36 China Town

Even though Abbas Mastan claim that the inspiration for this movie came to them while watching Chinatown (1974), the movie is actually a scene-by-scene lift of the 1992 Hollywood comedy Once Upon a Crime, starring John Candy and Cybill Shepherd. Interestingly, that movie was also billed as a comedy-mystery, but was also much more comedy than mystery, like this one.

The roles played by Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor were played by Richard Lewis and Sean Young in the original. The plot has been Indianized: the main events in the original happen in Monte Carlo, and here, they happen in Goa, which is kind of the Monte Carlo of India. Several other aspects of the plot have been Indianized: for example, the two protagonists in the original are returning a lost dog (in this, they are returning a lost child). But several things are not changed at all, including the character of the married-for-money Paresh Rawal (played by John Candy in the original), the suave Casanova Upen Patel (played by George Hamilton in the original), and the inspector Akshaye Khanna (played by Giancarlo Giannini).

Despite having seen the original, I found this version to be highly entertaining. Especially impressive was Shahid Kapoor, who has excellent chemistry with Kareena. Akshaye Khanna does not have a very strong part, but still tries very hard. Overall, the movie does not disappoint.