A Nice Indian Boy is a coming out movie with a difference: while it features the budding love story of a gay couple, that’s no secret, but opposites attract and when an introvert and an extrovert form that attraction, the effect they have on each other is profound in this utterly charming South Asian romcom. 

If there’s any justice, it will hopefully help Karan Soni become known for being more than Deadpool’s regular taxi driver. He’s Naveen, a doctor going through the motions in his job while reflecting on his various failures to get a relationship going. He catches the eye of Jay (Jonathan Groff) while praying to Ganesh at temple, and then meets him again when Jay, a freelance photographer, is recruited to take photos of the staff at Naveen’s hospital. 

It’s not exactly love at first sight, but some understated lust gets their relationship going. Jay’s adoptive parents were Indian and so he has a sympathetic cultural background; his favourite film, somewhat unexpectedly for Naveen, is Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) and he has a working knowledge of Hindi. That may not help him integrate with Naveen’s family when the time comes: his mother Megha (Zarna Garg) is well-meaning but a little overbearing, calling him at work to discuss the plot of Sean Penn’s Milk in an effort to connect, while his father Archit (Harish Patel) still struggles to articulate how he feels about his family. That includes Naveen’s sister Arundhati (Sunita Mani), who could do with some drama in her brother’s life to deflect from the constant questions about her continued failure to be offering up a grandchild. 

The film is divided into five chapters by inter-titles, and starts at a typical Asian wedding. Naveen might have an idea of what he’d like from both a partner and a wedding, but he doesn’t find either easy to articulate. He’s also a little embarrassed by his differences to Jay: the fact that he’s white, even though he’s from an Indian family, would be more than enough to drive his insecurities, but his vaping and more flamboyant lifestyle are too much for the introverted doctor to ask his parents to accept.

Reductively, it would be easy to pigeonhole A Nice Indian Boy somewhere between East Is East and Meet The Parents, but that would be to do it a significant disservice. There are a lot of laughs in Eric Randall’s script, adapted from Madhuri Shekar’s play of the same name, and there’s a significant amount of heart as well. Naveen and Jay’s initial mutual crush, initial awkwardness, gentle defrosting and then the transformative effect that they have on each other all have sincerity an authenticity that’s tricky to manufacture this well. The overall outcomes might be predictable but the journey to them is joyous and unexpectedly affecting – I say unexpectedly because I did not expect going in to be crying happy tears on three separate occasions.

Jonathan Groff oozes an easy charm as Jay, but it’s Karan Soni’s journey as Naveen that will have you quietly cheering, especially if you’ve ever been socially awkward either in general company or under the judgemental gaze of your own parents. Credit should also be given to the rest of the family: Garg, Patel and Mani all craft depth into performances that could have been one note in the wrong hands. Together, they’re a family learning how to function and to appreciate each other, and their gradual bonding should warm even the hardest of hearts. Director Roshan Sethi keeps things moving at a welcome pace while allowing the more tender moments room to resonate, before setting up for the obligatory grandstand finish. 

A Nice Indian Boy has enough niceness for everyone and might just be the best romcom of the year!

A Nice Indian Boy screened at the London Film Festival 2024