Much as we love Jamie Foxx, it was the Israeli actor Ashraf Barhom who commanded our attention in Peter Berg’s new action flick The Kingdom.

As the Saudi colonel Faris Al Ghazi responsible for guarding a bunch of FBI Special Agents investigating a horrific attack in Saudi Arabia in which many American lives were lost including an FBI colleague, Ashraf Barhom brings an intensity to his character that Foxx - who plays an FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury here - never seems to achieve.

I suspect we’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more of Ashraf Barhom in Hollywood productions.

A geopolitical action thriller with car chases and its twin siblings bombings and kidnappings, The Kingdom is not in the same league as that edge of the seat, steroid-laced thriller of this summer Bourne Ultimatum.

Simply put, former CIA operative Jason Bourne trumps FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury in every department - story, action and pace.

But don’t get us wrong.

The Kingdom is still a decent movie compared to any of the currently running Bollywood nightmares at the Indian theatres in New York, New Jersey or California.

Against the wishes of the wimpy Attorney General Gideon Young (Danny Huston) and the State Department, four FBI agents land in Saudi Arabia to investigate a deadly attack.

With just five days to complete their difficult mission, the FBI agents led by Foxx meet with a hostile reception in Saudi Arabia both from the local U.S. State Department fellow Damon Schmidt (Jeremy Piven) as well as from their Saudi hosts.

Saudi colonel Faris Al Ghazi is responsible for their security and also for ensuring that the FBI agents do not step out of line in a country where for much of the local population Osama bin Laden is the hero and the Americans are the villains.

Saudi Arabia is a harsh terrain in every way - language, culture, anti-American sentiments and other prejudices stymie the FBI agents at every turn.

Although the story is not gripping in its entirety, The Kingdom has a lot of good moments.

Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Chris Cooper as the other FBI agents and particularly Ali Suliman as the Saudi Sergeant Haytham do an adequate job.

Much of this geopolitical thriller was actually shot - literally and figuratively in this case - in Arizona though it’d hard to figure that out if you didn’t know it already.

Even in the land of Khushboo a.k.a the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, thin is apparently in these days.

Besides the voluptuous yesteryear actress Khushboo (for whom devoted fans once built a temple), several prominent Tamil heroines like Jyothika, Ramya, Nagma, Sripriya  and Nayantara have been rather plump by Hollywood - and even Bollywood - standards.

But according to the hacks at the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), plump is out of fashion these days in India.

Gone with the wind are the days of yore when plump, fleshy heroines were the stuff of every young man’s fantasies. A WSJ feature item takes note of this new phenomenon in the Friday edition of the paper: 

In the home of the country’s Tamil-language film industry, full-figured heroines used to be the hottest stars. Until a few years ago, actresses considered too chubby for the country’s mainstream Hindi-language Bollywood movies could find roles easily in this city. No more.

Well, that’s a bit of exaggeration considering that full figured Tamil actresses like Nayantara and Meera Jasmine still have the young uns - and, ahem, quite a few old ones too like yours truly - drooling.

Hooey, say the folks at the WSJ. They argue that for a new generation of young women in India, weight reduction, yoga, diet and thin are the new shibboleths.

In a country where full figures have long represented the ideal for feminine beauty, thin is increasingly in. An influx of glossy international fashion magazines and a growing number of opportunities for women in the work force are prompting a move toward fitted Western-style fashions and away from flowing national garb. Now, weight-loss clinics are proliferating in urban centers.

Well, count us out among the new fans of the thin, svelte Indian babes.

Not for us the Shreyas and Asins. We’ll stick with the Jyothikas and Nayantaras, thank you.