By: Thapelo Ramorobi.
October is a month of painting the streets in rainbow colours, and Showmax is making sure it’s part of telling the live story. This month Showmax has a very intriguing lineupof queer films, documentaries and series and started off strong with a romantic film that justbe missed.
A Nice Indian Boy premiered this week on Showmax, kicking off the October pride. Unlike most romcoms,in this context we’ll say boy meets boy and they live happily ever after, A Nice Indian Boy is not just about two queer men falling in love.
The film follows Naveen (Karan Soni), a queer medical doctor raised by very liberal Indian parents trying to understand their only son’s sexuality. With Naveen being single for what seemed to be quite the longest time, he finally meets a white freelance photographer, Jay (Jonathan Groff), and the two hit things off.
With two different backgrounds, their relationship starts off on a shaky start. Naveen and Jay’s love story, unlike most, is tried and tested, especially when Jay meets Naveen’s family, almost becoming the final nail in the coffin to Naveen’s dream of having a traditional wedding.
While the story is filled with gut-blowing plot twists, there are, however, minor discrepancies, especially in introducing the story world. Though we know the year the story takes place, introducing where it takes place is very unclear, making it hard to keep up with the entire plot.
Despite the confusing story backdrop, the events are coherent, making it easier to follow, especially when complemented by the natural dialogue, making the story a bit more realistic and engaging.
Cinematography-wise, there are some elements which rather weaken the narrative – the cinematography mostly feels functional rather than expressive, fully relying on the dialogue to carry the emotional weight.
Though there are minor faults here and there, especially in the creativity of the film, the narrative, however, is quite strong, capturing the emotions of every young couple hoping to have their dream wedding, passing a message that it’s possible.
One thing that is for sure is that A Nice Indian Boy is surely a conversation starter between queer people and liberals and has captured the values of queer love and acceptance.
