Thoroughly Modern Krrish

BOLLYWOOD’S FIRST SUPERHERO FLIES, RUNS AT SUPER-SPEED AND EVEN SINGS AND DANCES.


All the way back in Beacon No. 3, I blogged about Hero, which I saw as the first epic movie from the People’s Republic of China that could have wide appeal in the West—not just as a beautifully produced, swashbuckling action movie, but also as a powerful export of one view of China’s creation myth.

The swashbuckling and the action are just as important to get people to watch the story, though, and today—perhaps timed to coincide with the release of Superman Returns in the States?—the Times has a Reuters article on Krrish, an Indian superhero tale that looks similarly export-ready, if wildly different from Hero: modern, pan-Asian, with the main character’s superpowers generated by godly aliens rather than human demigods, featuring lots of singing and dancing in the Bollywood style.

Success in India, driven by a massive advertising campaign and star Hrithik Roshan’s good looks and charm, seems assured; let’s see how it plays outside the Subcontinent as Bollywood stretches its creative boundaries.


(Thanks as always to John Brown's Public Diplomacy Review for the initial item.)