The Guru Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)February 18th, 2003
THE GURU
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Ramu Gupta (Jimi Mistry, "East Is East") is a Dehli dance instructor who dreams of
becoming a Hollywood musical star. Friend Vijay's (Emil Marwa, "East Is East")
false claims of the American Dream bring Ramu to NYC, where he finds himself waiting tables and naively responding to casting calls for porno films. Ramu stumbles into success with New York society when he's called upon at a catering
gig to substitute for "The Guru."
'It's called the American Dream because it only happens when you sleep,' Ramu's
illegal immigrant roommate Amit (Raahul Singh) informs him, but dual chance encounters prove that who you know can bring success if you're willing to betray
a trust. Based on experiences by producer Shekhar Kapur (director of
"Elizabeth"),
"The Guru" is a gentle comedy of colliding cultures.
Movie star handsome Ramu is first shown as a child squirming out of his seat at
a typical Bollywood production to groove to the movie "Grease" playing in the adjoining theater. Years later his hopes are dashed when Vijay's red Mercedes and New York City penthouse turn out to be a taxicab and batchelor crash walkup.
An audition with Ramrod Productions head (Michael McKean, "Best in Show") has Ramu telling his buddies he's about to be a star, but when he's called upon to perform with Sharonna (Heather Graham) the next day in a cheesy sex skit he can't get up the proper enthusiasm in front of the crew.
Sharonna, who hides her profession from firefighter fiance Rusty (Dash Mihok, "The
Thin Red Line"), takes pity on Ramu and coaches him in the art of acting in porno for the $800 price tag of her ideal wedding cake. Tidbits such as sexual
release freeing us from our fears and nudity being a costume to perform in are
remembered by Ramu when socialite Lexi (Marisa Tomei, "What Women Want") begins to
promote him as the Deepak Chopra of sex. Ironically, Ramu must hide his new profession from Sharonna, whom he is falling hard for, but his fame cannot be hidden forever and Ramu must choose between dream and reality.
Indian/Irish Jimi Mistry's exotic good looks and likeable charm may combine to make him the first Indian movie star. The former "Eastenders" star has never acted in a Bollywood flick, but lip synchs and shimmies through "The Guru's" Hollywoodized facsimilies like a natural. Heather Graham, who seems to be
working out personal sexual hangups on screen (see "Boogie Nights," "Bowfinger,"
"From Hell," "Killing Me Softly," "Two Girls and a Guy" etc.) usually projects a wide blue-eyed vacuousness, but here she attains a sweet quality that the film
never undermines by crossing into porno world realities. Tomei, who's been resurging in supporting roles of late, is miscast as the spoiled socialite looking for meaning in life. Just twelve years younger than Christine Baranski,
who plays her mother, she's simply too old for the role. McKean projects a fatherly warmth as the porno producer, which befits this film's sanitized portrayal of his profession. Marwa and Singh are terrific comic foils for Mistry.
Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer ("Madeline") neatly hops between New York's strata of societies and the musical styles of Hollywood and Bombay. (A typical Bollywood musical production is delightfully segued into a cover of "Grease" number "You're the One That I Want.") Tracey Jackson's screenplay isn't side-splittingly funny, but von Scherler Mayer delivers a film that should have you exiting with a smile on your face.
B-
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