Bollywood meets Kung Fu

East meets East in Chandni Chowk to China
Americans have had serious Kung Fu envy for a long time, with story lines about white boys magically endowed with martial arts abilities (The Forbidden Kingdom) or Asian folks finding their next great warrior in the good ol' U.S. of A (Bulletproof Monk). It was only a matter of time before India got in on the fun.



Chandni Chowk to China is an action comedy about an Indian cook (played by Akshay Kumar, looking like a cross between Sacha Baron Cohen and David Blaine) who is mistaken for the reincarnation of an ancient Chinese warrior by the residents of an oppressed village. After being revealed as nothing more than a lowly vegetable scrubber by the local baddie (played by Gordon Liu of Kill Bill fame), he studies kung fu to redeem himself and the village.

As someone who is neither Chinese nor Indian but who is dying to try Gobi Manchurian, I'm intensely curious. If these two Asian powerhouses can find common ground in cinema and comedy, who knows what will happen in international relations? Also, who doesn't want to see a Bollywood musical number in full imperial getup? The movie is out in the U.S. on January 16.