Finding the love of your life in today’s culture isn’t easy, particularly with its dependency on social media. In fact it can really be quite complicated as Ravi Patel found out especially when he wanted to bring his parent’s happiness into the equation too. Ravi, a rather charismatic Indian/American actor living in L.A. has just split up with Audrey his redheaded girlfriend from Connecticut of 2 years who’s very existence he kept a secret from his parents because she wasn’t an Indian, and he wants to finally settle down with a wife. He and his sister Geeta …. who is behind the camera filming this documentary …. are very close to their parents, however as neither of the siblings, both in their thirties, have never married, the Patel seniors are really disappointed that they still cannot look forward to the prospect of any grandchildren like all their friends.
The family are entirely Americanized but once Ravi finally agrees that he will allow his parents to fix him up with an ‘arranged’ marriage, they all take a trip together to India in search of a traditional bride. Not just any suitably unattached female, but one who is also named Patel. It is not a matter of some icky incest (!) but this is also the surname of an entire community in a particular region of the country. They even have their own Patel Matrimonial Convention to make it easier, but naturally with Ravi and all his westernized ways, even that is not really going to make it that simple for him.
Ravi’s parents are such an amiable and patient couple who adapt all their different searches back home in the U.S. to cater for his whims, because although he says he is in full agreement of them selecting a wife, it is soon very obvious that his heart is not actually in this whole exercise. In fairness Ravi goes through checking out all the ‘candidates’ under the very close scrutiny of the camera, and even though his world is far apart from that of his parents, he has inherited all their disarming charm, which makes both the search and this enchanting movie so completely enjoyable.Greeta is hardly a good cameraman but even her sometimes shaky shots add to the informality of this completely engaging tale that has all the makings of a perfect TV reality show. Except there is no need for any follow up as Ravi ended up set to live happily ever after, and with his parents with their big happy grins looking on …… but you will need to see the movie to discover why and how.
