Garam masala: the review

Garam masala was a varied experience for me. The movie made me happy about certain things, sad about certain others. For those who don't know the story, don't bother much. Script-wise this is much more a David Dhawan film than a Priyadarshan film (which is not necessarily criticism since I myself am a fan of DD-Govinda movies). The point of the script is just to somehow make all the antics look cohesive and narrative.

Akshay Kumar and John Abraham are two photographer buddies who have no interest in the camera but all the interest in the world in their subjects. Both are good-for-nothing ogling men. Until John Abraham cheats, wins and leaves a dejected Akshay Kumar who decides to do away with his honest approach to life by taking to complete lying and swindling (I swear I did not see this approach in his character till he actually says so!)The rest is two guys, three gals, a cook and loads of David Dhawan style confusion, laughs, absurdities and entertainment.

I made the mistake of reading too many reviews of this movie before seeing it. I had started to expect a mindblowing performance from Akshay Kumar. His performance is not mind-blowing, but it is good. His face suits the character, his expressions are quite apt most of the times and whatever overacting he does occasionally is nicely masked by the overall impossibility of the movie. Overall he has come a long long way from his initial self. Paresh Rawal performs well in his role. You really cannot complain about this man anymore. If you don't like him in a movie, it is the director's fault, the script's fault, the dialogue writer's fault--everybody but Paresh Rawal. The man can do no wrong these days.John Abraham--what can I say? Sorry to disappoint any lady fans of him on this list, but he is as pathetic acting-wise as he has been in most others. He falls far behind Akshay Kumar (maybe that is what makes Akshay look so good) and Paresh Rawal. Even the most animated scenes cannot shake the lethargy and stiffness off his body and face. Even though I cannot understand why this man has so much female following, if they had to show him as a loser and one who doesn't get girls easily, at least they should've changed what is allegedly his normal sexy look! He looks as much a rickshaw wala in this movie as he does in every other.

Priyadarshan is slipping further down movie after movie. This movie is much better than his last one, Hulchul, which was a sorry and confused mix of drama and lame comedy. But the director is still going down. It is difficult to believe that a director who has given us movies encompassing such a wide range of topics like Virasat, Doli Sajake Rakhna and Hera Pheri is trying to cash in on the sleaze fest currently going on in the Hindi film industry. If he has to do that, at least take lessons from David Dhawan in impossibility and then do it. The camera work is the most disappointing and disturbing part of the movie. I doubt where the censor board draws a line these days, or whether it even wants to draw one. As if women dancing in skimpy clothes for nothing wasn't enough, the camera zooms into body parts now! And the context (if you really want to reason with why these shots are there in a movie) is nothing--just two guys who try to personify coolness surrounded with lively props that are supposed to represent today's gals (to prevent Indian girls from feeling offended, they are phoren girls, since "fair-skinned blondes = dumb and devoid of dignity" according to many Indian film-makers of today). And this coming from Priyadarshan is even more disappointing--the director is either losing his touch, losing his purpose of making films, or losing his producers.

As an aside, look out for the extremely uncanny props in the movie, especially during the songs.I want to watch Kyon Ki, the second and more serious movie by Priyadarshan this Diwali. But the double whammy of Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor scares me :-)