In the latest Cannes roundup, David Hudson has put up a trailer for Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told co-directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Rang De Basanti, Aks) and Jeff Zimbalist (Favela Rising, The Two Escobars).
It is one of the best trailers I have seen in a while. In just a few minutes, it manages to capture the wild crazy energy of Bollywood complete with the sultry item numbers, hot & wet dreamy women, lavish songs, mega superstars, sinister villains (Gabbar....mouhaha) and crazy action sequences. Even though I spend a lot of time complaining about the worst that Bollywood has to offer, I cannot deny the fact that it is the cinema that I grew up with. A huge chunk of my cinematic memory is associated with it and plenty of images and moments that I cannot shake off for a long time.
There are many cinematic gems I am looking forward to from Cannes and now I can add this documentary to the top of the list purely from a guilty pleasure point of view :) If the film is half as good as the trailer, then it would be an amazing bonus.
Interestingly, the documentary is co-directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Just a day ago I revisited parts of Mehra's Rang De Basanti, a film that impressed me for the most part but also frustrated with a few minor elements. Still, it was a truly memorable cinematic experience watching it in a theater. The title song is remarkable and even now I am moved by Daler Mehndi & Chitra's vocals and A.R Rahman's mesmerizing music: