Tonight I fulfilled two wishes of mine in less than four hours: to visit New York City, and to see Shah Rukh Khan (SRK).

No, I did not give in to my homesickness and fly back to NYC, nor did I lay siege to SRK’s home in Mumbai in the hopes of catching a glimpse of his cehere. But I did manage to get tickets on opening weekend to this year’s most-anticipated movie, Kal Ho Naa Ho (KHNH). Yes my dear friends, I’m talking about a Bollywood “fillum.” And not the arthouse kind like Monsoon Wedding or a ex-pat movie like Bend it Like Bekham, or even a "guy's movie" like Dil Chaata Hai (all great movies), but an proper hero-loves-heroine-loves-hero, three-and-a-half-hour, singing-and-dancing-in-ten-different-outfits, cry-fest.

For those that greet the idea of watching a Bollywood movie with all the enthusiasm of a public flogging, let me remind you that it wasn't too long ago when most Hollywood actors used to dance and even sing in their movies. Instead of firing bullets, the actresses fired well-written dialogue or wounded with just a glance. Since then, most Hollywood movies have replaced dancing with fighting, and what few musicals have been successful (e.g. Moulin Rouge was the first of a new era) are directly influenced by Bollywood. The heroines can carry a wordless dialogue with their eyes, the heroes dance better than the latest boy band. And Bollywood’s reigning lover-not-fighter is the charismatic Shah Rukh Khan.

For those who watched this year’s Turner Network’s Bollywood movie month (APRIL?) you may have seen SRK's first runaway success film, Dhilwale Dhulaniya Leke Jayenge (DDLJ), certainly a classic as it also stars Kajol, but not nearly as good as Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Ghum (K3G). Aside from pairing Shah Rukh and Kajol again (don't they have amazing on-screen chemistry), it also starred Amitabh and Jaya Bachan (just Google “The Big B” if you're clueless) and hazel-eyed Hrithik Roshan. If you have not yet caught on to what New York Times writer Richard Corliss is raving about, then you’re missing out on what the rest of the world already knows: Bollywood is THE cinema to watch!

I loved Bollywood films as a child, watching Rekha embrace Amitabh amongst the tulips in Holland in Silsila, or mesmerize her audience with her graceful dancing in Umrao Jaan. At ten years of age, I watched Aamir Khan spring onto the scene in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT), an actor who is undoubtedly one of the finest in the world, and who recently bringing India to the forefront of international recognition with “Lagaan.” But my favorite actor by far is Shah Rukh Khan. My Los Angeles friends will remember seeing him in Devdas with me, though I have to admit, his performance is easy to forget next to Madhuri Dixit’s seductive dancing (how does she do that with her eyebrows?!?!). However, Shah Rukh still fires up the ten-year-old star-struck girl in me. I could (and often do) watch his movies over and over again. But it filled my heart to bursting to see him sing on the Brooklyn Bridge or run down Fifth Avenue; I’m sure to watch this fillum several more times during my bouts of homesickness this year. December is “Shah Rukh Mania” on the Sony channel, with a different SRK movie each Saturday night. Until KHNH comes onto DVD, my star-struck inner child will happily laugh, sing, dance, and cry for four hours each weekend. I hope you all will be having as much fun as I will this December!

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