‘Kambakkht Ishq’: Hollywood meets Bollywood

Hollywood actors are finally heading East, said Anushka Asthana in the Guardian. Kambakkht Ishq (Damn Love), directed by Akshay Kumar—who "to half the world's population" is "more famous than Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Bruce Willis put together"—was filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and features appearances by Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards. It "marks the first time that Hollywood's leading stars have appeared alongside their Indian counterparts in a Bollywood blockbuster," and it's a perfect "example of the growing desire among Western actors, companies and financiers for a piece of India's" multi-billion-dollar entertainment industry. (watch the trailer for Kambakkht Ishq)

Hollywood does seem "to have discovered Bollywood," said Mumtaj Begum in the Malaysia Star, but "Bollywood appears just as eager to get to know Hollywood." The "huge success of Slumdog Millionaire" illustrates the West's interest in Eastern culture, and opens up a whole new market for Indian filmmakers. And "one of the main reasons Los Angeles was chosen as a backdrop" for Kambakkht Ishq is because it's "the home of all things glamorous and glitzy," which has appeal to those in the East.

Kambakkht Ishq is a perfect example of why Bollywood should not try to cater to Western audiences, said Tinselgurus. It's a "dumb" movie full of "cheesy" dialogue, "sexual connotations," scantily clad women, and offensive language—"the heroine and hero refer to each other as 'dog' and 'bitch.'" Hollywood already cranks out enough movies like that; Bollywood directors don't need to start doing it, too. "Bollywood is Bollywood" and "Hollywood is Hollywood"—let's keep it that way.

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