Bollywood filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who made his Hollywood debut with "Broken Horses", opened with negative responses from critics in the West.

Set in the shadows of the US-Mexico border gang wars, "Broken Horses" is an epic thriller about the bonds of brotherhood, the laws of loyalty and the futility of violence.

According to Ben Kenigsberg from variety.com, "the movie failed to convince on several crucial levels, including plotting and dialogue".

"Some of Chopra's formal choices likewise court bad laughs," he added.

Variety concluded the review by saying: "The finale's explosion special effects, however, look glaringly fake."

Nytimes.com also used words like "a deeply silly drama" to describe the film, which is co-written, directed and produced by Chopra.

The site hollywoodreporter.com tagged the film as "far too absurd to be taken seriously".


"The film seems to be aiming for a surreal quality that it never manages to pull off successfully," the website added.

But the movie managed to impress acclaimed Hollywood directors James Cameron and Alfonso Cuaron.

"'Broken Horses' is an artistic triumph. Beautifully written, acted and imaged, this film wraps slowly around you like a king snake and squeezes," Cameron had said earlier.

"Broken Horses" features Vincent D'Onofrio, Anton Yelchin, Chris Marquette, María Valverde and Thomas Jane in key roles.