Bollywood* Beginner Movies 7-9 — Shakespeare, Thrillers, and Modern Life

Part 1 looked at romantic comedies. Part 2 branched out to action,  romance, and myth.

Now we're looking at movies that intersect more with what we'd think of as Western movies. However, these are all distinctively Indian.

SHAKESPEARE

7. Omkara

Othello, Indian-style. Fairly faithful and gorgeous adaptation with gangsters. (My review. Scott and I talk about it here. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)

• Ram-Leela
  Romeo and Juliet, Bollywood-style. A less faithful but even more gorgeous adaptation but it examines the families in a very Indian way. (My review. Scott and I talk about it here. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
  

THRILLERS

8. Kahaani

A 7-month pregnant woman arrives in Kolkata from London to seek her missing husband with nothing to rely on except her memories and a photo. This thriller blew our minds. Hollywood would be proud to make this movie. (My review. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)

• Fan
  They had me at Shah Rukh Khan playing his own stalker. This is a solid thriller and a real star vehicle for King Khan who proves he can really act. (My review here. Scott and I discuss it here. Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
  

MODERN LIFE

9. Piku

Piku juggles her life as a successful architect and caring for her 70-year old hypochondriac father. When they take a road trip from Delhi to Calcutta, the owner of the local cab company has no choice but to drive them personally since none of his drivers are willing to endure Piku or her eccentric father. (My review here. Scott and I discuss it here. )

• The Lunchbox
  A mistaken delivery in Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a connection through notes in the lunchbox. (My review here.)
  

NEXT

Part 4 will feature comedy-horror, Mollywood, and true history

For my complete list of recommended films, go here. The list begins with what I've seen most recently.

* "Bollywood" as I'm using it is shorthand for Indian movies in general. The Indian movie industry has a lot of different centers that are based on regional languages and storytelling styles. There will be a few recommendations from others as we go, however, generally speaking, Bollywood (Bombay/Mumbai) offers the easiest entry points for Western viewers.

Bollywood* Beginner Movies 1-3 — Romantic Comedies

I recently showed one of my favorite Bollywood movies to my book club, by their request. They enjoyed it so much that during the intermission a list of more movies was requested. 

After consultation with my backup crew (Hannah and Rose from An American's Guide to Bollywood), we came up with a good list of beginner movies in different categories. I'm going to spread them over the next few weeks so they aren't overwhelming. I'll include links to my full reviews, Hannah and Rose's discussions, and to the episodes of A Good Story is Hard to Find where Scott and I talk about them.

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First up, we'll look at the genre that Indian movies are most famous for: romantic comedies. With lots of singing and dancing, of course!

Something to keep in mind is that the movies' beginnings may seem a bit slow. That's so all the "aunties" can come in during that first 20 minutes with their roasted chickpeas, greet their friends, and still be able to tell what's going on in the film. That's kind of useful if you are new to Indian movies. Just let the beginning wash over you and enjoy the ride.

I've got three "must see" movies below, with a few extras. The three groups below each feature one of the three actors who have dominated Bollywood for some time. They share the same surname, though they are not related, and are called the Three Khans.

SHAH RUKH KHAN

1. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
(A Match Made By God)

We'll begin with the movie I showed my book club. 

Mild mannered Surinder winds up in an arranged marriage to the vivacious Taani. When she enters a dance competition, he enters in disguise. Shah Rukh Khan plays a double role as a nerd and an obnoxious "cool" dancer who inadvertently is competing with himself for his wife's love. It's a solid comedy and a funny, sweet look at true love. (My review here, Scott and I discussed it here, Hannah and Rose cover it here.)

• Om Shanti Om
  An aspiring actor from the 1970s is murdered, but is immediately reincarnated into the present day where he attempts to expose the murderer and find Shanti, the love of his previous life. Finally — a movie with reincarnation! Light with tons of singing and dancing. (My review here, Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
  
  
• Happy New Year
  Six thieves enter a prestigious dance competition as a cover for pulling off a diamond heist. It's like a Bollywood version of Mission Impossible ... with a dance contest, of course! (Hannah and Rose discuss it here.)
  

SALMAN KHAN

2. Bajrangi Bhaijaan

A simple, righteous Indian man helps return a young, lost, mute girl to her home in Pakistan. Pawan is what the girl's parents have prayed for — a "god-sent man" who will protect their daughter. And therein hangs the tale, including a heckuva road trip. Light-hearted and charming. (My review is here. Scott and I discuss it here. Hannah and Rose cover it here.)

• Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
  This movie is a fun, frothy fairy tale loosely based on The Prisoner of Zenda, tweaked to become Indian and, thus, much more family oriented. Salman Khan plays the double role of prince and loyal imposter. He's intelligent, good natured, and sweet. (My review is here. Hannah and Rose cover it here.)
  

