Simi faces ridicule for her feminist beliefs and strictly conservative Aasha kindles a romance with a British actor. Ginder is trying to leave a criminal and abusive husband, Hashida is pregnant and torn between duty and passion. Bhaji On The BeachĪ group of Indian women, of all ages, decide to make a day trip from their home in Birmingham to Blackpool Illuminations. Their son, Gogol strives to break from this mould and forge his own identity. The NamesakeĪ Mira Nair classic, The Namesake, based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, captures the ultimate immigrant experience through Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) Ganguly, who struggle to blend into American society while holding onto their Bengali heritage. Every day is the same until her world upends with the sudden appearance of her estranged brother. Re-living the past in her hometown of Pennsylvania, she’s in that same childhood bedroom, tending to her ailing mother and tutoring would-be spelling bee champs for the competition. Sujata Day’s directorial debut Definition Please tells the story of a 20-something Monica Chowdry (also played by Day), who has never quite gotten past her win in the Scripps National Spelling Bee as an 8-year-old. In this reality-television series, we see the characters navigate the world of family pressures, arranged marriages and staying true to their roots. The main characters, that include an overbearing manchild, a fashion entrepreneur and a successful lawyer (among others), are all part of the same community of Indian immigrants in Miami and have known each other their whole lives. Family Karmaįamily Karma depicts the drama-filled lives of a group of privileged first-gen Indian-American kids living in Miami. What follows is a hilarious (and in parts, touching) tale of breaking rules, chasing dreams and deepening relationships. In a twist of fate, Jess’ path crosses with Jules (Keira Knightley) who invites her to join the local women’s football team. But her parents have other plans for her future: a law degree, and marriage. All Jess (Parminder Nagra), an 18-year-old girl from a traditional Sikh family in London, dreams of is becoming a professional football player like her idol David Beckham. The 2002 sports comedy-drama flick by Gurinder Chadha remains the holy grail of movies depicting the Indian diaspora experience. However, what starts out as “fake dating” to throw their parents off scent soon turns into something real. The duo then broker a deal: Suneeta will take the profile down if Asha attends a string of weddings with Ravi (Suraj Sharma). But like most desi moms, Suneeta (Veena Sood) is relentless and sets up a profile for Asha on a matrimonial site. Wedding SeasonĪsha (Pallavi Sharda) is a workaholic girl-boss living in New Jersey and has no time (or patience) for her mother’s matchmaking efforts. But things don’t always go according to plan. This some-part hilarious, some-part cringe Netflix series follows her attempts to secure the perfect matches for her privileged clientele both within India and overseas. Over the course of two seasons, matchmaker Sima Taparia from Mumbai has been growing steadily frustrated with the “expectations” of the “kids nowadays”. 10 shows and movies like Never Have I Ever that throw light on the Indian diaspora 1. However, many have attempted to do just so-and the end result has (in most cases) been favourable. While the latest season doesn’t shy away from these tropes necessarily, it does allow the characters room to grow and evolve and in some cases, break the narrative.ĭepicting the daily lives of the Indian diaspora without falling prey to clichés is challenging. In some ways, the show has been called out for stereotyping the Indian diaspora: overprotective mothers, pressures of getting into Ivy Leagues, forced arranged marriages and of course, the gossipy aunties at the temple. The popular Netflix series created by Mindy Kaling follows the coming-of-age story of feisty teenager Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a first-gen Indian-American growing up in California’s San Fernando Valley. Season 3 of Never Have I Ever may just be its best, yet.
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