I did not have any great expectations of this movie when I went to watch it. It surprised me, might surprise you too. So if anyone intends to watch it, you might like to read this review later.
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The Plot
Jaswinder (Ritesh Deshmukh) like the many struggling desis in the US of A, flings newspapers into backyards, tinkers with thingies under the bonnets of expensive 4-wheelers and also tries to fill gas (petrol as we Indians know it) into some crevices in the vehicles. After all this, he still has time enough to sing and dance on the streets of NY too. Wow! Enter immigration officials (actually they just showed us the front of a building that claimed to be the immigration office; I cannot verify the authenticity or lack of it here) and Jaswinder’s life is taking a short cut to disaster. He needs a quick-fix. Mango (Satish Kaushik) is Jaswinder’s buddy-plus-roommate who puts him onto the marvellous idea of marrying an American citizen. Bingo! Solution to problem. After hemming and hawing a lot, Jaswinder does manage to get a ring onto Sally’s finger (Brande Roderick, Baywatch babe, blah blah blah, no intro needed for fans of the show and I am not one – fan I mean). Sally is an aspiring singer who tries to sing while the guys at the nightclub ogle her (so is that news??) which makes saintly, Hindustani Jaswinder want to punch their lights out – and he does so. This makes Sally’s heart go dhak-dhak and she falls head-over-high-heels in love with the guy who’s defending her izzat (and all that jazz!) So the lady becomes a little...uh...aggressive, our guy blushes like roses in first bloom, admonishes her with something along the lines of “Hamare yaha shaadi se pehle…tum nahin samjhogi” – roughly translated to “In our country, before marriage...you wouldn’t understand”. Sheesh! All she wanted was a kiss, man!
Anyway, they get married and then comes the call from Papaji – the great “I am Jatta Singh Bedi of the great Punjab” (Amrish Puri in a truly comic character – he’s great to watch). Papaji has lied through his teeth to get Jaswinder home, because he wants to marry the son off to of his friend’s daughter, Richa (Hrishita Bhat – less screen time, lesser role and miniscule acting displays). Jaswinder has to oblige and then, as we all know, he has to find a way to balance his 2 wives and his loud father. I won’t reveal an already predictable end.
The Analysis
Maybe because I walked in without expecting too much made this movie more enjoyable, but the fact remains – it is enjoyable.
Ritesh Deshmukh – I hadn’t watched his debut movie but heard that he is a good actor. Well, this movie was good as far as he was concerned. He is reasonable as the confused, beleaguered husband. I did not know he’s a good dancer too, that was a pleasant surprise and plus, he’s not a Hulk. He’s just an average good-looking dude, acting hard and succeeding at this role.
Brande Roderick – So much hoopla around this lady, I thought ok let’s see what’s the fascination. I used to watch Baywatch when it was about lifeguards and saving lives with that aging David Hasselhoff (I was fascinated after the Knight Hawk series appeared on telly – he is the central character). Ever since the show turned into a flesh show, which was pretty soon as far as I was concerned, I stopped – so I don’t know anything about Baywatch Hawaii and consequently zilch about Brande or her acting. She is good too, her ‘Gori nahin silly, Gaon ki gori’ line has many go nuts in the aisles as she sashays down the ramp in the gas station in a gorgeous lehenga-choli ensemble. While its always a surprise (to me at least) to hear a white person speak Hindi, to Brande’s credit, she is good with the dialogues and does not make a parody. Of course, the American accent makes it funnier and all the more enjoyable and the diction is good, she’s worked hard on it looks like. Very good.
Hrishita Bhat – This role seems to be an Asoka hangover for her, playing the meek, submissive character again. Towards the end, this character tries to show some spine when deciding to walk out on a lying husband, but stops halfway to do an about-turn and comes back to him. Bhat is passable as the docile Indian wife. (I think sometimes stereotypes are too dumb – I don’t know of any wife in India itself, let alone across the seas, who’ll make a seven-course meal and then when the hubby refuses to have any, throws the food and goes hungry herself – girls, wouldn’t you have had dinner???) Unfortunately, there is hardly anything for her to do in this role other than shed some tears and be a ‘homely wife’, whatever that species is.
Amrish Puri – He is the piece de résistance of this movie. As the loud, overbearing father of a meek guy, he has people rolling the aisles with his bombastic delivery. Add to his voice, his bug-eyed expressions make him a viewing pleasure. Can’t say more, you have to watch him in action. Very, very good.
Satish-es to the power of 2 – Oh yes, there are 2!! One is a roommate-friend while the other is a very ‘gay’ person. The former is Mango (Kaushik) who got his name supposedly because as an ‘ill-al’ (illegal alien) he arrived boxed in with a crate of mangoes and was named so. The latter Satish is a horrendously unrecognisable Mr Flower. I was gobsmacked when I saw this character and just couldn’t place the familiar face. My sister said ‘That’s Satish Shah’ and I said he’s not so horrible to look at. Well, let’s just say that truly gay people don’t look or behave so…so…so… repugnant…ugghh! If the intention was a shock, it succeeds beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. Oohh, gives me the creeps to talk about it!! Watch it.
Music/Direction/Screenplay/Editing and all the other tech stuff: Well, I hope it would suffice to say that everything passes muster. The music was not too jarring – ‘India se main aaya hoon’ (Sonu Nigam) and ‘USA wich LA, te main LA vi maina’ (Sunidhi Chauhan – I am almost certain of the voice though I did not read the credits, please correct me if I am wrong) – these are two of the more likeable numbers. Some of the dialogues, if not all, were quite funny and managed to evoke laughs, but considering the crowd I was with, I think even a corpse would have tickled them silly. Let’s just say it’s a well-made movie, production values on par with the best. Most of it is shot in the US of A with a few good shots of Punjab’s green verdure (for once!!) instead of the same yellow mustard fields.
The Conclusion
All the coy, pseudo-preaching about the non-existence of pre-marital sex in good ole India apart, this is one movie with a whole orchestra on marriages of convenience out in the West, and this is not just limited to the US. We are a practical generation. Who knows, such a marriage might just work out to be the best deal for all concerned! (Hold the stones, I am NOT advocating green card weddings, just that things happen and they might not always be the way we want them to be.)
Though the story is as old as the hills, there’s something fresh about the performance. Maybe the new face or may be the performance of the cast. I liked the movie immensely, which does NOT translate to everyone liking it. I would definitely see it on telly again. Well that says it all, I guess.
All comments more than welcome.