Josh, (2000)

India’s take on West Side Story, Josh, can be mildly confusing. The story focuses on two gangs – not the Sharks or the Jets of course, but the Eagles and the Bicchu. However, if you’re like me and are easily confused by gang warfare, you may find this helpful chart useful in identifying who is on what side!

	Eagles	Bicchu
Name Meaning	Uh… eagles	Scorpions
Gang Emblem	Dangly feather earring worn in the right ear	Scorpion tattoos
Uniform	Leather jackets (in that heat? That’s intense)	Colorful shirts (thick eyebrows also appear to be a requirement)
Leader	Shahrukh Khan as Maxi (unfortunate name)	Sharad Kapoor as Prakash
Source of income	None, at least not until the second half	Bullying landowners and baking cakes?
Religious affiliation	Christian/Catholic	Hindu
Where the stars cross…	Maxi’s twin sister, Shirley (Aishwarya Rai)	Prakash’s brother, Rahul (the droopy-eyed Chandrachur Singh)
Fatal flaw	A mysterious secret about Max and Shirley’s past!	Bad gunmanship
Strengths?	Dance skills. And they have a gun.	Dance skills. And cake.

All silliness aside, I thought this was simultaneously an homage and a genuine adaptation of West Side Story. I think it transplanted the cultural clash to Goa quite nicely, while keeping it within the same time period as the original musical. The romance between Shirley and Rahul was the weakest point of the film – watching Max woo Roseanne (Priya Gill) was much more fun. Still, the most compelling parts of the film were the ones focused on the conflicts between the Eagles and the Bicchus, and sometimes the people caught in between. It’s nice to watch something that isn’t focused on a college romance once in a while (although SRK is soooooo sexy in the Saturday dance sequence). However, if this film was a little more in tune with its origins, it may have been better –the ending is “happier” than I’d have liked it to be. Is that a valid complaint? That not enough people die at the end of the film?

All in all, Josh is an enjoyable time-pass at worst; it could have become a really thought-provoking examination of gangs and cultural clashes, but doesn't quite maximize its potential. Most of the songs are pretty good - if that's a dealbreaker.