Garam Masala

About the film

Garam Masala (transl. Hot spices) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan. The film stars Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Paresh Rawal, Rimi Sen, Neha Dhupia and Rajpal Yadav. The story revolves around Makarand "Mac" Deendayal Chatpatiya (Kumar) and Shyam "Sam" Salgaonkar (Abraham), two photographer friends, who like to flirt with women constantly. After a trip abroad, Shyam decides to disrupt Makarand's life when he sees him enjoying the company of three ladies. The film is a remake of Priyadarshan's own 1985 Malayalam comedy Boeing Boeing which was a remake of 1965 English movie of the same name which in turn was based on the 1960 French play of the same name. A famous hotel comedy sequence from this movie was based on Priyadarshan's another 1985 Malayalam movie Aram + Aram = Kinnaram.

Garam Masala was released during Diwali in 2005 and received mixed reviews from the critics and was a commercial success. However, Kumar was appreciated for his performance which also won him the Best Actor in a Comic Role award at the Filmfare Awards. In 2024, Akshay Kumar called this movie "the toughest film of his career". Over the years, the film has attained a cult status, often celebrated for quotable lines in meme culture and rewatch value. Almost all of the scenes of Garam Masala were inspired from the 1965 American film Boeing Boeing.

Plot

The film starts off when two photographers, Makarand "Mac" Deendayal Chatpatiya and Shyam "Sam" Salgaonkar, are doing a photo shoot. While Mac is shooting the models in exposing poses, his fiancée Anjali leaves in disgust due to Mac's closeness to the models. Their boss calls them into his office and tells them that they are good-for-nothing photographers. He threatens to reduce their pay if they don't get some good pictures for the world photography competition to make his magazine Garam Masala famous.

Both Mac and Sam ask Maggie, the boss's secretary, on a date on the same day, at the same restaurant at the same time. As all three meet up at the restaurant, a pickpocket takes Mac's and Sam's wallets. After the meal, the competition to impress Maggie heightens, thus evoking humorous events, after which Sam and Mac leave Maggie to pay the bill.

Sam visits a famous photographer, praising him and asking for a few outstanding shots. These stolen shots help Sam win the world photography competition. He gets promoted, is given ten percent of the prize money, and has his pay doubled, while Mac receives a demotion to assistant. Sam flies off to the US to enjoy his holiday, leaving Mac fuming in Mauritius.

Soundtrack

The music is composed by Pritam while the lyrics were written by Sameer and Mayur Puri. All the remixes were mixed by DJ Suketu. D. Imman composed by the background score.

Release

The film was theatrically released on 2 November 2005 coinciding with Diwali.

Reception

Made on a budget of ₹170 million, the film grossed ₹546.5 million in its theatrical run.

Raja Sen of Rediff.com called the film ″funniest film of the year″, writing ″Akshay Kumar rocks the film. In a commandingly restrained performance, the actor shows off topnotch comic timing to hilarious effect. Balancing subtle shifts of tone with wildly over-the-top slapstick, he manages to always get a laugh, even when the script falters. There's a self-deprecating aspect visible in Akshay's comedy that adds warmth to the film. And he counters his goofy grin with a terrific display of deadpan dialogue delivery. This is his film, and he's having a ball.″

Conversely, Namrata Joshi of Outlook Magazine gave the film 2 stars out of 5, writing ″Priyadarshan again shows a spirit for mirth and mania but the film is not quite a laugh riot.″ Kaveree Bamzai of India Today wrote ″The lines are suited to the revolving-door kind of sex comedy. So there are many jibes about thighs, eyes and undies, which are ridiculous enough to elicit laughter from the devotees of films like No Entry.″

Accolades

Filmfare Awards for Best Comedian – Akshay Kumar

Key details