A Bollywood Satire

It might seem as if Bollywood couldn’t possibly satirize itself — the genre is already so over-thetop — but Zoya Akhtar manages the trick deftly in “Luck by Chance,” an appealing tale of two would-be actors looking for movie stardom.

Vikram (Farhan Akhtar, the director’s brother) arrives in Mumbai from New Delhi hoping to crack the movie business, and he soon finds romance with Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma), who is a few years ahead of him in terms of making inroads but is still waiting for her big break. The film gets its digs in early and often, populating the movie-making universe with characters who are vacuous, weaselly or both.

Ms. Akhtar, who also wrote the screenplay, shows herself to be a master of extremes. A fabulous circus-theme musical number pulls out all the stops, but a scene in which an acting teacher explains why Hindi stars have to be more talented than those in Hollywood is a subtle comic gem.

It is Vikram who finally manipulates and lucks his way into a breakthrough, and it is Mr. Akhtar whose understated performance holds together this far-ranging, cameo-filled film. He manages to remain sympathetic even while wreaking romantic havoc.