Bleecker Street
There’s something that’s always a bit interesting about the ‘going home’ concept, because it’s such a universal feeling and always has the same underlying idea: These are the people I grew up with? You can play with the concept, make it a high school reunion or a later in life holiday meal, or simply just do the ‘home from school’ idea — because drama is always there, even when you don’t expect it. And a filmmaker can always color this story with something even closer to home to make it feel different and real.
India Sweets and Spices comes from writer/director Geeta Malik in her sophomore film, and like her first movie, tells a tale connected to her Indian heritage. Here we follow young college student Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali), a highly opinionated, highly Americanized (if driven) person as she goes back home after her first year at school. Does she really pass for a 19-year-old? I mean … I thought she was coming home after a year of post-grad school at first, but sure, I can suspend my disbelief.
Alia is typically a bit apprehensive about the various impending drama she’s anticipating, although it’s nothing close to the level she’s actually going to see. Her family is having a ‘welcome back’ dinner party where her well-off parents can show off to the community and enjoy plenty of neighborhood gossip. Alia is typically annoyed at her seemingly perfectly happy parents Sheila (Manisha Koirala) and Ranjit (Adil Hassain).
But a chance meeting at the local Indian grocery causes everything to explode. The grocery has been bought by new owners, an older couple with a son Varun (Rish Shah) around Alia’s age. After the two make eyes at each other in the aisles, Alia invites their whole family to come to her parent’s shindig (not really thinking how they might feel about it). At the party, Alia reconnects with an old high school flame while also trying to make the visiting family feel less out of place.
But two odd things happen, both that threaten to detonate the tight knit community — Alia notices that Varun’s mother Bhairavi (Deepti Gupta) has an odd history with her mother and then she spots her father kissing someone else. Even after the party ends, Alia struggles with how to deal with all the new feelings and concerns, and eventually it all ends with another party where all is resolved, one way or another.
I really liked this movie, it was a sort of rom-com style with a lot of underlying dramatic flair and a cast of well considered characters. Sophia Ali is a highly compelling lead, and when the movie takes a break to simply watch Alia swim or run, it’s not boring but enveloping — it helps us feel this same feeling of inside and outside. Like we went back home to whatever our home was, fictional or otherwise.
The ending also wrapped things up in a way that felt both satisfying and cathartic, and ultimately had me feeling that I was really interested in seeing whatever comes next from the director and the lead actress. It’s that odd combination of feel-good and feel-bad that strikes closer to home than you might expect, but it’s still a good time throughout.
Want to see India Sweets and Spices and judge for yourself? Click below to see the movie, and be sure to come back and tell us what you thought!
India Sweets and Spices has a run time of 1 hour 41 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual material, and brief drug references.
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