<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Every Thursday we recommend something available streaming on Netflix. It&amp;#039;s a shame that India got overlooked when The Raid made everyone go bananas for &amp;quot;international action movies&amp;quot; last year. Indian action movies offer a mix of everything: martial arts, big explosions, and lots and lots of slow motion. And, unlike most of their American counterparts, they&amp;#039;re actually fun. Here&amp;#039;s a rundown of five worthy options streaming on Netflix now:  Chennai Express (2013)      Chennai Express brings together action director Rohit Shetty and romance mega-star Shah Rukh Khan. The result is a romantic-action-comedy that was a huge hit when it came out in theaters this past August. It&amp;#039;s a fish-out-of-water story that starts with Rahul (Khan) traveling from Mumbai to Tamil Nadu, a state in south India, where both the food and language are unfamiliar to him. He meets a girl who&amp;#039;s running away from home because her gangster father wants to marry her off to a brute. Cornball antics ensue. But Khan is likable, the movie is gorgeously shot, and there are two action sequences \u2014 a car chase at the one-hour mark and the climactic fight scene \u2014 that are worth watching even if you skip everything else. Like most Bollywood films, Chennai Express runs long, but this is easily remedied by fast-forwarding through some, or all, of the movie&amp;#039;s four songs.  Ek Tha Tiger (2012)      This movie starts off with a 12-minute chase sequence that blends super-slow-motion shots with an electric guitar riff that quickly becomes infectious. It&amp;#039;s a modern-day story that takes place in a variety of exotic locales, including Turkey and Cuba. The high production values are impressive as are a lot of the stunts, but what really makes the movie entertaining are the unexpected bits, such as the bizarre Pinocchio dance performance in the middle of the film and the protagonist&amp;#039;s seemingly random instructions to a waiter in Dublin to &amp;quot;puncture the yellow&amp;quot; of his eggs and &amp;quot;make it solid.&amp;quot; There are, of course, some songs (three) and a romantic subplot, but the shredding guitar and Salman Khan&amp;#039;s Bruce Willis ruggedness keep the movie solidly rooted in the action genre.  Singham (2011)      Singham, which means lion, is a super-cop. He doesn&amp;#039;t take shit from anybody, including his bosses, whom he has no problem slapping around. As his theme song, which plays whenever he kicks someone&amp;#039;s ass, states, &amp;quot;He never spares the bad... No hesitation. No deviation. Just destruction.&amp;quot; Shetty directed this movie, too, and, like Chennai Express, it&amp;#039;s a south Indian-style throwback, full of humor and well-worn themes, such as the triumph of honest village ways over the corruption of the city. It also features flipping cars, slow-motion slaps, and cute kids. The pace gets a little sluggish in the middle, and there are several songs to skip through, but it&amp;#039;s worth sticking around for the surprising ending.  Tashan (2008)      Despite a strong cast, including Slumdog Millionaire&amp;#039;s Anil Kapoor, this movie was not well-received in India. To be sure, the plot and pacing are kind of a mess. Still, there are some redeemable parts. Akshay Kumar&amp;#039;s comical hitman character is amusing and, like Singham, has his own theme song. The confused plot also adds suspense in its own way. You know that everything is moving toward some sort of final fight scene, but who will be involved? Will a Jet Ski play a role? With a movie like this, anything is possible.  Dhoom 2 (2006)      This movie has many brilliant touches \u2014 a highway chase scene on roller blades, a thief who favors hilarious disguises, special effects straight out of Inspector Gadget \u2014 but what sends it over the edge is the sexy in-the-rain basketball scene at about the one-hour mark. In the scene, the thief, played by Hrithik Roshan, is sporting a Rico Suave wig and bandana. His opponent, an aspiring thief played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is wearing a mini-skirt and leather boots. It&amp;#039;s nighttime and it&amp;#039;s raining buckets, but they decide to play anyway. As their layup-heavy game gets going, a Spanish guitar starts strumming in the background. And this is all before the movie heads to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival and a Miami Vice-style showdown. If only American directors allowed themselves to get this zany. The first Dhoom is also available for streaming on Netflix, but it doesn&amp;#039;t have half the awesomeness of the sequel and isn&amp;#039;t necessary viewing unless you just really like the franchise theme music.  Watch them all on Netflix now. Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a26249/indian-action-movies/>