secondary female character, played by Neha Dubey. Throughout the movie she seemed attractive enough, but not especially so...and then she was called upon to dance in a musical number for the movie that was going to be made. For me, at least, she went from slightly attractive to jaw-droppingly, rock-between-the-eyes, can't-look-away stunning, all flashing eyes and brilliant smile and fascinating choreography. If I see that this movie is going to be on satellite again, I'll watch it again, just for that dance routine.

This film wasn't ponderous enough to whet my appetite for a bollywood drama, but it does have a tasty balance of music, romance and unforgettable characters. It's never laugh out loud funny, but is frequently amusing. I was giddy with delight in the film's capture of India's sights, colors, tastes and sounds. Old world meets new is the theme for the film's soundtrack. The humorous ensemble cast guides the audience to discover that while being immersed in a foreign culture, human nature stays pretty much the same world over. A joyful infusion of disco, bollywood and lamental melodies that sent my spirit soaring. I had to remind myself - this is after all an American film! It's done with enough bollywood flair to leave me satiated. :)