Mumbai Matinee
Saw Mumbai Matinee on the first day of its release. Have you ever had the feeling of seeing a movie which started out in a great way, was endearing for most of the part, but the aftertaste due to a poor last quarter left you with very ambiguous feelings. Yeah... I know! You will say you stopped counting at movie no. 1023.

Synopsis
Debashis/Debu Chatterjee (Rahul Bose as usual walking away with the best lines in the film) is an adman(Again after the mildly successful Jhankaar Beats. Seems that's the only cool profession to be in nowadays, where you can be wacky and get away with anything). His problem in life is that he is 32, and still a virgin. He has to contend with a colleague Raakesh Sharma (Kaabir, last seen in Ishq Vishk) who seems to get pleasure in Rahul's discomfiture. The mandatory boss Mahesh Godbole (Amar Talwar with a horrendous wig) and an eyelid batting, scantily clad secretary Monica D'Costa (Sunila Karamblekar.... her clothes are not as big as her surname) step in to provide the filler jokes.
Rahul starts getting obsessed with sex and his desperation reaches such limits as to actually go to a "Hindustani Baba" addressed in a pamphlet. This "Hindustani Baba" (Vijay Raaz in an outlandish role) and his secretary Pyaare Lal(Asraani, now relegated to playing assistant comic to new actors) con him into paying them Rs.5000. Vijay Raaz's office is done up like that of an adman. It has all kinds of furniture which is either antique or wacky.
They give Rahul some miracle tablets and lots of dialogues along the lines of Star Wars (May the force be with you).
Rahul also ends up meeting with a C-Grade movie director Nitin Kapoor(Saurabh Shukla in a very endearing performance). Saurabh is the maker of films like "Thakurain", "Maharani", "Ganga Dacait", "Pyaar Koi Paap Nahi" et al. He has never tasted success, and he beleives that one Friday he will have his due. For his next film, "Sholay Mein Deewar" his distributors want him to include raunchy scenes.
Even though Saurabh Shukla considers Vijay Raaz to be a fraud, he gets convinced by a crony to go over and seek his help. What results is a hilarious sequence where Vijay Raaz and Saurabh Shukla intersperse scenes of Rahul Bose exercising with scenes of a female mouthing some bedroom lines.
These are included in the film, which turns out to be a hit and Rahul becomes an overnight sex star. But the trouble is, he is still a virgin. He gets arrested, and his dialogues with a true blue Bengali who is disgusted to know that Rahul is also a Bengali evoke a lot of mirth.
In steps journalist Sonali Verma(Perizaad Zorabian ravishing as ever and lighting up the screen everytime she comes over) who tries to get hold of him for an interview, and ends up sharing her appartment with him.
There is also an ill-timed single song in the movie, which gets compensated for by the presence of Anusha Dandekar.
Also, Rahul's interaction with a gay guy Roshan Kumar(Bakul Thakkar) result in some poignant moments for the film.

Analysis
Rahul Bose, for a change gets to do a character who is not brash, self-confident and absolutely sure of himself. He also gets to do these Woody Allenesque monologues where he gets to throw some wisecracks and ironical observations at the camera. Perizaad Zorabian has a very short and pivotal role, and she gives it her best shot. Saurabh Shukla excels in his caricaturish portrayal of a C-grade movie director with a conscience. Vijay Raaz gives some good moments to the movie, but is not consistent. Asraani and Kaabir do not have roles to justify any analysis. Bakul Thakkar is appropriate.

Technique
The late Anant Balani has written and directed this movie. He has been successful as far as creating the atmosphere for a black comedy is concerned. The problem seems to be in the screenplay and the abrupt ending, which comes very unexpectedly. There are also quite a few scenes which have been thrown in just to put in some gags that they seem to have thought of along the way.
But, to the director's credit, the movie never gets crass, which was very probable with such a subject.
Music Directors Anand Raaj Anand and Farhad Wadia (Check the number of 'and's in the last fragment) have a miniscule responsibility as the film does not rely much on its music. The snippet of "Sex is Guuut!!(An ode to Freud)" song is an exception. Editor Mohammed Rafique was sleeping on the job, as lots of inconsequential scenes have crept into the final print of the movie.


Sidelights
1) Director Anant Balani disappeared from the Bollywood scene after three movies "Gawahi" - 1989(Zeenat Aman, Ashutosh Gowariker, Shekhar Kapur) and "Patthar ke Phool" -1991(Salman Khan and Raveena Tandon; her debut film). Four years later he directed Jazbaat, starring Rohit Roy and Suchitra Krishnamurthy (Shekhar Kapur's wife). The film, made on money he had inherited flopped miserably and ruined him financially.
He reappeared with a sudden stroke of good luck to direct 4 movies Joggers Park(Perizaad Zorabian, Victor Banerjee), Mumbai Matinee(Rahul Bose, Perizaad Zorabian), Ek Din (Rahul Bose, Nandita Das), and Chameli (Rahul Bose, Kareena Kapoor). But unfortunately he passed away before seeing the release of even one of them.
2) He also directed soaps for the small screen(A Mouthful Of Sky, Kabhi Kabhi).
3) In one scene in the movie, the poster for the movie produced by Saurabh Shukla shows the credits as "Directed by - Nitin Kumar". Saurabh's name in the movie is Nitin Kapoor :).
4) In a scene where Rahul pays Asraani with a credit card, Rahul does not sign any transaction slip after swiping the card. All the best to Asraani to get it encashed.

Verdict
Would I recommend this movie to someone?
Hmm... I am a little confused. If you want to listen to some witty lines and a few original jokes, go for it, but move out of the theater about 15 minutes before it ends (its a 2 hour movie). You might end up liking it. If you are going for Perizaad, forget it; she comes in for the last half an hour. If you are going for Rahul Bose, you might enjoy the movie.
Moreover, remember that this is not a family movie, as they already warned in the advertisements. Go with your friends, and you could have a rollicking time trying to relate to the characters.