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Garam Masala
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'Garam Masala' Joyride

By Nitika Desai
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Toss aside the logic and reason. Brace yourself up for some slapstick and witty humour. Priyadarshan’s latest comic offering Garam Masala is a hearty entertainer.

Story is not really instrumental to a movie like this. What is crucial is the characters and the situations they get stuck in. Humour and comedy arise out of such situations.

The

film tells the story of two guys, Mac (Akshay Kumar) and Sam (John Abraham).

Mac is a luckless photographer, engaged to Anjali (Rimi Sen). Although the flamboyant shutterbug is a flirt, he has little success with women until three gullible, albeit sexy airhostesses – Priti (Daisy Bopanna), Sweety (Neetu Chandran) and Puja (Nargis) – buy his chaff. Mac, the ‘Casanova’, grabs the opportunity by its beard and begins flirting with each one of them, convincing each one at the same time that she is the only one in his love life.

Sam (Abraham) is Mac’s friend-turned-foe. The two are always locked in a battle of one-upmanship. When Sam comes to know that Mac is dating three girls, his own prospective date, a receptionist (Neha Dhupia in a cameo), seems little enticing to him. The grass, obviously, looks greener on the other side of the fence.

So Sam becomes Mac’s sidekick and helps(?) him living the lie in front of the three girls. The chaos begins when the girls land up in Akshay’s house.

Adding to the confusion, or rather caught in it, is the idiosyncratic cook Uncle Mambo (Paresh Rawal) who has maintained a safe distance from women ever since his wife ran off with his younger brother. A man who believes he is underpaid for the work he does, Uncle Mambo also helps cover the lie his employer lives, besides cooking three different types of dinner (suited to each girl’s taste), of course.

Gradually, things begin to slip out of Mac and Sam’s control and the two flirts decide to leave it all to the fate. The end is predictable with the two heroes learning their lessons in a befitting way.

Comedy, as is said, is a serious business. But Priyadarshan has his own way of going easily about it. Garam Masala is no laughathon like his Hera Pheri was, but the movie still keeps you up with its rib tickling humour.

The comedy in the movie sinks in gradually. The first half establishes the foundation for comedy by focusing on the ‘who is better’ game between Akshay and John. The sequences at the restaurant and airport are funny. But the real punch-packed humour comes in the second half. Particularly hilarious is the part when the two girls come to Akshay’s house and how he prevents them from running into each other.

Akshay Kumar is fast emerging as an actor with quite a comic flair. His facial expressions, his dialogue delivery, his tonal intonations and the humorous, self-deprecatory touch he brings to his character – all this invokes laughter and is worth praise.

Pitched opposite him, John Abraham, who is usually seen in brawn-flaunting, cool dude roles, just about manages to not look out of place. John’s humour is limited to giving confounding looks, overplaying his helplessness and striking a false swagger.

Paresh Rawal, as usual, lives upto the expectations and delivers a performance that regales to the hilt. The talented actor knows well how to catch the right nuance and facial expression. There are scenes in which he makes you laugh without saying much.

Of the three newcomers, Daisy Bopanna looks chic and savvy. Neetu Chandran gets to show a bit of oomph. Nargis plays the naïve and meek. Actingwise, the three girls are adequate given that it is their first big Bollywood project.

On the whole, Garam Masala is a joyride worth the price of a ticket. The movie doesn’t have a substantial story to boast, but it does have funny moments aplenty.

Worth A Watch.

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