A NICE INDIAN BOY - Mark Reviews Movies

A Nice Indian Boy, Blue Harbor Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 3, 2025

There's nothing particularly unique about A Nice Indian Boy, a nice romantic comedy, but there is plenty that's specific about its story and characters. It's also refreshing that all of the conflict and joy of this tale come from who these characters are, what they want, and how there's really not much difference between them, even though it feels that way much of the time—especially to these characters.

Eric Randall's screenplay, based on a play by Madhuri Shekar, actually gives us two central storylines here. The first, of course, is the romance, which is sweet but complicated—again, not because of multiple misunderstandings or several external barriers popping up between them, but on account of the fact that what one is afraid of and what the other holds dearest are the one and same thing.

It's family, and by the way, that brings us to the second major storyline in the script. At first, Randall seems to be indulging in some broad clichés and stereotypical characterizations when it comes to that element, but this film is too genuine and considerate for such a thing to last. By the end, we have a solid sense of these characters, their relationship, and a real family that is much more than initial introductions.

Our main character is Naveen (Karan Soni), a doctor and the son of Indian immigrants Megha (Zarna Garg) and Archit (Harish Patel). At the wedding of his sister Arundhathi (Sunita Mani) to a man her mother matched to her after some failed relationships and more than a bit of pressure, Naveen wonders what his own wedding will be like. He's especially worried what his parents will think when he finally brings home "a nice Indian boy" for them to meet.

Years later, Naveen has come out as gay to his family, who generally accept his sexuality but still seem a bit uncomfortable with the fact, but hasn't met any guy worth the thought of marriage—or the inevitable awkwardness of meeting the parents. That changes when he spots Jay (Jonathan Groff) at a local Hindu temple and later meets him properly, because Jay has been hired to take staff photos at the hospital where Naveen works. After some flirting on both sides of the camera, the two agree to go on a date to see a Bollywood movie Jay loves.

To be clear, Jay is a white guy, but he was adopted by Indian parents after years of foster homes, neglect, and abuse. He's a good and decent man, in other words, who knows exactly what he wants from a romantic relationship, holds family above almost everything else in life, and isn't going to put up with too much nonsense from a partner. Naveen's quite the opposite in some ways, mostly because, while his own family may seem more liberally minded than others he knows, they're still traditional in many ways. Then again, he must care about his parents and sister, or else, why would he worry so much about what they'll think about him dating, not just a man, but a white guy to boot?

The romantic relationship here is quickly but firmly developed, because the filmmakers have more comedic matters, of course, and more serious ones about family, surprisingly, to explore. It's nice to see two characters talk about themselves, their lives, and their experiences, anyway, and that's particularly refreshing within a genre that does so often see characters as the butt of jokes and/or the means of playing melodramatic games with their love story. There's none of that in director Roshan Sethi's film—just two men talking and falling in love and figuring out that they do want to marry each other.

It's at that point, obviously, that the script arrives at some predictable schtick, involving Jay meeting Naveen's parents and sister at Megha and Archit's home. It's still funny, since we know how nervous Jay is to impress the parents, how uncomfortable Megha and Archit are when it comes to something about their son, how cynical Arundhathi is about romance and family and how easy Naveen seems to have it compared to her, and how desperate Naveen is to earn his parents' respect and acceptance. The humor isn't forced in these moments. It emerges because Randall and Sethi understand these characters and exactly why these interactions are so trying for everyone involved.

Also at this point, we might believe we understand exactly what the film is doing and how it's going to do it. It seems set from the start, really, with Naveen's parents being the way they appear to be, Jay being quite the exception to what Megha and Archit probably expected of a romantic partner for their son, and Naveen's desire to please his parents getting in the way of allowing himself to be happy.

Instead, though, Randall flips over those expectations, and the film becomes a thoughtful look at how wrong many of these characters are in their perceptions of each other. There's a lot more to Megha and Archit, for example, than her nosiness and his emotional distance might suggest, and while Naveen and Jay's relationship goes through the kind of trouble that is required of this kind of movie but emerges naturally in this one, the parents' marriage reveals its own charm and sweetness, as well.

A Nice Indian Boy is simply a pleasant film. That might sound like damning with faint praise, but it's most certainly not. This film has a big heart for its love story, but it has an even larger one for these characters and this family.

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