Bollywood Queen

Has the increasing success of British Asian music laid the groundwork for its film equivalent? Bollywood Queen appears game for it: a mixed-race modern romance unravelling in the streets of Shoreditch and Whitechapel, adapted from a well-received 1999 short, Sari and Trainers. Reprising the central role of Geena, a mobile-toting college girl who dreams of movies and R&B fame, is Kalidas, a supporting player in Bend It Like Beckham, and a West End star in Lloyd Webber's musical Bombay Dreams. Here, though, she's a surprisingly stilted heroine, making it hard to believe her immediate bond with sweet-faced Somerset naif Jay (McAvoy). For all its cross-cultural references, the film actually treads gingerly around issues of racism and sexuality. That's not to deny its diverting moments. But quaint shots of the capital and the countryside suggest this is designed for overseas Anglophiles; and the generally ropey lighting, flimsy characterisation and so-so song-and-dance can't be excused by 'low budget charm'.