Ek Tha Tiger

The Muslim holiday of Eid found our whole family in the movie theater, checking out how Bollywood superstar Salman Khan celebrates the holiday each year- with a blockbuster release!  This year, it's Ek Tha Tiger (there was a tiger), a secret agent movie. We all gave it two big thumbs up!  It's playing now at the Cornelius Stadium Cinemas.  And while the trailer is not subtitled, the movie definitely is.  Check out this review.  If you do see it, there's a joke in the film that won't make sense to most Americans.  When the leading lady introduces herself to the hero, she tells him her friends call her "Zee".  This is also the name of an Indian cable channel.  So the hero replies by telling her his name and then advises her that his friends call him "Doordarshan". He's just teasing her- this is the name of an Indian public broadcast channel.  Later she will use this incident to send him a coded message.  

This movie is a good example of the stark contrasts between a Bollywood movie and a Hollywood movie.  I would expect Hollywood movies in the same genre to have much more graphic violence, as well as adult content, and would not expect any discernable moral to the story.  Instead, true to Bollywood form, the violence is pretty tame, favoring fancy martial arts moves over gore.   And although of course the couple truly love each other, they never so much as kiss.  (Deprived of screen kisses, they must dance and sing to show their love.) And naturally the story would not be complete without a moving moral.  I'm really glad my little kid is starting to like Bollywood movies and music, because I find it to be fun pop culture without anywhere near as much of the stuff that make parents cringe!
If you're not in the Portland area, you can check here for Bollywood showtimes near you.  The name of your state will mysteriously appear on the list when a Bollywood film appears on the screen.  At least they seem to know about most of them!  In the Portland area, another good place to look is  here.