The Guru
Review by Clint Morris
 Like
Tandoori Chicken made mild for a dilettante ally, Daisy von
Scherler Mayer's The Guru is Bollywood condensed -
supplementing ersatz blasé for an American audience.
It may have the melody, visage and basics of a Bollywood
biggie, but truth be told The Guru, despite it's zest
and lure, gives the far-off genus a bad wrap.
Original but bombastic, the film centers on what happens
when young Indian men come to the United States, determined
to make it big in Hollywood - just as they have through film
back home.
Ramu (Jimi Mistry) is a young Indian dance instructor suddenly
faced with the realisation that his relocation to New York
may be a bust.
In a surprise to even himself, he gets a gig in a porn movie
- but unable to get Ramu Jr to perform on cue, the job only
lasts a day. Downcast, he turns to co-star Sharonna (Heather
Graham Graham) for direction.
Her theoretical counsel on porn acting proves unpredictably
useful when he subsequently finds himself stepping into the
shoes of a drunken guru at a glamorous Upper East Side gathering.
He recycles her tips and the audience lap up his words of
wisdom. Before long Ramu becomes the 'Guru of Sex' - with
everyone wanting a piece of him.
While Mayer's film is a tad over-emphatic, it does have its
moments. Heather Graham is noticeably having a blast as a
triple x-rated porn star masquerading throughout the day as
a schoolteacher.
Mistry himself proves a likeable and amiable enough headliner
for the piece too, despite the fact he's actually English,
not Indian.
Had The Guru beefed up its vacillating plot with more
observable differences between the States and India, we might
have had more of a film here. But as it stands, there's only
a couple of laughs here - The "Grease" take-off
being one - and they aren't really worth that hefty price
of cinema admission.
2.5 out of 5
The Guru
Australian release: Thursday November 7
Cast: Jimi Mistry, Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Christine
Baranski, Michael McKean, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Dash Mihok.
Director: Daisy von Scherler Mayer
Website: Click
here
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