I haven’t seen that many films about Indian Americans, but I’m pretty sure all of them, not to mention British films like Bend It Like Beckham, deal with issues of family and culture clash. Even the titles of such films—Mississippi Masala, American Chai, American Desi—reference these themes. This adaptation of Aasif Mondvi’s play may be the lightest version of this story. Mondvi, the erstwhile Daily Show correspondent who shares screenplay credit, plays Samir, a Manhattan sous-chef who steers clear of all things Indian—the cuisine, cricket, and the women on the Indian dating sites his mother tries to fix him up with. But when a family emergency forces his father away from the family’s run-down Indian restaurant, Samir is forced to put his own plans on hold and pitch in. And, with the help of an Indian-born cabbie he meets who just so happens to also be a master chef with lots of free time, pitch in he does.
This very likable comedy may be too likable for its own good. Samir’s potential girlfriend (Jess Weixler, of Teeth) has a kid? No problem; we never even find out whether there’s a father somewhere. His new chef doesn’t believe in menus? No problem! (Seriously? An Indian take-out place with no menus?) Of course, everything will work out in this sort of gentle comedy, and that’s fine, but a little doubt in the meantime would have made it more satisfying. The chef is a too-good-to-be true man of the world who can conjures up a full-course meal in no time. Still, as played by Bollywood veteran Naseeruddin Shah, he’s the most captivating of the characters. More downbeat, but realistic, is the relationship between Samir and his father, who simultaneously looks down on Samir for his choice of career and resents him for seeming to disregard his family traditions.
IMDB link
viewed 12/14/10 at Ritz 5 and reviewed 12/14/10
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