Comedy
Gaja Baja
CAST: Anupam Sharma, Sushil Sitaula, Barsha Siwakoti, Gopal Aryal
DIRECTION: Ganesh Dev Panday
*** 3 stars
A pure stoner comedy was long overdue in Nepali cinema. So when writer/director Ganesh Dev Panday announced he was making a film called ‘Gaja Baja’ about Nepali potheads, I was instantly curious. But it took the makers two years to release the film because of their long battle with Nepal’s Film Development Board. Apparently board members felt that the use of gaja (hashish) in the film title promoted drug use and asked the makers to change the title. The case was finally sorted and the film was granted an adult certificate and released all over the country with its original title.
I’m happy to say that Gaja Baja is a genuine genre piece. It sets its protagonists into an action- comedy rollercoaster, in the vein of the popular ‘Harold and Kumar’ series and Seth Rogen-starrer ‘Pineapple Express’. But the film’s “one day in the life of two potheads” narrative is more similar to 1995’s Friday, a cult stoner comedy starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker.
Gaja Baja wholeheartedly adheres to the genre tropes. But as it is the first of its kind movie rooted in our own Kathmandu, it feels fresh and different from other regular Nepali films.
As mentioned earlier, the movie tells the story of a day in the life of two pothead slacker friends: Gorey (Sushil Sitaula) and Dadhey (Anupam Sharma). We never know their real names or their detailed backstory, only that Gorey has a dominating father, who feels his son hasn’t done anything in life to deserve milk tea in the morning. Dadhey’s parents too have given up on him. Yet the two are least bothered about what their parents make of them or about getting jobs. They spend each day with one ambition: getting high.
But this particular day isn’t looking good; they have to scour the city’s every nook and cranny to get some weed. This day-long weed hunt brings them in contact with many colorful people and puts them in sticky situations.
Anupam Sharma as the dim-witted Dhadey scores high on the laughter meter. He embodies Dhadhey’s slacker sensibilities so well that he makes the character lovable. He shares a brilliant chemistry with Sitaula’s Gorey.
They feel real and convincing as they fully embrace the lingo and mannerism of potheads. However, their friendship’s spirit called for a smoother ending than the message-laden ending we get.
Ganesh Dev Panday’s previous offering ‘Manjari’ (2013) had met with an instant backlash when it was discovered that the film was a shot-by-shot remake of a South Indian movie.
He pokes fun at himself in Gaja Baja’s opening credits when he quotes Quentin Tarantino: “I steal from every single movie ever made.” While Manjari diminished him as a plagiarist, his latest film will definitely help him erase that image. He has showed much can be achieved with a limited budget, a small setting (most of the film is shot around Mangal Bazar, Shankhamul and New Baneshwor) and a small crew.
Gaja Baja builds its comedy on irony and frustration. The two characters’ trash talking and childish activities are also watchable. All in all, it’s a simple, light-hearted comedy without any depth to its characters. It will, nonetheless, hold you attention for the full 90 minutes
