An effortlessly charming and eminently likeable queer rom-com, A Nice Indian Boy will give genre buffs exactly the kind of comfort food they’re looking for and a bit of extra character depth to sweeten the pot. Sharply constructed by director Roshan Sethi (Call Jane, creator of The Resident) and writer Eric Randall (adapting a play by Madhuri Shekar), A Nice Indian Boy has all the elements of a classically executed culture clash romance with a pleasing amount of cliche defying backstory that makes the whole thing a considerably more original than a run of the mill crowd pleaser.
Gay, single doctor Naveen Gavaskar (Karan Soni) is on the outside of his family both socially and sexually. His parents – Megha (Zarna Garg) and Archit (Harish Patel) – accept their son’s sexuality (sometimes trying way too hard to show support), but they’ve never seen it in practice out in the open. His sister, Arundhathi (Sunita Mani), has recently entered an arranged marriage, and the grand ceremony reminds Naveen about his dreams of having a similar wedding. It feels like a moment that will never come until he has a chance encounter with Jay (Jonathan Groff), a sweetheart of a photographer, who can somewhat connect to Naveen on a cultural level. Although he’s white, Jay was adopted at a young age and raised by an older Indian couple, who’ve sadly passed away. Naveen and Jay’s bond grows, but their relationship will awaken a lot of feelings within the Gavaskar family that could threaten their “happily ever after.”
Those feelings that arise aren’t what viewers will likely expect from A Nice Indian Boy, but that’s part of what makes Sethi’s film so unique and balanced. Instead of leaning heavily into cultural differences, A Nice Indian Boy takes the road less travelled. In addition to carefully observing Naveen’s own laundry list of neuroses and hang-ups, Sethi and Randall pull back from their main character to look at how this impending marriage – based solely in love and attraction – makes the rest of the family question their life choices. Megha and Archit didn’t meet before they got married, and while Naveen always thought his parents had an immediate connection, there’s now a seed of doubt planted. Similarly, Arundhathi is jealous of her brother, thinking he’s having a much easier go of things while she’s stuck in a loveless, passionless marriage.
It’s easy to see how Naveen’s family has impacted his outlook on marriage. Jay and Naveen have different views on the nature of family, and the latter doesn’t know how to properly express their love. Everything in A Nice Indian Boy fits together exceptionally well, with Randall’s sharp script and some top notch editorial choices helping to add some polish to something that’s still trying to conform to genre norms of its own. The family dynamic and Naveen’s exasperation at life are played for laughs most of the time, but the results are playful and heartfelt. It doesn’t always feel like characters stuck in a meet-cute rom-com, which this still undoubtedly is, but rather like real people working though longstanding existential crises.
Soni’s leading performance is easy to relate to, and his comedic timing is always on point. Groff has the ability to effortlessly move between being suave and cool and sometimes endearingly goofy and vulnerable. Garg also has the ability to move from silly to serious in the blink of an eye, often garnering some of the film’s biggest laughs and most touching character moments. Mani also delivers standout work with her best performance yet, working a bit against type as the least classically “funny” person in the film, delivering a turn that balances her character’s sadness, frustration, empathy, and love. Everyone in A Nice Indian Boy is putting in top notch work, in front of the camera and behind.
Most films aimed at this level – straight, queer, or otherwise – get by on the basics, and A Nice Indian Boy plays out mostly as expected from a plot standpoint. But what sets this one apart is the fact that the cast and filmmakers use those genre basics as a solid base upon which they can build something a lot greater than one could assume from a passing glance. It’s a great example of the difference between passive entertainment and a well done crowd pleaser that earns all of its tears and laughs.
A Nice Indian Boy opens at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto on Friday, April 4, 2025. It will expand to additional cities in the following weeks.
