When I first watched Saurabh Shukla’s ‘Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi?’ back in November — during the South Asian International Film Festival in NYC where it won the Audience Choice Award for Favorite Feature — my expectations were incredibly high. First of all, the film’s producer, co-writer and lead actor Rajat Kapoor is quite simply one of my favorite filmmakers, as well as most-liked people. And I can count my favorites in this world on the fingers of my right hand! Secondly, RGBG director, and co-writer, Saurabh Shukla forever carries the impressive title of having co-penned one of Indian cinema’s most innovative films of its time, the gangster hit ‘Satya’, along with Anurag Kashyap. Add to that the Pritish Nandy Communications banner as producers of the film (their motto is ‘Movies That Rock’), sprinkle it with an impressive cast featuring Kapoor in the lead, Ranvir Shorey in a hilarious cameo as an Australian NRI, Neha Dhupia as a smoldering femme fatale, Vinay Pathak as the deliciously clueless best friend and Dalip Tahil, Anu Menon and Iravati Harshe in equally perfect roles, then set the whole thing within the well-educated, worldly, upper middle class community of modern Bombay and you’ve got a film that couldn’t help but whet my appetite.

So what was my verdict after actually watching ‘Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi?’ That it is all I had hoped it would be, and MORE!

The premise of the story is simple enough: Rahul (played by Kapoor) goes to a party accompanied by his attractive wife Mitali (Iravati Harshe) and young daughter. He drinks a bit too much for his own good and begins unabashedly flirting with a vampy guest, Sophia (Neha Dhupia). The night progresses, the sexy Sophia flirts back, the conversation deviates to sensual innuendoes — watch out for the ‘Nipples of Venus’ chocolate scene, which is at once sultry and witty — Rahul gets increasingly tipsy, Mitali goes home and we are left with a serious case of ‘did they or didn’t they??’ Only Sophia knows for sure and she’s not revealing it so easily…

While the setup of the story is quite straightforward, the film is complex and multilayered. At once intelligent, charming, funny and poignant, it made me yearn for a day when distributors would have the courage to circulate a film like this — a romantic comedy with witty dialogue, an adult theme, relatable characters and a real-life love story — all over the world and not only show it on big screens in urban India.

Perhaps a little less of those mundane fares a-la ‘Blue’ or the embarrassing ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ and a bit more smart oeuvres like RGBG and the upcoming ‘Fatso’ — AKA ‘A Rectangular Love Story’ — directed and written by Rajat Kapoor, would help to change the negative image that Indian cinema typically holds with non-Indians. The days of wet sari clad heroines shown running around trees and dancing sequences in place of kissing scenes are numbered. The future of the country’s greatest national commodity — FILMS — lies with the filmmakers whose work everyone can relate to: Anurag Kashyap, Rajat Kapoor, Sudhir Mishra and, of course, Saurabh Shukla. I may not be a man with an early midlife crisis living in suburban Bombay, or a Rajastani student with a vengeful father issue, or even a teenager scrambling to make ends meet as a tea porter in Colaba, but I identify with the sentiments and human struggles these filmmakers so intricately portray in their movies. 

Finally, I’ll share with you a little secret. Rajat Kapoor did not like his ‘look’ as Rahul when he finally watched himself on the big screen, in NYC. He confessed that he thought he looked his best so far in his own ‘Mixed Doubles’ and that the beard he sports in RGBG bothered him, as did a couple of other minor details. I disagree and personally have never found Kapoor to be as attractive as he is in this film. His paternal warmth, combined with his distinctive elegance, unselfconscious good looks and clever charm make him an easy choice for the title of ‘Thinking Woman’s Sex Symbol’ a phrase which played in my head like a recurring mantra throughout my viewing experience of RGBG. At a pivotal point in the film — one I would not reveal even under the threat of torture! — he is so affectionate, touching and honest in his words to Sophia that I found myself with big, wet tears rolling down my cheeks. And the joy that always comes with crying at a great movie moment soon after followed…

‘Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi?’ is definitely a must-see film. It opens on December 31st in multiplexes around India and will be available in the US on DVD, come January 2010.