Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Yesterday, we went to the movies. When picking out a movie before we left for the long journey, I was looking through the trailers and upon discovering the movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan, my mouth dropped. The main actor was Salman Khan!!!!! And anyone who knows Bollywood knows that he's the best actor of all of Bollywood (Ok, so I've only seen a handful of Bollywoods, but still). My first favorite Bollywood is Bodyguard, which I first stumbled upon on Netflix, which was ridiculously awesome. If you have no idea of what on earth I'm raving about and what Bollywood is, please, just watch this three minute video, and it will summarize what Bollywood is!!!! Bodyguard Title Song Feat. Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif. And we all know we need some more laughing! That's what Bollywood does for me (that and grin the entire time). 

With the movie Bajrangi Bhaijaa yesterday, Scott and I loved it and had a blast. When the ticket man asked us what movie we were watching though, I paused and honestly told him I couldn't pronounce it. He was like, "The Bollywood movie?" and I grinned and nodded like a geek. He then pointed to a line for the movie and my mouth dropped... there in front of us was a crowded line of Indians (and it took some looking, but we spotted three other fair skinned Americans).  I was so shocked it was playing in America that I overlooked that it was opening weekend and apparently forgot that some Indians actually lived in America! I had thought the whole theatre would be empty and thought we'd have a whole nice theatre for George to run around while we watched! Totally wrong. The movie theatre ended up being packed (a miracle we got tickets). It was funny, but I felt so cool like a hippy going to a Bollywood with Emilie in her tie dye sling, and with George and Scott by my side, surrounded by dark hair and tanned Indians (some of which were dressed gorgeously in bright colors and fashion). The whole experience was quite different! The theatre ads were changed and geared to people of Indian culture and the ads for upcoming Hindi Bollywoods were atrociously violent (I was really ready to walk out for the movie). In the end though, the movie turned out great. Scott and I both had a blast (which never happens for any American made movie we watch). There were a couple very violent scenes (which I had to cover my and George's eyes for), and a couple Bollywood dances, lots of appropriate humor (not crude), and a fantastic story line. George did fantastic for the whole movie until the little girl and her guardian angel parted ways (which didn't happen for long) and he ended up bursting into tears inconsolable (even when the girls "guardian angel" came back for her), but was able to come back later and enjoy the rest of the movie after a break with daddy (it's amazing how sweet and sensitive he is, and how much he understood from body language. The girl character was mute, and the whole movie was in Hindi, yet he knew everything about what was happening and what was going on. Another reason to carefully pick movies when going with kids). Emilie slept for half of the movie too but loved watching the scenery of India and Pakistan's mountains while awake. The whole culture of the movie was awesome too, seeing the differences and conflicts between both countries, the places which they lived, and cultures. This movie really made me question my own views of muslims too... Maybe they don't all want to kill those of other religions and maybe all muslim men don't suppress women if given the chance. I'm pretty sure though that their scriptures say if they kill a Christian they go to Heaven though... Anyway, even if they do see me as a target, I at least see them as fellow humane beings now. 

Anyway, it was a fantastic feel-good movie, and even George wanted to see it again! Go watch the trailer and go see the awesome movie if you like (Be warned, you do need to cover your children eyes, and even your own, for certain scenes for violence. The main guy gets himself into a lot of tough spots). The dancing was awesome, the storyline fantastic, and you're thrown into a whole new cultural experience just being in the theatre with friendly folks from India. I give the movie two thumbs up! ... even though I still can't pronounce the name of the movie.


Update: My husband read my blog and let me know that some people might see my blog as "racist". Let you know, that was not my intention, and I'm sorry if it appears that way.

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