RDB: BIG IN INDIA

After the flop of THE RISING, Aamir Khan (LAGAAN) returns to the screen with RANG DE BASANTI which looks like it might be one of the biggest Bollywood hits in a long time. The numbers are trickling in slowly, but Box Office Mojo is reporting that it earned US$5.5 million on its opening weekend worldwide.

The film is stirring up plenty of controversy which is bizarre for those who watched the trailer and listened to the pre-release hype. It looked like a coming of age movie about a gang of college kids who are rounded up by a documentary filmmaker who's doing a doc on her grandfather's colonial memories and needs some actors for the historical reenactments. The trailers put the focus squarely on buff chests, flawless skin and healthy hair. Well, apparently the movie has all that, plus political assassination, cops taking the old baton to protesters, and plenty of corruption. Some reviews have called it "frightening" and a "lynching" while others have called it "...a crazy piece of mainstream art."