I went out to see Bollywood/Hollywood last night at Cumberland. This is one of those movies which, although bad, is not quite bad enough so as to be enjoyable. The acting was wooden, the comic timing was off and the chemistry between the principal cast was almost non-existent. The song and dance scenes, for which many a Bollywood movie are known, were not as good as they could have been. Too much Hollywood, not enough Bollywood. As Vic‘s woman Liz pointed out, the movie was like a Bollywood version of Pretty Woman, complete with a predictable Hollywood ending.

Bollywood/Hollywood had a few saving graces, however: Rahul’s cross-dressing chauffeur, Rocky, probably the only interesting character of the bunch; Rahul’s grandmother, who spouts off Shakespearian quotes seemingly at random; and, of course, the gorgeous Lisa Ray as Sue Singh, Rahul’s hired Indian bride-to-be.

There was much that I thought Bollywood/Hollywood could have played up more, such as the tendency for south-Asian immigrants to be more strict in the preservation of their culture than those in their motherland. This merited less than thirty seconds in the movie, where those from the motherland are dismissing as being “modern”.

I had high expectations of this movie, based on its trailer and on the reviews it received when it played at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bollywood/Hollywood could have been better.