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Natasha and J (Barbara Mori and Hrithik Roshan) become fate-crossed lovers in the romance-action-thriller “Kites.” |
Every frame in the bold, breakthrough Bollywood movie “Kites” looks as if it’s been purloined from a heavy-breathing Victoria’s Secret commercial.
Bodaciously beautiful bikini-bound babes practically pose while on a yacht with ripped and rippled men. The camera luxuriates in the sexy, sensual appeal of its main cast. It shamelessly showcases the actors’ most alluring pairs, mostly burning green eyes and fiery lips.
Although “Kites” uses English and Spanish as well as Hindi dialogue, and has been filmed in the United States and Mexico instead of India, it’s still very much a Bollywood movie, a hyper-stylized, over-the-top cinematic experience of epic excess and bombastic sensationalism.
As directed by successful Indian filmmaker Anurag Basu, “Kites” is mostly a movie about the movies.
It slams seemingly disjunctive genres together with gleeful force, so that one minute we’re watching spaghetti western, the next, a moody film noir detective mystery or a spectacular, strobe-edited rock music video.
Film buffs can tick off the stylistic references: “A Fistful of Dollars,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Flashdance,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Thelma and Louise” (make that minus Louise). And more.
“Kites” valiantly attempts to play it straight. That is, people don’t suddenly break into elaborately choreographed musical dance numbers as they do in traditional Bollywood epics. (Read more…)