I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with guest anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including he wild ‘n wacky “A Minecraft Movie,” the doggie drama of “The Friend” and the rom com “A Nice Indian Boy.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:24)
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to do a high five! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the wild ‘n wacky “A Minecraft Movie,” the doggie drama of “The Friend” and the rom com “A Nice Indian Boy.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the wild ‘n wacky “A Minecraft Movie,” the doggie drama of “The Friend,” the rom com “A Nice Indian Boy” and the wrestling biopic “Queen of the Ring.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “A Nice Indian Boy,” a new rom com starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff, and now playing in theatres, an Indian American doctor introduces his white boyfriend to his traditional parents.
CAST: Karan Soni, Jonathan Groff, Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, Harish Patel, Peter S. Kim, Sas Goldberg. Directed by Roshan Sethi.
REVIEW: Adapted from the 2014 play of the same name by Madhuri Shekar, “A Nice Indian Boy” feels like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” with a cultural twist.
You may get a sense of déjà vu while watching the set up for “A Nice Indian Boy,” which takes a handful of rom com conventions and molds them into something that feels new, yet old-fashioned.
Karan Soni plays Naveen, the kind of rom com character we’ve seen many times before as the story’s anchor. He’s a timid Indian American doctor, from a traditional family, who spends his off hours obsessing about his exes. “I guess you’ve been eating an apple a day because you’ve kept this doctor away,” he says in a message to a former fling.
He’s given up on finding love—”I don’t want to hear sweeping notions of love. It’s 2024, the world is burning!”—until he’s booked with photographer Jay (Jonathan Groff) to update his hospital headshot.
Jay, a white man adopted and raised by an Indian family, hence his last name Kurundkar, just may be the one to crack the shell Naveen has constructed around himself.
First though, the new couple must meet Archit and Megha (Harish Patel and Zarna Garg), Naveen’s traditional parents.
The basic plotting and romantic hurtles Naveen and Jay must traverse are straight out of Rom Com 101. But what sets “A Nice Indian Boy” apart isn’t just the queer and South Asian twists, but the warm hearted brush with which Calgary born director Roshan Sethi paints this portrait of love and family.
Soni and Groff have great chemistry and are ably supported by a cast who add comedy to the romance. As Naveen’s BFF Peter S. Kim is the perfect foil to friend’s shyness. As his sarcastic sister, “GLOW’s” Sunita Mani provides a few laughs and a poignant pregnancy subplot. But it is Patel and Garg as his parents, the latter of whom hilariously explains the meaning of the film “Milk” to her gay son, who steal the show.
“A Nice Indian Boy” doesn’t go anywhere you don’t expect it to go, but despite its predictability, it’s a charming sit-commy diversion.
