A Nice Indian Boy (Starring Karan Soni & Jonathan Groff) - Movie Review | Cosmic Circus Reviews

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another Cosmic circus review. My name is Vin. With me, as always, is John. And today we have another special guest star. What a special week. We have Brian Kitson, the legend, the king, our head writer, and one of the, like, greatest podcasters on our site. Brian, we're so happy to have you today. What are we talking about, Brian? [00:00:18] Speaker B: Well, first off, that was like the nicest introduction I've ever had in my entire life and probably over inflated that my ego just a little bit. But today we're talking about a nice Indian boy, a new rom com that just is coming out. Yes, you. Oh, wa. [00:00:33] Speaker C: The story of Ben. That. That's what. That's what we're talking about. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Yeah. The biggest flirt of the cosmic circus. [00:00:40] Speaker A: All right, let me get into credits just a little bit. Please remember, like, subscribe, follow. Please support us on Patreon. We have so many Patreon members every week. We have to keep updating the list. Get your name on there. Support us on Patreon. All right. Nice. Indian Boy, 2025, directed by Roshan Sethi. Written by Eric Randall. Based on the play by Madhuri Shekhar, starring Karen Soni and Jonathan Groff. It's releasing in theaters April 4th. Karen Soni, you guys probably know him from Deadpool. He was the taxi driver. Dopinder. He's also Spider Man India, and Across the Spider Verse. Jonathan Groth. He's been in Mindhunter. He was in Glee. He's. I know him mostly from Hamilton, I think. Do you guys like Hamilton? [00:01:16] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I did. [00:01:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, A big Hamilton fan. That's great. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Most importantly, you forgot that he just won the Tony for best Best Actor in Merrily We Roll along, which is super important. [00:01:28] Speaker A: I did not know that. Thank you, Broadway boy. [00:01:30] Speaker B: You're welcome. [00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, that's great. [00:01:32] Speaker C: For anyone that doesn't know, Brian's got a great YouTube channel. Do you want to plug that real quick? [00:01:38] Speaker A: Yeah, let's go. [00:01:39] Speaker B: Yeah. So The Backseat Babes YouTube channel. We also have a website where we do lots of reviews for Broadway musicals, movies that are musicals, anything that has music to it and people singing. We love it. So. Yeah, so look for us at Backseat Babes. [00:01:53] Speaker C: Yeah, go check that out. [00:01:55] Speaker A: I mean, John. John and I were just talking off screen. Like, I would love to get into, like, some, like a Bollywood tangent with some reviews, and we could even cross over with the musicals. Singing. Yeah, Boxy goes Bollywood. I can see. [00:02:07] Speaker B: I love it. New banner. I'm going to have to start making it. [00:02:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Anyway, so let's get into this movie. As you can see, I dressed up today. I actually, I have a much, much, much nicer one. I could not find it. The problem is almost my entire closet is black. It's very hard to find things. I have to look somewhere. I don't know where it is. Somewh storage or something. But this is. I think I picked this up at Bangladesh. So I wanted to represent today. Okay, so a nice Indian boy. Let's start with initial reactions. How did you guys feel? Thumbs up, thumbs down. [00:02:36] Speaker C: Which one of us is going first? Which? [00:02:38] Speaker B: Go, John. Take it away, take it away. [00:02:40] Speaker C: Oh, man. Okay. Oh, God. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like I. I believe in showing respect to any filmmaker. It's very difficult to make a film. It's very difficult. Like I've done it before and I found out I don't have the patience to make a film. So I know that no matter what happens, like what I'll say, I don't think I could do any better than any of these filmmakers. So just want to make that clear up front no matter what. So let me just go through what I like real quick. [00:03:15] Speaker A: Okay? [00:03:16] Speaker C: Jonathan Gro is amazing. No matter what. No matter what. He's great. I think the family, the mom and dad in this movie, almost still to. [00:03:28] Speaker A: Show they are especially the mom. The mom especially, especially the mom. [00:03:34] Speaker C: She's got some of the best one liners anybody in the entire. In the entire film. Like for example, there's one part where they're having an argument and the daughter is involved and she says, are you okay? You think your hormones. Somebody get her, somebody get her a support brother. Like, it's just the little quips that she comes up with are really funny. [00:04:00] Speaker A: I wanted to add that her name is Zarna Garg. For me, I think she's the biggest surprise of the movie. Like, obviously, Jonathan Groff, he's great. We know he's great. But Zarnagar, she came out of nowhere when I was researching a little bit. She's a lawyer. Did you know this? She's a lawyer. And then she became a stay at home mom. And then she like was like, what do I do with my life? And then she became a comedian and then an actor. What a career. [00:04:22] Speaker C: I actually think the dad's pretty good too. I really do. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Harish Patel, he's also in eternals. [00:04:28] Speaker B: I was just gonna say that. Yeah, yeah, he stole the show in that film too. [00:04:32] Speaker C: I also think I'm gonna say the context, but there is like a marriage between you Know, I mean, a man in the film. And I think it's a pretty beautiful moment in the movie. And I do think seeing that normalize the way it is in the film should be done more. Like it's. [00:04:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:52] Speaker C: The big, beautiful, sweet, enduring moment. And I do think that is a great thing that's in the film. [00:04:59] Speaker A: And that's kind of the. I suppose, kind of the thing this movie will be remembered for. It's a crowning achievement. How revolutionary that is. If you looked in the press notes for this, the director said he thinks this might be the first time it's ever been shown ever on screen, anything like that. [00:05:14] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, it's