The world of Indian popular cinema--a world reminiscent of old Hollywood, with its confusion of romance and reality--is evoked in James Ivory and Ismail Merchant's Bombay Talkie. Jennifer Kendal stars as an English novelist in India on a quest for new material for her lurid tales--and for her own life. She becomes involved with the movie idol Shashi Kapoor, using his glamor and wealth to feed her fantasies. Pauline Kael writes, “The glimpses of the confusion of cultures in modern India are ironic without unnecessary underlining and the picture is full of wonderful marginal details; the preparations for a musical film, with plump-bottomed girls dancing on giant typewriter keys...a nightclub with an Indian chanteuse singing an American song. The atmosphere is like a Hollywood thirties movie, and this kitschy datedness, along with the exotic flavor, makes one feel affectionate and nostalgic. Everything is fine except for the maundering central story, which seems to belong in an old DeMille picture....”