Bollywood/Hollywood Reviews

What could have been an exuberant reworking of PRETTY WOMAN peppered with extravagant Bollywood musical interludes never finds its tone. First-generation Indo-Canadian Rahul Seth (Rahul Khanna) is in the doghouse with his wealthy, traditional family: Rather than find a nice Indian girl to marry, he's gotten engaged to new-age pop star Kimberly (Jessica Pare), the "Britney Spears of Canada." After a disastrous first meeting with Rahul's drama-queen mother (Moushumi Cahtterjee) and stern grandmother (Dina Pathak), Kimberly is killed in a freak levitation accident, and the grieving Rahul is handed a family ultimatum. If he doesn't find an Indian girl before his sister Twinky's (Rishma Malik) wedding, Twinky's nuptials will be cancelled. Torn between duty and his own heart, Rahul seizes on a desperate idea sparked by his chance meeting with a Spanish escort-girl named Sue (Indian model Lisa Ray). Sue could pass for Indian, so Rahul will pay her to pretend she's his girlfriend until after the wedding. Mother and grandmother placated, Twinky married, no hard feelings when he cuts Sue loose — it seems a brilliant solution, at least in the half-witted logic of American romantic comedies. Sue's masquerade is flawless — she convinces everyone she's Indian because — surprise! — she really is, and she sweeps Rahul's mother off her feet, wins over Grandma, charms his friends, helps younger brother Bobby (Jazz Mann) fit in at school and even begins to warm Rahul's frozen heart. And that's when the real complications set in. Though occasional flashes of the radiantly bi-cultural romp that might have been peek through, writer-director Deepa Mehta's hybrid is strangely clumsy, given that she's an experienced filmmaker familiar with both Hollywood and Bollywood conventions. From the outset, just about everything seems slightly off: Kimberly's music video, which opens the film, looks nothing like the lavishly choreographed spectacles that showcase the real Britneys of the world. The Seth family carrying on is excessive even by the exaggerated standards of mainstream Indian filmmaking, and the drag numbers revealing the secret life of Rocky (Ranjit Chowdhry), Rahul's faithful driver, are seriously lacking in fabulousness — RuPaul would hand in her high heels rather than prance around stubble-faced in an matronly dress. And while the senior cast members nail their formulaic roles, the younger generation is poorly represented by the charmless Khanna and Ray, who's beautiful but not much of an actress.