By Brett Busang
Set in London, beginning in the early sixties and spanning five decades,
I Shot Bruce follows Vijay Asunder, a rock-and-roll wannabe who, many
decades after he is spurned by the manager of a singing group that
eventually becomes world-famous, finally decides that he must kill the
one person that symbolizes the success that has eluded him, his
replacement. During a fifty-year span of time, Asunder follows the
fortunes of the band and its various members as he pursues the alternate
and ever-so-quiet, but not-very-satisfying life he's made for himself
as an antique dealer. Yet with each passing year, and with each reminder
of "what might have been", his obsession for revenge grows, until
finally he must act.
Conceived loosely on the untimely dismissal
and subsequent life of Pete Best, the so-called 'fifth Beatle',
Asunder's perspective and his ultimate commitment to retribution differs
markedly from Ringo Starr's predecessor. Intelligent and intense, I
Shot Bruce chronicles and dramatizes obsession to the point of
self-destruction.