Kill rewrites the anticipated Bollywood playbook in a roaring action thriller

It has been nice to see the growing popularity of Indian cinema in the US. For many people – especially those unfamiliar with the work of the legendary Satyajit Ray – their entry was Aamir Khan's excellent cricket drama Lagaan in 2001, the last Indian film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. For others, it was SS Rajamouli's RRR, the exuberant and maximalist epic anti-colonialist saga and the first Indian film by an Indian production to win an Oscar.

These films are not very similar in their stylistic approach, but they have a lot in common: action fueled by romance, big musical numbers with lavish visuals, and strong anti-colonial narratives. They—and many other successful Indian film exports of late—contain elements of "masala cinema," an approach that first emerged in the 1970s but is still going strong today, largely due to the work of Khan, Rajamouli, and others to reinvent the form and keep it alive. Masala films are known for mixing all sorts of genres to create an experience that can appeal to as many moviegoers as possible. But not all Indian films fall into the masala category, and the new hyper-violent Hindi action thriller Kill is here to prove that to American audiences when it hits theaters on July 4.

After returning from a long mission, Indian Army commando Amrit (Lakshya) receives news from the love of his life (Tanya Maniktala) that she is being forced into an arranged marriage by her powerful father and that the wedding is tomorrow. Along with his friend and comrade (Raghav Juyal), he decides to try to stop it and secretly joins the wedding party on a train to Delhi. But when bandits attack, things go horribly wrong, and violence and chaos ensue.