Here’s Bollywood’s update of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp,” a story added to the French translation of the Arabian Nights by Antoine Galland, who had the tale from a Syrian storyteller. Aladdin may have his origins in Arabic cultures, but he is actually Chinese, though living in an Islamic culture in China. Note that the press copy for this film describes India as the “land of myths and legends”–a not so subtle effort to claim that Aladin is really an Indian hero. Is the new spelling part of an effort to make Aladin native?

“A Tale of Secrets and Mysteries, Power and Passion, and a Loser”–the trailer reminds us that fairy-tale heroes often begin as simpletons, numbskulls, dummies, or, in today’s terminology, losers.

This is the second Bollywood production, the first going back to the 1960s. “Everything is possible. Look at this!” is spoken with a distinctly U.S. midwestern accent.

Thanks to Holly Hutchison for sending me a link to the trailer.

Here’s the website for the trailer and a press release follows:

 http://www.apple.com/trailers/independen…

From the land of myths and legends – India – comes a fantasy adventure for the entire family. Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, ‘Aladin’ is a modern re-imagining of the classic tale of ‘Aladin and The Magic Lamp’. Aladin Chatterjee (Riteish Deshmukh) lives in the city of Khwaish, an orphan who has been bullied since childhood by Kasim and his gang. But his life changes when Jasmine (Jacquiline Fernandes) gives him a magic lamp – because it lets loose the genie Genius (Amitabh Bachchan). Desperate to grant him 3 wishes and seek the end of his contract with the Magic Lamp, the rock-star Genius makes Aladin’s life difficult until the real threat looms on the horizon : the ex-genie Ringmaster (Sanjay Dutt). Why does Ringmaster want to kill Aladin? What is the dark secret about Aladin’s past that Genius is carrying? And what is Aladin’s destiny? Find out more in this swashbuckling fantasy adventure film from Eros Entertainment and Boundscript Motion Pictures.