I am completely obsessed with Bollywood. As other non-South Asian devotees of Hindi cinema can tell you, the barriers to appreciation of films from the Mumbai dream factory are many and complex. Though DVDs typically include at least English subtitles, they are often spotty or subpar. The films rarely run less than two hours. Genre is much looser than in any other type of cinema—a seemingly hard-hitting social realistic take on village life will take countless sharp swerves into slapstick, romantic comedy, political satire, suspense, music numbers, and a multitude of rarely-sewn-up subplots.

But the biggest challenge? Getting past the front register.