Dhoom (ed) 2014

Dad had a hangover but there was no time to waste, so he took some tablets and we got an auto to the cinema. Being a woman I went to the front of the queue and got our tickets to my first Bollywood in an Indian cinema- it has only taken two trips to India and 5 months of waiting! The auto driver dropped us at the city palace and we walked and danced our way around the sites. Mum and I got henna and then had to walk around with our arms in the air to let it dry whilst avoiding a traffic jam and thousands of pedestrians. We thought we had lost Dad for a moment in the chaotic traffic but he was just taking the opportunity to take photos of the craziness! Our next stop was Hawa Mahal which is a beautiful and intricately carved building and truly represents Jaipur as the 'Pink City'.

The afternoon activity was shopping, finally. Mum knew exactly what she wanted to get some of the yoga girls and James and I knew what we wanted. So with a very specific shopping list we entered the most popular shopping street in Jaipur and Rajasthan's most famous city for buying souvenirs. It turns out that the things we wanted to buy weren't anywhere to be found. We were even taken through the maze of back streets (we sent James as bait to start with) to a tiny wholesaler that made amazing carved Ganesh statues, but still no Shiva! We started to run out of time and Dad was feeling peckish so we took a 'time out' from shopping, got some food with 'a slice of' Nutella cheesecake. Then headed out to the grand cinema of Raj Mandir to watch Dhoom 3; a new Bollywood blockbuster.

Lonely Planet describes the cinema as a giant pink cake and something from a Disney film and they are not far wrong. The entrance way is so grand a bit kitsch and so very India. The lights are off as you enter the cinema screening room, which is more like a huge theatre and within 5 minutes every seat was filled. Nobody was quiet and it stayed this was for the whole time we were there. Every time a new character appeared on the screen there was whooping and cheering. The dance numbers people at the back were joining in and anything that was remotely funny caused raucous laughter, cheers and clapping. Basically you have to imagine the polar opposite to going to the cinema in England and that is the Bollywood experience. It was awesome! Well the experience was, the film-hmm, not so much, which is why we left at during the half time intermission!

Dhoom 3 wasn't the most realistic film I have seen or the best acting and continuity is not even a thing in Bollywood but it was everything I wanted to see from a Bollywood and the Indian crowd (and Mum and I) did not disappoint! Yet another hilarious evening in Jaipur.