The Guru

Running in a limited release

Starring Jimi Mistry, Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Christine Baranski, Michael McKean, Rob Morrow Screenplay by Tracey Jackson; story idea by Shekhar Kapur Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer

There are two predominant S&S is this film. Spirituality and Sex and a heady combination of these two results in the GURU, a wacky comedy that is silly yet fun at the end of its running time of 92 minutes.

Guru Ramu Gupta (Jimi Mistry, “East Is East”) is teaching Bollywood numbers and Macarena to plump, triple tyred housewives in New Delhi. But his heart is aching for success and stardom and believes that to find this he must cross the Atlantic and come to New York City. His friend promises that this is the place to become rich, own a Mercedes Benz, a penthouse a la in style. Reality Check: On arrival he finds that the friend who has a business is only a cab driver, the penthouse, a crabby apartment in Queens that is shared by three other roommates. And the hard truth is his RISE to stardom is only “performing” in a porn film aided by Sharoona (Heather Graham) of Boogie nights fame.

It is of no consequence that Newton discovered the laws of gravity under the apple tree. So too, our friend Ramu Gupta suddenly finds himself a Guru offering spiritual solace to Lexi (Marisa Tomei), an heiress to a massive fortune and whose obsession lies in seeking New Age gurus. She is taken in so much by our young man that she decides to help him become a star giving spiritual advice to gullible rich socialites. Mixed of course, with a healthy dose of Sex advice

The Guru is a sex comedy that is funny and naughty. It does have nudity, peppy porn dialogues, but all of it in a fun sort of way without making one squirm in their seat and it's sweet, and likable. The movie seem to send out the message that there is no respectable role for Indian actors in America and also pokes fun at the eccentricities of rich Americans and socialites ready for a quick spiritual fix.

If you are game for this kind of fun, go for it. I laughed my way through.

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