AAMIR KHAN

3. PK

A humanoid alien lands in Rajastan naked on a research mission but is stranded when the remote control for his spaceship is stolen. Amazingly charming, this lighthearted view of humans through alien eyes uses India’s religions (which is almost all of them) as a backdrop to finding his way home. (My review is here. Scott and I discuss it here.)

• Lagaan
  This isn't actually a romantic comedy, but more of a romantic historical movie. A small Indian village battles a sadistic British officer in a winner-take-all cricket match. Lots of singing and dancing, and also Aamir Khan. India's pick for the foreign Oscars that year. (My review is here. Scott and I discuss it here. Hannah and Rose cover it here.)

NEXT

Part 2 will feature action, myth, and romance (of course!) 

For my complete list of recommended films, go here. The list begins with what I've seen most recently.

* "Bollywood" as I'm using it is shorthand for Indian movies in general. The Indian movie industry has a lot of different centers that are based on regional languages and storytelling styles. There will be a few recommendations from others as we go, however, generally speaking, Bollywood (Bombay/Mumbai) offers the easiest entry points for Western viewers.

Billu

This was really charming. A barber's claim to be friends with a mega-star is put to the test when a movie is shot in his small village featuring, of course, that star. We are left wondering if the barber is telling the truth and what will happen if he can manage to meet the star face-to-face.

Billu provides an interesting insight into the challenges of Indian movie making on location as well as how to handle sudden notoriety. One of the things that makes this movie so much fun for Bollywood fans is that the mega-star is played by the biggest Indian star of our time, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK). We felt a real thrill when he first appears and pulls off his helmet to show himself. The role allows us to see him behind the scenes as well as the fact that every celebrity is, underneath all the glamor, a human being. I've seen Irrfan Khan in a lot of movies where his understated style means the movie is going to be relatively low-key. His parts of this movie were a definite contrast to the "big in Bollywood" SRK part.

 I am hard put to think of another movie that successfully blends big movie glitz with thoughtful small village reality, or in other words Shah Rukh Khan's style with Irrfan Khan's. But this one pulls it off.

With three item numbers (not moving the plot forward, just for fun, and frequently with stars who we never see again in the film) as well as various other songs, this was long. But we didn't mind and already know we'll watch it again sometime when we want a feel-good movie.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!) 

Shah Rukh Khan on the war against coronavirus

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan does a coronavirus public service announcement using scenes from his movies.

I'm very proud to say that I recognized a lot of the scenes — yes, I'm a SRK fan. I don't know if people who don't know his movies will find this as amusing as we did.

Though no matter who you are, I'm sure you agree that the hat and sunglasses are tragic. Just ignore them.



For those who don't know, here's how SRK really looks. Now you can see what I meant about the hat and glasses.

Action Thrillers — Special 26 and Don

In the early 1980s in India, a group of con artists rob well-known businessmen and politicians by posing as officers of the Central Bureau of Intelligence or income tax officials. The gang stages fake raids during which they steal great amounts of money from their targets.

A good heist film based on a notorious jewel robbery in the 1960s in Bombay (as it was called then). It is a bit confusing at first but just hang in there and it will all come into focus. It made me think of Inside Man, especially in the fact that I wanted both sides to win.

If you watch this it is helpful to know that the CBI can come in, shut you down (including cutting telephone wires) and tear the place apart looking for hidden wealth. As early scenes show, this is justified by the high levels of corruption. A really excellent movie that is almost like a primer for this concept of tax collection, which is incomprehensible to Americans, is Raid.

I especially wanted to see this since I'd only seen lead star Akshay Kumar in Tashan where he played a dim-witted, but good-hearted, mob enforcer. In this he is a mastermind a la George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven and carried it off quite well. Of course, there is a romantic subplot which means several song and dance numbers. This may be a heist film but we're not barbarians!

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

DCP DeSilva sees a way to bring to justice the feared head of a criminal empire by recruiting a man named Vijay, who looks exactly like the crime boss. The ruse works too well, and soon Vijay finds his life in danger when DeSilva, the only one who knows his true identity, dies.

Really a fun crime thriller with some good plot twists. I enjoyed seeing Shah Rukh Khan play a psychotic, cold blooded killer as a contrast to his usually more charming roles. I think he enjoyed it too. Though, to be fair, this is a double role so he gets to play a warm-hearted good guy for a lot of the movie. The best of both worlds, perhaps?

As always, what is a crime thriller without four or five song and dance numbers? Yes, it can be done as Don proves. And I'm not complaining.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (A Match Made By God)

Surinder Sahni is a mild-mannered office worker who loves from afar his former professor's daughter, the beautiful and vivacious Taani. When tragedy strikes, the professor arranges their marriage. Fighting loneliness in her new home, Taani enters a dance class/competition. Surinder disguises himself to watch her when fate steps in and he becomes her partner as the brash Raj. It's all fun until he realizes Taani is falling in love with Raj. He's losing his wife ... to himself!

We watched this on Sunday evening after helping present the Beyond Cana marriage retreat for three days.

