so i found out that the sanjay dutt film i reported on "zinda", is actually a remake of the korean film "oldboy." man, i feel so uncool not having known that. i’m falling behind on my asian-auteur of the week phenomenon. to be honest, i’ve grown bored with gross-out films, violence, and the angry pursuit of revenge. hence the bollywood kick.
another weird remake i saw recently was the bollywood-world version of "fight club." it’s as if someone saw a trailer for the american "fight club" and then pounded it into an indian model. whereas david fincher’s "fight club" was about the alienation and immasculation of a post-industrial culture, vikram chopra’s "fight club" was about some obnoxious frat boys who liked to sing and dance and occasionally punch people in the face. there’s an MTV logo at the beginning of the movie, and the first dance sequence is a fascinating hip-hop/bollywood fusion. the third dance sequence is a salsa/bollywood fusion.
all in all, i’d say that there are just enough wire-work fight scenes and tight pants to make it worth watching the muddled bits of movie between the music.