Even as Priyadarshan’s Garam Masala heats up with the hype escalating each day, an English play, Plane Crazy About Love, by Naved Aslam, is already out. It was staged last week and will have another performance in November.
Incidentally, both the film and the play have the same inspiration - the 1965 American comedy Boeing Boeing (Marc Camoletti). The story deals with a journalist, inherently flirtatious and his clever three-timing with airhostesses of different airlines.
While Garam Masala has Akshay Kumar as the flirtatious Mac, Manoj Bohra (also the producer) has essayed the same role in Plane Crazy About Love. John Abraham’s role (Sam) has been portrayed by television actor Harsh Vasishtha in the play. Dipannita Sharma and Helen are the only known names in this stage-comedy.
Aslam, presently in Bangalore, clarifies, “I have adapted the play from Marc Camoletti’s original work, while Priyadarshan’s film, from what I hear, is an adaptation from one of his own movies.” Aslam is not too bothered, since Boeing Boeing has been made in many languages thus far. Priyadarshan had made Boeing Boeing in 1985 in Malayalam featuring Mohanlal.
