Siddharth Anand has built a noticeable resumè for himself over the years, though for me his sixth film, Bang Bang! will always be my north star going forward.
A full-on remake of James Mangold’s 2010 hit action comedy, Knight And Day, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif headline the story of a single bank receptionist whose haphazard date with a mysterious man leads to an epic runaway romance, shoehorning the hunt for a luxurious diamond into a pulsating, action-packed tale of espionage, vengeance and love.
You can read more of my thoughts on it here but Bang Bang! thoroughly fleshes out every ounce of charm and potential of the original through big-scale Bollywood spectacle and thrills. What’s more, Roshan himself went above and beyond the call to perform the film’s daredevil stunt sequences, even before and after taking on life-saving surgery following an injury on set.
The film was a box office smash hit at home and remains one of history’s longest-lasting Bollywood successes. I was able to catch it years ago on Netflix before it was removed, but if you’re a curious Westerner like I was, you can currently find it on Hulu upon subscription. Alas, if you’re a curious far-Easterner reading this, you can catch the film on February 10, 2023, and by all means if possible, don’t stop there. 2019’s War is out and about and by next month, SRK’s latest rollout in Pathaan, so get excited!
