Pun Salad

Why did I get this? Let me give you a hint: one of my favorite episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" is "The Thespian Catalyst", where the surprise finale features a fantasy sequence with Raj and Bernadette …

Wait, I don't want to spoil that if you haven't seen it. If you haven't seen it, watch for it to roll around on one of the channels that syndicate "Big Bang". You won't be sorry.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, this movie. It's a 2008 Indian movie that Netflix (correctly) predicted I'd like a lot. The hero is Suri, a 40something schlub working in a cubicle for Punjab Power. He is infatuated with beautiful young Taani. Which is fine, but her father's untimely demise somehow results in the marriage of Suri and Taani.

"Be careful what you wish for" is as true in India as it is anywhere else. Both Suri and Taani are painfully aware of the age gap between them, and neither knows how to bridge it. But fate intervenes in the form of the dance show "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi", for which Taani auditions. Suri gets a bright idea from his hairdresser friend, Bobby: he will audition as well, but as the flamboyantly made-over "Raj". Like Clark Kent and Superman, nobody, including Taani, can tell that Raj and Suri are the same person.

There are a lot of lavishly-produced song-n-dance numbers, which had me convinced that Anushka Sharma, the actress playing Taani, is the most beautiful and talented woman in the world. (Excepting, of course, Mrs. Salad.)

Cynics may quibble: the plot is preposterous, the acting is over-the-top, and the singing is screechy with repetitive, stupid lyrics. But (on the other hand), it's a lot of fun.

The movie is nearly 3 hours long, and it could easily have been trimmed by about an hour, but that's OK.