Good comedy. Review on Bollywood Calling

A DEKKO at Mumbai moviedom, Kukunoor's third attempt still has that naive, ghee-whiz, so-this-is-India outlook. Throughout Bollywood calling, we are suffused with the feeling that here's an earnest NRI striving to come to terms with his roots, so what if he often falls flat on his face in the process? For one, technically this producer-director certainly has to get smarter and slicker which is possible even with a relatively parsimonious budget. And second, could he please quit strutting around peacockishly through masala town? While casting a glance at those haanji, naaji foibles of Indian film-making (is Hollywood any better really?), he picks on a New Jersey C-grade actor (Cusik) who lands a role in a Hindi flick called Maut, being shot in Hyderabad. The American actor, incidentally suffering from a terminal illness to add pathos to the proceedings, now has to adapt to the wacky manners of a South Indian producer-cum-director (Puri), besides conducting a tempestuous liaison with the tough cookie of a starlet (Perizaad Zorabian). Plus, there's the egoistical co-star, an aging, bewigged villain (Navin Nischol) who's naturally fond of his whisky and bullying the film unit according to his whims. Result: The American actor learns some bittersweet lessons in life and movie-making before returning home.To be sure, the film has its winsome and humorously observant moments a la Hyderabad Blues. On the acting front, Om Puri delivers an immensely saucy performance, while Navin Nischol is impressive as the debauched `bad guy'. Cusik is wooden though. And Ms Zorabian just about fits the bill. With all its pros and cons, Kukunoor's reel-life movie is intermittently likable. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.