Curry Scent (2024) Film Review
Curry Scent is based on a script that spreads too thin throughout its entire running time. You will probably find it a bit too cringey, but it’s not a film that everyone will understand. It follows a storyline about family values that are hard to swallow at first, but it’s impossible to deny that this line of thinking actually exists. It has the saccharine traits of a Bollywood romance, and it’s probably designed to appeal to members of the Indian community, but deep inside there’s a compelling story about breaking the rules while sending ancient cultural values where they belong.
Right off the start, things get a bit awkward. Geetha is part of a huge family. They have a drive to incorporate themselves into the American dream but they’re not exactly having a good time. Instead of… anything else, Geetha gets a “brilliant” idea: she’ll find a suitor that will perhaps solve all their problems (a bit of an immigration issue here) in what’s essentially an arranged marriage. Geetha connects with Krishna through a dating site, but when she meets his family, they’re just too different. Krishna has a lot of money, and Geetha lives in a rundown condo. However, there’s hope for Geetha. Just not with the man she thought.
Luckily the story’s dramatic trigger follows something universal: every mother wants the best for their children. Krishna’s mother does, and she shows it. Geetha doesn’t feel she’s a right match, but it’s because Suman is a strong feminine figure who’s also shallow enough to try and model her boys towards her liking. When Curry Scent doesn’t try to be as funny and quirky, and portrays Geetha’s journey as serious, it becomes much better.
The third act of Curry Scent offers a different kind of direction for Geetha, a story twist that I found myself celebrating. Fortunately, Geetha’s fate doesn’t lie in what’s expected of her character because of her roots. Her fate is determined by her empowerment that, yes, has a financial backdrop that I didn’t care for, but her character never lost the strength that the film progressively gives her. It’s a Cinderella-kind of story but Geetha does good enough to make you cheer for her, and not for the fantasy the director frames the film under.
If you can get past some of the awkward bits of the story in Curry Scent, you will enjoy it. Director Christa Boarini is set to make a film about where she lives, and the culture clashes that take place in her community and which are not visible sometimes. Writer Nisha Sabharwal designs a script where her daughter is the lead, and adapts everything to provide dramatic range. Keeping everything in a tight-knit community is effective for the cast and crew because it shows. Not all works of passion are perfect, but they’re not always supposed to be. Curry Scent is an honest comedy about cultural views that are hard to comprehend, but there’s an effort for that honesty to transcend the awkward differences in cultures that co-exist between each other.
Oh yeah, and a Bollywood-like ending with a dance number? Always appreciate that.
