Yes Boss

Yes Boss

MAIN CAST
Shahrukh Khan -- Rahul
Juhi Chawla -- Seema
Aditya Pancholi -- Siddharth

BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW:
Rahul has a very special job: he helps his boss, Siddharth, find beautiful women to cheat on his wife with, then breaks up with them when Siddharth gets bored. In typical Bollywood style, Siddharth ends up catching the eye of Seema, Rahul's beloved, which complicates matters for poor Rahul.

FILM -- 4.5/5
This is a 90s masala flick, so it wouldn't be right without some melodrama. I mean, you can smell the oncoming melodrama from an hour's pace when the doctor tells Rahul that his mother "cannot stress or face any trauma." And yet the melodrama level in Yes Boss is pretty low, and the film still manages to charm you with quirky dances, giggle-worthy scenes, and witty dialogue. Want to see SRK in a bath tub with another man? It's here! Want to see Juhi Chawla punch SRK in the face? It's here! Want to see Johnny Lever being slightly less obnoxious than usual? IT'S HERE! It's refreshing that, unlike the majority of Bollywood films, Yes Boss focuses on two middle class characters*, and its doubly refreshing that the women we see Siddharth chasing after are not anorexic waifs with unrealistic body proportions, but are actually healthy women with earthily pretty looks. I thought my brother was going to mock my taste in women when Juhi Chawla walked down the runway and her stomach jiggled a bit, but instead he yelled at my sister (who is about the same size as Chawla) for calling Juhi "fat" and said that American movies could learn a thing or two from India when it comes to physical beauty!** The choreography can be a bit silly, but it's also very fresh and fun. Lastly, please be prepared to deal with a lot of Indian morals being thrown at you, like Seema refusing to wear a 2-piece bathing suit because it is "lewd." It may seem ludicrous to us, but this sort of stuff is very common in South Asian and Middle Eastern films, and it's a cultural aspect you just have to get used to.

CHARACTERS -- 5/5
Shahrukh Khan*** and Juhi Chawla are very young and very sweet in Yes Boss. If you've been wanting to get in to the Juhi/Shahrukh jodi, but can't handle the slapstick nature of Duplicate or the awfulness that is Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Yes Boss is here to save the day! Their chemistry is innocent, pure, and full of cotton candy and unicorns and teddy bears and other harmless things. Johnny Lever makes an appearance, as he is wont to do in 90s masalas, and he's actually okay. He doesn't make me laugh like he did in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, but he doesn't annoy me the way he did in Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain. (It helps that he's only on-screen for a few minutes.) Aditya Pancholi plays the smooth-talking Siddarth well, and Ashok Saraf is adorable as Rahul's fumbling best friend Johnny. The supporting cast is pretty good and includes Reema Lagoo in her typical role as the doting mauji, as well as the super-sexy Kashmira Shah as Siddharth's wife.

SOUNDTRACK -- 4/5
The big thing that annoyed me about Yes Boss' soundtrack is the excessive use of synthesizers. Yes, that's common in 90s soundtracks, and it usually doesn't bother me, but some of the songs so obviously use samba beats ripped off of Casio keyboards that it actually makes my brain twitch with rage. That being said, this is a very cute--if very 90s--soundtrack that I found surprisingly enjoyable. "Ek Din Aap" does nothing for me, mostly because of the aforementioned Casio beats, although the picturization over Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, resplendent in white, is quite pretty. "Chaand Taare" is a spunky song about Rahul's dreams of success. "Suniye To" is probably my favorite song from this soundtrack; it has a catchy beat and SRK running around in a variety of silly costumes. "Choodi Baji Hai" uses the "chun" onomonopeia of bangles to create a fun love song that stands apart from the standard masala fare. The picturization and lyrics ARE the standard fare, however, with Juhi Chawla and Shahrukh Khan prancing around in the mountains while their outfits magically change and they sing about the stars. Still, I enjoyed it! I hated "Main Koi Aisa Geet," with its synthesized dulcimer, the first time I heard it, but it really grows on you after a few plays. Personally, I think it's more "sweet" than "romantic," and it makes me think of a lullaby I'd sing to my kids ("The many scents that are in a garden, I shall bring them all to you!"). Last, but not least, "Jaata Hai Too Kahaan" is an addictive party song that rounds out the soundtrack perfectly. The vocals are unusually breathy on this soundtrack, which I have to admit lost Yes Boss' music a half point.

OVERALL -- 4.5/5
Yes Boss is like an American 80s movie: its music uses synthesizers, its actresses have big hair and wear "excess-style" clothes, it doesn't care much about technical prowess or incredible performances, and it really doesn't try to have a purpose beyond making you feel good. That sounds like an insult, but guess what? I friggin' LOVE American 80s movies! I watched them with my dad while I was growing up, and even though most people would say they're "awful," I love them and the warm, fluffy feeling they leave me with. This is the same sort of movie. If you're in to sweet, feel-good romantic masalas that really are charming and interesting, like Rangeela or Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (not like the steaming pile of shit that is Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman), or even if you just want something your kids will enjoy, too, then Yes Boss is a great choice.

TOTAL SCORE -- 18/20 (almost perfect)







* While NRIs and non-wealthy characters did become more popular in Bollywood during the 90s, it was still the "rule of thumb" that at least one character be upper-class from the start. DDLJ is a good example of this: Simran's family is middle class and is depicted as being perfectly normal, but Raj's family is wealthy from the get-go, and the implication is that the two will marry and share this wealth. The middle class was acknowledged, but it wasn't given as much importance or as much respect as the upper class--ie, it was okay to be middle class as long as you married someone who was wealthy--which is why Yes Boss' focus on the middle class is unusual. According to some of my Indian friends, this bias towards wealth is slowly fading out of Bollywood films as India develops and its urban middle class grows and gains prominence and power. This can be contrasted to American films, which have generally focused on middle-class people and white collar professionals for decades, but are slowly starting to craft more interesting characters from the upper and impoverished classes.

** My brother is single and very cute. Any of you ladies wanna date him? ;)

*** Something I just noticed: it looks like SRK has a couple of quarter-sized scars running up his left arm. I noticed them during the "faux-sex scene" at the hotel, specifically at about 1 hour : 36 minutes : 30 seconds on my Moserbaer copy of the film. Am I just seeing things, or does SRK have scars on his arm? If he does, what from? (I'd screencap it, but my laptop doesn't have a DVD program that can screencap, and my dad is currently repairing my desktop computer.) EDIT: the folks at Bollywhat have cleared this up--they're vaccination scars.