All we expected was a romantic comedy with India's top star playing a double role as a nerd and an obnoxious "cool" dancer. It was a solid comedy and a funny, sweet look at true love. But it delivered a lot more.

• Not knowing the translation of the title, we were surprised to find the strong theme of “seeing God in your beloved.”
  
  
• I certainly didn't expect to find an overwhelming example of covenantal love when Suri humbly doesn't expect anything in return for his love.
  
  
• Also, "Jodi" means "pair." So the subtitle is: "There is an extraordinary love story in every ordinary couple."

So it was all amazingly appropriate considering our marriage retreat mindset of the moment! Plus, this is possibly Shah Rukh Khan's most charming role. And I'll admit it — I came to see King Khan. It was super entertaining!

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast - Scott and I discussed this movie in episode 209. Listen in!

An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast - Hannah and Rose discuss it here.

Fan - a solid thriller

Gaurav develops an obsession with a movie star who looks just like him. He goes to Mumbai to meet his idol, but he refuses to grant him five minutes of his time. Gaurav is enraged and plots to destroy his hero.

They had me at Shah Rukh Khan playing his own stalker. Normally I wouldn't care about this sort of movie but was curious to see how Khan carried off the dual roles. I'm happy to say this is a solid thriller and a real star vehicle for King Khan who proves he can really act. I also enjoyed the fact that this had some very tense moments but without indulging in the extremes that Hollywood would have included.

Rating — Bollywood Medium (mostly straight forward but with some concepts it is helpful to have come across before. Such as, in this one, knowing that Bollywood fandom is taken to ridiculous levels such as huge crowds waiting outside a star's house just to wave to him on his birthday ... or people having small shrines to their favorite stars.)

ALSO
Hannah and Rose discuss it at An American's Guide to Bollywood.
Scott and I discuss it at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Om Shanti Om

An aspiring actor from the 1970s is murdered, but is immediately reincarnated into the present day. He attempts to discover the mystery of his demise and find Shanti, the love of his previous life.

As you can tell from the poster, Om Shanti Om is supremely entertaining. Everyone seems to be having a great time, giving it their all, the songs and dances are huge productions, and the director obviously loves movies because it is both an homage and a spoof in many ways.

This is a movie we didn't know enough to fully appreciate when we first saw it. Our first exposure to film star Shah Rukh Khan and director Farah Khan (no relation), we laughed, caught some of the secondary jokes, and enjoyed the singing and dancing. After seeing many more Bollywood movies we realized what a treasure Om Shanti Om really was.

Watching it for a second time with family members who are just joining us in our Bollywood exploration we could appreciate the skill and love that went into this piece of sheer entertainment. It also made me realized how much I love Farah Khan, not only for her choreography but for her sense of humor and the way she moves the story.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast discusses it here.

A Little More Bollywood: Chak De! India and Ek Tha Tiger

RAW agent Tiger is on a mission to retrieve information from a scientist in Dublin. The plot centers on an Indian spy (RAW) code-named Tiger who falls in love with a Pakistani spy (ISI) during an investigation and how Tiger’s ideology and principles change over time.

This was our first movie by Salman Khan, the last of the Three Khans for us to sample.

The movie had problems, being a blend of James Bond with romantic comedy. And not a stellar version of either genre was being blended If that sounds awkward, then I did my job describing it.

Adding to the problems, Khan reminded me of no one so much as Sylvester Stallone. Now, there's nothing wrong with Sylvester Stallone. I am second to none in my admiration of Rocky, but he has definite limitations as an actor. And that's what we saw in this example of Khan's work.

Just a few Bollywood song and dance numbers in this one, with the stellar one being over the end credits. I realized I was a bit addicted to the Bollywood format by how happy I was to see a musical number begin. Happy out of all proportion considering they used to make me roll my eyes.

This won't be our last sampling of Salman Khan's movies. I want to give him a fair chance. He's a top Bollywood actor. But this isn't his finest hour. (Or if it is, then he just isn't be my favorite of the Three Khans.)

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

Chak De! India follows a team of rag-tag girls with their own agenda who form Team India competing for international fame in field hockey. Their coach, the ex-men’s Indian National team captain, returns from a life of shame after being unjustly accused of match fixing in his last match. Can he give the girls the motivation required to win, while dealing with the shadows of his own past?

This was really solid. Shahrukh Khan shows he can play nice with others by not having to be in a lot of the scenes even though he is the main character and star. This is our second of his films and it was nice to see him in a more conventional role though I did miss seeing him shirtless in a dance number. This movie had songs but, as seems to be the case with some of the modern movies, they were played against standard montages (training, traveling, etc.).

It was a fairly straight forward feminist underdog sports film with an interesting undertone of combating regionalism in favor of nationalism. I never knew that was an Indian problem but I read that this movie was really significant for India in several ways and I'd guess that was one of them.

Overall it is, as I said, solid. And definitely enjoyable.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)