Richardson, Texas. I didn’t know what to expect from a FunAsia movie theatre outside of Dallas. After the shorter-than-expected drive, we all bought our buy one get one free tickets at the door and entered the building. Pretty standard theatre, pictures of the movies, and concessions. I decided to try and get the full experience and ordered Samosas for the film. I had tried them once before on a trip to Africa and was hoping these would be similar. To my enjoyment they were quite good, this trip was starting out very well. The movie starts, and it seemed to be almost like an Indian equivalent to a Disney kids Movie…almost. It started off with a cartoon introduction, interesting touch but it kept my attention. “Definitely like Disney,” I thought. The songs and dances and lavish lifestyle felt like every movie I had watched as a kid. But as the movie progressed I noticed this was something much different. Once the scene of the mushrooms and brownies happens, the movie takes a weird turn. I started to notice a lot of morbid attitudes toward Mummyji. I was a little taken back but I thought it was just dark humor. But when she dies after a fatal sneeze, the whole family gets together to share a sick laugh together. At this point I’m a little concerned about the youth in India, is this safe for people to be watching? Especially at the ages of some kids in the theatre? Is this movie real? I didn’t know what was going on. The movie was still entertaining, perhaps for the wrong reasons, but entertaining. Jagjinder Joginder and Alia and the families manage to sort out the marriage conundrum and call it off, another insane series of events. The guns, the disrespectful songs, and everything else came into play in the wedding scene. All in all, the movie was exciting. Not much of a complex or sane plot, but it got the blood flowing. I’m not sure how I feel about those families trying to solve their massive debts through marriage business partnerships, but it made for a solid sing along adolescent movie, not as suitable for young kids. My first Bollywood experience was a success, I don’t see it becoming a regular activity for me, but it was interesting to see that side of filmmaking and see how other countries make their movies and how they fare against American films. The samosas as opposed to a Snickers bar was also a nice substitute. Overall I am happy I did this field trip with the class, I would have never gone to a Bollywood film otherwise.

By: Matt Adrian