very. It's a great moment in the movie. All that said, I was very mixed on this film. You know, a friend of mine reviewed there was a movie a year ago. Bros. Bros. It Bros. Yes. [00:05:32] Speaker A: What is this? [00:05:34] Speaker C: Yeah. So, you know, he's. He's also a member of the LGBTQ community. He runs for 401 mania. And, you know, he said about that, you know, every demographic deserves a generic auntie. Every demographic. This is a generic rom com. No matter using it. There's nothing that stands out. I think. Think about it. I don't think there's. Besides, like, the representation, like, you know, all the cultural stuff, which I didn't find all that interesting. The bare bones of the rom com elements don't do anything different, in my opinion. It feels like 900 other rom coms that I watch. The other thing I didn't feel the love between. [00:06:24] Speaker A: And that's what I was about to say because I've seen 900 other rom coms where I actually feel the love. I did not feel anything between them. In this. [00:06:30] Speaker C: There's a mood. There's a movie called all of those Strangers. [00:06:35] Speaker A: I haven't seen that, but I. [00:06:36] Speaker C: About a year and a half ago, the two main leads at the beginning of the film beat each other for. It's in the first 10 minutes of the film. [00:06:46] Speaker B: Yes. [00:06:47] Speaker C: And there is more sexual attention now. Five or ten minutes in this entire movie. This entire movie. The other thing. I'm trying to figure out how to say this. The other thing, I. No disrespect to the meme. Like, I think he's great in Deadpool. I think he's wonderful in Deadpool. I feel like the parents gave him more layered in performance. Even his sister, I felt like, was more. [00:07:19] Speaker A: His sister was good. Yeah. [00:07:21] Speaker C: It just like, I felt. It almost kind of felt like he was. His heart was not in it. I Don't know why, but I never felt. The whole time I was like, it feels like he wants to be anywhere but right there in the film. Throughout most of the movie, except for one scene. There was one scene, like, where they're talking at a table and he says, like, I want all of that. I want this. I felt it from him right there the rest of the movie. I just felt like he. He didn't. He didn't seem like he wanted to be there. You know, I'm not sure why I. [00:07:58] Speaker A: Would say I. I think all the performances actually work. Everything actually works except him. And he. He's the. He's the glue of the whole thing. [00:08:06] Speaker C: He's the main character. And when you don't. When you are really going to make character that doesn't seem to have his heart involved in it, it kind of messes up the entire film. Right. Right there. Yeah, but that's my thoughts. Oh, and I watched part of ddlj. I watched part of it last night. I didn't get through the three hours. [00:08:26] Speaker A: We'll talk about it in the first. [00:08:29] Speaker C: Hour of the doj. There's more charisma and spirit than this whole film. This whole film. Anyway, that's my thoughts. I'll give it up to Brian. [00:08:39] Speaker B: So this is something that I had to think about this a lot. So I watched it last night. And I'm glad that you mentioned bros, John, because this is exactly what came to mind. But on a larger scale when it comes to rom coms in the LGBTQ community, is that we're either portrayed as a caricature, which you see with one of the characters, one of the side characters in this one. You know, we're very flamboyant, we're very loud, we're very. We're all about sex. Or we're portrayed as boring. And this is what I got from the main character, is that he was the boring portrayal of what a gay person is. Because we see this a lot of times when it comes to trying to normalize something, is that we try to show that we're just like everybody else. We're just as boring. We're not, you know, we're either extreme or we're quiet and we're reserved. And it doesn't really give, at least in my experience, as, you know, as a gay man, also as a therapist in the field, that we're more towards the middle of the field than anything else. And so this is where I really struggle with. I love rom coms. I watch Hallmark movies around Christmas time. Like, they're going out of style. And there is more chemistry in a Hallmark film, which is really sad to say, than I saw between the two of these, because they are so boring. And all they are. Are kind of filled with. They're, like, all the traumatic parts of. Of a relationship of, like, the. You know, you seeing Jonathan Groff's character, he's responding with his trauma of being like that. I'm not gonna fight. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna try to make myself be a part of your family. I want to be accepted, and I'm just gonna walk away. And then you see. You know, you see the main character just kind of. I don't know. He's coasting through life, it feels like. And like he's coasting through this role, it feels like. [00:10:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:12] Speaker B: And so I really struggled with how boring that this relationship felt. I felt more chemistry from everybody else in this film. In fact, I think that the sister is probably my favorite character because she has the most. Most emotional depth and the most emotional growth of this film. [00:10:24] Speaker A: She's a real roller coaster. Yeah. [00:10:26] Speaker B: Yeah. And she's the one that carries this film. And other than that, I. I love Jonathan Groff. And, you know, I think that you could have easily just taken the LGBTQ storyline out of this and still had a really good family drama film, and. [00:10:38] Speaker A: That'S the part that I really enjoyed. Yeah, Right. [00:10:40] Speaker B: There was nothing to it. So that's kind of my initial thought. [00:10:43] Speaker A: Yeah. I want to say. I think I can't say enough how much I love the representation in this movie. I need to be clear. My family's from Bangladesh. We're Muslim. I'm not Hindu. I'm not really from, like, India. India. So it's a little bit different. But there's so much here that I still click with, that I still connect with. I mean, Ms. Marvel, for me, was, like, almost one to one that. That is my heart, Ms. Marvel. And this. It's kind of, you know, it's tickling the same feeling. So I really love a lot of the, like, details. The representation, the sets, the details in the family, the cultural things they're talking