A NICE INDIAN BOY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Roshan Sethi
Stars: Karan Soni, Jonathan Goff, Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, Harish Patel, Peter S Kim.
An Indian/Canadian co-production, A Nice Indian Boy is based on the stage play of the same name which was written by Madhuri Shekar (3 Body Problem, etc). It has been adapted to the screen by tv writer Eric Randall making his feature script debut here. Randall has nicely opened up the material beyond its theatrical origins. The film explores themes of Indian culture and tradition, religion, family values, acceptance, generational differences, and the question of arranged marriages versus falling in love naturally. It is directed by queer Canadian film maker Roshan Sethi, and it obviously holds some personal resonance for him. This is Sethi’s third feature film and is his most accessible.
Naveen Gavaskar (played by Indian/American actor Karan Soni, best known to western audiences for his role as taxi driver Dolpinder in the Deadpool movies, and also a regular in Sethi’s films) is an Indian/American doctor working in a hospital. When the film opens he is attending the wedding of his older sister the sassy Arundati (Sunita Mani, from the tv series Mr Robot, etc) to a nice Indian boy. Friends and acquaintances suggest that it will be his turn to get married next.
Trouble is Naveen is gay. Although he has come out to his conservative parents Megha and Archit (stand up comic Zarna Garg and veteran Indian actor Harish Patel (Eternals, etc)) Naveen is still shy and doesn’t enjoy the dating scene. Instead he experiences the gay scene vicariously through the stories of his colleague Paul (Peter S Kim). Megha is supportive of her son’s lifestyle while Archit still feels uncomfortable. The couple have even subscribed to OUTtv, a queer tv channel, so they can better understand Naveen, and Megha even outlines the plot of films like Milk (the biopic of slain San Francisco councilman) to Naveen during their regular phone chats.
We then cut to six years later. Naveen is still single, but while praying to the god Ganesh at a temple he catches the eye of a white man also praying. Later he again meets that man when Jay Kurundkar (Jonathan Groff, from Frozen and the stage musical Hamilton, etc) turns up to the hospital to take photographs for staff IDs. Jay is a freelance photographer and an artist who leads a more bohemian lifestyle. He was also adopted by an Indian couple, who have recently passed away. He has been raised in the customs and traditions of his foster parents. The attraction between the two is obvious even though they seem mismatched.
For their first date Jay takes Naveen to the cinema where they watch and bond over Diwale Dulhonia Le Jayenge, the classic 1995 Bollywood musical from director Aditya Chopra. And while they move in together, Naveen is reluctant to introduce Jay to his family, which creates tension between them. And as they begin to plan their big gay wedding they find unwelcome interference from Naveen’s family.
A Nice Indian Boy follows the traditional three act structure as it works its way through their complicated relationship and the film does exploit many of the tropes of the genre. It all climaxes in a nice Indian wedding.
Soni is appealing and awkwardly endearing as the shy but uptight Naveen, who rarely expresses his true feelings or emotions, and he is eminently likeable in the role that was written especially for him. Groff brings a nice sincerity and appealing honesty to his role. There is genuine chemistry between Soni and Groff (both gay actors) that enriches the material. In her feature film debut Garg has a strong and warm scene stealing presence as Naveen’s melodramatic but supportive mother. Patel is wonderful as Naveen’s taciturn father who eventually comes to understand his son and his choices, and there is a wonderful scene in which he finally opens up to Jay and shares some more personal and intimate details with him while preparing to cook a family meal.
A Nice Indian Boy has plenty of warmth, humour and generosity of spirit to make this cute, feel good queer romance an entertaining crowd pleaser.
★★★☆
