The film features performances by Om Puri and Aasif Mandvi, and original music by Zakir Hussain.

The novel by V. S. Naipaul moves between farce and acerbic social commentary on Trinidad, the country of his birth.

Variety ended its balanced review with: "Despite all frustrating aspects, on the whole “The Mystic Masseur” succeeds as light entertainment — even if at the cost of the material’s greater potential.

"[1] Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian called the film a "forgettable 1950s period piece... the scenes look stitched together in the editing room without any cumulative sense that any of it is leading to anything at all".

[3] Time Out wrote, "fitful gags and some clever incidental detail... can't compensate for the plot's lumpen pace".