Amazingly enough "The Mystic Masseur," the latest Merchant Ivory production, is the first film developed from a book by Nobel Prize-winning Trinidadian author V. S. Naipaul, the descendant of Indian workers brought to the island to work the fields after the demise of slavery.
Appropriately, the film's screenplay is by fellow acclaimed Caribbean author Caryl Phillips, who wrote "Crossing the River," "Cambridge" and "The Nature of Blood."
Set in the 1940s, "The Mystic Masseur" is a fable about an educated Trinidadian country boy whose love for reading has ignited the desire to become an author. Ganesh (Aasif Mandvi) is certain of his future success despite the fact that most of the folks around him seem skeptical.
When his father dies, he returns to his village and his father's neighbor Ramlogan (Om Puri) decides to play matchmaker and marry his pretty daughter Leela (Ayesha Dharker) to Ganesh. He encourages them, but is angered when he feels Ganesh has got the better of him.
Ganesh and Leela move away and he embarks on his writing career, which consumes him and strains his marriage. After Leela flees back to her family, Ganesh completes his first book and wins her back. Soon he is an island celebrity for his slim, but numerous, volumes and for his growing success as a village healer.
With his manifold success swimming around his head, Ganesh decides to enter the world of politics where his rapid success as a man of the people is matched only by his rapid descent once Trinidadians begin to feel that Ganesh has sold them out for the British ruling class.
"The Mystic Masseur" is as beautiful as we've come to expect any Merchant Ivory film to be. The performances are able, although at times unabashed enough that we suspect much of the cast was recruited in the Trinidad countryside.
The film also has a pleasant bubble that builds to what seems like it will be an exciting conclusion. Instead, like a snake-oil salesman sighting approaching police, "The Mystic Masseur" quickly packs up and flees, leaving us wondering what happened?
Why the film has such an abrupt ending is a mystery, but that final fizzle doesn't undo what comes before. Thankfully removed from the urbane drawing rooms of Victorian England, this is the most enjoyable Merchant Ivory film in a while.
"The Mystic Masseur" is now playing.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
