Movie review: The Xposé is campy yet surprisingly watchable film

There seems to be an unspoken tribute to Michael Jackson’s Bad in The Xposé, a murder mystery caper set in the ‘60s that is this week’s only Hindi film release. A five-note bassline, also used in its song ‘Ice-cream Khaaungi’, sounds exactly like the bassline to Jackson’s 1987 hit and is a constantly recurring leitmotif in the film’s background score. By constantly, I mean you can’t go three scenes without hearing it.

Just like how the music video for ‘Bad’, when viewed today, appears to exist in the space between ‘self-referential camp’ and ‘legitimate pop culture’, Ananth Narayan Mahadevan directs The Xposé in a manner that suggests he wants it to land in a similar zone. And wonder of wonders, for the most part, he succeeds. Marking the return of once-superstar music-director-turned-vanity-project-enthusiast Himesh Reshammiya, The Xposé is that rare lowbrow effort that knows exactly what it wants to be and is single-minded in its determination to be that product.

Simply put – and I’m sorry to disappoint everyone who thought this would be the next Jaani Dushman – The Xposé is surprisingly watchable, even in a non-ironic manner.

Of course, this is a loaded statement that comes with certain terms and conditions. No one in their right minds is walking into this movie expecting a taut thriller told with Steven-Soderbergh-like style and finesse, right? Well, even if you are, here are some points to keep in mind that will help you manage your expectations:

1. Can Yo Yo act? Well, if playing yourself is acting then, sure.

Just a year-and-a-half ago, Punjabi rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh was India’s crown prince of misogyny and a well-known purveyor of perversity. Today, in addition, he is also a household name and can legitimately boast of single-handedly creating a new requirement in commercial Hindi cinema: the Yo Yo Honey Singh rap song. In his acting debut, he plays Kenny Damania or KD — a smooth-talking, womanising, music director who couldn’t play a guitar if his life depended on it.

Of course, there doesn’t seem to be much acting involved here. Yo Yo – who is admirably comfortable in front of the camera – continues being his usual, glib self. As in his interviews, he possesses an easy screen-presence and seems to be having a whale of a time – even when he’s appearing in outfits as ridiculous as a velvet magenta suit.

2. Himesh still can’t act, but that’s the fun part.

Reportedly having lost 20 kgs to look like the world’s most realistic bobblehead doll, this is clearly Reshammiya’s attempt at regaining the superstardom he possessed in the mid-noughties (which, incidentally, went downhill after he started acting). Here’s the thing: with his previous films, Reshammiya was projected as the star in all earnestness (as this hilarious video demonstrates ). He dealt with bad guys, comforted terminally ill children and won over the girl, all while upholding traditional Indian values and being generally beyond reproach.

Here, as cop-turned-movie-star Ravi Kumar, he is shown to be morally ambiguous and impossibly swollen-headed. As a South Indian superstar acting as the second lead in a Hindi film, Kumar seems to be a mixture of Rajinikanth, Salman Khan, Raj Kumar and – believe it or not – Sheldon Cooper. Mahadevan makes use of his stiff body language and near-zero acting skills by turning it into a character trait and it’s refreshing to watch Reshammiya do only exactly as much as he needs to do.

3. Don’t bother with originality. Just count the references.

You don’t have to be a Bollywood trivia nut to figure out the references to real-life events in this movie. The plot focuses on the rivalry between two actresses: Zara (Sonali Raut) and Chandni (Zoya Afroz), who are obviously based on Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi respectively. A movie called Ujjwal Nirmal Sheetal is obviously Satyam Shivam Sundaram. The impossibly over-the-top filmi parties seem to be straight out of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, as is a fair part of the production design. The entire ‘1 murder, 11 suspects, all in the same room’ conceit is one every Agatha Christie fan is familiar with.

This list goes on. There’s very little in The Xposé that’s original, and it doesn’t seem like there was any attempt in trying to do so. While this is hardly an original formula, where Mahadevan scores over recent films made by directors like Abhinav Kashyap and Rohit Shetty is in the manner he puts them together. The film calls attention to itself, but the references don’t. It seems apparent that everyone is in on the joke. And – just to make sure the proceedings are interesting – there is enough campiness, bad acting and unintentional hilarity to satisfy everyone’s inner movie snob.

In its execution and production design (which, for the most part, does a credible job in getting the look of the period right), it reminds one of the vastly overrated The Dirty Picture, which went on to win three National Awards. While it doesn’t possess a bravura Vidya Balan performance, at least The Xposé has the good sense to be irreverent. It’s a stupid film that knows it’s a stupid film and celebrates it, without being melodramatic or overlong (it runs for just under two hours). Come to think of it, that’s a lot like every Yo Yo Honey Singh song ever.