One of the interesting things about delving into a new film culture is seeing how they approach different genres. One of the disappointing things is finding out that maybe that culture’s treatment of those genres is not to your tastes.
So, while I stand by my enthusiasm for Bollywood dramas and epics, it’s going to be cold day in Calcutta before I line up for another Bollywood teen comedy.
How bad was bad? Pretty bad. We’re talking mugging on a scale that makes Macauly Culkin look like Sir Lawrence Olivier. Fardeen Kharan and Kareena Kapoor pull so many rubbery “Doh!” and “What the?!” facial expressions that their eyes are in danger of permanently bugging out. Add that to the fact that they’re both as irritating as all get out and you at least feel that they deserve each other.
A highlight of most Bollywood films is the music – not a highlight here. Not enough dance grooves, way too many rawkin’ guitars. The whole thing smacks of Pepsi New Generation – not sure why, maybe it was the big posters of Ricky Martin and J-Lo that formed the backdrop of one dance sequence, or maybe it was the audience dressed uniformly in red and blue and seated on the white tile floor in a perfect Pepsi logo formation?
Another usual Bollywood highlight is the script and the snappy scene length – bzzzt. This one strains for ideas. Scenes fall flat but then refuse to die, instead they just sort of lie there expiring until you find yourself wishing for the ability to put them out of their misery. The romantic plot (and I use the term loosely) runs out of direction after the interval, so the rest of the film meanders through a series of barely related skits before it hits its predictable but long overdue conclusion.
I better find something to like. The dance sequences are spectacular, and one is actually pretty funny as the squabbling couple run into about 10 identical versions of themselves in different settings. Some of the locations are great, particularly a house which backs on to a waterfall. There are a few neat gags from the narrator, and Khushi’s dad is an appealing character sporting the best mo in movies since the governor in Tears of the Black Tiger.
Apart from that though, Khushi is a bit shtinki.