I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix to reflect two changes to the catalog. The enjoyable 2012 comedy Bol Bachchan will expire on January 1, 2015. More importantly, the 2014 thriller Mardaani is now available for streaming. Watch it for Rani Mukerji’s terrific performance as a tough cop.
For everything else new on Netflix, check Instant Watcher.
Another new Hindi sequel opens in the Chicago area on August 3, 2012. Jism 2 isn’t a direct follow-up to the 2003 erotic thriller Jism and features new characters played by Randeep Hooda and Sunny Leone. Given that “jism” (Hindi for “body”) is a crude slang term in English, I will ask for my ticket using the film’s subtitle: To Love Her is to Die.
Jism 2: To Love Her is to Die opens on Friday at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles and AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington. It has a runtime of 2 hrs. 12 min. Read my review here.
Also new at the Golf Glen 5 on Friday is the romantic drama Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai.
The comedy Kya Super Kool Hain Hum carries over for a second week at both of the above theaters and the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. The South Barrington 30 is also holding over Cocktail and Bol Bachchan.
Other Indian movies showing at the Golf Glen 5 this weekend include Mirattal (Tamil), Uu Kodathara? Ulikki Padathara? (Telugu), and Vaadhyar (Malayalam).
New in Chicago area theaters on July 27, 2012, is the comedy Kya Super Kool Hain Hum, starring Ritesh Deshmukh and Tusshar Kapoor.
Kya (or Kyaa) Super Kool Hain Hum opens on Friday at the AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington and the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 16 min.
Thanks to impressive earnings of $1,027,121 from its first two weeks in the U.S., Cocktail gets a third week at both of the above theaters. Bol Bachchan — also performing well in the States, with earnings of $1,155,696 so far — gets a fourth week at the South Barrington 30.
Other Indian movies showing at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles this weekend include Eega (Telugu), Karnan (Tamil film from 1964), Onamalu (Telugu), and Ustad Hotel (Malayalam).
On Tuesday, July 31, the DVD of Kahaani becomes available to Netflix subscribers. If you missed the superb thriller in the theater, be sure to add it to your DVD queue.
Trailers for a pair of high-profile upcoming releases went public recently. Heroine hits theaters September 21, while Son of Sardaar debuts on November 13.
With seemingly every available screen allotted to The Dark Knight Rises, there are no new Hindi movies opening in the Chicago area this weekend. However, Trishna makes its local theatrical debut on June 20, 2012, at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema in Chicago.
Cocktail‘s impressive opening weekend returns of $647,956 from U.S. theaters earn it a second week at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville.
Bol Bachchan gets a third week at all of the above theaters, with earnings of $1,004,174 in the U.S. so far.
Other Indian movies showing at the Golf Glen 5 this weekend include Billa 2 (Tamil), Eega (Telugu), and Tuniga Tuniga (Telugu).
The romantic comedy Cocktail — starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, and newcomer Diana Penty — is the only new Hindi movie opening in Chicago area theaters the weekend beginning July 13, 2012.
Cocktail opens on Friday at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a runtime of 2 hrs. 28 min.
After posting solid opening weekend returns of $561,996 in the U.S., the comedy Bol Bachchan gets a second weekend at all of the above theaters.
Other Indian movies showing at the Golf Glen 5 this weekend include Billa 2 (Tamil), Diamond Necklace (Malayalam), Eega (Telugu), and Thattathin Marayathu (Malayalam).
Though it isn’t opening in any Chicago area theaters yet, the Frieda Pinto starrer Trishna opens on a handful of U.S. screens on July 13 as well. Based on the Thomas Hardy novel “Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” Trishna takes place in India but features English dialog.
3 Stars (out of 4)
Buy the DVD at Amazon
Buy the soundtrack at Amazon
I try not to prejudge a movie before I see it, but I was sure I wasn’t going to like Bol Bachchan. Based on the trailer and promotional poster, I expected nothing but tacky gay jokes and dumb, goofball comedy. I was pleased to discover that my fears were unfounded. Bol Bachchan is genuinely funny.
