The Indian film industry (not only the justly-celebrated products of the Mumbai-based Bollywood scene) is an endless source of brilliantly absurd thrills. These are Jalopnik readers' picks for the ten most awesomely unreal chases, crashes, and craziness to come from India.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
10.) Singham
Suggested By: I Can be Stig?
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: Shall we start with a recognized classic? Gravity in India must be a different kind of thing. And their cops are so far beyond badass that it almost hurts to watch.
9.) Ta Ra Rum Pum
Suggested By: zacarious
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: Wow. Part Days of Thunder, part MGM musical, all friggin' nuts. You thought Kyle Busch was an on-track hazard? This is the good guy shoving the antagonist into the afterlife like some street grudge. Plus much gratuitous shifting. (Sorry about the ad business in the center.)
8.) Don2
Suggested By: dishoomjee
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: What it loses by actually paying some respect to the laws of physics is more than compensated by everything else. Not all Indian movies are filmed in India anymore; here the madness moves to Berlin, including an Alfa and a finale at the Brandenburger Tor.
7.) Dhoom
Suggested By: 404 Name not found
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: If you're gonna do a police chase, do it with style — and arty gunshots, and lots of shifting, and we don't know what that is that happens at the end and we don't care. It rocks.
6.) Alluda Majaka
Suggested By: Pessimippopotamus
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: Not just a chase followed by one of the most hilarious fight scenes ever — a tractor chase followed by one of the most hilarious fight scenes ever.
5.) Golmaal 3
Suggested By: dishoomjee
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: Musical interlude/item number time. The car action is limited to the first minute or so, but it so fits with the rest. Besides, there's a spinning Miata there, so Jalopnik perogative.
4.) Dhoom 2
Suggested By: Enginerrrrrrrrr
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: The sequel is even more insane than the original. Jumping over traffic on rollerblades while being chased by a motorcycle is one thing; doing it while making sure your hair stays in place is some kind of deep cool. And this clip gives a whole new meaning to the idea of "power gloves."
3.) Race
Suggested By: agregg86
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: A mini-epic in all the right ways: family, violence, betrayal, honor, and some serious balls-out drifting on a perfect road. The fun really starts after about the six-minute mark, but you'll totally want to see the whole thing.
2.) Khiladi 420
Suggested By: valdaviper1
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: More rollerblades. A schooner-grade anchor. Tiny 4x4s loaded with thugs. Explosions. Bigger explosions. Explosions for the sake of explosions. Flaming cars falling like bird crap. The world's worst SFX windshield. Flying exploding car. Horrible blue-screening. Unmitigated intense awesomeness. Michael Bay, you are a pretender to the throne.
1.) The World's Most Insane Chase Scene
Suggested By: Honda_Hooning_Daily_Driver for the best scene, Kiwi_Commander for the full clip
Why it's hotter than vindaloo: We were going to hold off on giving this the top spot because it needs more cars, but in the end we couldn't resist. It is five minutes of breathless reality-defying sheer madness, with pride of place belonging to one of the greatest/worst stunts of all time. If anyone knows the title of this absolute masterpiece, please let us know Update! We have a double winner! This is the second clip from Alluda Majaka to appear on this list! How does so much awesome end up in one film? (Thanks to CocheseUGA and Kiwi_Commander!)