about, the way they're talking about, okay, so we have this uncomfortable situation. How does the family navigate it? And every member of the family has a different response, has a different reaction, and they're all trying to navigate, what do we do with this? This is a very unconventional thing. We don't like this. Maybe we do, maybe we don't. How do we fix it? The end of this movie is a complete fairy tale. It's. It's. There's no way to say it any other way. It is an absolute fantasy. The way this. Following the arc of this movie. And I think the director knows that. Reading the press notes for this movie, I don't know if you know this. The director and the lead actor are fiance. Ah, yes. And I don't know if. I don't know if they're married or not yet, but they were preparing that they were going on this exact journey during the making of this movie. Of course, one of them isn't white. They're both Indian, but they're both gay. And their families especially, I think the director's family was not supportive. And so this entire arc of this movie is reflecting his arc in real life. Except this has the happy ending. This has the happy ending where the family supports and that. That is what's kind of unrealistic and why this is a fantasy. But I think at the same time, like John is saying, I think it's important to put that out there, even if it's not totally realistic and it's hard to do this in real life. I think we need that symbol of, like, here's what it could look like. Imagine, hypothetically, you know what I mean? [00:12:26] Speaker C: That's what I was thinking. I have a sibling, you know, who's gay also. And you know, and I. I struggle with some of my family, the way they act around him and stuff like that. And you know, I kept thinking, you know, at the. At the end of the film, I'm like, wouldn't it be just beautiful if this were like. If this were how it would go down? Yeah, you know, like. Like it would be great if this is how they would treat him, you know, you know, my family member. If it would just be this giant celebration of love without any, you know, without any compromises or any judgments or any. Like, just like if he really. If they were treated like any other Kyle and Karen out there, you know, that got married, it would be such a beautiful thing. And that was one part of it that I did appreciate that I did appreciate that element of it. Even if it is a fantasy or, you know, if there's any. Any genre where you can make a fairy tale element in it, it's the rom com. Rom coms are always heightened realities. They always are. [00:13:39] Speaker A: What I think makes it really important, though, is when you. If you want. Even if you want to have the fairy tale ending, you have to earn it. You have to go through as high High, low, low. We have to get there. And that's why these Bollywood movies, like the real Bollywood movies are three hours long. John, we were talking about DDLJ that spends an hour and a half. There's an entire movie where they fall in love. Then there's an entire movie where it all falls apart. It is a two part like giant monstrosity. And that's why they're so huge and epic. And you feel so many emotions in those movies because we go through every. We see them fall in love so slowly. Hour and a half, then we see it all fall apart. Hour and a half. This movie. [00:14:14] Speaker C: I do think there are some problematic things in the og. [00:14:18] Speaker A: Oh, everyone knows. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Yeah, but there are some problematic elements in it. But still that movie is like exploding the charisma all throughout it. [00:14:29] Speaker A: No, it's really one of the most magical ones. Yeah, I mean there's many good ones. [00:14:33] Speaker C: But yeah, that main character, that it just is void of any charisma and heart. If he did do it just because like their Beyonce, I think that was kind of a mistake and you kind of could feel that he just was not right for the role. And that's kind of, I think that's one of the hardest parts in the film is this. You cannot get into his emotional state because it's void of emotion. [00:15:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think. Yeah, yeah. Brian, go ahead. [00:15:05] Speaker B: I was going to say you, you had talked about kind of like the, the fantastical elements of like a rom com and this is where I, I struggle with rom coms is that I feel like when it comes to like a heterosexual relationship and you see those films, heterosexual relationships have been normalized for so long that we know what like a traditional one looks like. And so to have this where like, like, like Vin said it all kind of comes together and wouldn't normally do that. There, there comes a point where yes, we want a happy ending, we want to see the happy ending, but there's a lot of people out there that are seeing that and thinking growing up and thinking like this could. This is how it's supposed to be and which it is supposed to be, but that's also not reality of the situation. And so to see something that's a little more realistic and see like a rom com that actually discusses a little bit more of the, the hardships of, you know, being gay in a certain culture, being gay in a world where your parents don't understand you and see being gay in a world that maybe is fighting against that. You know, I think like there that makes a more robust. Like you said, it earns it a little bit more. And I think those are the films that we need to see more than just like the. You get to have your happy wedding that everybody's excited for. In the matter of. This is a 90 minute film. Like there's no. From start to finish. You're. You have five chapters in 30 in 90 minutes and you get your happy ending. And there's not a lot of struggle in the, in the middle part. