And in perhaps the biggest break of them all, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, who counts Bareilly as her hometown, has bagged a plum role in an American network television drama, a genre that transcends Hollywood for depth and longevity. That's been changing of late, with more and more Indians appearing on major American TV shows. The Mysore man flamed out after stock leads in movies such as Thief of Baghdad and Arabian Nights (he also joined the US military and fought in WWII), but in the decades since, Indian actors have always been on the fringes of American celluloid, notwithstanding a few virtuoso performances from the likes of Irrfan Khan and Om Puri. Maybe someone who speaks Hindustani can fill us in on what I did not understand.From the time a young mahout named Sabu Dastagir rode into Hollywood in the 1930s astride the Jungle Book, Indian actors have struggled to make the cut in American showbiz, a la-la land wrapped up in its own. All in all, it is enjoyable show with lots of sword fights and I certainly enjoyed the belly dancing.
The bad guy is a court noble or general working with a wicked sorcerer who has a spying raven who takes human form to report to his master. There are acrobatic stunts a la Fairbanks and leaps from tall buildings (must be a net below the camera angle). At least I think he is although they are fighting at other times. The thief escapes from a cage by bending the bars like Steve Reeves and there is Prince whom the thief is helping. Gordon tradition (forced perspective with the giant photographed close by and the people at a distance). There is also a giant spider killed by the thief and a cyclops in the best Bert I. There is a scene taken directly from the Fairbanks original (the thief admires the sleeping princess) and a sequence straight out the Korda film where the thief finds a genie in a bottle, the genie flies him to an ancient temple, inside he fights dragon and takes a ring from a giant hand (shades of Captain Sinbad). The plot, as near as I can figure out without subtitles, is a combination of the Fairbanks original and the Korda color remake of 1940. Luckily the dance sequences fit into the story here. I read once that all Indian made movies have to have Bollywood dance sequences to be successful, even a Tarzan jungle adventure. Unfortunately it is in Hindustani with no subtitles but fortunately, it is full of belly dancing.
It is a Bollywood version of Doug Fairbanks classic Thief of Bagdad.
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