The Hindu : New Delhi News : Happy days are here again for Bollywood... .

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 06, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Happy days are here again for Bollywood... .

ZIYA US SALAM

GARAM MASALA

(At Odeon and other Delhi theatres)

Bollywood is happy. Films are doing well; the brimming entertainment quotient is working. Everyone is smiling. Yes, smile is the new sunshine feeling in the industry that lives by the moment. Everyone from Priyadarshan to Sangeet Sivan, David Dhawan to Anees Bazmi is busy reaping the fruits of laughter. This week, we get two more opportunities to live, love and laugh. Priyadarshan gives "Garam Masala" that touch of unadulterated joy that only he seems capable of. And David Dhawan proves with "Shaadi No. 1" that in the gags department he is quite simply No. 1. For the moment, though, let's raise a toast to Priyadarshan, that consummate professional who wears two hats all the time. When he is sober, he tries to please the discerning cinemagoers. That's when he gives us "Virasat" - and tries to work his magic with "Kyon Ki... .". When the box office compulsions make their presence felt, he recycles his laugh formula patented with "Hera Pheri". Sometimes he calls it "Hungama", sometimes he calls it "Hulchul".

The box office usually laughs along -- so what if the formula is wearing thin! -- and the critics are less inclined to give any bonus points. The masses were never known to be discerning. They ask no uneasy questions. Every time the hero trips, every time the heroine contorts her face, they laugh. And every other line elicits applause. It is more of the same in "Garam Masala", a film that is spicy, and, bearably hot. No subtleties, no understatements, just non-stop nonsense that passes for comedy these days.

Want to know the story of this trip down familiarity lane? Well, we have Akshay Kumar, Priyadarshan's old favourite, and Bollywood's new comic hero following "Mujhse Shaadi Karoge". A failed photographer, he keeps three airhostesses busy, inviting the first one to his bachelor's pad when the second girl is driving down to the airport, and the third is actually in mid-air! Defies logic? Never mind. Logic is usually the first casualty in a non-stop blast.

The important thing is, here the gags work, the pace, whenever it slackens, picks up before it is too late. And Akshay Kumar gets an able hand in Paresh Rawal. By the way, when was the last time Rawal failed to do justice to his smirk and deadpan part? He does more of the same, in more of the same manner.

Again, importantly, he manages to tickle the audiences as the cook in charge of keeping the three ladies happy. Between the two, they transform "Garam Masala" into a film you would not mind watching.

And that one says despite the presence of John Abraham, who in a film of non-stop buffoonery thinks it's a sin to smile. But for the moment, stop nitpicking. Leave subtleties at home. Just enjoy "Garam Masala". It is all about laughing for the sheer pleasure of being happy. Ask no questions; relish the moment.

SHAADI NO. 1

(At Chanakya and other Delhi theatres)

Govinda is gone. David Dhawan ticks on. Salman is not here either. David Dhawan still manages to deliver. And therein lies his credit. Zero novelty, zilch logic, no credibility. Yet Dhawan scores at the box office, scoffing at all those pundits of doom, all those who sneer every time he recycles his guffaws, and chooses to call them whatever, "Coolie No. 1", "Biwi No.1", "Aunty No. 1"... . One small part of the educated segment protests, howls. The other quietly queues up at the turnstiles. And Dhawan notches up another hit. Mind you, not with a film he would showcase in his resume, but a film that would show in his passbook! "Shaadi No. 1" may leave the prudes squirming; it may actually test your morality quotient, challenging you to show some elasticity in scruples. But in the end, as he has often done, Dhawan delivers. Not with a bang but with a thud loud enough to set the box office registers jingling.

Seen closely, "Shaadi" is nothing but "Masti" repackaged. Of course, there is a bit of "No-Entry" too. The same philandering husbands, the same set of wives - one devoted to religion, the other to her profession, the third to everything except conjugal delight. Reason enough for men to seek some fun on the sly, and the dialogue writer to sneak in sentences that pass muster only because it is a tale of perfidy with a touch of lightness, a breeze with a lower sex and higher entertainment quotient. The director expects you to leave morality in the closet and sail along with this tale of three young men duped by their boss into having a fleeting romance with his three daughters. The guys are like buffoons, the girls are like invitations to intimacy. Ridiculous? Well, the plot, the story, the situation, everything is supposed to be ridiculous in a David Dhawan film. The thing is, it works. For the large part. This despite having a non-actor like Fardeen Khan in the lead, having Zayed Khan whose acting takes you back to the school stage, as the second hero. And there is Sharman Joshi who has done a few films without anybody taking as much notice of him as the furniture on the sets. Of course, the presence of Sanjay Dutt as the do-gooder brother to three wives, and three sex symbols helps.

As the girls flit in and out like butterflies, many are left doubled up in laughter. Others, unaccustomed to Dhawan delights, stifle sneers. Let them. Dhawan does not cater to them. Here he delivers a film that you can watch with your spouse or girlfriend, taking care not to take the kiddies along. Go for it. Comedy veritably is king at the box office these days.

KYON KI...

(At Chanakya and other theatres)

Destiny's favourite child is well and truly back, riding the high horse, looking handsome, doing not much else. Of course, "Mujhse Shaadi Karoge" and "Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya" have helped, but Salman Khan is trying to reproduce the lingering appeal of "Tera Naam" here. And Priyadarshan is trying to prove that one "Virasat" is not the only way he would be remembered by posterity, his box office credits notwithstanding. So here comes "Kyon Ki... ", a film delectable by half. It brings together Kareena Kapoor with Salman for the first time, and the lady does nothing to prove she deserves a second shot. Which is exactly what one would say to Priyadarshan too. "Kyon Ki... " might have worked wonders in Malayalam but that is not always reason enough to go for a second helping, this time Malayalam washed away and Hindi added.

This film is neither here nor there. It appears to be a comedy initially. And as the reels roll on you realise it is actually a tragedy! Quite bad for all those who in a festive season only want to smile, laugh, talk. This is a sad advertisement for Bollywood. And no, Priyadarshan, the attempt to walk into an asylum for a love story does not work. Why? Simply because too much footage is wasted on avoidable humour. What's worse, some of it is at the expense of people who need help, and not scorn. By the time we realise the hero is in the asylum after losing his beloved, and that his lady doctor has a soft corner for him, the film would have hurtled to its natural fall. Of course, Om Puri as the loud, slimy doctor does his bit. And there is not too much help for Salman from anyone else except Jackie Shroff.

Is there is a reason to watch "Kyon Ki... "? Not if you value sanity over hero worship.

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