South Asian Streaming Guide: April 2024
As the volume of streaming options continues to grow, I’m making an effort to be more intentional with my viewing choices - less mindlessly watching Love Is Blind, more seeking out work created by and centering the South Asian community and other communities of color. As I do so, I’ll be creating monthly streaming guides for Kahani Digital to spotlight projects that deserve our attention.
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is one of the formative movies of my life; I watched it in high school, and seeing Kal Penn be one of the film’s co-leads gave me the confidence to pursue a career in entertainment. Plan B, which was produced by H&K writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, could be viewed as its spiritual successor. Directed by Natalie Morales and co-written by Prathi Srinivasan, Plan B follows best friends Sunny (Kuhoo Verma) and Lupe (Victoria Moroles) as they road trip to the nearest Planned Parenthood so Sunny can take the morning after pill. The film follows in the tradition of coming-of-age comedies being both raunchy and heartfelt, but also makes clear the threats facing women’s reproductive freedom in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or detract from the story.
While you already know what's going to happen in Wedding Season from the start – a woman and a man pretend to date to keep their parents from arranging further fix-ups – the film manages to add some new twists to the faux-lovers-to-lovers trope. It's carried by the charming performances of its leads, Pallavi Sharda and Suraj Sharma, who radiate real chemistry as a couple falling for each other in spite of their parents' machinations and expectations. Perennial scene stealer Rizwan Manji also stars in a supporting role as Sharda's character's dad. The script for Wedding Season, written by Shiwani Srivastava, was bought by Netflix after it placed in several writing competitions. If this breezy rom-com is any example, I look forward to seeing what Srivastava writes next.
Ramy Youssef: More Feelings (Max)
I'm a longtime fan of Ramy Youssef, from his eponymous comedy series to his writing, producing, and directing of Mo and The Bear, so I was excited to see him return to stand-up with More Feelings. This special, the follow-up to 2019's Feelings, touches on how life has changed for Youssef in the years since, particularly as he's become synonymous with Muslim representation as a result of his rising fame. He doesn't shy away from discussing Palestine or the presidential election, but he does so with the same humor he employs to joke about spooking his Saudi wife into revealing what she knows about Jamal Khashoggi's murder. More Feelings is another stellar example of the way Youssef can simultaneously honor and poke fun at his identity in the same breath.
