Name: A Decent Arrangement (2014)
IMDb: link to A Decent Arrangement page
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| image courtesy of IMDb |
Cast:
Adam Laupus as Ashok Khosla, Vikram Kapadia as Arun Khosla, Navneet Nishan as Gita Khosla,
Shabana Azmi as Preeti Mehta, Shreya Sharma as Suriya Mehta, Farid Currim as Bashi Mehta,
Diksha Basu as Amita Chandra, Lethia Nall as Lorie Sanders, Adhir Bhatt as Vikram Kohli.
Written, Produced, and Directed by: Sarovar Banka.
The initial tableaux:
Indian American Ashok Khosla travels from the USA (where he grew up, where he lives, where he works) to India in search of an arranged marriage. In particular, he travels to Chandigarh, as city north of New Delhi. He stays with his older female cousin Preeti, who will be his matchmaker.
Delineation of conflicts:
Ashok has to decide what his innermost values are while a wife is being picked for him.
A number of American things have rubbed off on Ashok: he likes coffee, not tea. He does not like cookies (biscuits) with either. The American supermarket, the American shower, the American versions of tolerance are all things that he appears to miss. Perhaps the biggest miss is honesty. Ashok is honest about his aspirations during his interview with the first set of parents; Preeti is correct in that he just destroyed all hopes in that direction.
Preeti has a very methodical approach, and has a large notebook of descriptions of potential brides ready for Ashok's first day. She asks for his input, but informs him with reasonable clarity, why his opinion is sometimes 'wrong.' Preeti asserts that her first pick is 'homely,' which surprises Ashok, but is presented as a virtue in this circumstance.
Preeti asserts that the Indian economy is better than the American at present. That is curious. Most of the long sets of local footage point to abject poverty, not to sufficiency, much less abundance. Some scenes about Preeti's circle look like lower middle class America. The Mehtas' refrigerator looks as if it were purchased used in the 1950s, and this is a film about 2014.
Some of the parents of potential brides would rather meet with Ashok's parents directly, but not with Preeti, and not with Ashok. Sigh. Eventually, Ashok is more quiet during interviews, and actually gets to meet one of Preeti's candidates.
Unfortunately for Ashok's clarity of the moment, Ashok meets Lorie Sanders, an American traveling in India. This sets him into a new quandary since he has yet to meet a potential Indian bride, and here is this living reminder of all things American. Oddly enough, she knows more about the city of Chandigarh than he does and offers to show him around.
Shortly thereafter, Ashok meets the Chandra family, and his first Indian bride candidate, Amita Chandra. He gets to like Amita.
By the time his parents Arun and Gita arrive in Chandigarh, Ashok has to make some decisions.
Resolution: These cultural differences resolve themselves, eventually.
One line summary: Desi man looks for arranged marriage in India.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 5/10 When the camera is steady, this film has a low budget, but still good-looking appearance. When the camera is weaving about, nausea seems just around the corner.
Sound: 4/10 Neel Murgai is credited with the music, which added some atmosphere but not much emotional depth.
Acting: 5/10 Adam Laupus and Shabana Azmi were convincing as Ashok and Preeti. Lethia Nall was quite good as Lorie, but the rest of the cast I could have done without. Entirely.
Screenplay: 7/10 Slow and careful, passive and illuminating. Ashok is a fish out of water, but this is not played for laughs. There is no humour in this piece, and little action beyond the motion of the train in the initial sequence. As a still and thoughtful film, it's fairly pleasant. Unless one likes still and thoughtful, this could be a major trial.
"We all want out of this shit, and you want to get back in." Ashok hears this at a bar in Chandigarh, from a local IT professional, and it seems to encapsulate the entire movie for me.
Final Rating: 6/10
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