Hooray for Bollywood!

What with the current box-office and critical success of "Slumdog Millionaire," theatergoers who want to see more of India can check out the Honolulu Academy of Arts' 2nd Annual Bollywood Film Festival. Presented in conjunction with the museum's traveling exhibition "Muraqqa': Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin," the festival promises all things Bollywood -- that means films filled with spicy melodrama, boisterous comedy, lavish costumes and extravagant song and dance numbers.

COURTESY HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS

Tthe parody "Om Shanti Om."

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The festival includes:

» "Om Shanti Om" (12:30 and 6:30 p.m. Friday): In this homage to and as a parody of the extravagant production values of Bollywood movies, the film centers on Om (Shahrukh Khan), a man who lives for the movies. Working in the busy industry of the '70s, Om dreams of becoming India's biggest star. He's also infatuated with Shantipriya (Deepika Pandukone), Bollywood's queen bee.

Fast-forward to the present day, and now Om is the superstar, winning awards and attending glitzy parties. But his quest to unravel the truth about his previous life haunts him. But like any Bollywood movie worth its salt, justice is served hot in this spectacle -- directed and choreographed by Farah Khan -- that fuses reincarnation, love and laughs.

» "Chak de India (Go India!)" (12:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday): Beloved Bollywood star Khan appears again in this acclaimed movie as he trades the Swiss mountains for a rundown field in his role as Kabir Khan, a disgraced Indian field hockey champion.

When Khan misses a crucial goal against Pakistan in the World Cup, his hometown and the Indian Men's National hockey team chase him out. After years of wandering in the wilderness, the former captain is given a chance to redeem his name when he is asked to coach the Indian Women's National hockey team.

» "Rang de Basanti (The Color of Sacrifice)" (12:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday): A group of college guys are recruited by a British director to act in a film about India's struggle for independence. Partying and getting U.S. visas are more important to the guys than being in a film about their country's colonial past -- that is, until they experience a personal tragedy.

The gang confronts the government and awakens their nation's sleeping consciousness in this uplifting film, India's submission as a possible nominee in last year's Academy Awards foreign-language feature category.

» "Lage Raho Munnabhai (Rock On, Munnabhai!)" (6:30 p.m. Monday and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday): Director Rajkumar Hirani revisits the chaotic world of Bombay hustlers Munna and Circuit in this hilarious sequel to his 2003 debut hit "Munnabhai MBBS." With his business flourishing, life is good for Munna (Sanjay Dutt). But he's obsessed with radio deejay Jhanvi (Vidya Balan). Munna contrives to meet Jhanvi by tricking her into thinking he's a history professor.

» "Khosla Ka Ghosla (Khosla's Nest)" (6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 12:30 p.m. Wednesday): Dibakar Bannerjee's debut film effectively uses good old-fashioned storytelling in this lighthearted comedy. When ruthless property swindler Kishan Khurana (Boman Irani) usurps a plot of land purchased by a soon-to-retire K.K. Khosla (Anupam Kher), Khosla's family decides to fight back.

» "Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh" (Me, My Wife and the Other Man)": In this romantic comedy, Mithilesh Shukla (Rajpal Yadav) and Veena (Rituparna Sengupta) make an odd couple. He's a short, middle-class man, and she is his taller, attractive, better-educated wife.

Mithilesh resents Veena's height and the attention she gets. So every day he makes offerings of milk and bananas to Lord Shiva in his desperate attempt to find a solution. The jealousy and hilarity mount with the arrival of a guitar-playing, whiskey-drinking neighbor.

» "Veer-Zaara" (6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 and 12:30 p.m. Jan. 9): Three Bollywood megastars headline this Indian version of "Romeo and Juliet." When Indian Air Force pilot Veer Pratap Singh (Shahrukh Khan again) rescues Pakistani Zaara (Preity Zinta) from a bus crash, they fall deeply in love. But forces keep them apart -- Zaara is engaged to a hideous man chosen by her politically ambitious father, and Veer is imprisoned on false charges. So they stay apart -- until Saamiya (Rani Mukherjee), a feisty lawyer, decides to represent Veer. (This was the top-grossing Bollywood film in 2004.)

» "A Wednesday" (6:30 p.m. Jan. 9 and 12:30 p.m. Jan. 10): In a story eerily familiar, Mumbai's tough police chief (Anupam Kher) receives an anonymous call from someone claiming he has planted bombs all over the city and will detonate them unless four high-profile terrorists are released from custody. Tracking down the perpetrator and learning his motivations form the crux of this thought-provoking thriller.

» "Dhoom 2" (3 p.m. Jan. 10), pictured above: A sequel to Sanjay Gadhvi's 2004 action thriller, this blockbuster's high-energy dance and musical sequences, comedy and romance fulfill every Bollywood expectation. When "A" (Hritik Roshan) robs several museums of their treasures, including the British crown jewels, Inspector Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) decodes the cryptic clues the master thief leaves behind. Megastars Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu provide the glamour.

» "Taare Zameen Par (Little Stars on Earth)" (12:30 and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11): Actor Aamir Khan turns director with a moving children's film that adults will embrace just as much as kids. Ishaan Awasthis (Darsheel Safary) is a dyslexic 8-year-old struggling to be understood. Facing expulsion, he is sent to a boarding school, where art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (played by Khan) discovers Ishaan's vivid imagination and secret talent.