AkshayKumar Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Gordon Liu gives good glower. In the same way that Clint Eastwood's growl communicates volumes in Gran Torino, Liu, who became a star in 70s Shaw Brothers martial arts classics like The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Executioners From Shaolin long before being cast by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill, commands the screen in Chandni Chowk to China as an evil, evil villain. As Hojo, a criminal kingpin whose greatest pleasure lies in decapitating rebellious villagers, Liu fixes a determined, menacing look on his face, matched by a steely glint in his eyes and precise, deadly body language. He wields the deadliest head covering since Harold Sakata's Oddjob flung his chapeau at James Bond in Goldfinger.

Liu is the best thing about Chandni Chowk to China, which opens this weekend at more than 125 screens in 50 markets in the US and Canada and has been billed as the first ever Bollywood kung fu comedy. It's also the first production from Warner Brothers India, though the movie, a pleasantly goofy diversion, doesn't seem to go out of its way to appeal to Western audiences.

Akshay Kumar stars as Sidhu, a cook at a fast food stand in Chandni Chowk, the legendarily busy market in Delhi, India. As he cooks rice and chops vegetables, Sidhu dreams of winning the lottery and escaping the humdrum routine of his daily life, despite the admonishment of his adopted father Dada (Mithun Chakraborty) that success in life can only be achieved through hard work. When two visitors show up and urge him to return with them to China so he can find his destiny, he is all too eager to comply.

If you died and went to Heaven and asked for a movie trailer to be made just for you, what would it look like? Would it fuse your interest in Bollywood musicals with your love for classic martial arts fight scenes, reflect your appreciation for beautiful women, indulge your affection for cheesy special effects and inability to resist a cheap gag? Would it look something like the insane trailer for Chandni Chowk to China?

Head on over to Apple's trailers page and take a gander, but be forewarned: I found it addictive and as damaging to my nervous system as stuffing myself with a pound of the sweetest of candies. Describing itself as the "first ever Bollywood Kungfu comedy," Chandni Chowk to China follows Sidhu (Akshay Kumar), a lowly worker at a humble food stand in Chandni Chowk, a famous, crowded market in Delhi, India. Sidhu dreams of a better life, chasing futilely after his dreams, until two strangers from China arrive, claiming that he is a reincarnated war hero and take him to their rural village. Along the way he meets the beautiful Sakhi (Deepika Padukone). Deception abounds, however, and Sidhu soon finds himself pitted against a vicious smuggler, played by none other than the legendary Gordon Liu (Executioners From Shaolin, Kill Bill). Are you freakin' kidding me?

The film opens on January 16 across the US at the usual theatrical venues that play Bollywood films, plus a few additional cinemas, depending on the market (check the web site for theater listings). If it delivers on the promise of its delirious trailer, Chandni Chowk to China could conceivably lure an even broader audience to explore Indian cinema.

[Hattip: Twitch and Kaiju Shakedown.]