Kandukonden Kandukonden

Charles Taylor is a well-informed if sometimes cranky film critic for Salon.com (his colleague there is my favorite reviewer of movies today, Stephanie Zacharek -- but more on that later, when I finally get around to posting my “Critics to Read, Critics to Believe” essay), and he strongly recommended this film over Bride and Prejudice to show what Bollywood in general and star Aishwarya Rai are capable of. Well, it was well worth watching, even on an Indian dvd whose subtitles were not only translated into hilarious pidgen English but out of synch with the dialogue (apparently Kino has redone subtitles on a U.S. theatrical release not yet on dvd.) Luckily the story was based on Sense and Sensibility, so I could follow the action if not the speech, and the 158 minute running time breezed by. There wasn’t quite as much singing and dancing as I expected, but the numbers were lavish and delightful. We’re a long way from the India of film immortal Satyajit Ray, but this is an entertaining way to tour this stirring giant of a country. There is local color up the wazoo (an ancient Sanskrit word, I believe), though the main romantic duos are filmed respectively around the Sphinx and Pyramids and what appears to be an ancient Scottish castle. Safe to call this whole production enchanting, even without understanding the words. The other Bollywood film Taylor recommended over Gurinder Chadha’s adaptation is Devdas, which as it happens will be showing at Images Cinema on Monday, May 9th, at 9:00 pm, under the auspices of Cinephiles of Williams College. See you there. (2000, dvd, n.) *NR*