COURTESY OF HIFF
"Bollywood/Hollywood" is a "cliché-wrought" story akin to "Pretty Woman" but with less character development.
On first impression, protagonist Rahul Seth seems to have it made in this Deepa Mehta film of a young Toronto dot-com millionaire whose days are spent trading lip locks in a stretch limo with his famous girlfriend, the jet-setting pop idol Kimberly (Jessica Pare). Filial obligations are taken seriously in Indian families, however, and it doesn't take long before Rahul (played with Nicolas Cage-like cool by Andy Garcia look-alike Rahul Khanna) is ordered by his mother (Moushumi Chatterjee) and grandmother (Dina Pathak) to dump his Caucasian beloved in favor of a more suitable Indian girl. Implausible yawner
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In a preposterous and awkward plot twist, Kimberly endures a "freak karmic accident" in which she perishes before a live Hollywood audience during a levitation experiment. Without a moment to grieve, Rahul decides to placate his mother and grandmother by agreeing to replace Kimberly with an acceptable love interest.
Part of the sixth annual Hawaii International Spring Film Festival "Bollywood/Hollywood"
Playing 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Signature Dole Cannery 10
Adding to the confusion for audiences is the introduction of green-eyed Canadian beauty Lisa Ray as Sue Singh, a bar-hopping escort who attempts to pick up Rahul at a local watering hole. Ray, who is of Bengali-Polish descent, plays the cheeky, Pablo Neruda-quoting Indian vixen, mistaken by Rahul as Hispanic (though she looks neither), who agrees to pose as his new fiancee for a fee.
What ensues is a cliché-wrought story akin to "Pretty Woman," though with considerably less character development and plausibility. Khanna, a former MTV Asia veejay and son of Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna, is one of the film's few noteworthies (Chatterjee and Pathak also put in laudable performances), but even a rising star of his caliber (Khanna appeared last year alongside Kevin Kline in "The Emperor's Club") cannot save this rickety film from a lukewarm review.
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