Movie Review - Kambakkht Ishq (2009)

Starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora, Denise Richards, and Sylvester Stallone (!)
Written by Anvita Dutt Guptan, Ishita Moitra, and Sabbir Khan
Directed by Sabbir Khan

Now, this was my first Bollywood musical movie, so I have no way of comparing this to anything else, nor did have any sort of base level of expectations going into this one. In fact, going in to this, I knew almost next to nothing. The description on a website I looked at listed the flick as an action/adventure comedy/musical. And sure enough, it was all of them.

The story is incredibly simple, and, as is the norm in Bollywood flicks, it's drawn out to nearly 2 1/2 hours. Viraj is a stuntman who has made it big in Hollywood. His younger brother, Lucky, has just married Kamini, much to Viraj's chagrin. Also opposed to the wedding was Kamini's sister Simrita, an aspiring surgeon and part-time model/actress (only in the movies could this be a combination!). Simrita believes that men are only after one thing and one thing only -- sex -- and Viraj is somewhat turned on by this hardheaded woman. Simrita convinces her sister to withhold sex from her husband for three months to prove his love and the first half of the movie deals with Lucky's disappointment in this and Viraj's attempts to help his brother out. The second half of the movie focuses on the budding love/hate relationship between Viraj and Simrita. Will they or won't they fall in love? It's not hard to guess.

Honestly, I had a great time watching this movie. It's not any good, in the grand scheme of things, but it sure as hell doesn't take itself seriously...that's kind of difficult to do when five times throughout the film you break into huge song and dance numbers revealing characters' thoughts and desires. Sure, they were completely unnatural, but they were all well done and a blast to watch.

The movie looks good, too...you can tell that they spend money on these Bollywood productions. The scenes that took place in Venice, Italy, were actually kind of pretty to look at. Even the scenes that took place on the Universal Studios Hollywood lot with Viraj doing his stunts looked good, despite the fact that they looked fake (kind of an oxymoron there, but the fakeness didn't take away from the genuinely decent shots).

The problem here (and what will likely be the problem in any future Bollywood movies I see...which I plan to do) is that there is apparently no editor on these films. Seriously, this flick had no story or plot that couldn't have been wrapped up in 90 minutes...but I guess the excess is the point. In time, I may get tired of the ridiculousness, but at this stage in the game, I liked it.

And, I didn't even mention the most absurd part of the movie (SPOILERS AHEAD) -- the cameos by Sly Stallone and Denise Richards. Both play "pivotal" roles in the end scenes of the movie, with Sly himself literally saving the day at the end. It was a ridiculously bonkers, out-of-the-blue surprise that you couldn't help but laugh hysterically...but that was the point.

So, overall, is this a good movie? Nope, not in the slightest. But it absolutely falls into that Crank: High Voltage category -- the filmmakers knew they were making something completely off-the-wall and they went balls out doing it...and they succeeded in providing something entertaining for this reviewer.

NOTE: For anyone thinking of looking into seeing Bollywood flicks, this may be a good start. The film is incredibly "American" in terms of plot and it takes place, for the most part, in Hollywood. The dialogue is spoken in both English and Hindi (with subtitles), with characters jumping back and forth between the two languages. Admittedly, at first, this was a little odd, but you definitely get used to it in time.

The RyMickey Rating: B