Mmmmm, masala.

Here in the West, films usually manage to keep a consistent tone. If you’re watching a comedy, it may have moments of drama, but it will begin and end as a comedy. If you’re watching a drama, there may be comic relief, but the movie will begin and end as a drama. Asian cinema is often . . . different. Especially Indian cinema. Bollywood films are sometimes referred to as “Masala”; such a film is a little bit of everything. Tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, so to speak. This can be a little disorienting, as if the musical numbers weren’t jarring enough. But when it works, it works.
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani works.

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani ("After All, My Heart Is Indian") is about . . . well, it’s hard to come up with a simple summation. Our hero is Ajay, a cocky, showboating TV journalist. When we first meet Ajay, he’s scaling the side of a building to interview a bomb disposal expert who’s trying to defuse a very big bomb. The bomb goes off, but Ajay manages to escape in spectacular fashion, leaping off the building and managing to both film the explosion and rescue a tiny kitten(!) on the way down. (If you’re wondering about bomb disposal guy, he makes it out too, but in less dramatic fashion.) Ajay is played with a swagger by Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, and the character succeeds largely because of Khan’s charisma; at this point in the film, Ajay is actually kind of a jerk, but he’s a cool jerk.

Ajay works for K-TV, and the station has reached number one thanks to him. Frankly, he’s the best, and he even has a song to prove it. K-TV’s archrivals, Channel Galaxee, hire their own super reporter, the lovely Riya (Or Rhea, or Ria . . . the subtitles are a bit inconsistent. I’ve picked a spelling and I’m sticking with it.) Riya is there to beat Ajay, plain and simple. Naturally, when they meet, sparks fly. naturally, Priya rebuffs Ajay, but manages to use his checkered romantic past to deal him (and K-TV) an impressive journalistic defeat. Suddenly, Riya is the one singing “I’m the best”.

So at this point, we’ve got the makings of a fine romantic comedy. Ajay and Riya compete for stories using every underhanded method available (with Ajay calling in help from a publicity seeking gangster played by the inescapable Johnny Lever), all the while ignoring their obvious attraction to one another. (And it is obvious. Khan and Juhi Chawla, who plays Riya, have amazing chemistry.) Even at this early point, though, there are Other Things going on in the background. K-TV have thrown their support behind Mushran, the sitting Chief Minister, while Channel Galaxee supports the opposition leader, Ramakant Dua. Both stations and their star reporters are more than willing to bend the truth in favor of their chosen candidate. And then bad things start to happen.

At a political rally for Dua, one of his closest advisors is shot and killed. The assassin is quickly arrested, and when Mushran and Dua both press the police commisioner to release their own version of the assassin’s motivations, the commisioner splits the difference and declares him a terrorist. Pappu Jr., the mobster played by Johnny Lever, decides to “aquire” the famous terrorist, but when things go wrong, the assassin winds up in the back seat of Ajay’s car. Once Ajay and Priya find out the real story, they both discover a buried passion for journalistic truth, and the story veers into political intrigue. from there it moves into a satire of the media, and on into a patriotic story of civil disobedience, and then there’s some more romance. The end.

There’s a lot to love here. the early romantic comedy elements are delightful, and while the movie slips a little once the politics get too heavy, we’ve grown to care about the characters enough to follow them through. Johnny Lever is actually relevant to the plot here, and has one of the coolest lairs in film to boot. (The character specifically patterned it after a Bond movie; if I were a wealthy criminal, I’d probably do the same thing.) The music is very good, and so are the dance numbers. The colors in this film are remarkable. Best of all, Khan and Chawla practically glow here; they both turn in marvelous performances.

Of course, the film’s not perfect.T he intrigue elements are a little clumsy. Khan turns in a dreadful Elvis impression early in the film; Elvis is supposed to sneer, and Khan can’t quite contain his usual good natured smirk. It’s downright embarrassing when Ajay and Riya go undercover as broadly stereotyped Chinese journalists. And I found it a little odd seeing an admitted murderer giving our hero and heroine relationship advice.

Still, the movie works. The various ingredients combine into a rich taste experience, instead of blandly running together.

I love Bollywood.