My experience at the FunAsia Theater was one to be remembered. This was my first Bollywood experience, and needless to say I was impressed. Although Shaandaar got bad ratings on multiple critiques, the movie was fun and much more entertaining than I thought Bollywood movies would be. The Theater was an experience in itself. Although a little past its glory days, it had everything a good theater needed. It started off with a potato Samosa and only went uphill from there. The seats were very comfy and the blaring speakers only added to the experience. The movie had an interesting cartoon laying out the backstory. The story then progressed into real actors that were flamboyant and fun. Jaginder, the main character, is first presented as a motorcycling delinquent, who harasses Bipin into submission, but then falls in love with his daughter Alia shortly after. After this the constant struggle is the two main characters, Jaginder and Alia, to be able to love each other and get around Bipin. In the end they all make up and realize that arranged marriage is not true love. This is interesting in an Indian film because they so obviously go against an age-old tradition in India. Another interesting inclusion is the large amount of dark humor present in the film. There is multiple scenes in the movie that depict either Alia, Bipin, or Jaginder killing Mamaji in a terrible fashion, and subsequently laughing or making fun of the situation. This is something that is not often seen in western movies and caught me by surprise. Another interesting scene that would most likely not be present in Western films is the inclusion and glorification of taking drugs. Although present in some American comedies, the film shows almost all of the characters in the movie taking psychedelic mushrooms and hash brownies. Shaandaar not only includes this in the movie but also shows the film of them all enjoying the experience. Later it also reveals that Alia is also Bipin’s illegitimate daughter, a pivotal point in the film. Although this is an unconventional take on drug use, I would like to see more of this in Western films. Shaandaar did a good job of including many conventional Bollywood scenes as well though. The lavish and extensive singing and dancing scenes added to the Bollywood experience. I was surprised by the inclusion of English in the film, but thought it added an interesting twist. I am not sure if it has been a presence in many recent Bollywood films, but I believe that it shows that Bollywood is moving to a much more western approach to film making. I think this would be a sad thing if the Bollywood film industry moved to a more western approach to making films because it would kill a great part of Indian society. Overall my first experience of a Bollywood film was a success. The movie did a great job introducing me to the to Bollywood and I’m sure it wont be my last.