Bombay Boys
dir. by Kaizad Gustad
starring Alexander Gifford, Naseerudin Shah
Three young men, each on a personal quest, are thrust together when they visit Bombay and find themselves in the same mini cab. All are Indian, but live in other continents. India represents the answers we always hope to find in distant, exotic realms. Ricardo Fernandez searches for his long-lost brother who didn’t emigrate to Australia 19 years ago. The American seeks fame as an Indian film star, which provides an outlet for his bad acting. The English Xerexes Mystery seeks self-discovery, which boils down to “Am I really gay?”. Of course he is. You can’t ask the question without getting a yes. Still, it is a super power that saves him in the last reel. All three find themselves involved with the corrupt and homicidal film producer Mustana. After beating his director bloody with a megaphone, he plaintively states “Every day I must kill a man.” Welcome to Bombay.
Mustana and his mistress/leading actress gel this film. His obsessive knife wielding and her constant flirting bring our Three Amigos From Out-of-Town together into the reality of Bombay life, which isn’t what any of them had hoped for. Acceptance is tough when everyone asks why you left in the first place. Heavy duty rockers Indus Creed provide ’70s glam rock support – these guys are HUGE in Bangladesh. (Today Bangladesh, tomorrow the world!) A tall order for a band whose only lyric is “Yeah Yeah Yeah.”
Bombay Boys is a funny film. Three subplots are merged into one story, but with limited success. One of those plots is lost in the labyrinth streets of Bombay, and straggles to the finish about 5 miles behind the others. All is forgiven when Ricardo sings Australian anthem “Waltzing Matilda,” to a Hindi beat. It’s a world thing – you WILL understand.
