Of course, it would be a much better world if it were a love of backgammon that drove humanity, but alas we appear doomed to the eternal pursuit of baser things. This was the lesson quickly learned by Somen Banerjee, a gas station attendant who emigrated from Mumbai to the US in the 1970s, keen to pursue the American dream. After five years of saving, he ploughed his funds into a backgammon club but it failed to take off. His next venture was a nightclub that seemed to be following the same trajectory until Somen – now Steve – had an epiphany in a gay nightclub and … well, the dramatisation of his story is entitled Welcome to Chippendales (Disney+), and it rather sums it up.
Out with the board games and in with the male strippers! Dorothy Stratten, the Playboy Playmate girlfriend of his flashy nightclub manager Paul Snider (Dan Stevens, very good in a brief role) explains why it will work – “Erica Jong, Deep Throat, the Pill!” – before, I hope, returning to Hef’s mansion to take her rightful place as Exposition Playmate of the Month.
