Sunday 7 September 2008

Channel 4's season of Indian cinema, continuing through the autumn, starts with the first of three films celebrating the work of actor Abhishek Bachchan. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna features a stellar cast, including Abhishek's megastar father, Amitabh Bachchan, in a fun, playboy role. Set in New York, this is a story of two ill-matched couples. KANK (as the film is familiarly known) enters a taboo area for Indian movies, centring on adultery and divorce; themes rarely seen in mainstream family drama. Bollywood's A-list lead the narrative but it is Abhishek who won audiences' hearts.