REVIEW: Badmaash Company (2)

THOSE WERE THE DAYS

Not so long ago, before the retail boom, foreign goods came at a premium in India, and every area in Mumbai had a friendly neighbourhood smuggler, who provided goodies like jeans, t-shirts, branded shoes, watches, chocolates and cheese. The modus operandi was to send ‘carriers’ to Bangkok or Hong Kong, smuggle in these in-demand goods, in cahoots with the customs guys. The flourishing business came to an end with Manmohan Singh’s liberalization policy. It’s a very interesting social phenomenon, but a Badmaash Company in a film, smuggling shoes, doesn’t make for very exciting cinema.

Middle class Karan (Shahid Kapoor—efficient) wants to get rich quick, and with the help of friends Chandu (Vir Das--likeable), Zing (Meiyang Chang—good screen presence) and girlfriend Bulbul (Anushka Sharma--miscast) forms his own hoodwink-customs ring.

Karan’s too elaborate plan, again, is amusing to read about, but watching it unfold repetitively kills the humour of the story of Indian enterprise. This bit is added on to the true case of how a cancelled consignment of Madras checked fabric that bled, was turned into an triumph of canny marketing. (Captain Nair was the man who had sold the miracle fabric that bleeds concept, but much earlier than the period the film is set in.)

Parmeet Sethi, making his debut as director, hit on a good idea, cast it well, but his filmmaking style is stodgy and does not show any of the innovation that the story idea does. And then, after establishing these guys and gal as cool, he climbs the moral high ground and preaches honesty, stability and family values.

Still, it is to be commended for at least reminding us of a time that is forgotten in the glare of malls laden with international brands. The enterprising smuggler was really an institution, but as the hero of a film? Maybe not.