Brahman Naman is an English-language feature from India by a director known only as "Q." The film serves as something of an indictment of the Indian caste system in the guise of a college sex comedy. The jokes don't always land, and for American audiences, the film lacks bite, but it could turn out to be quite controversial when it finally premieres in India.
Brahmans are a very conservative class of people, so to see their true lascivious nature here makes it feel like we're privy to events that we should not be seeing.
The story focuses on Naman (Shashank Arora) and the fruitless sex lives of he and his quiz teammates. As Naman aims his sights on Rita, a sexy upper-class girl, Ash, a fellow Brahman, vies for his affections. Through Naman's encounters with fellow Brahman and higher-class girls, we get a sense of how life in the caste system stifles their actions. Naman remains unsuccessful because he talks a big game, but when the clothes come off, he is too scared to seal the deal. Damn that conservative Brahman culture!
The film isn't always as raunchy or gut-bustingly hilarious as I expected, although I nearly fell out of my chair when Naman attempted to jerk off with a ceiling fan.
Yes, apparently that is a thing.
It's great that the film tries to value its message more than nonstop sex jokes. However, the impact of that message in the end feels somewhat limp (pun intended) despite an atypical "boy gets the girl" ending.
In a way, Brahman Naman is sort of like the Indian Superbad, but I couldn't help feeling unmoved by the time the credits rolled.
C-
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