Movies - Bombay Boys

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	Movies - Bombay Boys

Bombay Boys (1998) is an unorthodox comedy film written and directed by the Indian director Kaizad Gustad. It follows the adventures of three young men in modern-day Mumbai (or Bombay). The boys are of Indian origin, but were all raised in the West. Krishna Sahni (played by Naveen Andrews) is an aspiring actor from New York who wants to make it big in Bollywood. Ricardo Fernandes (Rahul Bose) is from Sydney, Australia and is in Mumbai to search for his long-lost brother. Finally, Xerxes Mistry (Alexander Gifford), a musician from London, is looking to discover his "roots" in the land of his ancestors.

The three meet each other for the first time at Mumbai's airport and decide to find a place together. In the course of the movie, Krishna finds out that, in order to break into the local film industry, he must first win the (decidedly risky) patronage of Don Mastana, a godfather of the Mumbai underworld who's also a film producer. Mastana is a violent man who thinks nothing of impaling a lizard with a knife or shattering the skull of a fellow crime boss for making a pass at his girlfriend. The role of Mastana was played by the acclaimed actor Naseeruddin Shah, who received kudos for his hilarious, psychotic performance.

Ricardo, the serious-looking Australian, finds out the sad fate of his brother, but also manages to fall in love with Mastana's spunky moll Dolly (Tara Deshpande), igniting further flames. Xerxes, who's a Parsi, is led to embrace his latent homosexuality by their gay landlord (Roshan Seth).

Also present are the "Bombay Boys", a rock band made up of musical no-hopers who spend most of their time drinking and smoking pot. The band has no instruments (they break into a music store at night to practise) and no talent (their hit songs "Heyyy" and "Yeahhh" contain just one word in the lyrics, repeated over and over). Nonetheless, they are fond of asserting loudly - "We are the Bombay Boys! The coolest thing since Antarctica!". They are also apparently "huge in Bangladesh."

The city itself plays a prominent part in the movie. It is set in Mumbai's bars and slums and markets, and its movie industry is caricatured throughout. Quite a few critics took offence at the mocking tone of Bombay Boys, saying that it showed India through the contemptuous viewpoint of certain NRIs. However, others defended the film, saying that it was genuinely funny and that beneath the satirical surface, it was the filmmakers' loving homage to one of India's great cities.

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