Action Replayy

Bollywood’s big Diwali release is a lazy rehash of ‘Back to the Future’ with the customary colourful songs and dances. Bunty (Kapur) travels back in time to 1975 Bombay in order to unite his geeky dad Kishen (Kumar) with his hot mom Mala (Rai-Bachchan). Unlike the original trilogy, Shah is not interested in exploring the technical and emotional complexities of time travel. Instead this is a schematic failed attempt to recreate the dubious masala magic of 70s Hindi potboilers. The mainly studio-shot flashback utilises numerous illogical references to current famous personalities including Barack Obama in order to instil period nostalgia. The resultant action is unimaginative and unoriginal. A fart joke used to evoke laughter illustrates that in 2010, Bollywood remains stuck in a comedic time-warp.