Chandni Chowk to China: Critic Reviews

Chandni Chowk to China is the first Bollywood movie to be released in the U.S. in the wake of the Bollywood-inflected Slumdog Millionaire. Let's hope it's not the last.

Chandni Chowk to China seamlessly adds kung fu to the usual blend of comedy, dance and melodrama.

This Indian/Chinese cinematic hybrid is likable and entertaining but overlong and occasionally hokey.

Chandni Chowk to China is Bollywood's all-singing, all-dancing, all-Hindi bid to conquer America.

Shapeless, shameless, and slapdash.

Think of the title of this Bollywood/martial-arts mashup as a riff on North by Northwest. And like that preeminent American entertainment, CC2C is stylish, slick and full of fun.

The movie's ostensible distinction is its coupling of Bollywood and kung fu, but it's really a self-realization course dressed up as kinetic comedy.

Chandni Chowk isn't going to appeal to those not already entertained by Bollywood and kung-fu movie cliches. But it could turn the charismatic Kumar into a global star, making the prescribed happy ending even sweeter for Warner Bros.

Chandni has martial- arts montages and Bollywood song-and-dance numbers. As tacky as the latter are, they're the sweet -- and only? -- draw of the movie. They also give this slight comedy-adventure its epic and unearned length.

It will appeal to the large Indian audiences in North America and to Bollywood fans in general, who will come out wondering why this movie, of all movies, was chosen as Hollywood's first foray into commercial Indian cinema.

If only it were as much fun as its trailer!

If Slumdog Millionaire's success has Hollywood thinking American audiences are ready for the authentic Indian movie experience, Chandni Chowk to China could quickly put the kibosh on that notion.

Chandni Chowk to China supposedly is the 'the first-ever Bollywood kung-fu comedy,' which makes me pray fervently that it will also be the last.

If Chandni Chowk to China is any indication, a combination of Bollywood and kung-fu movies is something the world needed without even realizing it.

If Chandni Chowk to China were a person, it would need Valium.

Chandi Chowk is fun but somewhat exhausting, with several elaborate production numbers, a bullet-proof umbrella that also serves as a parachute, a magical potato -- plus a running time just over 2 1/2 hours, which is short by Bollywood standards.

There simply isn't enough Indian spice to make this ancient Chinese recipe fresh.

The first-ever Bollywood kung fu comedy qualifies as deliriously and endearingly bizarre.

In fact, at two hours and 34 minutes, CC2C is too much by a half: too much dancing and fighting and too much footage of the Great Wall of China.

Like the cinematic equivalent of someone appearing on Mr. Blackwell's Ten Worst-Dressed list, the movie is a garish mix of conflicting styles and genres, cross-pollinating overproduced musical numbers, cheesy melodrama, and kung-fu.

Sold as a groundbreaking convergence of Asia's leading cinematic influences -- kung fu flicks and Bollywood extravaganzas -- it can only be termed genre-mashup overkill.

Insufferable. Burdened with insipid plotting and lame comedy.

Tries to juggle Bollywood musical with martial arts action and slapstick comedy and fails at all three.

This is a fun movie, as well as an interesting peek into what entertains audiences in a different culture.

Chandni Chowk to China is a fresh, invigorating mashup of Bollywood and Asian martial arts epics. Then, it stays around a good half hour too long. Way too long.