If you love science fiction, and you love Bollywood, you’ll love…no. Wait a minute. That’s probably not quite right. The Tamil/Indian film Endhiran is an epic…um, an epic…well, it’s epic, anyway. The fact is, if you’re willing to go along for the ride, Endhiran will take you on a two hour, forty-eight minute journey that is part I Robot, part Short Circuit, part Robocop, part Westworld, and part Terminator, with a little Matrix, Blade Runner, Megashark, and Asian martial arts thrown in for good measure, all interrupted at appropriate moments with a dazzling Bollywood dance number or romantic twist. And by “appropriate moments”, I mean whenever you’re convinced the story is going to go so far over the top that you can’t bear to watch any more. Which happens pretty much beginning in the opening moments of the film, in the case of Endhiran. This could easily sound like criticism, but it’s not; I LOVED this film. And if you can let go of your preconceived notions of what a film should do and just let yourself be entertained, you will too. Aside from the robot movie references we made – which were legit, it seems like they went down a list of robot movies to make sure they included the whole lexicon of robot-in-movie themes to make sure they included them all – Endhiran also careens through romance, betrayal, absurd comedy, terrorism, questions of creation, Asimovian robot ethics, suicide, threats of rape, and a classic battle between good and evil. Oh. And did we mention? With an occasional Bollywood number. As I said, Endhiran is epic. It probably better be, it’s also the most expensive and second highest-grossing Indian film to date. This film is a blast, and would probably be best enjoyed as a weekend afternoon party, with lunch and a nap during the intermission. Yes, thankfully, the creators graciously provided one, with the warning at the end of part one that “this is just the beginning of the story”. Which initially caused a groan, but a groan that was quickly forgotten as the movie dove headlong into the insanity of the second half. No trailer of reasonable length could convey what Endhiran is all about (the best comparison might be to spectacles like Xanadu or Jesus Christ Superstar) but we’ve included a couple of the Bollywood dance numbers below. By the way, if you’re into desi, the soundtrack rocks, ranging from the gratuitously autotuned Irumbile Oru Idhaiyam to the almost country-sounding Kadhal Anukkal.

Irumbile Oru Idhaiyam

I’m not sure why, but the tune Irumbile Oru Idhaiyam is often titled something like “Naina Miley Robot”

Bolly Parton?

If it weren’t for the fact that they’re singing in Tamil, you could probably slip Kadhal Anukkal into a country station playlist unnoticed.