'UnIndian' - Movie Review

'UnIndian' - Movie Review

'UnIndian'
U/A; Comedy/Drama/Romance
Director: Anupam Sharma
Cast: Brett Lee, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Supriya Pathak, Akash Khurana, Arka Das, Maya Sathi, Adam Dunn
Rating:

A still from 'UnIndian'

Meera (Tannishtha Chatterjee), a divorcee and single mother of Smitha (Maya Sathi), is an Australian of Indian origin. She is smart and independent, even so, she is under severe family pressure to find a nice Indian match. Meera is not too keen about that. Especially after her parents orchestrate meetings with Samir (Nicholas Brown), an obnoxious but wealthy cardiologist. Then she meets Will (Brett Lee), and hesitantly falls in love with him. But her family (Supriya Pathak & Akash Khurana) are not likely to take kindly to that scandalous affront. The conflict here is about not being Australian enough or Indian enough.

This is the inaugural project of the Australia India Film Fund, with first time director Anupam Sharma trying out a cross cultural rom-com scripted by Thushy Sathi - which appears to be a little too out of date in today's context. The film though, has a light-weight feel to it with themes ranging from a community network that protects its own, Aussie English lessons, arranged marriages and how to date an Indian Girl fluffing up the storyline.

Cricketer Brett Lee, in his debut acting role, does a decent job playing Will, the easy-going cricket and netball-loving UNSW teacher. Will's flatmate, Arka Das as TK, an irreverent cooking enthusiast and his constantly-eating, overweight friend, Adam Dunn as Mich bring on a few laughs too. Tannishtha, Supriya and Akash are competent enough. Shades of Bollywood vibrate throughout the narrative and the Sydney backdrop looks akin to a travelogue. This is not meant to be serious stuff. It's a harmless, reasonably enjoyable outing if you're not expecting too much from it!