Picture This Review: Cliched and Tropey in the Worst Ways

In this British rom-com, Pia, whose life is a bit of a mess for the time being, gets a prediction that she will thrive both professionally and romantically within her next five dates. With her sister’s nuptials looming in the background and her desi family playing matchmaker, her ex, Charlie’s emergence throws her life for more of a loop… but maybe in the best way possible?

The film has a runtime of 99 minutes and is based on Five Blind Dates by Shawn Seet.

Picture This Review

The entire thing about movies focused on Indian celebrations and customs is mostly so half-baked and surface-level that most desis find it quite tacky. The music, the pandit ji, the mother being overbearing about getting their (gasp) 30-year-old daughter married — it’s all so overdone and unimaginative at this point. It’s all played off as really humorous and oh-so-funny but I somehow found it quite insulting in a way. I mean, it was funny a few years ago, but this trope is overdone at this point and makes a mockery of our cultures in a way that makes you want to look away.

The story follows Pia who is obviously career-focused, so much so that she can’t see herself getting married. Her Indian family can’t handle the fact that she’s 30 and her younger sister is getting married and set her up on dates to meet the love of her life and do something useful with her life like, you know, getting married and having kids. I get it, there’s this notion surrounding Indians that we really love our big, fat weddings and are obsessed about having kids. But repeating the same thing over and over again in the most outlandish way possible isn’t as funny as one might expect.

I think what really gets me is the fact that the characters, along with the tried and tested storyline, are so surface-level. Pia is set up on dates with people she is uninterested in who have no other personality than being obnoxious or the typical nerdy Indian that Western media sees us as. There is no in-between. Pia’s gay bestie is as you’d expect any other gay best friend to be, overly sexual and friendly but at least he gets to be something more than that. The dates were clearly added as comic reliefs but they just feel like caricatures and don’t illicit the feelings that you might expect.

Hero Fiennes Tiffin, whom I have watched in After, unfortunately, is surprisingly sweet and watchable with a boyish charm to him. He and Simone Ashley, who was a memorable addition to Bridgerton, look dreamy together as they hash out their past and come to terms with their feelings in the present. Unfortunately, we don’t see a lot of the romance between them throughout the runtime, only getting glimpses and things getting better from there. Pia goes on her own journey and comes to some conclusions about her life which is commendable, but, again, nothing new. Every other movie that showcases NRIs runs in a similar vein.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Picture This is nothing new and makes it a point to create caricatures of Indians to get a laugh. It’s something that we have seen many times in other movies and it’s getting a bit old at this point. It’s unimaginative and cringy but some of the side plots have something going for them. I wanted to see a bit more of Fiennes Tiffin and Simone’s chemistry which we miss out on, although they make a stunning couple together. This one’s a miss in my book.

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