Washington, Feb 04: The success of Mumbai-set "Slumdog Millionaire" seems to be opening the eyes of American movie critics to films set in India going by the rave reviews for Zoya Akhtar`s "Luck By Chance".
To the Los Angeles Times, the simultaneous release of `Luck by Chance` in India, the US, Canada, Britain and elsewhere "seemed charged with an unusual excitement", while New York Times believes Akhtar "shows herself to be a master of extremes".
"A fabulous circus-theme musical number pulls out all the stops, but a scene in which an acting teacher explains why Hindi stars have to be more talented than those in Hollywood is a subtle comic gem," said New York Times` Neil Genzlinger.
To the Los Angeles Times` Mark Olsen, Akhtar displays assured storytelling skills in a film about chasing fame in India`s movie industry.
Comparing the film to "Slumdog Millionaire," Olsen said the film actually bears a stronger resemblance to another Oscar contender, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".
"Both films are willing to face storytelling clichés head-on and refashion them not by winking irony, but with a clear-eyed sincerity matched by a skilful knowingness of when to ease off just enough to keep things from toppling into inanity," he said.
"Imagine `A Star Is Born` if Judy Garland`s character had been devious, manipulative and ruthlessly ambitious," said the Film Journal critic.
"Then add insightful satire, wryly funny dialogue, a dollop of drama, and one knockout musical number that plays like Cirque du Soleil on speed, and you`ve got this latest entry from the mainstream Indian fantasy factory called Bollywood.
"Most of the musical numbers play under montages, but there is one full-out, film-within-a-film full production: the joyous `Baawre`, the aforesaid circus-set number that`s worth the price of admission alone. OK, that`s hyperbolic. But it is a ravishing cornucopia of colour, sounds, shapes and sizes, as dazzling as the movie is down-to-earth."
Movie website flickchick.com said "poised somewhere between art movie and mainstream feature," Akhtar`s "satirical skewering of the ugly realities behind celluloid dreams breaks no new ground".
"But it`s a sharp, sly variation on the theme, starting with the bittersweet opening montage that pays tribute to all those nameless, faceless drones who keep the machinery humming," it added.
IANS