Bollywood Bollywood: K3G

[tikistitch]

This is the first time I've tried to watch one of these epics all the way through in one sitting, so I might be kinda punchy.



This was a good one to watch because the last couple of films had struck me as a bit too Western in various ways. This one was ne plus ultra Bollywood. First off, it was about 126 hours long. And it was all singing all dancing: at least once every 15 minutes everything would screech to a halt for a HUGE production number, complete with kazillion extras and costume changes and everything.

The plot was actually pretty simple: Shah Rukh Kahn is the adopted son of very very very very VERY rich Amitabh Bachchan. He has a chubby little brother, the couple's biological son. After several colorful dance number, SRK falls in love with Kajol who, unfortunately is playing a character from a lower caste. AB casts out SRK, who flees to London with wife, MIL and wife's little sister.

Flash forward 9 years: the chubby kid is now Hrithik Roshan, who also wants to get caught in the rain and dance, so he travels to London. Kajol's little sister has now grown up into one of those Desi girls who go prancing around in postage stamp-sized skirts. After several most dance numbers, Hrithik reveals himself to be SRK's long lost brother.

And ... everyone cries. For the next half an hour. I kid you not. And in India, you don't just leak tears: your eyes grow bright red, like maybe you've wandered over from the Twilight movie filming next door. Every single combination of characters, in twos and threes and fours, gets together and does the red vampire eyes and hugs and cries and slaps and blubbers.

Oh, and I didn't mention the best part: the thunder cracks! EVERY time ANYTHING happens, we hear the crash of thunder. I mean, AB banishes SRK, and THUNDER CRASH. But, it could be stuff like, Oh, the milk truck is here, THUNDER CRASH! And the all of the light comic moments are telegraphed by loud BOINGY noises, like HEY FUNNIEH COMEDY HERE!

So what did I think? I kind of wanna wallow in this movie: I've already seen it twice. There was some stuff that didn't work for me: Kajol is supposed to be adorable, but she kind of grated on me, especially in the first half. And it seems forever waiting for Hrithik to fucking grow up already so he can DANCE. Also - this is probably cultural - the message of the movie is supposed to be about family love, but the way SRK hangs all over his mom, or really, the way AB dotes on the friend's beautiful daughter he wants SRK to marry? It gets a little ... Freudian for my tastes.

But, just lots of wacky production numbers, including SRK and Kajol suddenly showing up in the middle of the Egyptian desert (and SRK in a series of see-through shirts) for ABSOLUTELY NOT REASON. It's sort of deliriously awesome.