King of Bollywood (2004)

Director: Piyush Jha Starring: Sophie Dahl, Kavita Kapoor, Om Puri Genres: Comedy Origin: India Certificate: PG Running Time: 120 min

synopsis

This is the story of Karan Kumar (better known as KK), who, in his heyday was the top star, the eponymous King of Bollywood. A title that has stuck with him and has led him to having grandiose notions about himself. But the cruel fact is that KK in now nothing more than a shadow of his former self. He is a faded, yet likeable hammy actor way past his “sell-by” date. Crystal Chaurasia is a 24-year-old NRI documentary filmmaker of a somewhat Indian origin. As a child, Crystal’s favourite Bollywood hero used to be KK (her grandmother used to show her videos of KK’s films as sleep-inducers at bedtime). She comes to Mumbai from the UK to make a documentary backed by the International Film Commission. Eventually, KK realizes that he is past his prime and fuelled by the urging of his “secretary” Ratnesh Goyal, he tries to convince his son Rahul (25) to be launched as a hero, in order to carry on his legacy as a star. While Rahul is absolutely averse to Bollywood and has no intention of becoming an actor. Crystal’s presence triggers off KK’s latent ambition and starts a chain of events that teeter on the edge of comic chaos.