Bombay Boys is a 1998 Indian cultcrime 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 City 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.
Synopsis
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.
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.
Bombay Boys, which took four years to complete, was filmed on location in Mumbai's bars, slums and markets. The film was made on a limited budget; director Kaizad Gustad financed the film with credit cards as well as by borrowing money from his family and friends.[1]
The film was subjected to criticism for its homosexuality and profanity. Tanmeet Kumar from Planet Bollywood, stated that the film has portrayed India as "Americanized India". Tara Deshpande's performance was praised.[2] Pradeep Sebastian of Deccan Herald wrote that "Going by the crowds flocking to see it, it[']s clear that Indian audiences have begun to expect good things from Indian English films. But this is one they are going to be disappointed with".[3]
References
^Ezra, Elizabeth; Rowden, Terry (2006). Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader. Taylor & Francis. p. 61. ISBN0-415-37158-9.
