Review of Nina's Heavenly Delights (2006) by Jessica D — 17 Apr 2010

This is a wonderful, sweet movie. Of course, being a British girl, the fact that it is is set in Glasgow may have tainted my judgment, along with it being a movie about British Asian culture and Indian food, all of which I adore.

Hearing the Scottish Asian accents is just so evocative of home, the bangra/western pop mix in the soundtrack - the Nolan Sisters never sounded so good! - along with the snippets of Asian influence and culture.

OK, I'm officially a sucker for British romantic comedies, and, apparently, for British Asian movies. As for the movie itself: as others have commented, it is not a gritty or terribly deep movie. No new ground covered here, just a sweet lesbian romance.

And it is sweet - the chemistry (and not just in reference to the cooking) is genuine, all the characters are real. Despite one reviewer's comments about the highland dancing sister, an inter-racially wed brother and the mother who urged her daughter to go get her girlfriend, from my own experience, none of this is atypical in Britain.

There is much wider acceptance of unconventional lifestyles, inter-racial marriage is not at all uncommon, and the amount of assimilation of the third and fourth generation British Asians is pronounced.

British Asians are every bit as British as I am, and are every bit as much a part of the community as I was. This is very definitely a feel good movie, despite the heartbreak that Nina and her family have to face at the beginning of the movie.

There is nothing that I didn't like about this movie: quite the reverse, I loved everything about it, it is wonderful.