By Ekta R. Garg
June 4, 2010

Rated: Get it on Netflix

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I did what many people do in these three days: I watched a movie. And considering my unique connection to it, I felt it only fitting that I go see the “Hindi” version of Kites. After hearing Hrithik and Co. talk about the work they put into the film on May 14 at the Kites press event, I was incredibly curious to see it and find out for myself whether Kites lives up to all the hype surrounding it.
My answer is: maybe. Depends on how you’re looking at the movie and your preconceived notions of what Kites is supposed to be.
Let me be quite clear off the bat: Kites is not a Bollywood film. Oh, it may get that classification because it was made by an Indian director based in Mumbai and because the leading man is a Bollywood star, because the producer has till date always made tradition Bollywood films and because the script and all related matters had their germination in India. But this is by no means a Bollywood film. And that’s why I give Kites a “maybe” in saying whether it lives up to its hype.
As a no-brainer action flick, the movie works incredibly well. The lead actors are gorgeous and because they’re constantly on the run and poor as mice, they aren’t wearing much so they can bare plenty of skin. Hrithik is oozing with talent and both ooze oodles of sex appeal. If you want to go see some beautiful people get into trouble and work through their problems by way of some less-than-logical solutions, this is a decent movie to watch. It doesn’t really require a person to make much of a mental commitment.
But therein lies the film’s greatest fault. Kites is a generic film; anyone could have made it anywhere and the nationality of the director or the actors wouldn’t have mattered. The actors could have been Chinese and Jewish or Arabian and Canadian or Russian and Australian, and nothing would have stood out differently other than the fact that the leading man is Indian and the leading woman is Mexican. The movie’s press information states that Kites goes “beyond barriers, boundaries, and cultures.” Of course, it doesn’t say beyond what cultures, so I guess it almost doesn’t matter.
So what does this mean for traditional Bollywood films? Kites was being pitched as a crossover film. It definitely crossed over, and in doing so it became something else. It’s not a Bollywood film anymore, and because of that it’s not going to affect the production and release of regular Bollywood films. There is still room for films like Kites and others like, say, Jab We Met, which is a modern Bollywood film with all the trappings of the industry—extravagant song-and-dance routines, lots of emotion, and a boy-meets-girl storyline that has a happy ending.
Kites proves that a film made by an Indian director and starring an Indian actor can succeed in the Western world. Unfortunately a film packaged for a Western audience doesn’t necessarily do well in India, and that’s the key. A film that is purposefully packaged to target a particular audience won’t be able to succeed in other markets.
I was having a discussion with my family members about Kites after watching the movie, and my cousins made some interesting observations. They talked about Lagaan and how it seems ever since that movie made an impact on the global cinema stage, everyone is working to make a movie with the intention of starring on that stage. Trouble is, as one of my cousins pointed out, Lagaan wasn’t made with the intention of being a worldwide phenomenon. It just happened to become one. And that is the key: if a person or a production house tries to force a movie to become something, chances are it won’t. Those kinds of results will come if something is well made; forcing a film to become a worldwide phenomenon often guarantees its failure. Lagaan made a mark because it was a flawless film on every front: the music, the story, the acting, the direction. Nothing in Lagaan was trying to become something; it was just what it was, and the end result was so powerful that it swept everyone away -- all the way to the Oscars and back.
Kites certainly won't make it that far. It was a successful experiment as far as making a movie for Western audiences goes; it was a failure because Indian audiences were decidedly shunned. There aren't any traditional Bollywood elements for them to enjoy, although hints of those elements exist. One of the plus points of the film is its music. Rajesh Roshan once again has composed some lovely tunes, but the design of the film relegates those songs to the background in more ways than one. The songs play as we watch Hrithik and his leading lady, Barbara Mori, in various stages of the story. Unlike a traditional Bollywood film, there is no lip synching to the songs as a method to express a particular emotion. And so instead of hearing, seeing, and feeling Rajesh Roshan’s songs front and center, the audience is busy trying to keep track of what’s going on with the main actors and the music becomes the equivalent of a prop. What a shame; in today's traditional Bollywood industry, the music has taken a certain turn for the less-than-melodious. Here we have a music director who knows how to compose songs pleasing to the ear, and his music won't be properly appreciated during the viewing of the film.
At the press event Hrithik called Kites a "slice-of-life film," adding that everything that happened to the main characters in the movie could happen to a person in real life. I do enjoy the realistic turn many of today's Hindi films; it's a refreshing change from the extreme melodrama we have seen in the past decades. But I also happen to enjoy the aspects of traditional Bollywood films: the music, of course, and a powerful storyline that can evoke laughter and tears from me in the same three-hour span. And, yes, I even enjoy the three-hour length of Hindi movies because I feel like I have plenty of time to get to know the main characters and actually get involved in their lives and conflicts. Kites is so short and devoid of those small details of the main characters' lives that I didn't really get an opportunity to start caring about them before the movie ended.
I would rate Kites "Get it on Netflix." If you want to see Hrithik do a movie that is different from his past films because he's speaking mostly English with a smattering of Hindi and also see him with the warm, beautiful Barbara for a change, then be sure to rent this movie when it's available on DVD. It most certainly is a departure from Bollywood, but I don't think it is the start of a trend. It may encourage some directors to attempt to copy what Hrithik Roshan, Rakesh Roshan, and Anurag Basu have tried to do here, but budget and story constraints will eventually make them return to Mumbai. Bollywood fans like myself will surely still get to enjoy long wedding sequences and a backdrop of yellow mustard fields at the height of a romantic song.

What the ratings mean:

“Spend the money”: This movie is amazing; spend the money on the theater ticket and go watch it on the big screen!

“Get it on Netflix”: This film is worthy of watching at least once, but you won’t miss anything if you wait a few months for the DVD.

“Only if you’re stuck”: Watch this only if you’re stuck with absolutely nothing else to do and no other movie is close at hand.

“Don’t bother”: Free time is scarce; don’t use it to watch this film!