Bollywood Hero (2009) Reviews

• Like a holy fool

  afhick2010-05-12

  A young Danish actor, Nick (Egbert Jan Weeber), comes to Mumbai to film a Bollywood musical. Once there he is involved in the accidental death of a street girl and discovers that his movie camera is capable of identifying (by way of a penumbra) people who are in need of help. The scenes of Nick on the set and Nick on the street make for an effective contrast--Bollywood vs. the slums of Mumbai. Facing a personal crisis of his own, Nick may be trying to help others in order to compensate for his father's failing memory. With the best of intentions, he only manages to misread the situations of people who are trapped in a rigid caste system. He ends up doing more harm than good. This is a short (80 minutes) film but a very affecting one. Jan Weeber is excellent in the role of Nick. When he shaves his head at the end and goes on a sort of crusade to help a group of children who are being exploited as slave labor, Nick is clearly, by Western standards, a Christ figure. But he is also a lost child himself, in a world that doesn't tolerate saints. The ending suggests an interesting twist, and like all good Bollywood films, this one ends on a musical note. "Bollywood Hero" makes for a strange journey, but a rewarding one.