Guru provides laughs through culture
by Brian Wainstein, Reporter

    Hollywood meets Bollywood in The Guru, a new film from Universal Pictures.

   Jimi Mistry, an actor previously unknown to Americans, stars beside well-known actors Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei, Michael McKean and Christine Baranski.

   Mistry stars as Ramu Gupta, an Indian dance instructor with aspirations of moving to the United States and becoming the next John Travolta.

   Ramu's dreams are fueled by his friend's tales of life in New York.

   Those dreams are shattered when he arrives to find that the "red Mercedes" was a yellow taxi cab and the "penthouse suite" was the top floor of a run-down apartment complex.

   Ramu is determined to rise to the top, and after finding his mentor, an adult film actress named Sharonna, played by Graham, he finally gets his chance.

   Hilarity ensues as Ramu is transformed into the Guru of Sex after filling in for a drunken Swami.

   Heather Graham is known for her performances as a sex symbol from her Rollergirl role in Boogie Nights and her Shagwell role in the second Austin Powers movie.

   Graham fulfills her role with panache and fills the audience with empathy for her character.

   Michael McKean, as an adult film director, and Baranski, as a member of New York's bored elite, deliver superb performances, enlivening this satirical piece.

   This film is definitely not intended for children, but if you can laugh at yourself and at pop culture, this film is definitely something to see.