Mistaken identity comedies seem to be a dime a dozen in Bollywood, but few are executed as well as Bol Bachchan (which translates to “A Bundle of Lies,” according to the title track’s lyrics). It helps that the film has a good template to work from. It’s a remake of 1979’s Gol Maal, which is unrelated to the three Golmaal movies from the last decade, all directed by Bol Bachchan‘s director, Rohit Shetty.
Bol Bachchan‘s story concerns the unlucky fate of Abbas Ali (Abhishek Bachchan). When Abbas and his sister, Sania (Asin), lose their house in Delhi, a family friend named Shastri (Asrani) offers to get Abbas a job with his employer. The employer is Prithviraj (Ajay Devgn), the richest guy in a small town.
While on a sightseeing tour of town with Shastri’s actor son, Ravi (Krushna Abhishek), Abbas sees a boy fall into a walled-in reservoir. To save the boy, Abbas — a Muslim — breaks open the locked gate to a Hindu temple.
When Prithviraj arrives and demands details of the boy’s rescue, Ravi panics and introduces Abbas with a made-up Hindu name: Abhishek Bachchan. Since there’s nothing tough-guy Prithviraj hates more than a liar, the lies about Abbas’ identity snowball until he winds up with multiple fake mothers and a pretend identical twin named Abbas Ali.
Some background knowledge of Hindi cinema is helpful for understanding some of the jokes — such as the fact that the Abhishek Bachchan is the name of both Abbas’ fake identity and the real actor playing him — but it’s not essential. References to the original Gol Maal are woven in nicely to the new film as a way to move the action forward, not just for nostalgia’s sake. For example, Prithviraj’s sidekick, Maakhan (Neeraj Vora), becomes suspicious of Abhishek after he sees a pertinent scene from Gol Maal on television.
The film’s PG rating is well-deserved. The kids in the audience at my showing laughed in all the right places, particularly at Prithviraj’s repeated mangling of English sayings, such as: “A brother in need is a sister indeed.”
I read an interview with director Shetty in which he said that he includes car-stunts in his films because he knows kids like them. The reactions of the kids at my showing prove that quality writing is just as important. There are plenty of movies with better stunts than the ones in Bol Bachchan — a van full of people is suddenly (and obviously) empty when it launches over a ramp — so they only serve to pad the film’s runtime unnecessarily.
The song-and-dance numbers are similarly forgettable filler material. The songs themselves lack pep, and the choreography suffers as a result.
Only one dance number stands out: Bachchan’s performance as Abhishek’s pretend gay identical twin, “Abbas.” In his audition to be the classical dance instructor for Prithviraj’s sister, Radhika (Prachi Desai), Abbas writhes mock-seductively, repulsing — and in one case, enticing — Prithviraj’s henchmen. It’s really funny, and not as tacky or offensive as I feared it could be.
Bachchan’s performance on the whole is very strong, as is Devgn’s. I think both actors are at their best in comic roles, and their performances in Bol Bachchan confirm my feelings. Neeraj Vora and Krushna Abhishek are also entertaining in their supporting roles. Sadly, there’s little for either of the female leads to do apart from act virtuous and mildly annoyed at Abbas’/Abhishek’s antics.
Links
The colorful action-comedy Bol Bachchan — starring Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan — opens in three Chicago area theaters on July 6, 2012.
Bol Bachchan opens on Friday at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. The movie is rated PG and has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 30 min.
Teri Meri Kahaani carries over for a third week at the South Barrington 30, having earned $671,442 in the U.S. so far. Ferrari Ki Sawaari gets a fourth week at the Golf Glen 5. Its U.S. earnings stand at $420,046.
Other Indian movies showing at the Golf Glen 5 this weekend include Diamond Necklace (Malayalam), Romeo (Kannada), Eega (Telugu) and its Tamil version, Naan Ee.
The intriguing documentary Supermen of Malegaon released theatrically in India on June 29, but not in the U.S. However, as of July 4, the film is available for streaming internationally on Mela.
Also worth checking out is the cute new trailer for Barfi!, which opens on September 14: