Priyadarshan has hit big league in Bollywood with entertaining capers like Hera Pheri and Hungama. In Garam Masala he again shows a spirit for mirth and mania but the film's not quite a laugh riot.
Priyadarshan's comic formula continues to be the same: outrageous twists and turns, raucous situations, charades, a total lack of logic rounded off with some loud slapstick. But unlike Hera Pheri and Hungama, Garam Masala lacks that one great idea on which to hold the whole plot. In Hera Pheri the action was centred on one wrong phone call. Hungama was all about one mistaken identity piling on another. Garam Masala's big idea is rather tame: a man two-timing (rather three-timing) his woman. So what's new? Makrand, aka Mac (Akshay), is a photographer who works for a magazine called Garam Masala. He prefers getting touchy-feely with his models than getting cosy with his fiance, Anjali (Rimmi). Why doesn't he ditch her or rather why doesn't she break free from the cad? Don't ask why. There are many such gaps in the lazy script. Take Mac's competitor Shyam (John). He walks in and out of the script for no reason at all. Then there's the office girl Maggie (Neha) whom Mac and Shyam go out on a date with. She just vanishes into thin air. Why? Then out of a lark, Mac decides to become the caretaker of a rich man's flat, employs an eccentric cook, Uncle Mambo (Paresh), and uses the den to have fun with his three air-hostess girlfriends. It's when he juggles with them that the confusion gets confounded and the proceedings warm up. Only to end tamely in a flat climax.
Not all the gags pack in a punch. The songs are particularly dull and dialogues listless. Akshay is the one who plays to the gallery. His philanderer act is a repeat of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi but with more spit and polish. John, rather unfairly, ends up playing a second fiddle but he does so gamely and shows good comic timing. Paresh is nicely droll and deadpan but Priyadarshan uses him more as a filler. And the women? Well, they are mere wall flowers. But for the ladies there are some visual incentives: the Baywatch buff bods of Akshay and John, particularly John with those ultra low-waist jeans. Now how does he balance them there?
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Courtesy: Film Information
