The Times review, beating stories on the Golden Globe nominations and reviews of all US films, calls "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year," with Ranbir Kapoor "a smart, focused Bollywood movie".
Shimit Amin, "who directed the delightful 'Chak De! India', about a girls' hockey team, dispenses with Bollywood's normal tangle of subplots and mashup of genres", it says. "There's music, but no big production numbers. Even romance is back-burnered. Instead, Mr. Amin sticks to the story at hand."
"Kapoor, a heartthrob who has quickly become a star playing cads, turns in a skilfully understated performance," says the review. "His Harpreet is an old-school hero: solid, righteous, compassionate. You can't help cheering for him."
In an equally flattering review, Film Journal International says: "David-and-Goliath workplace drama from India goes unexpected places, and hits satisfying chords."
The posters for the Bollywood import "promise a workplace satire or a light-hearted employee caper" it says. "Instead we get a sharply observed drama of an honest man trying to survive in the usual business world."
"In the exploding modern India, it's a very American story: How do you succeed in business without really trying to compromise your ethics?"
"Not all Bollywood movies are big, colourful musicals, of course, and this one offers only a couple of plot montages set against songs, it says, "But with uniformly excellent performances-particularly by (Naveen) Kaushik and (Shantanoo) Bhagyaraj as the conflicted and not-so-conflicted antagonists, respectively."
In addition, there is "a no-nonsense pace and storytelling sense by director Shimit Amin, and a truly universal and credible office mise-en-sc?ne, 'Rocket Singh' is instantly accessible to any stateside audience," the Journal adds.
Harpreet Singh, the protagonist, "may be a prisoner of the system, but he can proudly say, 'I am not a number. I am a free market'." it says.
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