Chandni Chowk to China reaction: potato kung fu, a Gordon Liu surprise and plenty of heart

We finished Chandni Chowk to China, and our verdict is that it was a lot of fun. The final fight puts Sidhu's potato chopping to work against Hojo, a surprise kung fu legend shows up in the cast, and there was a lot of laughter on our side. There were a couple of holes here and there, but for the most part, "It was so much fun."

Gordon Liu's casting came as a surprise

The big surprise was Gordon Liu. When he first popped up, the reaction was, is that him? After a while it was clear: that's definitely him. For anyone who doesn't know him, you go back to the Chinese kung fu movies of the '70s and he is the man, from 36 The 36th Chamber of Shaolin to, I think, Master Killer and Master Killer 2. Kill Bill came up too. "When you think like Chinese kung fu movies, it's Gordon you're thinking about."

He's also a very legit martial artist, which made this really cool. Roger Yuan turned up as well, and in the discussion he came across as a legend, a legit actor and not just part of the stunt team.

The story was easy to follow once the dual roles clicked

The story was easy to follow, though one point was missed at first: why anyone thought Sidhu was the one. It was a vision. The villagers went to the monks, who told them where he was, and he had to be reborn far away, with a different nationality. The discussion compared it to Dalai Lama vibes.

Deepika playing two characters was confusing at first, a bit like a Spider-Man moment. Then the clues helped: Meow Meow had gray eyes, her twin had brown eyes, plus very different styles and the bangs. There were still questions. There was a thought that one twin should have had a scar after falling off the wall, and a flashback showing Joey holding the baby left some confusion.

Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone put in the physical work

Akshay took the training seriously, and you can see a lot of that is him. A couple of shots clearly use a Chinese stunt double whose face was blurred out, and badly, but he deserves credit for doing many of the movements convincingly. Deepika too: in one fight, which one of us thought was at the airport, you could clearly see a lot of that was her. There was also a point that a dance background makes martial arts easier to pick up, because many of the movements and much of the basic body control are similar.

There was a sense in the discussion that this is the most fit Akshay has ever looked. The one point of contention was his fat suit. Putting him in a tank top meant you could see the edges and seams. Her pregnancy belly, by contrast, looked pretty good.

The training paid off the Bruce Lee way

A Bruce Lee quote comes up about fearing the man who practices one kick 10,000 times, and that's what wins in the end. He ended up learning almost a whole system, but it came down to perfecting one or two techniques. His body already had the muscle memory, so he could use it, and that made sense. The montages delivered the old kung fu trope of training without knowing it: making bread and then discovering you have strong forearms.

We didn't fully agree on the clichés. One take was that the film gave us that without being too cliché. The other was that it sat heavily in clichés and totally cornballed the whole thing, and that was loved, because old martial arts movies are cornball too. The emotional moments, like Dada being lost and the search for family, were committed to all the way. The lesson that God helps those who help themselves also landed, since Sidhu had been chasing lotteries and soothsayers without putting in the work.

The India and China crossover felt special

The crossover of Indian and Chinese culture was a highlight. It tied into a visit to Arpit Singh's Kalaripayattu school in Mumbai and a conversation about how Chinese kung fu developed from Indian martial arts, where depending on who you talk to, you get a different story. One version involves Bodhidharma, a monk who wouldn't teach until a would-be student cut off his arm to prove his dedication. The stories differ but go back to a close point of origin. There was also a point that Buddhism leans a lot on Hinduism, and that pride on both sides may explain why this hasn't happened more, though people now seem more receptive to the roots.

Akshay has a magic where he can be slapstick funny and then yank you back into your heart, even when the story on paper is silly. The whole cast did amazing, the double Deepika editing and makeup worked, and the dance numbers were fun. As for Deepika: "I don't think it was enough even though we got two of her." With 19 upcoming projects for Akshay, we're keen on more of him.