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:16:19] Speaker C: It kind of like does it very quick. Like it starts at chapter five and then the problems were kind of discussed and then it just kind of rushes all that drama like very fast. I. But I do think the parents do a great job with it. I think they, I mean even the dad, I was like, there's a lot of watch a lot of great emotional death even from him. I. But I do agree, I think it could have been stretched out a lot more, give me more time to actually breathe than the like rush that final act into it. [00:16:59] Speaker B: I mean, you got more love out of the two parents at the end with the mom's speech than you Absolutely. Out of the two of them. Like that. Like when the mom's gonna speech. That's what cheered me up. And I was just like, oh, she actually does care for him. And he's realizing that she cares. That's. That was almost worth the film for me. Like, yeah, that was beautiful. [00:17:14] Speaker C: That was really beautiful actually. [00:17:16] Speaker A: And I've seen that happen a lot in real life too. Like there's these arranged marriages and. But just from that it's a different generation. And they do learn to love each other in a sense of like we're working together towards a goal. And then over time that love comes. Over time. It's not like we start and like, oh, we love each other. And then it, you know, it declines from there. Like what most relationships we might think of and a lot. The ideal arranged marriages, they don't know each other. Then their love grows over time with them. And that's, that's great to see that in this movie. I think what, what their idea was, the idea of this movie is good. We all agree with that. The issue we all agree with too is that they accelerated it. And I think the key problem is what they chose to accelerate. So they accelerate them falling in love. We absolutely never feel it. His awkwardness. It is great if they were still in that early, like first dates phase when he, when he declares his love to the guy and says, I think we should get Married. I. I'm like, brother, you're on, like, second date territory. What's going on here? [00:18:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:09] Speaker A: And he feels. He feels that way the whole movie. And I'm like, his performance would be fine if we were still at the beginning of the relationship, but this relationship escalates so quickly. But his performance never really changes, Brian. Do you know what I mean? [00:18:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. There's. Again, it goes back to, like, just. It's very flat. Like, it's just very. Like, there should be a progression in both, like, character development through the relationship and through. In the relationship itself. And honestly, this is where. I'm so sorry to Jonathan Groff. I'm gonna lose my Broadway license here, too. Even he doesn't have a. You know, neither one of these two men have a great emotional growth together. Yeah, there's like, I can't tell you what, One's a doctor and one's a photographer. Like, they're going on. They're like, on a second date, and it's. It's cringy. And he's singing, like, the first day. He's singing to him, you know, and it's, like, awkward. And then, like. Like, there's just. I think that's why it's hard to buy into. There's nothing there. There's, like. There's no. There's no arc. [00:19:00] Speaker A: But. But the movie was so focused on what it wants to do on its mission that it says, just go with it. Just assume that they do love each other. Assume. Let's fast forward, get to this now. Now we're at the proposal. All right, now. Now, here's our movie. [00:19:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:12] Speaker A: And I. But even then, a Bollywood movie would at least, like, do a montage. And this tries to do a montage. It's not super effective. There needs to be some. You need to truly, like, La La Land style. You need to, like, feel their. Their love really quickly. Right. And then we get to the proposal. Then we get to the conflict with the family and the family drama. Like I said, I thought that was really well done. But then John, the dad accepting that is the crux of the movie. That. Fighting for the dad's acceptance. And that's the part that. Where it all falls apart, because that's so unrealistic. Fighting for that dad's approval is the thing that in real life, you is make her break and you fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. And he. I didn't understand why the dad turned so quickly and said yes. [00:19:52] Speaker C: Well, I'll be honest, that kind of did work. For me, a little bit. Only because, you know, it. Because that was stacked on the fact that his romance with his wife was not. He didn't. He didn't realize how problematic his situation was until, I guess I pointed that out. And then that kind of becomes a part of it. And then that's when they lean into that conversation with Jonathan Groff now. But I do think it's rushed. I think it's rushed. But I did feel it from him, like. Because there's a moment where he tries to go sit down by his wife and she goes, no, you go over there. You go sit under there. And it was like, it was. And now I think it was in that moment where he kind of like. I think what I. What he communicated to me is that he realized he doesn't have what his son has. And that's kind of like what. I think that's what changed it for him, in my opinion. But I do think it moves really quick. It's like taking a shortcut to get there very fast. I wanted to point out there's a sequence at the beginning which I do think is kind of funny and smart to a degree. His mom is on the phone with him and she's talking about the movie Milk, right? And she says something to the effect of, why is it in all these gay romances they just look at each other and know they're gay? And then five seconds later, they're kissing and scene later, Groff and him are looking at each other, they fall in love, and a few minutes later they're kissing. Like, it's like making fun of its own self while actually making a comment on the movie. That was just something I noticed in the movie. [00:21:40] Speaker B: But, yeah, speaking about the dad and, you know, Jonathan Groff's character specifically. But, like, this growth of acceptance, again, time seems almost irrelevant in this film. Like, because there's no sense of, like. There's not. Granted, there's not changing seasons, there's not talking about that. But, like, yeah, they're, like, moving in at the second date. They're, like, together, then all of a sudden they're talking about marriage. But in my experience with. With older individuals is that if that they're stuck in their ways. And so, like, again, him accepting it so quickly almost felt like almost the biggest fantasy of the entire film of just being like the. You're sitting out in the. The car while we're looking at wedding venues, and then three days later, all of a sudden you're changing your recipe to incorporate something that they said yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, that felt like again, I was just like