Basmati Blues, 2017.
Directed by Dan Baron.
Starring Brie Larson, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Saahil Sehgal, Scott Bakula, Tyne Daly, Lakshmi Manchu, and Donald Sutherland.
SYNOPSIS:
A brilliant scientist is plucked out of the company lab and sent to India to sell the genetically modified rice she created – which she doesn’t realize will destroy the farmers she thinks she’s helping.
Basmati Blues was originally supposed to be released in 2015, which goes someway to explain why an actress of Brie Larson’s calibre is part of this steaming pile of rubbish. Larson took the role before being cast in Room, in which her stunning performance landed her the Best Actress Oscar and catapulted her to stardom. Basmati Blues is the type of film that I imagine she wishes wasn’t on her IMDB page.
Larson plays Linda, a brilliant scientist who works for a conglomerate and is sent to India to sell genetically modified rice. What she doesn’t realise is that she’s under the influence of money hungry CEO Mr Gurgon (Sutherland). Basmati Blues is also a musical and a torturous one at that. None of the musical numbers are catchy and the amount of cultural stereotyping on show would be laughable if it weren’t so offensive.
Let’s start with the positives (and there are only a few). All of the cast throw themselves into their roles and perform the musical numbers with gusto. Utkarsh Ambudkar as Linda’s love interest and rival Ranjit is great and his performance breaks through the monotony of the plot. There’s also some good humour scattered about. Donald Sutherland also hams it up as the evil CEO Gurgon and his villain song is weird but fun.
Now the bad. The direction makes Basmati Blues feel like it’s a made for TV movie from the early 90s; there is nothing that stands out other than the beautiful location. The script is clunky and as I’ve mentioned there are so many stereotypes on show. There’s a scene in a nightclub where everyone dances and “screws the lightbulb”, the whole plot point about the contracts duping farmers implies that farmers are stupid, and there is a moment where Brie Larson rides in on a white horse – as if the white saviour sentiment had been too subtle by this point. The songs aren’t catchy and the fantasy montages that occur look like bad music videos from a soap opera actor/actress trying to change their image. The whole thing is just full of cheese and not the good kind.
The first trailer for Basmati Blues debuted in November 2017 and there was outcry at the stereotyping and white saviour storyline. The studio insisted that it was just bad marketing, but after enduring the 1 hour 30 minute run time, it’s safe to say that if you didn’t like the trailer, you won’t like the full film.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Helen Murdoch
