make way for the punju poirot

Miss India: The Mystery is another rarity on the watch list. A little B-venture that falls perfectly in the slot occupied by Punju/northie dumb flicks with ugly non-actors offering strange looks as placebos for emotions, mouthing bad lines, and a screenplay that defies its moniker. What we have here is a murder mystery[sic] during a Miss India contest (suspension of disbelief required on the eligibility of these young dumb hags). Om Puri is the only (barely) redeeming factor as he plays a jolly Punju police inspector Yograj Singh, who investigates the crimes. While Puri gives it all he's got (including a nice vocal variant), his lines are dismal and bury the merit of his performance in a quagmire of moronic proportions. Howlarious lines abound along with strange looks and XCUs. And Ganesh Acharya pops up once again (twice actually: and he is even hailed officially on screen in the second appearance) dancing away to glory. I proffer dance baby and first_song for cultification. For all those wondering who this director Pradeep Maini is, check out an old Akshay Kumar flick called Kayda Kanoon, a standard gariibi-amiirii/anti-establishment/kader-khan-pontificating flick also featuring kader khan (duh!), sudesh berry. My cablewaalaa back home in India made sure that I caught this flick, but I wish I could remember more. trivia note: dance director ganesh acharya appears on-screen for two dance numbers, and is even mentioned by name for the second.

see also: nana poirot