there. I felt like we didn't earn this. And I got. No, there was those little scenes with the mom saying that and he was realizing his relationship wasn't right. But again, we're talking about an older man. Like, granted, they don't talk, they don't say how old he is, but I'm assuming from his appearance. Yeah, 60s, you know. [00:22:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, He's. [00:22:39] Speaker B: There's going to be more. I don't know, there's going to be more hurdles to getting there. [00:22:43] Speaker C: Yeah. There's going to be more struggle. You're correct. Right. [00:22:46] Speaker A: I want to add Harish Patel is 68 years old. 1957. [00:22:50] Speaker B: Okay. So he's almost 70. Like, and we could argue that his character is probably almost 72. So how many 70 year olds, you know, that have grown up a certain way? Especially in a way that at the beginning of the film, we're talking about his, you know, the main character sister's arranged marriage. Like, there's still tradition here. There's still. And like, while the mom is very, like, trying to embrace it, they make note at the very beginning, we're not talking about it. This is not something that we are discussing. It's a. It's a fact you are gay. But, like, we're not going to really talk about it unless it's like, kind of like between us when it comes to dating, we're not going to do it. Over the course of these 90 minutes, however much time it is, all of the dad's going to be like, let me put your fiance's suggestion of dates into the food to show that I'm embracing it. And then also, I'm going to be okay with the marriage. And, like, we're all going to be like a happy family again. This feels like the payoff's there, but none of the, none of the, none of the buildup was there to get to that. [00:23:36] Speaker A: None of the setup. Yeah, I mean, it sounds. It's absolutely delusional to say, I think, but I would have loved. I'm crazy. I would have loved if this could have been a movie trilogy. We see that where he's coming out, then we see the relationship, then we see the marriage. Three parts. Give them each. It's time to breathe. But then for stories like this, you don't even know if you're going to get one made. You know, it's a struggle to get one made and to make that one, you don't know what kind of budget you're going to have, what kind of like, walls you have to push against. So, I mean, it's a miracle that I'm so happy this movie got made, but I hope the next one's bigger and better and has the time to breathe. Right. [00:24:07] Speaker C: I would argue that even if you do stretch it out, I, you know, even. Even at the right. Even if the writing would work better, you still have the problem with the. [00:24:17] Speaker A: Fact that you have the lead actor. [00:24:19] Speaker C: He was stoic. Lead actor. That's playing the role. No. [00:24:23] Speaker A: Yes, yes. Recast. [00:24:24] Speaker C: And again, I don't mean any disrespect to the guy. I think he's, you know, I think he's a wonderful performer. I just think he needs to try to push it, Push the envelope in his emotions just a little more. Just get a little more involved in it. Because I didn't feel it from him. It's not. It's not a son of slight. Again, see him as an actor. You know, he's done some great work. It just. It didn't. It didn't register for me in this performance. And. Yeah. [00:24:57] Speaker B: Anyway, I think that for this film, and I'd love to hear your opinions about it, but I think that if you wanted to tell this story the way it was, then. I love what you said about the three parts, but like, almost like the Star wars. Pick the most important part. Why wasn't this told from the mom and dad's point of view from the moment of. He brings home Jay. And there's the part where the sisters, her marriage is falling apart, they're engaged. And until an hour and a half film from the parents point of view of the mom who's a little more accepting of it and the dad is not. [00:25:27] Speaker A: Just imagine them bickering and arguing between scenes. And what do you think? Yeah. [00:25:32] Speaker B: Right. And then. And then the two. The gay couple are. Granted, I know we. We need representation, but they're almost a side character in that story because they are. They're not the emotional component here because they're not the emotional component really of the film either that we currently have. [00:25:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it should be the dad's arc. The dad. The dad should be almost the main character because he's the one who has to change the most over the course of the movie. That's a brilliant. That's a brilliant point, Brian. That's great. [00:25:52] Speaker B: It's like. It's like father of the bride. [00:25:54] Speaker A: Oh, I haven't seen that. I need to. But yes, but absolutely. I know. Yeah. [00:25:56] Speaker C: That's a much better film. Yeah. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Okay. I want to go back. I want to rewind a little bit and point out some. Something about, like, the difference between Bollywood and stuff like this, South Asian films versus South Asian American. The difference is, like, when you're watching like, DDLJ and stuff like that, that's made by Indians for Indians, that's made in India for people in India. That's like it. [00:26:16] Speaker B: That is. [00:26:17] Speaker A: That is their, like, Mission Impossible stuff, you know, versus South Asian American. This is totally different now. This is made by people in America, people like me, who are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. And now we're talking about an American story, and we're talking about the clash between our traditional upbringing or our parents upbringing and the Western modern world we're trying to live in. So that's what you get in stuff like this and Ms. Marvel and the Big Sick, which is where you have stories where now we have. Our conflict is the American side versus our family side. Do you get what I mean? Like our traditional side versus. And. And everyone. Everyone has a different relationship with that. Me versus my. Even my friends, we're all on, like, different parts of the spectrum. I mean, I'm sure. I'm sure you guys could say the same thing for like, your own. Your own cultures, but everyone has a different relationship to their identity and. And the different parts of their identity. Right. And so that's why I can tell. [00:27:07] Speaker C: You I'm on like, disabled