Warner Brothers boasts it’s giving the “first-ever Bollywood kung fu action comedy” the biggest ever North American release for a Bollywood film. Also opening in forty international markets, “Chandni Chowk to China” blends the noodle-peddler-turned-hero plot of “Kung Fu Panda” and the goofing on genre of “Kung Fu Hustle.” Indian superstar Akshay Kumar plays Sidhu, a lowly vegetable-chopper at a curbside eatery in Delhi. Emissaries from a Chinese village mistake the inept dreamer for the reincarnation of their local legendary kung fu fighter. Clutching his lucky potato that looks like the mythical god-elephant Lord Ganesh, Sidhu travels to China with Chopstick (Ranvir Shorey), his conning sidekick and untrustworthy translator. Sidhu soon learns his true mission is to vanquish Hojo (Gordon Liu), an evil downtrodder of villagers and pillager of ancient relics for the international art market. This crowd-pleaser recalls last year’s “Singh is Kinng,” where Kumar played a bumpkin who goes to Australia for a similar metamorphosis into an intercessor who gets the gal. Here she is an infomercial spokesmodel for a consumer electronics firm who is played by Deepika Padukone, who doubles as her long-lost sister and bad girl Meow Meow. Per Bollywood custom, the voiceover is intoned with reverbo-profundo. Shridhar Raghavan’s screenplay contains enough storyline for a whole season of the typical American TV show. Nikhil Advani directs this zany pan-Asiatic confection. For fans of Bollywood numbers staged on Great Wall of China, this beats the pants and saris off the one in “Jeans.” With Mithun Chakraborty, Roger Yuan and Yuk-Ting Lau. 145m. (Bill Stamets)
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