Dil Bole Hadippa!

Dil Bole Hadippa! (My Heart Shouts Hooray!) makes a good intro to Bollywood/Indian musicals. It has all the splash of full-out Bollywood but with terrific modern updates and a little something for everyone. For the ladies there's the predictable but crackling good rom/com tension between Shahid Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee. With all this wrapped up in a cricket championship with a little gender-bending to keep it off-balance, guys should find it just as entertaining. For those who avoid subtitled films, know that there's as much English dialogue in Bollywood films nowdays as Hindi, particularly in this one, so don't let that keep you away. The score is fantastic, with terrific Punjabi-flavored dance tunes that will keep anyone moving on the dance floor or in the workout room. Shahid's dancing is stellar as ever, and it's nice to see him finally paired with a partner who matches his energy and precision; someone he can really "play ball" with. Rani and Shahid are among my favorites separately, and together they don't disappoint. Rani as Veer/Veera is awesome. I thought it would be impossible for such a petite female to convincingly appear as a guy, but she goes at it with gusto & delivers great laughs. Shahid delivers a well-shaded performance with another slightly edgier character. Nice to see him moving so successfully from Boy-Next-Door characters to work with wider range. It's a visually gorgeous film also, with all the bright colors & gorgeous Punjab landscapes in-larger-than-life 70mm. And, uh..the lead actors aren't too hard on the eyes, either.