Bollywood casts a proprietary eye on Hollywood in “Kambakkht Ishq,” a comedy set in Los Angeles starring two of India’s hottest stars, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Viraj (Mr. Kumar) is a stuntman; Sim (Ms. Kapoor) a model/surgeon. When they meet, it’s aversion at first sight.Slick and fast and set to a thumping techno soundtrack by Anu Malik, “Kambakkht Ishq” (“Damn Love”) is Bollywood, 21st-century style: kissing; women (American women, that is) stripping down to their skivvies; swearing (in English, at least); and South Asians everywhere (but India nowhere in sight).
The film, written and directed by Sabbir Khan, has only one frantic desire: to entertain. It spottily succeeds, despite its frequently crude humor, relentless pace and a few unpalatable racial bits. Viraj sports black face in one scene, and in another, during an airport search, he is violated by a large African-American woman.
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