Recently, a 70-year-old mother in China appeared on television to ask for help in finding her daughter a job and a partner. According to the “South China Morning Post”, the woman expressed concern that her 38-year-old child does not date and, after quitting her job, now works as a pet vlogger.
When interviewed by the station, the daughter said she has attempted to communicate with her mother, but the older generation has a different mindset from the younger.
What does this have to do with a romantic comedy on Netflix, you ask? Well, the themes of familial concern and the generation gap are explored in the streamer’s charming film “Wedding Season”, which tells the story of an Indian-American couple who fake being in a relationship to please their parents.
The audience is first introduced to Asha Maurya’s (Pallavi Sharda) profile on an online dating site, “seeking Indian prince charming with a professional job and MBA”. However, these are not her words; they belong to her mother, Suneeta (Veena Sood).
Asian parents might agree Suneeta has reason to be worried: Asha has thrown herself into her new job – one that Suneeta deems does not “pay enough to buy a condominium” – following the ending of her engagement to “Jersey’s most eligible brown bachelor”.
A lacklustre career AND zero romantic prospects? The horror!
So, the overbearing caring mom offers Asha a deal: she will take down the dating profile if Asha goes on a date with a “nice boy” she picks. Her daughter must also attend all weddings that will be held during the summer, given that each splashy event is a potential-future-husband pool.
Despite herself, Asha agrees. Enter Ravishankar Shah (Suraj Sharma, “Life of Pi”), who also has a profile on the dating site, describing him as “the youngest Indian to win the national spelling bee and went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 16 years old”.
Alas, mirroring Asha’s situation, these are not his words; rather, they were written by his father.
Long story short, a subsequent brush with some Indian aunties during a wedding leads Asha to convince Ravi to pretend they are actually dating. True to the genre, they end up falling for each other… but there are bumps in the road ahead as Ravi’s father has omitted some important details in his son’s profile.
Jeng jeng jeng. No more spoilers.
Released on Aug 4, “Wedding Season” is directed by Tom Dey, who also helmed features such as “Shanghai Noon” and “Showtime”. So, what works here?
Both lead performers shine in their roles, their natural chemistry and witty banter delivering a lovely balance between romance and comedy. Their likeable performances also help steer the film away from being a predictable and wearisome rom-com.
Favourably, the movie explores facets of life that would be familiar to most Asians: the importance of a good education and a stable job, followed by settling down to start a family.
Single Asian women, in particular, may relate to this well-meaning statement delivered to Asha: “Careers fade away but a husband and a family? Those are forever, darling.”
This might be a contentious issue for some, but the good thing here is that “Wedding Season” does not force this down your throat. Instead, it leaves you free to agree or disagree, though its lighthearted take may just help you see things from a new perspective. Deep.
Not so deep? Fashion lovers will be dazzled by the colourful Indian costumes on display throughout!
If there are grouses to be made, it’s that the matter of the generation gap between Asha, Ravi, and their parents could have been given more focus.
Pertinently, the parental figures are underdeveloped, when more screen time devoted to them would have made them more three-dimensional.
Questions the movie could have asked, but don’t, include: why is getting married and having a well-paying job so important? Does it have anything to do with being immigrants – Asha and presumably Ravi being first-generation Indian-Americans – and the challenges the older generation has had to face in eking out a living in a foreign country?
Maybe the filmmakers didn’t want to bog things down with heavy issues – this is a rom-com, after all – but some insight could have led the audience to empathise more keenly with the parents’ beliefs, instead of simply assuming they are old-fashioned.
After all, understanding each other’s perspectives, and the experiences that shaped those perspectives, is key to bridging the gap.
All said and done, “Wedding Season” is an entertaining film that will leave you rooting for the main characters and their “fake” relationship. It’s fun and lighthearted, with just enough to prod you into realising that really, the relationships between parents and children, especially in the East, are truly universal.
‘Wedding Season’ is streaming on Netflix.