I am a HUGE fan of French cinema -- always have been, and it was further fueled during the time I lived in France. I own a vast collection of French DVDs. And one of the directors I particularly love is Francis Veber.
Veber makes comedies. Meticulously written and scripted comedies. Nothing is left to chance in a Veber film, and he is as meticulous a director as he is a writer. And it shows in his films. Everything has a place and a purpose in a Veber film. A Veber film is sharp, smart, funny, and tight.
In 2006, Veber released "La doublure" (it was called "The Valet" in English). "La doublure" is the story of a rich businessman (played by Daniel Auteiul) who has a wife (Kristen Scott-Thomas) and a top model girlfriend (Alice Taglioni). One day the rich businessman is photographed with the top model by a papparazzo. But an anonymous guy happens to wander into the shot just as it's taken -- this is pathetic parking valet François Pignon (played by Gad Elmeleh -- and there's a hapless Pignon in most every Veber film, it's his "thing", much like David Dhawan's penchant for twins and doubles -- more on that in a minute).
The businessman's lawyer (played deliciously by Richard Berry) convinces him that they must find the hapless guy, get everyone to believe *he's* really the top model's boyfriend, so that the businessman can avoid a messy and expensive divorce.
Here, watch the trailer (it has English subtitles):
So. I'm going through Google News this morning, and I stumble across this article on the Planet Bollywood website. And I'm reading, and I'm thinking, "Oh, cool, they're going to release that teaser trailer along with showings of 'Love Aaj Kal' this weekend, will be cool to see it on the big screen, " and I'm reading and scrolling and reading and then I get to this paragraph right near the bottom:
"'Do Knot Disturb...Fun Lies Behind Closed Doors!' is a zany comedy of errors about a rich businessman who tries to hide his extramarital affair with a supermodel. To save his skin, he bribes a waiter into pretending to be the supermodel's boyfriend. What follows is a series of mistaken identities and misunderstandings, culminating in one mammoth laugh riot."
Hello? Hello? And then I go and watch the teaser trailer (no subtitles, but I think you'll get the drift if you've watched the trailer for "La doublure"):
And I'm thinking, "How amazing is it that my two cinematic worlds collide like this?"
Very amazing. Indeed, very amazing.
(Just an additional FYI: I'm guessing Riteish Deshmukh in the Gad Elmeleh role, Lara Dutta as the model/girlfriend, Sushmita Sen as the wife, and Govinda in the Daniel Auteiul role. Which, on some levels, is not a stretch. One day I'll have to compare their careers/acting, it's not as far-fetched as you might think...)
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