Dance numbers are an integral part of the Bollywood tradition so this movie didn't skimp. There were times, however, when I felt a little uncomfortable that they were taking place in English. Maybe it would've been better to keep more of the music in Punjabi, or at least Hindi, and subtitle it. Regardless, the songs surely did sound fine over the theatre's sound system. For once, the globetrotting seemed less a way to give the cast a vacation, and a bit more part of the plot. Has a single, previous film ever showcased Amritsar, the Grand Canyon, a beach in Goa, and the Big Eye in London? Perhaps because of this, I couldn't help thinking of how this film fits into a modern, global society. Some of its themes will resound with the growing South-Asian diaspora.
I felt curiously as though I were watching a cinematic shift in attitude. When society members incorporate change, they eventually want to see it represented in media. Last month, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) allowed me a retrospective glimpse of past US race relations. When there's a large enough audience, movies will be made that distill the changes occurring around us.