naankattai 's review for:

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

4.0

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Loved this so much. The build to this was so great, and the characters were even better, but man, the way Indian culture was pulled into this and tied into the story was wonderful. Loved how full of affection every descriptor was, how easily identifiable certain character types were and how they were written in a loving, knowing way instead of playing a stereotype for the easiness of it. And honestly, I'm just so happy to see an Indian with an Indian? I think when you do find Indian romances at all, the dude tends to be some kind of progressive Other-Race Guy who matches this Westernised Chick - and this is a thing I'm guilty of liking too, unfortunately - but I loved the distance this took from that. An Indian dude who cooks amazing Indian food, and an Indian lady who is traditional to her core but open to trying things, to opening up her world - traditional culturally, but not in the mind. That feels authentic to me, and again, something that pulls both characters away from something that would feel a little too on-the-nose, a little too try-hard.

I got a little choked-up at several parts in this, which is always nice. Even story tropes I feel I should've become inured to due to Bollywood movies felt a little realer.

I'm only really knocking off a star because Samir felt a little less coloured-in than I'd wanted him to be. I can understand his background, his reasons, the fact that he did things the wrong way - but it felt like a superficial 'rogue with a heart of gold' story instead of anything that felt well-substantiated. I may be being a bit picky, though!