Bollywood/Hollywood,
directed by Deepa Mehta, is a quirky love story involving
Rahul Seth (played by Rahul Khanna), a successful Indian
entrepreneur in Toronto who is looking for a spouse because
his parents insist that he should be betrothed before wedding
bells ring for his soon-to-be-married sister. Rahul's fiancée
is a Hollywood star, whom he brings home to show to his
single mother (played by Moushumi Chatterjee) and grandmother
(played by Dina Pathak), but they reject her because she
is white, not Indian. When she returns to Hollywood, she
dies while unsuccessfully attempting levitation. After
formal interviews of various eligible Indian women at home,
as arranged by his mother, Rahul decides to teach his family
a lesson. He goes to a pickup bar. While drinking, a girl
named Sue (played by Lisa Ray) approaches him, pretends
to be a Spanish girl from Harlem, and soon he hires her
to put on an act as his new Indian girlfriend. However,
he does not realize at first that she is Indian or is as
rebellious toward her parents as he is. The comedy then
proceeds, with Sue impressing Rahul's parents a lot, and
in time Rahul falls for her. One evening she goes with
friends to a strip club, where a patron blabs that she
is Sue Singh, a prostitute. Rahul then rejects her. Later,
he begs for her. The film ends with a predictable outcome.
Along the way, Bollywood/Hollywood provides a survey of
Indian customs for the benefit of non-Indians as well as
a lot of music and dance. MH
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