Kites: The Remix

An odd attempt to meld the flamboyance of Bollywood with the conventions of Hollywood action movies and the hysterics of the telenovela, this wild concatenation of styles and genres mixes a florid cross-ethnic romance-with-music (minus elaborate dance numbers) with a quasi-noir adventure featuring lots of gunplay. Indian heartthrob Hrithik Roshan plays Jay, a Las Vegas dance instructor who is engaged to Gina (Kangana Ranaut)—the daughter of a rich casino owner and gangster—but falls in love with a beautiful Mexican woman named Natasha (Bárbara Mori), who happens to be the fiancée of Gina's brutal brother. Soon sparks are flying between Jay and Natasha, who run off together, pursued by the family's goon squad. This thumbnail summary ignores the complexity of Kites, which shuffles chronology and includes a series of elaborate chases (featuring cars, trucks, trains, motorcycles, and even hot-air balloons), as well as a succession of encounters pitting Jay against various foes. Director Anurag Basu presents this tale in the visually extravagant, emotionally operatic Bollywood style—albeit in three languages (English, Hindi, and Spanish). The result is a weird fusion of multilingual romantic excess, overwrought violence, and crudely staged action—filmed in garish colors, played to the rafters, and backed by a bombastic score. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)