A cultural cross overpitch!. Review on UnIndian

How can one describe a movie that has fastest bowler starring in it? Maybe I can keep my fingers from going around clichés, unlike Thushy Sathi’s story, and keep my views straight and non-sticky.

This movie UNIndian, directed by Anupam Sharma is a cross-cultural romcom, where a phirang guy falls for a hottie with a dot, really hard. But can we have a Indian desis without having the clichéd drama? Well, the movie answers it all.

This is a love story of Will(Brett Lee) who teaches “Aussie English” at a local university that he hopes to help balance the multicultural wards better to Australian society. But Will fails to coherent anything sensible when he lays his eyes on Meera(Tanishtha Chatterjee) at a Holi celebration, which he mistake for “Holy”. It takes more than one awkward meeting to hit them off and become comfortable but Will instantly shares comfort with her daughter Smita(Maya Sathi).

Meera’s parents(Supriya Pathak and Akash Khurana) haven’t seem to lost their Indian-ness even after living in Australia for several years. Meera is a divorcee who is successful enough to have her own place, yet her parents are constantly flitting in and out, planning and plotting for their daughter to marry, so that they get a “doctor damaad”. Will makes a bold paly for Meera is given dating tips by his side-kick cum friend TK(Arka Das). He is very defensive when it comes to the cultural values of India. For instance, he warns Will that “you don’t call Indian woman a chick or hottie with a dot”. It’s a bindi and holds cultural significance. When asked why, he bails himself out saying that he doesn’t know.

This breezy love story if spontaneous and with humour, thanks to Arka Das and his witty one-liners. Brett Lee is tricked into sayin “maine kachcha nahi pehana hai” which is downright hilarious. The humour makes your cheek hurt at times. The cultural misunderstanding or the irrelevance that Indian parents can’t pick up the thought of their children dating gora is laid out spiffingly. Because the thought of they being ignorant to our ways and culture.

Director Anupam Sharma has brought many moments that really becomes highlights of cross cultural mesh. Like screenplay jumping from homosexuality to immigrant’s integration. There are touch points – like mention of gay ex, parents walking on naked boyfriend and Smita’s confusion as divorcee’s daughter.

The movie maintains a good set up all over, not going overboard like Gurinder Chadha’s standard musical chick-click with all the punjabi tadka and no aloo gobi, as well. Thank God for some tone down! However, the pace drops during second half, as any Indian drama cannot end without a drama. So Sharma has infused a little emotional journey that the end, which was not required at all. It makes the movie predictable and breaks the hunky-dory effect. Some scenes really linger beyond their required screen time.

Talking about performances, Tanishtha Chatterjee handles her role with steadiness, as large part of Meera defies stereotypes. Supriya Pathak vamps it up as a stereotypical matriarch and has one of the best lines in the movie – at least the kids of Will and Meera with be fair-skinned babies and she sighs in sadness, or rather defeat(typical Indian wish for fair grandchildren, still clichéd).

Brett Lee has been natural on camera, slipping into his role effortlessly. He does not disappoint at all, he is rather good for a cricketer-turned-actor.

This is family movie, with flashes of charm and humour, and you can see Brett Lee trying his pace on the new pitch.(Ha Ha, couldn’t resist this cliché)