The Idea-
The film raises basic issues of independence, non-conformity, social and personal pressures, through characters and scenarios all too familiar here, yet the ideas these characters deal with are rarely discussed (as depicted in an extremely appropriate set of conversations at a party scene in the film) in public. Bugaboo uses a healthy dose of humor to inoculate you, while injecting a near venomous dose of reality as you laugh.

The film isn't going to win Oscars or Golden Globes, but it is an incredibly clear peek into 3 very common and plausible scenarios. One character is fearful of an impending parental visit and it's potential impact on his interracial relationship. A second man is acquainting himself with his new wife, perplexed by how to consummate his marriage. The third and most interesting character is scared that his life is not being lived to the fullest and so seeks to add "spice" to his existence by any means necessary.

I won't give away all the things that this central character does, but suffice it to say that they are random and ultimately hilarious. As I related to the man whose meals consist mostly of cereal and garbanzo beans, recollected the near terminal fears of telling my mother about a "relationship", and laughed at the "quintessentially white", I realized the makers of the film had succeeded on several levels. 

They had very artfully figured out a way to tackle heavy issues their core audience actually lives through, while writing in enough one-liners to keep the atmosphere light. They had also conquered the not-so-small task of making a film funny for Desis, ABCDs, and the people in between, without being too risqué.

The Vibe-
I had never been to a "world premiere" and didn't have any expectations for a rousing crowd at this one, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of hundred Indians packed into a high school auditorium on a "cubicle night". 

Early on during the film I knew I was in for something different, when, as a montage of silicon valley buildings raced by on-screen, the two elderly Ammas sitting behind me broke from their Kanada and automatically began playing a game of `name that tech campus'. "3 Com" said one, "Intel" responded another, "Apple" said the first again, while I was still trying to figure out when 3 Com went by. (I'm ashamed to say that as many times as I walk into these buildings to conduct interviews for work these elderly women could identify the Network Associates building faster than me.)

Its only when the lights came up, and the reels changed during a two minute intermission that I became conscious once more how antithetical to a Bollywood story line this was. This movie was nearly a docu-drama, of most of the audience sitting around me. There were no women singing in the rain, there were no spontaneously choreographed dance sequences where people erupt out of poppy fields, it was just real, while being funny.

I started wondering then, how it was that all these people were balancing their worlds so carefully? Living in an obnoxiously priced "people-box" off the Lawrence Expressway, with little to no furniture or food just can't be all that fun. Neither can racing to a cubicle everyday, where access to the virtual world substitutes for the real world. Is it through frequent trips to the Golden Gate Bridge or Yosemite National Park in newlywed picnicking groups, is it through getting the cheapest phone card deal and calling your kin overseas regularly, is it the ownership of a Hindu Accord that makes this all worthwhile?

I don't know, and I'll only know second hand, but somehow the characters in the film, like the audience around me- get by. I hope they do more than just get by, I hope they are inspired by the film, (not necessarily to perform the random acts of "spice") but to ask some of the questions we could all ask ourselves.

So as I reached my car, having listened to the reaction of the group of men walking in front of me, I was satisfied that these guys would probably find their Bugaboos. The doors to the Hindu Accords all these men drove all slammed shut, almost in sequence, as they headed out of the parking lot wondering where the red light in their life was, and what they had to do to run it.

Mechanics-
The script was very funny, and the timing was on. There were several secondary characters that could have been developed more fully (but I'll assume the creators of this film are saving that for a sequel), but overall the actors (especially the lead) performed their roles rather convincingly. Audio could have been significantly improved, and certain sequences of video (while driving in the mustang for example) could have been edited better to avoid jump cuts and repetition. Considering the time, equipment and budget, this was definitely more worthwhile than Phantom Menace.

Hari Sreenivasan
11:27pm 8/12/99
hari@cnet.com