Editor

Khan is an extremely popular Islamic family name in India where, for the past twenty years, three Khans --Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Amir Khan -- have ruled the leading-man roost in Bollywood, commanding sky-high rupee guarantees up-front and wielding enough power to dictate the terms of the films they sign up for. Having one of these Khans in your film is close to an ironclad guarantee of box-office returns in the dog-eat-dog competitive world of Bombay filmdom, and the competition for the favors of these three gentlemen is feverish if not frenzied. Up-and-coming actresses are ready to kill for the privilege of being romanced by one them on screen, and their private lives are followed with meticulous zeal in the "fanzines' (wildly popular film fan magazines) of India. In short, they are pedestalised alongside the other gods of the complex Indian pantheon. Two of the three Khans were seen on Arclight screens during the week. that was. (Sorry about that Salman...)

The L.A. Indian film festival normally avoids blockbusters from Bollywood in favor of more serious films from all corners of the sub-continent and abroad, but this years edition, perhaps in the interest of showing the full range of Indian cinema, and/or, to guarantee some full houses to cover the cost of staging the festival, did program three Bombay star vehicles, each with a certain agenda beyond mere box-office. The films in question: "My Name Is Khan" (starring Shahrukh, the "King of Bollywood" or SRK as he is known in the Indian press), "Three Idiots" (starring Amir Khan in the biggest hit ever to come out of Bollywood), and '"Kaminey", starring fast rising young muscular Shahid Kapur and hot leading lady Priyanka Chopra. In addition, an off-the wall Bollywood cult film from 1989, "Raakh" (Ashes) was shown in a restored print, commemorating not only the twentieth anniversary of the original release, but also a very early starring role for Amir Khan when he was a relatively unknown new actor. (it followed on the heels of QSQT which made him an overnight sensation at age 23)