This film released way back in 1998. I was still in closet and this was first Indian film as far as I remember, which had a prominent gay character which was not normalized and not caricaturist. I secretly watched the film on dvd. So, even though the whole movie is not really queer, 1 of the 3 guys is gay and his story is equally important, so it was fun just reliving those moments.
Three young boys of India origin arrive in Mumbai at the same time. Krishna is a budding actor from NYC, Ricardo is here to find his long lost brother and is from Australia, and finally Xerxes, a musician from London, is here to discover himself. they meet at airport and decide to find a place together. In lure of movies, Krishna finds himself entangled in the underground world of Don Mastana. 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, igniting further flames. Xerxes, who's a Parsi, is led to embrace his latent homosexuality by their gay landlord. He makes him feel comfortable to embrace his sexuality and in the process Xerxes even meets a guy and stars dating.
i still remember that when this film was released, it was subjected to criticism for its homosexuality and profanity. I didn't find the film much funny when I saw it again, but in the first viewing, the OTT don and Krishna as the really bad actor add a lot to the comic touch of the film. In fact most film shooting scenes between Dolly and Krishna in presence of Mastana are a hoot. Of course, my focus was primarily just on Xerxes and his story, though hit doesn't take away from the overall film. His coming out was never made a big deal. It was just there and I loved that fact. And of course he is the cutest amongst the three boys. Its really a tribute to the city of Bombay (Mumbai) with its funny portrayal of the stark divide between rich and poor and the India with its Indian and western divide.
It's the kind of film, which is not to everyone's taste. Plus, as I said its not really a queer film, but only 1/3rd of it. I watched it for nostalgia sake. If black comedies are your thing, you may actually enjoy it. (4.5/10)
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