ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

dbh850 Maybe I'm too old for this sort of story - it would well fit an American film for 12 year old girls, I expect. I am an American female, close to 60. Therein lies my problem. I am not an unkind person and I hate the thought of hurting someone. I see the same fellow wrote and directed it. I feel bad to say this about a project that he worked so hard on. Truly. But I must say this.Film comments:I thought it might be insulting to Indians - and I'm weary of the entitled, rude, thoughtless, bitchy American. Ugh. That's a tired cliché.I felt too many of the Indians were portrayed as immature, insecure, unprofessional, bumbling idiots. Another tired cliché.I can't address the acting at all - the writing was so terrible. Two couples fall in "love" after VERY brief acquaintance. The cultures are very different from each other. To MARRY a person in a different country with SUCH different cultures - I worry for the futures of these couples. I would be concerned that once they start having children, they will each wish to pull the children into their respective cultures. I've seen this happen to many couples who were from very different cultures. It's a very sad thing to see.And honestly - what did Marigold show of herself that would compel ANYONE to "love" her? She was a horrible person - selfish, entitled, etc. Any man who would feel he had fallen in love with her has a serious problem. Maybe it's a rescue fantasy. Maybe self-hatred. I don't know. But I cannot see any emotionally healthy person falling in love with someone who is so rude and disrespectful of the feelings of others. And such brief acquaintance - especially the other couple that married.I might have loved this when I was 12. But in my late 50s, I'm just glad I was doing work on my computer while I had it on. If not, I would want my time back!

bjk1949 I really like Salman Kahn so I was really disappointed when I seen this movie. It didn't have much of a plot and what they did have was not that appealing. Salman however did look good in the movie looked young and refreshed but was worth the price of this DVD. The music was not bad it was quite nice. Usually Indian movies are at least two to three hours long but this was a very short movie for an Indian film. The American actress that played in the movie is from the television hit series Heroes, Ali Larter. Her acting had a lot to be desired. However she did look good in the Indian dresses that she wore. All the movie had not a lot to be desired and I hope Salman does a lot better on his next movie. Thank you.

danzs OK, its basically our very own commonplace script of videshi girl falling for prince charming Indian boy, and predictable outcomes.More was expected keeping in mind that the production is a foreign outlook to Bollywood but the end product is very insipid, boring and common. Nothing to look forward to and even Salman looks very lost at times. Thank goodness it comes with a runtime of under 2 hours cause it makes the viewer feel minute tick. Come on, most of our scripts of late have shown that they can be innovative and a bit bold, but Marigold is simply like the biscuit which gets soggy in your cup of chai rather than 'THE FLOWER'

mizzuzk Mention Bollywood to anyone with a slight familiarity with the genre and the images usually conjured up are of tacky, over the top musical numbers peopled with costuming that makes Vegas seem a bastion of conservatism. This perception is not helped by the whiff of condescension that permeates most movies that have approached Bollywood from an outsider's perspective. Willard Carroll's romantic comedy Marigold, however takes a different tack. It is not a nudge-nudge wink-wink look at those silly people and their clueless antics but a sincere appreciation of Bollywood for its vitality, its lack of irony and self-consciousness.It is obvious that the director has a tremendous affection and respect for Bollywood while at the same time is bemused by its kitschier aspects. And if you have a familiarity with Bollywood, you can appreciate what he does here in making a true hybrid of Bollywood and Hollywood movie conventions. From one of the opening shots, a flashback of the Salman character as a child by the sea, talking with his grandmother (played by Helen! - how many Salman movies start with this same premise?) to the flashback sequence that is incorporated into the movie that Marigold and Prem has been filming, anyone who has seen enough Bollywood movies will recognize these references. The story itself incorporates tried and true conventions from both Hollywood and Bollywood as well – the fish out of water meets duty-to-one's-family-at the expense of personal fulfillment. The structure of the film follows the typical Bollywood plot line of the more comical set up of the first half giving way to a more dramatic resolution of the second. Yet ultimately the sensibility of the film is that of Hollywood, with its understated, wry humor and its story of a woman learning to believe in herself, to reach self-affirmation.You couldn't have a movie inspired by Bollywood if there weren't any musical numbers and this movie does not disappoint with seven of them. Unlike Bollywood, however, the songs do not pop out of nowhere and transport its characters to a European locale or Goan beach; they exist as musical numbers that are part of the film that is being made, reminiscent of how musical numbers were justified in Busby Berkeley movies as being part of a stage show. Or they come out of a situation where music already has a reason to be there – a sexy nightclub scene where Prem teaches Marigold to dance or a beach scene where there are musicians (including a cameo from the playback singer Shaan) performing. All reflect the emotional state of the protagonists at that point in the movie. Often the music will take a conventional song from one genre and put a twist on it from the other. So in one of the highlights of the film where Marigold comes into her own, the song picturazation is fairly typical of its genre – the female star singing and dancing among a line of women – but in this case it's blond Ali Larter looking like a total natural Bollywood film star, emoting and lip synching to the Hindi lyrics with no subtitles.Also synonymous with Bollywood are sumptuous visuals and Marigold fulfills that aspect beautifully thanks to some of the top talent working in Bollywood today. The cinematographer is Anil Mehta who was also the cinematographer for Lagaan and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The choreographer is Vaibhavi Merchant and production designer is Nitin Desai, both from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. You can really see the influence of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam on this film – in fact, the illuminated floor in one of the numbers was originally from Dholi Taro Dhol, which coincidentally has an embedded Marigold pattern.As for the cast, Carroll obviously has a penchant for spotting acting talent as evidenced by Playing by Heart – one of the first movies for both Angelina Jolie and Ryanne Phillippe. And in this film he again hits the mark with Ali Larter. One of the main reasons the film works is because of Larter. She makes a bitchy, unappealing character sympathetic and her subsequent transformation believable and she is smart, funny, and sexy because she is smart and funny. She and Salman share excellent chemistry and that is one of the film's biggest strengths.Salman Khan plays the role of Prince Charming here as filtered through his iconic role as Prem. This is old school Prem, however, so expect a quiet, subdued Salman - those used to him in his usual stripping avatar may be disappointed – or relieved! It's a sincere and sensitive performance from him marred only by poor enunciation of his English lines.With a refreshing lack of cynicism and unabashed embrace of romantic love, the film is a love letter to Bollywood and Hollywood movies of yore.