Kambakkht Ishq Review

The makers of Kambakkht Ishq have made much of the fact that their film brings Hollywood and Bollywood together for the first time, reputedly heralding a new era in cross-cultural cinema. But if this is the result when East and West do join forces, then Rudyard Kipling's age old warning should surely be heeded. "Never the twain should meet." At least not on celluloid.

Revelling in its Hollywood connection, the film opens with images of all things LA: the stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, Brad and Angelina on the red carpet, Superman and Batman peddling their wares, interspersed with images of bikini clad blondes. It sets the tone for a film which is crass, crude and vacuous.

Hollywood stuntman Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar) makes his entry by crashing through a roof while doubling for Brandon Routh, then launches into an intricate action sequence. Shergill's reputation as a commitment-phobic philanderer is quickly established as a succession of women pursue him and are unceremoniously discarded.

Simrita Rai (Kareena Kapoor) - an aspiring surgeon and occasional model - is the exception. On first meeting Shergill, she launches into a tirade against stuntmen and men in general, scarred as she is by her parents' failed relationship. Shergill makes it his goal to seduce the only woman who has ever rejected his advances. Rai is then called upon to perform her first surgical operation - which happens to be on Shergill who has suffered an injury on set. On examining the X-rays, she finds that her watch has been left in Shergill's stomach during the operation. In order to salvage her professional reputation and fearing for Shergill's life, she feigns affection for him in an attempt to perform the surgery once more.