The big idea is all in the title. Bollywood/Hollywood is an attempt to meld two cinematic cultures in a feelgood rom-com. Set in émigré helmer Deepa Mehta's home city of Toronto, the story centres on rich Rahul (Rahul Khanna), who hires a wrong-side-of-the-tracks escort Sue Singh (Lisa Ray) to pose as his fiancée. Plotwise, you can probably guess the rest, especially if you've seen Pretty Woman.
Less predictable is the archness of the script. "Remember, you hold the baseball bat of destiny," Rahul's father tells his son from his deathbed in the first scene, setting up an affectionate but jesting tone. But as the ironies pile up, the joke wears thin, leaving you longing for another song-and-dance number to relieve the clever-clever monotony. Or, better still, an acerbic comment from Rahul's Shakespeare-quoting grandma, played with matriarchal grandeur by Dina Pathak.
DVD Extras:
Just a trailer. Oh well.
