Can true love triumph over social convention? This timeless question and a few other weighty ones are tackled brilliantly by famed director Deepa Mehta ( FIRE, EARTH) in the film. In a delightful departure from controversial themes, the director dishes out, in Hollywood Bollywood, a refreshing concoction of contemporary Western Hollywood sensibilities and the vibrant melodrama and mayhem that is Bollywood. An appealing masala mix.

Based in Toronto, it tells the tale of Rahul, the rich scion of an eccentric family that includes his mother (a brilliant caricature by veteran Bollywood actress Moushami Chatterjee), grandmother (the late great Dina Pathak in another casting triumph), younger sister, brother and a dead father who speaks to him from an picture frame hung over his mother’s bed.

Rahul loses his Canadian gori girl friend in a freak accident, and after singing a sad song declares to his over wrought family that he has lost interest in matters of the heart. His mother, queen of melodrama, announces, Bollywood-like that his decision would prompt her to delay her daughter's wedding until he found himself a bride. Rahul, with the help of his driver Rocky (Ranjit Chawdhary), a wise part-time drag queen, hires the gorgeous Sue aka Sunita (Lisa Ray) to masquerade as his fiancée to appease his family. Sue, who claims to be Hispanic is a high priced escort, who loves life and charms the pants off everyone in sight. Rahul and Sunita soon find themselves falling in love, during the celebratory season of wedding songs, dances and merriment. The family too falls under her spell, as each one warms and opens up to her.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda, as the Bollywood obsessed car mechanic and father of the heroine, turns in a fine performance, ably supported by the wrestler Killer Khalsa, among others. Dina Pathak who drops Shakespearean sonnets and quotes unprovoked and uncalled for, is a hoot! The film also offers a glimpse of the South Asian population of Toronto. A desi version of the popular Hollywood hit ’Pretty Woman’, this riotous extravaganza has set cash registers ringing in India and overseas.

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