Krrish

Krrish is a Bollywood superhero movie—the sequel to a movie I haven't seen.  You don't need to see the original movie to enjoy Krrish, either.  The story is your basic superhero tale.  There's not much that's highly original about Krrish, but when you get down to it, how many superhero movies are original?  Does it really matter as long as you're having a good time while eating popcorn?

I've got to admit that I don't watch a lot of Bollywood films.  Now and then I enjoy the odd song & dance routine in a movie, but Bollywood films generally seem to take musicals to another level that's just difficult to wrap my western mind around.  Add to that the fact that three hours seems to be the minimum running time for a Bollywood film (my theory is that they need an extra hour for all the singing and dancing) and I suspect that unless they're something you grew up with or have acquired a taste for, watching one can be something of a chore. 

But now and then one comes along that makes me think I could get to like them. Krrish is one of those movies that makes me think I should watch more of them.

Krishna is not your average boy. He's super-smart, super-fast, super-strong—he's just super.  His parents have passed away.  His grandmother fears that people will find out about Krishna's talents and take advantage of him, so she moves him to a remote mountain village and hides him away, telling him to keep his abilities secret.  As he grows up he begins to long for more out of life.

Eventually Krishna meets Priya, played by Priyanka Chopra (who was Miss India and Miss World in 2000, so I suppose you could say she provides the eye candy).  Now it's time for the romance, singing and dancing!  The musical numbers are actually pretty nifty, and for the most part I enjoyed them.

Priya returns to her home in Singapore, and eventually gets Krishna to follow her there to further her career.  Many plot points follow.  Will Krishna and Priya find love?  Will the superhero Krrish ever show up to do something heroic? Will there be a dance number with clowns?  The answer to all of these things is yes!

And of course there is an overarching plot with an bad guy who wants world domination, and Krrish is the only one who can stop him.  He's involved in Krishna's slightly mysterious past, too.

Hrithik Roshan is pretty much perfect as Krishna/Krrish.  He's heroic-looking, charismatic, and pulls off the stunts and fights (and yes, even the dancing) quite well.  Perhaps most importantly he manages to make Krishna seem like a naive and genuinely decent guy, which is crucial to the role.  Priyanka Chopra is good at looking good and acting spoiled, which is what she does for much of the movie.

Krrish's biggest problem, at least for a western audience, is that it's really long.  There's some fairly cool action but the movie is very leisurely paced up until the final 20 minutes or so.  Krishna doesn't even become Krrish until almost the last hour.

That said, Krrish is a better superhero movie than quite a few of the superhero flicks I've seen coming out of Hollywood in the last few years.  It's relentlessly colorful, mostly upbeat, and kept a smile on my face.  Not a small feat for a three hour film.