REVIEW: ‘A Nice Indian Boy’ Is Sweet But Lacks Spark

Many rules go hand in hand when crafting a good rom-com, from charged banter to a substantial ensemble of supporting cast and moments that sweep us off our feet. In its purest, most distilled form, romance is supposed to make us feel. And on that front, A Nice Indian Boy hits the landing with emotional, heartfelt moments and characters we root for. However, the film, directed by Roshan Seti, lacks one key component to rom-com excellence: chemistry.

A Nice Indian Boy follows Naveen, a doctor who’s out to his family but has yet to bring a boy home to his Indian parents. This changes when Naveen Gavaskar (Karan Soni) meets Jay Kurundkar (Jonathan Groff), a photographer with whom he strikes an unexpected romance due to their differing personalities.

However, as their relationship progresses and they realize they’re ready for the next step, Naveen brings his now-fiancée to meet his family. His family, who, based on Jay’s last name, believed he too was Indian. In reality, Jay is white, was adopted by an Indian couple, and is familiar with the cultural customs of Naveen’s family.

Any tension is due to the first introduction. What follows are characters who must reconcile their belief systems with the amount of love they feel for their family. Due to the nature of the genre, we know there will be big, life-affirming declarations, musical numbers, and a family that comes together to throw the lavish wedding of the couple’s dreams. But it’s the road there that makes A Nice Indian Boy stand out rather than the central love story itself.

A Nice Indian Boy nails the basics of rom-com goodness but doesn’t quite nail the execution.

The reality is that there’s no passion or spark between Soni and Groff. This is, in part, due to the writing. At first, based on their initial interaction, it doesn’t even seem like Naveen likes Jay very much, amplified by Jay’s consistent anxiety and reliance on marijuana-based self-medication to get him through their first date. It’s a lot of Jay talking at Naveen while the latter retells the story to his best friend at work. It’s cringe-inducing without the necessary follow-up balm to make it palatable.

There’s no substantial buildup that stabilizes their relationship, and it doesn’t feel earned. If it couldn’t swing both, it needed smarter writing or stronger chemistry. We needed either more introspective writing or more heat between Soni and Groff to make it fully work. Instead, we get neither, and it’s easily the greatest detriment to the film. It isn’t helped by the fact that Soni lacks a certain onscreen confidence as a leading man, leaving the movie searching for a heart to connect to.

It’s what makes the most substantial, moving part of A Nice Indian Boy the supporting characters. Namely, Naveen’s sister, Arundhathi (Sunita Mani), and his parents, Megha (Zarna Garg) and Archit (Harish Patel). Mani delivers a layered, biting performance as Arundhathi, a woman who went along with her parent’s wishes in life and marriage before realizing, six years in, that her marriage has no basis in love. We easily want to know more about her by the time the film ends.

Harish Patel will make you cry as Naveen’s father. 

Meanwhile, Megha and Archit could be the protagonists of their own story. They give the film its soul in the back half as it moves away from the wooing and central romance to firmly settling into a familial drama. The generational divide is a significant element of the film without playing out the way one might think. Megha and Archit simply want their children to be happy and don’t understand their lack of communication with them.

Patel is brilliant and moving, anchoring the two scenes of the film that may elicit tears. His character demonstrates our capacity for change without transforming into an entirely new person by the time the film ends. Patel’s scene with Groff is the standout, as these two men from different backgrounds and cultures recognize familiar attributes in each other. It’s a scene full of grace and humility that the rest of the film can’t match.

In a way, A Nice Indian Boy is trying to do too much all at once. Despite this, it’s shot sparingly, making scenes that are meant to feel big feel empty instead. Toggling between romance to comedy to drama is a hurdle many other films have scaled that the film stumbles through. It’s often awkward and stilted due to Soni’s detached performance or camerawork, which loves an empty space.

Regardless, A Nice Indian Boy has charm due to the talent in the supporting cast. It’s got the rom-com basics down; it just needed to be bolder in its execution.

A Nice Indian Boy is out now in theaters.