Wow! Such a good movie.

How sad is this?

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Its a bit surprising frankly that this and Republic of Love are more recent works of hers than 'Fire' and 'Earth' which are far more sophisticated. Mehta obviously has a critical and satirical mind but her delivery in this film was weak at best. Sure, there were enjoyable bits -- the opening scene with the dying father relaying sports metaphor after sports metaphor - dying pearls of wisdom to his son like many a Bollywood film, -- Mehta favorite Ranjit Chowdhry doing his 2 cross-dressing acts... but in the end the overall effort was disappointing and this seemed more like the work of a first time filmmaker than someone as accomplished as she. Visually the film was blah which is a shame because if you're going to play up the bollywood tropes at least engage in the richness of the choreography and the costuming. There didn't seem like enough of a commitment to the absurdity of 'Indian melodrama in a foreign land' where old country values clash against a new world setting. This is really not a new subject. Similar films that I think are far more effective in their satire and comedy are 'Masala' (1991) directed by Srinivas Krishna (really an under-rated film IMO)and 'Anita & Me'(2002) directed by Metin Huseyin. Even Chadha's 'Bride & Prejudice' while fairly cheeseball has more laugh out loud and absurd moments than this one. This film could have tried to stay the course with an absurdist theme but getting mired in the my whole 'is she a prostitute?/do i trust her/do i love her' just seems to derail it into a hopeless cliché.This was probably a fairly low budget film with a tight schedule. Its a shame that someone of Mehta's talents couldn't make it richer than it was. This and Republic of Love really come off as sappy love conquers all stories. I know that pretty much all her movies deal with the love story but at least there are multiple levels of profundity in her remarkable trilogy (Fire, Earth, Water).

I saw a recent interview with Lisa Ray in which she stated that upon meeting Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham (her co-star in 'Water'), she never really expected much of him as an actor. Well Lisa, you aren't exactly Meryl Streep yourself. As a matter of fact, you ain't even a Jennifer Lopez. The nerve of this woman to believe that she is much of an actress just because she speaks English clearer than most other Indian actresses or the fact that she was born in Canada? Please! Right off the bat, I can name 5 actresses from India who could act circles around you starting with your contemporaries Rani Mukherjee, Kajol her cousin, Tabu, Preity Zinta and even Aishwarya Rai! Next time Miss Ray, refrain from thinking low of others because even John Abraham has got a better acting range than you! Only God knows what has got her thinking that she is to be considered something of a great actress enough to put others down.Phew! glad I got that off of my chest. Now to the drastic pseudo-spoof of a film! Deepa Mehta embarrasses herself as she attempts to poke fun at Bollywood and Hollwood clichés (she has the audacity to do so because she is the director of such internationally acclaimed profound stunner-s as 'Fire', 'Earth' and the most recent 'Water'). Her Hollywood scapegoat is 'Pretty Woman' starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (Okay, I'm fine with Rahul Khanna in the Gere role but Lisa Ray's asthmatic-like acting makes Julia Roberts seem like Bette Davis), and her Bollywood scapegoat is a toss up, I narrowed it down to 'Chori Chori' starring Rani Mukherjee and Ajay Devgan (Okay it's a long road from Ajay Devgan to Rahul Khanna but at least he's closer than Miss Ray is to Rani Mukherjeee who is in the stratosphere in comparison). Khanna's character is the first son of a dysfunctional but very wealthy NRI family living in Ontario, Canada. One day he brings home a Gori (Hindi for White Girl) and his family flips. They succeed is scaring the poor girl off and Khanna's character's mum threatens to put off his sister's wedding if he doesn't find an Indian girl to marry ASAP. Frustrated, Khanna's character goes to a bar where his meets Sue/Sunita (Ray's character) with whom he strikes an agreement for her to pretend to be his fiancé. Ray plays Sunita like a wooden recent graduate from the Angelina Jolie school of drama and performing arts. It's either that or she has just seen way too many Angelina Jolie movies.Every cliché and stereotype imaginable is employed before this film is over and not a moment too soon.Akshaye Khanna shows up half way through, playing a spoof-like version of himself. The only thing bearable about this film are the songs, especially the Sonu Nigam ones. Oh! and Mehta forgot to spoof the playback singers! perhaps it's because she needed them to make her film look lively and sound good. Hmmm!

Rahul is quite well off, hard working, young and handsome. However when he tells his mother and grandmother that he has been seeing a white woman, they bully him into letting them help him select a nice Asian girl – a promise he made to his dying father convinces him to give it a try. Naturally it is a disaster but he cannot get out of it now. Consoling himself in a bar he meets a woman called Sue – she looks a bit East Asian but maybe Spanish, regardless she could certainly pass for Asian if it wasn't for her very western attitudes and dress. It occurs to him that she may be able to help him and he offers her money to pretend to be his Asian girlfriend. She accepts but getting her dressed correctly is only the first step.Sold as an affectionate cross between the structure and style of an American (well, Canadian) romantic comedy and the Bollywood films, this film manages to have enough of each to be recognisable and still produce sufficient mutual good to be enjoyable. In truth, neither cinematic culture is that well represented here because neither is the best it has to offer but the mix still works for the most part. The story is pretty obvious but, aside from the odd moment here and there, flows well with a bit of spark and energy. From the "American" side of things it is engaging and occasionally sweet even if it plays pretty much to formula the whole way. The Bollywood stuff is mainly the song and dance routines and, although they are OK, they don't quite have the size and style of the best that Indian cinema has to offer – although the film still does well enough and the songs are quite cool.The cast take to the mixed material well. Khanna plays up the Indian background well in contrast with his Canadian home; he isn't great but he does the job. Ray is a lot more fun because she has a sassy character that works well with her as an actress. Her looks and her attitude make her an appealing character and actress and she helped the energy level of the whole film. The rest of the cast are so-so but nothing special. I enjoyed the turn from Pathak but Chowdry, Malik and Mann weren't that good.Overall this is an OK film that I quite enjoyed but not one that will still in my memory for that long. It has enough life to it to be entertaining without ever threatening to be that original, clever or memorable. Worth a look if you like Bollywood films because it does work as a slightly different take on them but generally it probably isn't good enough to draw a much wider audience.

I enjoyed this film immensely, and found it a humorous take on second-generation Indo-Canadian life. The songs were enjoyable (my only complaint about the film is that the songs weren't subtitled - a bit frustrating for those of us that don't speak Hindi!), and I recommend the film highly - great fun!