I strongly disagree with the prior negative comment about this movie. I, too, have seen many Indian films. It was obvious to me that "Bollywood/Hollywood" was done with tongue firmly in cheek. Many of the scenes were a tribute to (or send-up of) well-established Bollywood traditions. Even someone who knows little of Bollywood or Indian culture would find this movie funny. It was clear that the entire cast and crew was having a blast.So, to all of you who think that this degrades the "serious" Indian cinema (of which Ms. Mehta is an excellent practitioner, by the way), lighten up, chill out and smile a little more.

Bollywood Hollywood starts off like a spoof on the films of the former (Bollywood), from the first scene where a dying father makes a speech to his young son from his deathbed on family values to the comic sub-titles in many of the scenes which take on different aspects of Hindi movie melodramas. But the movie falters and ends up looking like the very films it appears to be trying to parody.Rahul (Rahul Khanna), a wealthy young man of Indian origin settled in Canada, is distraught when his gori lover dies in a freak incident. Somewhere at this point his mother demands that he get himself a girl, an Indian one this time, else his sister's wedding might get called off. He hires Sunitha (Lisa Ray), whom he meets at a bar, to act as his fiancée. As time goes by, he naturally starts falling in love with her. But, her questionable antecedents create doubts in his mind and... I would be giving nothing away if I tell you what follows but I won't do that in case you go on to watch the film.The cast performs well enough but the ideas don't really work and thus a Shakespeare quoting grandmother seems more incongruous than funny and a cross-dressing servant wholly irrelevant. 'Nothing is what it appears to be' goes the promo for the film. However, there are no surprises in this one where everything is as predictable as it gets. It has a few funny moments, but if you miss this flick, don't get too worked up about it.

If you like Lisa Ray and Rahul Khanna, this film is totally for you. I first saw Rahul Khann doing VJ work for AVS and I saw him in "Earth" with Aamir Khan and was totally blown away by his performance. When I first heard about B/H I thought it was going to be completely stupid and senseless, but, even though it can be called a spoof of Indian cinema, it is any but the aboved mentioned. It was a nice light laugh, especially with the Shakespeare-rattling grandmother called the first girlfriend a "white whore" and always referring to the "levitating accident". I couldn't stop laughing. Some of the characters were extremely stereotypical, but that's okay, because it only adds to the films appeal and a light hearted refreshing approach to an east-west fusion film. This is definitely much better than "American Chai" and merits up there with the likes of "Bend it Like Beckham". For another great Lisa Ray film, definitely check out "Kasoor", she'll blow you away. After seeing a film like "Raaz", it really makes you think that Bipsha Basu's performance was somehow based or gathered closely from Lisa's in "Kasoor". A definite step into dramatic/crime Indian cinema. Bollywood/Hollywood is a great film, and you should check out the films from the director too, "Earth", "Water" and "Fire."

For all those who felt the film was not the most fabulous or felt it wasn't a representative of the Bollywood industry etc., then you need to know this:1) This movie was sold as a spoof of the Indian film industry like 'Not another teen movie' was a parody of 'Chick Flicks' and as the 'Scary Movie' series are for horror films; this film was meant to be exaggerated and outrageous.2) Also to understand the humour of this film, you need to a know a lot about the Indian film industry and the references to the 'gossip' and films; even the music that is played as a score are insinuations to various Indian films. The transvestite driver, 'Killer Khalsa' sequence are a citation to a lot of stereotypes; Indian movies have transvestites as they are a part of society and as for the 'Killer Khalsa' sequence, the allusion to the food and the absurdity of the matchmaking are ever present in Indian films.3) The segments of the film where it is obvious that Deepa Mehta's first language is not English are the segments where there are references to Indian sayings or style of speaking and that is true of many N.R.I's.I am astonished at the people who disliked it; the audience should be aware of the context of this movie because admittedly there are people who appreciate Indian style films (in which case that audience should not have watched this film). Deepa Mehta is renowned for her art films ('Fire' (1996), 'Earth' (1998) and the upcoming 'Water') and this movie was created for a satirical view of the current films, especially the N.R.I. films.What is commonly seen as a flaw of this movies is actually a part of the sardonic look at Indian films; of course if there are are filming discontinuities, I have not noticed. I give this film a 9 out of 10 due to the technical flaws (for example, 'Kim's' accident and the 'ghost' sequence) and also because of Lisa Ray's stylists' lack of fashion IQ as she was made to look pretty horrid through out this movie.