Final Rating: 4/5
Writer-director Roshan Sethi, a doctor by day, picked a hell of a time to film his first feature, 2021’s 7 Days: right in the raging heart of the COVID pandemic. That micro-budgeted rom-com about an unlikely pair in unexpected quarantine remains one of the only pieces of COVID cinema still worth seeking out four years later. (You can find it on Hulu, or perhaps your next in-flight movie.) With 7 Days, Sethi showed that he can harness the fast-talking charisma of his real-life partner Karan Soni, previously best known for lending his impeccable comedic timing to movies such as Deadpool (2016) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). Together, they proved that Soni possesses the likable relatability – with the requisite willingness to get a little goofily gaga – to step out of the side-kick role and lead a romantic comedy himself.
Now the pair is revisiting that winning formula in A Nice Indian Boy, which swaps out the classic boy-meets-girl set-up for an mlm romance that presumably hits a little closer to home. Even more than 7 Days, this feels like a personal project. One that shows off a matured filmmaking prowess (credit also: cinematographer Amy Vincent), and benefits from the magic final ingredient of Jonathan Groff’s twinkly eyes. Playing a white freelance photographer who just wants to sing from the rooftops about his love for the culture of his Indian adoptive parents, and his love of love in general, Groff’s electric chemistry with Soni makes the schtick work with a healthy heaping of pathos.
As Naveen Gavaskar, Soni excels in his ability to play the bumbling everyman (doctor) with sharp wit – for proof, see the YouTube clip from an amusing montage of him sending painfully, hilariously awkward messages to would-be dates. (“I guess you’ve been eating an apple a day, because you kept this doctor away…”) But it’s Groff’s Jay Kurundkar’s willingness to wear his heart on his sleeve (in part in the form of a Ganesh tattoo) that ultimately sells this story that is as much a romance between two people as it is a break-up-then-make-up story about a family learning to confront their own expectations and what-will-people-think unease.
Naveen and Jay refreshingly do have plenty of loving support in their lives, imperfect as that support may be. Naveen’s parents frequently bend over backwards to embrace their son’s gay lifestyle, to the point that the first family meeting with Jay devolves into watching men discuss each other’s junk on an OUTtv dating show. But the story also doesn’t shy away from the father’s struggle with accepting his son’s sexuality when push comes to shove, when it’s going to be seen and judged by the community.
Luckily there are also close friendships – most amusingly Naveen’s best friend and hospital co-worker Paul (Peter S. Kim), whose equally matched comedic timing gives Naveen the perfect platform to play off of when recounting, for example, Naveen and Jay’s heart-warmingly embarrassing first date.
If there’s a third star to this film, though, it’s Sunita Mani (GLOW, Spirited) as Naveen’s sister Arundhathi. The story opens with her wedding, and as it continues she goes on her own journey that contrasts and complements that of her brother’s. (She’s also by far the best dancer in her family, but that won’t surprise fans of the iconic Daniels-directed music video “Turn Down for What.”)
Ultimately, the film embraces both the heart and humor of the charmingly awkward, and is all the better for it. Jay declares early on: “I think we’re all a little embarrassed by the bigness of love,” promoting the admittedly slightly dated romance of classic 1995 Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ for short) to the point that this reviewer immediately watched DDLJ the next day, before watching A Nice Indian Boy again to pick up all the references.
The couple’s progression through the stages of courtship is well-paced; regular social check-ins with friends and family mark the development of this relationship and the characters’ personal realizations. A high editing tempo and saturated color keep the story lively and fun, with sprinklings of unexpected dark humor in the form of throw-away stories of a date-turned-muggling or a reality-star meeting that ends in a flatline (the main character is a doctor, after all).
Ultimately, it is an earnest but honest look at the anxieties of actually lucking into finding “the one.” Sure, it is cheesy – the characters themselves would be the first to admit that. But it’s the best kind of cheesy. You’ll follow Naveen, Jay, and the people in their lives through predictable plot beats because it’s just such a joy to spend time with them. And then you’ll leave with a full heart, only sad the experience is over.
Thank you to Wayfarer Studios and Route 504 PR for the screener.
