Two Way Traffic

It has been reported that 20th Century Fox is to remake a blockbuster Bollywood movie, "Munnabhai", about a thug, played by Sanjay Dutt, who enrolls in medical school to win back the confidence of his father. This is apparently the first time a Hollywood studio has bought the rights to an Indian film, although there has been a lot of traffic the other way.

I particularly love "Kaante" which delivers value for money by remaking "Reservoir Dogs", "Heat" and "The Usual Suspects" all in one. It is interesting when you think of Reservoir Dogs' debt to Ringo Lam's Hong Kong action film "City on Fire" to trace the influences as Kaante, 'Dogs and City on Fire all lead up to a Mexican standoff in a warehouse and the unmasking of an undercover cop.

I think that the first Bollywood DVD that we saw at home was Lagaan. In those days I didn't realise that Indian movies usually weigh in at over three hours so we would stop them late at night and catch up with the second half the next day.

I remember watching the end of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham one Sunday morning, with tears streaming down my face and realising, after about 20 minutes, that I hadn't turned the English subtitles on. That surely must be great film making if I could follow the story in Hindi, but then again KG3, like about three quarters of Bollywood films does follow the formula of a headstrong son clashing with and then ultimately being reconciled with a stubborn father, so joining the dots in the third reel seldom overtaxes the old noggin.