Kites (Movie Review)

*Updated January 2026

The Bollywood film Kites, directed by Anurag Basu, is a film unlike any I’ve seen before. It is spoken in three languages, has a diverse cast, and does not come from Hollywood. It is a completely original experience.

It blithely leaps from romance to musical to action-adventure to western. The film references any number of Hollywood genres along with one of the more beautiful musical scores in recent memory. The romance, in particular, is as intense as Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook, and the chemistry between the leads is off the charts.

I have to say I was surprisingly entertained. I am a better critic for having seen this film.

A Bollywood Western in Las Vegas

The plotline begins in the blistering heat of the Mexican desert, where a man has been left for dead. This is “J” (Hrithik Roshan, the biggest movie star in India). He is a once-carefree Vegas huckster who is now a wanted man fighting for his life.

As he makes his way back home, J relives the past. We learn that the one thing keeping him alive is his burning desire to reunite with Linda (Bárbara Mori), the love of his life. When J first meets her he is working odd jobs, the oddest of which is to marry “illegals” for money.

Linda, fresh from Mexico, has barely enough cash to pay for the phony marriage. Like J, she has dreams of striking it rich in America. They wed and, that very night, she departs with her green card in hand.

Though he barely knows her, and they don’t even speak each other’s language, J never forgets her. The next time he sees Linda, she is engaged to Tony (Nick Brown), the son of a fabulously wealthy casino owner. As fate would have it, J is dating Tony’s sister.

Both of them are prepared to marry for money so they can finally make their dreams come true. There are just two problems: they are still legally married and they have fallen madly in love. Choosing one another over wealth, they flee with a vengeful Tony in hot pursuit.

This romance is described in the film as a love that “knows no language.” It is an apt description of Kites itself, which has more international appeal than more traditional Bollywood fare.

The Brett Ratner Remix

Bollywood films are a rare breed of cinematic products here in the States. There are legitimate reasons why films from India aren’t successful with American audiences. They are often over two hours long, and we complain when a film hits the one-hour-45-minute mark.

They act like musicals that involve too much dancing. We left the musicals back in the 50s and Nine was a flop. For the most part, they aren’t spoken in English.

The closest movie we’ve had to a successful Bollywood production has been Danny Boyle’s Academy Award effort Slumdog Millionaire. That wasn’t really ours. It was a collaboration we did with England.

Nevertheless, Kites has the potential to change the way we look at Bollywood films. Due to its Latin flavor, it has the ability to reach the largest movie-going audience in America: the US Hispanic demographic. Enter director Brett Ratner.

Known for taking Asian action star Jackie Chan and crossing him over into American superstardom with his spectacularly successful Rush Hour series, Ratner carries a unique synergy. He is a Hispanic of Cuban descent who understands the power of the Hispanic consumer. He knows what it takes to attract them to the theaters.

In a brilliant strategy move by Roshan Productions, Ratner was asked to rework an English language version. It was designed to extend the reach of the original to the largest possible audience, including the younger demographic for whom two-plus hours is a challenge. This led to “Kites: The Remix, A Brett Ratner Presentation.”

Its title suggests a true “remix,” in that it is the same film played to a different rhythm. It runs a swift 90 minutes as opposed to the 130-minute original.

Hrithik Roshan and Bárbara Mori Chemistry

The remix caters to a mass audience but it begrudgingly also contains some elements from the original cut that hurt it. For my particular tastes, the acting by the secondary cast is not as strong as the leads. There are some over-the-top acting moments that are quite risible.

We could have done without some of the excess torso-baring poses by Hrithik. However, I imagine the ladies need a dose of carnal ecstasy once in a while. Despite these small imperfections, the film is very entertaining, even for audiences that don’t regularly consume Indian films.

The bulk of the entertainment comes from the extravagant, larger-than-life action sequences. These involve 18-wheeler trucks, chases, explosions, bullet fights, crashes, and jumps that stun the senses.

Actor Hrithik Roshan is extremely charismatic and possesses the handsomeness of a major movie star. His talents don’t just end there. In the only dancing sequence of the movie, he gyrated, twirled, and whirled like a snake in Vegas.

He needs to come to Hollywood and do movies here ASAP. Bárbara Mori, the Uruguayan actress raised in Mexico, fit perfectly well with Roshan and her new environment. Even though her English accent is rough, it is endearing.

She has a magnetic connection that has made her one of the top actresses in Spanish television in the US. We look forward to her evolution in cinema. Despite the positives of the protagonists, to craft an affecting love story the stars need to be well-developed.

They must evidence a degree of sexual chemistry, and their relationship needs to be allowed to unfold on screen. By falling somewhere in between—more serious than the average comedy and lighter than the typical drama—Kites feels just about right. This love story isn’t going to appeal to those who don’t appreciate romance.

It is sweet and sentimental. It embraces the fantasy of love all the way through its operatic finale. Kites recalls such master movie mixologists as Sergio Leone, Quentin Tarantino, and Baz Luhrmann.

Producer Rakesh Roshan and director Anurag Basu have made Kites into an intoxicating cinematic cocktail with a flavor, and a kick, all its own.

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