Bombay Boys
Encyclopedia
Bombay Boys is an unorthodox 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
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.
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 (Naseeruddin Shah
), 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 (Tara Deshpande
), igniting further flames. Xerxes, who's a Parsi, is led to embrace his latent homosexuality
by their gay landlord (Roshan Seth
).
Also present are the "Bombay Boys", a rock band
made up of musical no-hopers led by Luke Kenny
, who spend most of their time drinking and smoking pot
. The band has no instruments (they break into a music store at night to practise) and no talent (their hit songs "Heyyy" and "Yeahhh" contain just one word in the lyrics, repeated over and over). Nonetheless, they are fond of asserting loudly - "We are the Bombay Boys! The coolest thing since Antarctica!". They are also apparently "huge in Bangladesh
."
financed the film with credit cards as well as by borrowing money from his family and friends.
through the contemptuous viewpoint of certain NRIs. However, others defended the film, saying that it was genuinely funny and that beneath the satirical surface, it was the filmmakers' loving homage to one of India's great cities. Naseeruddin Shah received positive reviews from critics for his role as Don Mastana.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written and directed by the Indian director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Kaizad Gustad
Kaizad Gustad
Kaizad Gustad is an Indian film director and writer. He is best known for his 1998 comedy Bombay Boys and debut novel Of No Fixed Address....
. It follows the adventures of three young men in modern-day Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
(or Bombay). The boys are of Indian origin, but were all raised in the West. Krishna Sahni (played by Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) is an aspiring actor from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
who wants to make it big in Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
. Ricardo Fernandes (Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
) is from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and is in Mumbai to search for his long-lost brother. Finally, Xerxes Mistry (Alexander Gifford
Alexander Gifford
Alexander Gifford is an English theatre director and former model and film actor. He was one of the three leads in Kaizad Gustad's cult comedy Bombay Boys alongside Naveen Andrews and Rahul Bose. He played the role of Xerxes Mistry, a confused young British Asian of Parsi origin who comes to...
), a musician from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 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 airportAirport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an 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 (Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
), a godfather
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
of the Mumbai underworld who's also a film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. Mastana is a violent man who thinks nothing of impaling a lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
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 (Tara Deshpande
Tara Deshpande
Tara Deshpande is an Indian actress, writer, former model and MTV VJ. She appeared in several acclaimed films such as Sudhir Mishra's Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys...
), igniting further flames. Xerxes, who's a Parsi, is led to embrace his latent homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
by their gay landlord (Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...
).
Also present are the "Bombay Boys", a rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
made up of musical no-hopers led by Luke Kenny
Luke Kenny
Luke Kenny is an Indian ex-video jockey, critic, musician, director, producer and actor.- Early life :Born in Calcutta on 14 June, Kenny moved to Bombay when he was a small child. His great-grandparents were Irish. They moved to Burma, where his grandfather was born. After World War II, his...
, who spend most of their time drinking and smoking pot
Pot
Pot commonly refers to pottery, the ceramic ware made by pottersPot may also refer to:- Containers :* Plant pot or flower pot, a container in which plants are cultivated* Cooking pot, a stove-top cooking utensil* Chamber pot, a bedside urinal...
. The band has no instruments (they break into a music store at night to practise) and no talent (their hit songs "Heyyy" and "Yeahhh" contain just one word in the lyrics, repeated over and over). Nonetheless, they are fond of asserting loudly - "We are the Bombay Boys! The coolest thing since Antarctica!". They are also apparently "huge in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
."
Production
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 GustadKaizad Gustad
Kaizad Gustad is an Indian film director and writer. He is best known for his 1998 comedy Bombay Boys and debut novel Of No Fixed Address....
financed the film with credit cards as well as by borrowing money from his family and friends.
Cast
- Naveen AndrewsNaveen AndrewsNaveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
..Krishna - Rahul BoseRahul BoseRahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
...Ricardo - Alexander GiffordAlexander GiffordAlexander Gifford is an English theatre director and former model and film actor. He was one of the three leads in Kaizad Gustad's cult comedy Bombay Boys alongside Naveen Andrews and Rahul Bose. He played the role of Xerxes Mistry, a confused young British Asian of Parsi origin who comes to...
...Xerxes - Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
...Mastana - Tara DeshpandeTara DeshpandeTara Deshpande is an Indian actress, writer, former model and MTV VJ. She appeared in several acclaimed films such as Sudhir Mishra's Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys...
...Dolly - Roshan SethRoshan SethRoshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...
...Pesi - Tarun Shahani ...Danny
- Luke KennyLuke KennyLuke Kenny is an Indian ex-video jockey, critic, musician, director, producer and actor.- Early life :Born in Calcutta on 14 June, Kenny moved to Bombay when he was a small child. His great-grandparents were Irish. They moved to Burma, where his grandfather was born. After World War II, his...
...Xavier - Vinay PathakVinay PathakVinay Pathak is an Indian actor and a theatre person born and raised in Bhojpur, Bihar. He is known for his great Comic timing and as a revolution in Indian Cinema along with Ranvir Shorey, Rajat Kapur, Abhay Deol, who are tagged as actors of a new genre...
...Spot-boy turned director - Kushal PunjabiKushal PunjabiKushal Punjabi is an Indian film and television actor, who won the TV reality game show, Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout, the Indian version of internationally popular "Wipeout" in February 2011, taking home the prize of 5 million.-Early life and family:...
...Asif - Javed Jaffrey... Special appearance in item song "MUMBHAI"
- Nagesh Bhosle... Cherry Blossom Kalia
Critical reception
Quite a few critics took offence at the mocking tone of Bombay Boys, saying that it showed IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
through the contemptuous viewpoint of certain NRIs. However, others defended the film, saying that it was genuinely funny and that beneath the satirical surface, it was the filmmakers' loving homage to one of India's great cities. Naseeruddin Shah received positive reviews from critics for his role as Don Mastana.