Scott Brown

Just for a moment's contemplation, life-size figures - covered head to toe in tar - place the grim reality of an Indian road workers existence right in the heart of London. Kriti Arora's Tar Men 5 is just one of many exhibits decidedly serious, reflective and laden with tough social comment in this show. Saying that, a stuffed camel in an oversized suitcase - Huma Mulgi's Arabian Delight - isn't the only thing that lightens the tone, either. Held in a place that represents the mighty global art economy, by way of a prestigious international art institution, The Empire Strikes Back at the Saatchi Gallery makes an edgy home for discourse with the worlds largest democracy: India. It's quite a conversation.

This isn't just a beautifully arranged exhibition of some of India's most marketable contemporary art - it's also, reassuringly, full of genuine character. So yes, this is India by the Saatchi Gallery, but it's also in the language of contemporary art, by various contemporary artists who also happen to be contemporary Indian people (more or less). Because all these different concepts are given room to breath, you can too.

Occasionally, as with Death of Distance by Jitish Kallat, the exhibits seem in danger of burning out having made their point - and they do like to make points. It's rarely that simple, though. Death of Distance works by making a perfect analogy with perpetuity, and its impact lingers. A giant 1 Rupee coin and series of lenticular prints (like those rulers that move when you tilt them) reveal, in poignant simplicity, two sides to every story. Other exhibits are more obliquely layered with artistic ingenuity. Huma Baba's Museum Without Walls, for example, humorously nods towards cubism in its blend of polystyrene architecture sunk within a distorted clay face hung on moulded chicken wire. The sculpture is made from found materials - nothing new about that idea, except when the resulting object looks like the mad-cap creation of a shanty town mystic.

With twenty-odd artists exhibiting, there's plenty to talk about. To certain extent, it's this kind of bewildering diversity that prevents the show from being fantastic - too much, too noisy. Such a high-profile group exhibition also runs the risk of being contrived around a silly slogan - you know, something daft like 'The Empire Strikes Back.' The simpler title 'Indian Art Today' would have sufficed. These artists have such strong individual voices, they've no need for comic book catchphrases. And, if they did, they probably could have got Chitra Ganesh to come up with one, or just stolen a line from her comic strip Tales Of Amnesia: " A performance of grief, daily terror, a manicured hand, a creature of the night - What if? As if?"