neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Guru
	Daisy von Scherler Mayer Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Jimi Mistry, Michael McKean, Christine Baranski 2002		Is the time right for a trifling, mildly naughty romantic comedy, set mostly in Manhattan, with "Bollywood" production numbers straight out of an Indian musical? The makers of "The Guru" think so, but the film slavishly follows certain romantic-comedy conventions, and the first stab at humor in the script is (ulp!) a Macarena joke. At least the hero is a change from the norm. Dance instructor Rama (Jimi Mistry) longs to live in the U.S. and pursue a show-biz career. So he leaves New Delhi and moves to New York City, where he can only find work as a waiter or a porno actor. On his first day in porn, he's not up to the task, yet he falls for his co-star Sharonna (Heather Graham), a good-hearted gal who's convinced her uptight boyfriend that she's a schoolteacher. Rama does find success when he impersonates a swami at a party for a new-agey rich girl (Marisa Tomei). Preaching sex-as-enlightenment, he wins wealthy socialite followers. Still, Rama yearns for the unavailable Sharonna. The song-and-dance sequences are a boon, and the actors are attractive, glib and comfy in scene, no matter how offbeat or contrived the situation.