Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Salman Khan, and Rani Mukherjee. Rated PG.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, regarded as India's most successful commercial director, has produced an innocent but compelling work with Saawariya, which is based on Feodor Dostoyevsky's short story "White Nights".

The film begins with a flashback from a heavy-drinking Indian prostitute, Gulabji (Rani Mukherjee), in a bar. Naí¯ve and idealistic slacker Raj is played by Ranbir Kapoor, the real-life son of Rishi and grandson of Raj–a veritable Indian film dynasty–in his first major leading role. He plays up his character like a Roberto Benigni or Jean-Paul Belmondo. Raj stumbles upon a sleepy, surreal town where he becomes a singer in the local club and meets Gulabji, who falls for him.

Later, however, a mysterious girl named Sakina (Sonam Kapoor), standing alone on a bridge, catches his eye. As he tries to strike up a conversation, she shies away. Mesmerized, and intrigued by her melancholic nature, he discusses her with his landlady. It turns out that Sakina's lover (played by the austere and serious Salman Khan) had promised to meet her at the bridge the year before.

When Sakina asks for Raj's support, they begin the search for her lost love.

The film's pacing is original and confident and the stylized sets evoke a world not unlike Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! It seems like there is new music every five or six minutes to fit the many mood and scene changes. As Raj dances and sings around water fountains, he effortlessly flicks the cigarettes out of the mouths of young women. The ass shot of Kapoor as he mimics his morning rituals to Hindi music will go down as a classic.

But what is even more entertaining and mollifying (and even subversive in the contemporary political context) is seeing hundreds of Muslims dancing with synchronized shoulder shrugs and hip gyrations while pointing their fingers in the air.

Link: Saawariya official site