Kurbaan

I am not a big fan of Indian films. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of them, or enough good ones. What made Kurbaan interesting was that it felt like a straight forward U.S. post 9/11 stop the next terrorist attack film. But it came from the Indian perspective. The story follows a Muslim man and his Hindi wife (or more truthfully, a Hindi woman and her Muslim husband) as they immigrate to the U.S. so she can take a job as a professor at a university in New York. They find housing in an Indian neighborhood and begin to get to know the neighbors. At least, that is the front story. As the film unfolds, we find lies, deceit and conspiracy. We discover a back story that is much more complex. And of course, we get it all with musical interludes and an intermission at the half-way point. So while the idea is interesting, I didn't find the execution likable. Too slow to get into the story and dialogue delivery by the actors often reminded me of high school theater. And I could never get over the question of why an Indian filmmaker would make an Indian film about this subject. Not that it is not allowed, but it seemed to me to be purely opportunistic, looking for an American audience by chasing what is perceived to be interesting here. I am not smart enough to know why this perception stuck with me or what exactly bugged me, but bug me it did.
3 stars (out of 5)