Communities on Facebook, even from that segment. Yeah, it's amazing. Just the. Either the polarization of what people feel, just the thought processes. It's honestly like, it's intimidating to look at sometimes. But yeah, it's among my group too. [00:27:31] Speaker B: I just recently saw a play called English. Have either of you heard of this one? [00:27:34] Speaker A: I've heard of it. I haven't seen it. I think I might have heard of it from your site. [00:27:37] Speaker B: I just interviewed the lead actress and I got to. [00:27:40] Speaker A: That's right, I remember. I remember. Yeah. [00:27:41] Speaker B: But we talked about identity and just like the strength that it has, especially the place kind of about a group of five people who are studying for the toefl and they are talking about identity and like, how age plays into identity and how language plays into identity and how coming over to America really does. Like, you're not part of one, you're not part of the other, so you're struggling to find both. And so I think that's kind of what you're saying here too. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. What I really want to emphasize is I don't know if we mentioned this on camera or before, but there's so many great Bollywood movies, there's so many great South Asian movies and, and dramas and things like that, but it's a completely different experience than these South Asian American, this US Immigrant experience. And that's why I, I mean, like I was saying to you guys, we can, we can talk about, like, if we think this is good representation or not or to what extent, blah, blah, blah. I personally am just so glad to see things like this get made. Even if it's not perfect. I'm glad it got made. I'm glad people are seeing it and I'm glad the door is opening bigger and bigger and bigger so more stuff can get made and we can make it better and better and better. Because to me, it's really, to me, it's really important to get stories like this. It's so important. [00:28:46] Speaker C: It's like my friend said, everybody deserves a generic rom com. Everybody deserves. It doesn't matter who. We all deserve our own generic rom com. [00:28:54] Speaker A: And I, and I love also just on that point, just for a second, that we all relate to them too. Even if, like, I remember there was a movie always be my, maybe a couple years ago on Netflix and it's like Asian American, like East Asian American. And I'm not from that, but I love the movie because. [00:29:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that I'm glad this got made and the sense also, like, I'm glad Big Sick got made. I'm glad this Marvel got made. I remember when I was a teenager or something and I remember seeing Ms. Marvel the comic book in my library and going, what? What? Whoa, whoa. It just hits you so deep. This is my life. This is like one to one, like Ms. Marvel is, you know, it just, it, it means so much. Even when sometimes they. It's not made well. So I'm glad it got made and it's completely different from the South Asian stuff because that, that doesn't touch anything about the immigrant experience or this conflict that we have with our parents or with our families or in our own divide of am I American? Am I Indian? Am I Bengali? Where. Who. Who am I? So that's why I love seeing things like this, even if it's not perfect. Just the family drama and all this arguments that they're having, all four or five of them. That is why I watched this movie and that's why I'm still, despite everything we've said, I. I really am glad I watched this movie and I'M really glad. I hope. I'm glad for anyone who watches it, just that you can see the side of us and you can see the struggle that we deal with. And so I'm, I'm. I'm overall, I'm net positive. I'm happy, happy, happy with this movie. Despite everything we said. [00:30:18] Speaker B: I will say that I totally. I understand where you're coming from. And I agree from. From like, like a culture standpoint, it is fantastic. I love seeing it. I drama of it too. As like a family therapist, it's great to see those dynamics, stuff like that. I do think that this is just from like an LGBTQ standpoint, is there's so much more to go and that this is where it really struggled because again, it feels like. Which is interesting that the director is also a member of that, because I feel like there's something missing. I felt. I was like, in my head, I was like, this had to be made by somebody who's not a part of the community because I felt like there was just that piece missing of, like, truly understanding gayness. [00:30:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:54] Speaker B: Yeah. But I did love the culture part. [00:30:56] Speaker C: Of it, and it feels like it's over the top about it at times. Even though I was, like, thinking about that, it was like, there. There's certain things that felt like over the top in the way that they characterize those. Like, even the alt tv, the TV portions, I was like, this is a little. I think too much. [00:31:16] Speaker A: I think. I think a little bit some of that Bollywood spice. Just a little bit. A little bit of the over the topness. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I did. I did love the out TV part because that is what straight people think gay people watch. Like, we don't watch out tv. That out TV is. Is for people who want to be supportive of gay culture. It's like, that felt real. Like, I have not talked to a single. A single gay person who would have, who watches stuff like that. [00:31:38] Speaker C: But I did think it was funny. The pro raise. Like, I did meet this guy. I was pretty starstruck. And then a moment later, he goes, oh, really? Did you meet him? Yeah. Yeah, but he died a moment. He died right after. All of a sudden, he goes, rest in peace. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. It was really funny because he's a. [00:31:57] Speaker A: He's a doctor. I met him in the hospital. He died. Rest in peace. [00:32:01] Speaker B: Yep, that did make me chuckle. [00:32:03] Speaker C: Anyway, I'm glad that. That y'all got y'all terrible rom com. I'm winning for my generic disabled rom com, guys. I'm waiting for it. I Want that? [00:32:13] Speaker B: You gotta write it. You gotta write it. Give us that generic. [00:32:16] Speaker A: Let's get the fight for it. [00:32:17] Speaker C: I'm working on it. The only thing we got is me before you. And the guy committed suicide at the end of his. [00:32:24] Speaker A: I'm so sorry about that, Brian. John and I had a whole discussion about how much he hates me before you. [00:32:33] Speaker B: It is valid. I will just say this though, John. There is no book in my library that is more deformed from tears as that one. [00:32:41] Speaker C: No comment. