The film revolves around Makrand aka Mac(Akshay Kumar)-a photographer who isn't too great at his profession. He has a junior assistant Shyam aka Sam(John Abraham). The two share a love-hate relationship and are always looking at ways to outdo each other in life be it their careers, money or women.
Due to a twist of fate Sam gets a promotion, the girl of his dreams whom Mac was also after(Neha Dhupia) as well as a free trip to America.
Mac decides to pull of the ultimate game. With the help of his trusty assitant(Rajpal Yadav), Mac organises himself to housesit a mansion. His money hungry boss who Mac bribes introduces him to three gorgeos air hostesses Priti(Daisy), Sweety(Neetu), and Puja(Nargis) who all believe Mac is a rich businessmen and Mac manages to make each one fall in love with him. The twist? None of the three girls know that Mac is playing all three of them at once!
To add to the comedy there is the grumpy "bawarchi" Uncle Mambo(Paresh Rawal) who only likes to do anything once. Mac convinces Uncle Mambo to help him out in his con and everything is going smoothly...until Sam arrives back!
Sam blackmails Mac into moving in to this mansion as well but Sams intentions are to actually steal Macs three hostesses away from him...what happens next? GARAM MASALA provides the answers.
As a writer Priyadarshan comes up with a winning story. The premise is simple yet effective.A remake of his own South hit BOEING BOEING the story grabs the viewers interest from the start. The real winner is the crackling screenplay which is superb. The film moves at a breakneck pace and never lets up. The sequence of events that unfold one after the other never get boring at all-infact they get better frame after frame.
Priyadarshan as a director is in top form and this no doubt ranks as one of his BEST comedies to date in Hindi. It is leagues ahead of HUNGAMA and HULCHUL. To make an entire cinema full of people laugh constantly for just over two hours is NOT an easy feat yet Priyadarshan efficiently manages this.Heck the genre itself is one of the hardest to make a film in and GARAM MASALA is one film which doesn't make you smile or giggle-it makes you LAUGH. The events that unfold are so fast at times that you are laughing constantly until you have tears in your eyes and your stomach hurts. Some of the dialogues were being missed at times due to the roar of laughter(word). His direction is so natural...so seamless...that one has to call him a MASTER of his art...and the best thing? Just as you think the film couldn't get any funnier...the second half happens!! In recent times director David Dhawan(MAINE PYAAR KYUN KIYAA) and Anees Bazmee(NO ENTRY) too have struck gold with the comedy genre-yet GARAM MASALA is a much superior product to both these products. The film is a clean comedy all the way and reminds one of (go)olden day comedies made by Hrishikesh Mukerjee..HATS OFF TO PRIYADARSHAN!
A comedy NEVER works if the dialogues don't work. Some of thje biggest comedies fail due to their tired and oft repeated dialogues and here is where dialogue writer deserves a special mention for writing some of the funniest, freshest and most punch packed lines I have heard in a LONG time. Each actor has their lines tailormade and right from the very start to the end the dialogues are racy and pack a punch! An award winning job by Mr Vohra.
No doubt Priyadarshans biggest trump card has been extracting the most natural performances from his actors and GARAM MASALA is no different-the film excels in this area.
Akshay Kumar is OUTSTANDING and the entire movie belongs to him! The actor plays to the gallery in a role that is tailormade for him. His spontaneous comic timing is just undescribable as he hits all the right notes everytime. Even in scenes where you think he might go overboard he doesn't! His nervous laugh....his delivery....his facial expressions...his mannerisms are all just simply PERFECT and he commands screen presence everytime he is on screen(which is pretty much the entire movie)! If you thought Akshay Kumar was funny in HERA HERI, MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI or KHAKEE then beware----Akshay is funnier in GARAM MASALA than all three of the films mentioned IMO. One can clearly see why Akshay is one of the top actors in India today...and believe me this is only the begining! The movie is worth a re-watch for his performance alone!(Nuff said)
John Abraham too is great in his first outright comic role ever. John loosens up in front of the camera from his usual intense look and deliverys a completely relaxed and natural performance which really takes the viewer by surprise. The carmederie shared between Akshay and John is simply magnificent and is easily the mainstay of the movie. Despite the movie belonging to Akshay-John does NOT get sidelined at all for the most, and despite his orle only kicking in the second half he definetly leaves his mark. Just witness the spur of the moment "DEKHA MAINE DEKHA EK SAPNA" outburst.. His facial expressions and body language are spot on although at times he does go slightly overboard and needs to focus slightly more on his timing(not saying that its off...just that it could be better!). After proving his versatility as an actor with films like JISM, SAAYA and DHOOM, one can safely say that John Abraham has a definite funny bone!
From the supporting cast Paresh Rawal is fantastic as always. No doubt Priyan and Paresh share a special bond right from films like KABHI NAA KABHI to HERA PHERI, YEH TERA GHAR YEH MERA GHAR, HUNGAMA, HULCHUL and now GARAM MASALA. Rawal delivers yet another FRESH act and completely becomes the character of Mambo. His character requires him to portray his actions more with his body language and eye movement rather than dialogues and Rawal does that to perfection . The dialolgues he does have bring the house down totally. His getup is as always different and completely in sync with his character. Yet again proof that Rawal is a natural born actor regardless of what the role is.
Rimmi Sen looks beautiful in her role although she doesn't have much to do except for look angry or look hurt.
Neha Dhupia does even less but she does manage to look absolutely stunning-that tight figure is to die for.
The three actresses(Daisy, Neetu and Nargis) who play the air hostesses delivery commenable performances for their debut film and the credit goes to Priyan for bringing out the best in them. In the hands of any other director the girls would've been reduced to Bimbos but Priyan gives them that extra egde.
Rajpal Yadan plays totally to the gallery and will be appreicated in his part.
Manoj Joshi, Asrani and Viju Khote too play their smaller parts with elan.
Musically the film is excellent. The songs don't really have much place in the film but they DON'T interfere with the films story nor is there an over abundance of songs. They are all placed well and the glossy picturisation, superb dancing/choregraphy laced with some sizzling babes ensure that they are a treat for the viewer. The "ADAA" and "KISS ME BABY" which appear at the start and deserve a speical mention.
Technically the film is a slick product and is first rate it every department from cinematography(Tirru) to art direction(Sabu Cyrill). The editting is also tight(N.Gopalkrishnan and Arun Kumar)
YES-GARAM MASALA is not a perfect movie. Infact the film has its fair share of logic loopholes and the film does ask you to suspend disbelief(Example being..how come the girls never hear each other screaming/shouting when they are only in the next room?)..but bear in mind this is a comedy film, and one that is much smarter than anything that has currently been released in Bollywood of late. All up GARAM MASALA IS A MUST-SEE! It is the type of film which leaves you wanting a re-watch straight after you've watched it the first time..an absolute winner all the way!
Final Rating: * * * * ¼
