Chandni Chowk to a theater near you

Friday is opening day for Chandni Chowk to China. It's the first hardcore Bollywood film to be distributed by Warner Bros., and it's opening on 160 screens around the U.S. Will Nikhil Advani's take on classic kung-fu flicks find mainstream success?


Action star Akshay Kumar does an impressively shameless job of playing the sad-sack from India who is mistaken by Chinese visitors to be their village's savior--or is he?--and Bollywood vet Mithun Chakraborty is steady as a rock playing Kumar's protector. Most impressive is the stunning Deepika Padukone, who plays twin sisters separated at birth--one a glamorous TV shopping network spokesperson, and the other an ass-kicking henchperson for martial-arts god Gordon (36th Chamber of Shaolin) Liu. In true Bollywood style, the comedy is slapstick, the musical scenes are elaborate, and the action is over-the-top. The acting isn't exactly subtle, either. This particular treatment of martial-arts movies is kind of like Indian version of Chinese food: extra sweet, extra spicy, and extra everything.


The uneven, schizophrenic ways of Bollywood aren't for everyone, but I think any audience will appreciate the high-energy dance choreography and world-class martial arts delivered by Dee Dee Kun. And if you get lost, there are worse places to zone out than amidst the amazing scenery of India, China, and Thailand. For those who have only seen bits and pieces of commercial Indian cinema, perhaps through The Simpsons, this is a very cool way to check out the real thing.


2 hours, 20 minutes is a long time for most moviegoers, but it feels packed with a dense mix of eye-popping colors, gravity-defying martial arts, gorgeous backdrops, clashing cultures, and charismatic actors.