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I cried too much. [00:32:44] Speaker C: It makes me so mad. So, so mad. [00:32:47] Speaker B: I take that back. Fault in Our Stars. I cried. I cried during that one too. And that book is just. It's just warped. [00:32:53] Speaker A: I have one more thing I wanted to say. Disconnecting one more second to the. How limited the South Asian American representation is. How few things we have. Oh, by the way, Eternals. That's one of those God awful Indian Bollywood dances I've ever seen in my life. That like, that is an absolute insult. Whatever they were trying to do. And that like, I know we're not supposed to curse, but imagine the curse words. Delete, bat, whatever that dancing is. Anyway, hold on real quick. [00:33:16] Speaker B: I want to just pause off. You need to then turn on Disney and watch Cheetah Girls One World, which is set in Bollywood, where they go there for a movie. And then tell me if that's actually the worst dance that you've ever seen. Because I think. [00:33:28] Speaker A: Are you trying to hurt me? [00:33:29] Speaker B: Cheetah Girls might have Eternals beats. I'm just saying. [00:33:33] Speaker A: I just want to say on how limited our pool of options are. This movie has at least two songs that Ms. Marvel also used. And I understand it's. Oh, great. Let's. Let's use like South Asian American singers. Let's use South Asian American songs. Wow, that's great. South Asian songs and stuff. Don't use the same ones that the last big one already used. Give us new artists, give us new songs. I don't. I don't know if you guys noticed that or not, but there's two. Two songs. I'm like, this is a great song. This. Marvel already did that. Why are there like five songs? You guys. You use more, there's more of them. [00:34:00] Speaker B: I couldn't get over the fact that they were using the same house. And I just kept staring at it, being like, this is the same house. You couldn't even give me a new house. You couldn't give me new tiles. Like, if you look at it, it is the only thing that is different is that the kitchen is not at the back anymore. It is moved. [00:34:13] Speaker C: Very similar. [00:34:14] Speaker B: But it's the same living room set up the same way with the stairs in the same place and the same wooden carved like. I think they used the same house somewhere along the lines for these internal shots. [00:34:22] Speaker A: I will have to investigate. I did not, I did not catch that. But a lot of the setup is very similar. [00:34:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't catch the music. I'm sorry. I was too busy looking at the fireplace, being like, I've seen this fireplace. [00:34:33] Speaker A: Gosh, guys, I need to go back and watch Ms. Marvel episode one and two. Those two episodes are like the most perfect thing, the most perfect adaptation. Just the most perfect like representation. Gosh. And read Ms. Marvel comics. It's like just, just the best. [00:34:44] Speaker C: I love, I adore, I adore that actress. She's amazing. [00:34:48] Speaker A: Amanda. Lonnie. [00:34:49] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, amazing. Such an amazing performer. [00:34:52] Speaker A: Anyway, that's enough about a nice Pakistani girl. Back to a nice Indian boy. Any other thoughts, guys? [00:34:57] Speaker C: Watch the new watch video. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Like I, I don't know, I could probably grab a list but there's so many great Bollywood romances where like you feel it and I'm, I appreciate this movie. Tried to do that in south for South Asian Americans, but you can't do it in 90 minutes. Right? They needed to invest and just dedicate and say we're going to give you the, the full story or cut and give a unique point of view. Like Brian said. How, how can we do this economically in just 90 minutes? Okay. From the parents point of view and then it makes sense that okay, they're in love, we can't do anything about it. What do we do? End of the movie, done or why. [00:35:30] Speaker B: Not make this a series? Why not make this like a, like a 10 part Hulu series? Because I feel like you would have. [00:35:35] Speaker C: Had more time if he was the main lead. I wouldn't survive episode one. I, I would not. I just. [00:35:42] Speaker B: But I'm thinking along the lines of something like nobody wants this. Which has recently been on Netflix with Christian Bell and oh my gosh, I'm blanking on the other guy's name where it tells the story of she's trying to date this guy, but he is Jewish and his family doesn't approve. And like people went off the charts with it because it had one of the best realistic relationships because you had 10 episodes to build up to it. You had 10 episodes of the highs and the lows and the. How do you adjust to culture and what. Who am I. If I let that go, and, like, there's. There was another form like this story, I'm really glad that I got to see it. I'm really thankful. I hope that people go see it so we can get more stories like this, especially as we're trying to see more normalization with the LGBTQ community. But there was a different format that this could have been told in that I think would have been more impactful than the format that we got. [00:36:24] Speaker A: Exactly. I want to add, it was Adam Brody, and nobody wants this. [00:36:27] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you. [00:36:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, guys, any other thoughts? We good? [00:36:31] Speaker C: I'm good. [00:36:32] Speaker B: All set. [00:36:33] Speaker A: All right. Well, anyway, guys, thank you all for watching. It was a deep conversation. We talked about a lot of topics today, but thank you, Brian. Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciated this, and you really brought, like, not just for being part of the LGBT community, but also your. Your knowledge of Broadway, your knowledge of movies, and it was a privilege. It was a pleasure to have you, dude. [00:36:50] Speaker B: Anytime. I'm always glad to be here, boys. [00:36:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:52] Speaker C: Thank you for joining us, man. For real. [00:36:54] Speaker A: All right, so everyone make sure to thank Brian in the comments. If you enjoyed our discussion, be sure to, like, subscribe. [00:36:59] Speaker C: Go to his YouTube channel and go to his YouTube channel. [00:37:01] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. Follow Brian's YouTube channel, Foxy Babes, and the comments. Let us know your favorite Bollywood movies, your favorite South Asian American movies, your favorite generic rom coms, whatever you want. Let us know in the comments. I'm Vin. You can find me on Blue Sky. Ben writes words. [00:37:14] Speaker C: I am John, and you can find me at John Movie Watch on Blue Sky. What about you, Brian? [00:37:19] Speaker B: I'm Brian Kitson, and you can find me on most social media platforms at Kitson 301 or Kitson 301. [00:37:24] Speaker A: And be sure to follow the cosmic circus.com and bluesky and at Mycosmic Circus, where you can find more reviews, articles, editorials, and pins like the ones you just watched. Thanks, everyone. See you next time. Thank you, Patreon. Bye bye. And special thanks to our Patreon supporters. If you'd like to see even more videos and extended content, please subscribe at the link in the description. [00:37:39] Speaker C: Thank you. That was actually a very nuanced conversation. [00:37:46] Speaker B: I have a question for you, though. Yeah, this is something I was thinking of. What if you were. You know, if you were. If you were, like, in. In a mosque, you know, and you were praying, you know, and a white boy walked in there, would you question a little bit more instead of just Being a little like starry eyed. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Two things. One, this is absolutely valid question. One of my friends is from Ramadan. He actually was like, I want to try fasting just, just because. And, and he, and so he lives in my hometown. And I told him, here's the mosque, here's what you can do. And so it is a valid question to what's wrong with it? There's lots of white Muslims. [00:38:19] Speaker B: I mean, he's just like, he's Jonathan Groff. That like, you know, he's. [00:38:22] Speaker A: No, look, first of all, this happened all the time because there's lots of Turkish people who are like, okay. And there's even, there's even like people from South Asia even really, even from like India who are light skinned. So you do see it also like being in America, anyone can be any background and they can convert. They can convert. So it, I mean I, it probably seems a little bit strange to you guys, but it all the time, like our mosque was, I would say maybe like a third brown like me and maybe, or maybe maybe 2/3 of brown like me, then maybe like 1/6 black, 1/6 white. Like it's just, it's multicultural because anyone can convert or they can come from different countries. [00:38:58] Speaker C: I want to say real quick though, the one thing that threw me off was the fact that the beginning thesis of the, of the film is, you know, I wonder what it would be like when I bring home a nice Indian boy and then the film, he doesn't bring home a nice Indian boy at all. It's just Jonathan Groff. [00:39:17] Speaker B: So the reason why I asked those, because I work in Dearborn, which is. [00:39:21] Speaker A: Oh gosh. Oh, wow. Yes. [00:39:23] Speaker B: And they, I've, I've had conversations with clients before where this is like considered socially unacceptable if like in our area. And so that's why I was asking because they, they'd be like, no, this would like you if, if, you know, a white boy walked in there, we would have a problem with that. [00:39:38] Speaker A: But, but the thing is part of the religion is it's okay if they convert. Right. And, and this guy doesn't even have to convert. He was raised in that culture. [00:39:46] Speaker B: Sure. [00:39:46] Speaker A: So he, I don't think that the problem is, is surface level, just the fact that his skin is white. Because he actually was raised in the culture. He didn't even have to convert as an adult. He was raised in the culture. There should be no problem. Um, and it happens all the time actually. In fact, one of the biggest problems with something like this would be if the person doesn't want to convert, then that. Then there's the conflict. But if they convert and both people are the same religion, everyone should be okay with it. Of course there's tension in the families. What happens then is they have a baby. As soon as you have a baby, everyone relaxes. But once you bring home this magical little bundle, everyone's like, oh, baby, and it's fine. I've had this happen with my aunts in the US So. [00:40:19] Speaker B: So. No, I totally agree with that. I'm just saying, like, he doesn't question it at the beginning, though. Like, he waits for Jonathan Groff's character to approach him about this. He doesn't. Like, he's not, like, talking to his friend, really being like, the w. Why is this. Why was this man. And, you know, I was praying, and this man walked in there like he's getting his picture taken. There's not, like, a lot. Again, I think it's part of the build up. I feel like that was a real conversation that should have been had of being like, the. Let's talk like John. He waited for Jonathan's character to, like, offer that information up, which I feel like, wouldn't there be more of, like, the inquisitiveness? [00:40:46] Speaker A: Why, no, not at all. If anything, it would be more excitement, maybe. Oh, so what's your story? How, like, tell me how you converted or tell me how to put it in this kind of way. Tell me how you. How you came to our religion. How did you join the club? That kind of thing. Okay. It's not, why are you here? But it's more like, oh, wow. How did. What's your story? How'd you get here? Does that make sense? [00:41:05] Speaker B: Yeah, perfect. [00:41:06] Speaker A: Yeah. But it's never like, everyone just stares at them. No, not at all. Because the idea is to welcome people into the religion, to welcome them into the community. Does that make sense? There's. There's no, like, barriers, like, oh, he. He's not one of us. No, it's like, religion is for everyone, not just the brown people. And in fact, it's more exciting when we have more cultures in there because we all have this religion in common, so then we're sharing together. Does that make sense? [00:41:26] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I love that. [00:41:28] Speaker A: Great question. Yeah.