Strong plot offsets flaws in Sikh-wise-guys thriller
BEEBA BOYS ★★★
Starring: Randeep Hooda, Ali Momen, Sarah Allen, Paul Gross Director: Deepa Mehta Duration: 103 minutes
Never let it be said that Deepa Mehta rests on her laurels. The celebrated Indian-born Canadian filmmaker is forever casting about for new material, be it a novel by Salman Rushdie (Midnight’s Children) or Carol Shields (The Republic of Love), or a fresh take on the rom-com (Bollywood/Hollywood).
Her newest project took root after the director read a newspaper article about Sikh gang warfare in Vancouver. The result is Beeba Boys, an original if flawed take on a genre that usually involves New York wise guys or wannabes.
Jeet (Randeep Hooda), is a single father who still lives with his parents and is active in the local Sikh community. This makes him a beeba (Punjabi for good) boy in many people’s eyes, though as a name for the gang he leads, it has a more sarcastic ring.
The film gives us a whirlwind introduction to most of them, helpfully providing such nicknames as Faithful (Jag Bal), Joker (Waris Ahluwalia), and Muscle (Steve Dhillon). There’s also Ali Momen as Nep, a.k.a. The New Recruit, who is working as a double (or possibly triple) agent, trying to diffuse some of the posturing among rivals by telling both sides: “You can’t be serious!”
Jeet’s crew is looking to make inroads into the territory of Grewal “the Kingpin,” played as a spiffy greybeard by Indian actor Gulshan Grover. But Jeet finds himself distracted by another pursuit after locking eyes with a pretty juror during a court appearance.
She is Katya, a ditzy Polish blond and also the screenplay’s biggest misstep. Sarah Allen, the actress playing her, does a fine job, but the character and her racist family are written as though they just walked off the page of a Polish-joke book from the 1970s.
Second-biggest mistake: miscasting Paul Gross in a topknot as Grewal’s right-hand man and chief enforcer. Third: dialogue that occasionally lapses into risibility, especially when spoken by TV journalists covering the Beeba beat.
Hiding beneath the film’s problems is a strong central story with themes of loyalty and honour. Papering them over are some stupendous costuming choices, a rainbow of fine fabrics that make it unclear whether the boys are going to fight or dance (or perhaps, as in West Side Story, both). And the actors commit to their roles in the ensemble, especially Ahluwalia as the Joker, whose delivery reminded me of Don McKellar.
How much you enjoy Beeba Boys depends on whether you choose to focus on its faults or its merits.