The ironic thing about this new cute and funny queer rom-com crowd-pleaser of a movie is that is based all on a chance meeting between two gay men ‘like the good old days‘. Whereas the reality of what is claimed is based on a real-life story has been created by a gay couple who met online. It was not by one of the more ‘infamous’ gay ‘dating’ sites such as GRINDR and Scruff, but on a 10 year old app called RAYA.
To save you scrambling for GOOGLE to check it out we can tell you that RAYA bills itself as the dating app for “influencers” . Its is an invite-only app and requires a monthly few, but its most interesting feature is its ability to connect you with interesting people. Hmmmm.
This is how the films director Roshan Sethi ‘came out’ and met one of the movie’s leading men Karan Soni six years ago to begin their happy-ever-after life together and subsequently make this film together.
The film is the story of Naveen Gavaskar (Sethi) a young hospital doctor who wants nothing more than to have a big Indian wedding, to the dismay of his traditional family, who are always trying to put a brave face on about his gayness. A chance meeting with a freelance photographer Jay Kurundkar (Jonathan Groff) leads to him going out on a date which we get the impression maybe the virginal Doctor’s dating debut.
The film, and the dating, has a slow start but if you keep with it, what first appears as the most unlikely of romantic pairings , begins to show a remarkable natural chemistry between these two very likable men. Although Naveen is ‘out to his parents’ it is however not that easy for them to reconcile the concept with the reality. Particularly with his father. But the story line allows us to witness how non-white families….. especially Moslem ones can, and will, handle the whole question of same-sex marriage.
The seperation of Naveen’s newly wed sister from her husband is a less than subtle reminder that even ‘straight’ marriages do not always succeed, That and the scene stealing performance of Zarna Garg as his rather melodramatic mother. (She has already established herself as THE funniest Indian Stand Up Comic ever, and it will be great to see her perform in more films.)
Talking of Stand Up…..kudus also to Peter S Kim who had us in hysterics for his performance of Naveen’s deadpan hospital colleague.
It’s difficult not be completely enamored by this charming wee movie which may not require us to stretch our imaginations but it does lift our spirits not just watching the love story unfold, but also the several nods included that play tribute to the contagious colorful world of Bollywood.
PS Future screenings include NEWFEST in NY and BFI London Film Fest: but it has been confirmed to us that sadly the Distributors have avoided many of the excellent global LGBTQ Film Festivals with the inflammatory excuse they do not want this QUEER love story seen by just queer audiences! Its at times like these we struggle to remember this is 2024!
ROGER WALKER-DACK Creator, Editor-in-Chief Miami Beach, FL / Provincetown, MA IG @QUEERGURU Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and NLGJA The Association of LGBT Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributing Editor The Gay Uk & Contributor Edge Media Former CEO and Menswear Designer of Roger Dack Ltd in the UK
