Tandoori Love (Oliver Paulus, 2008): Switzerland

Reviewed by Joel Pedersen. Viewed at Santa Barbara film festival.

Tandoori love was your typical Bollywood film: guy falls in love with girl, problems arise but with slightly violent twists, and I don’t feel the need to give away the ending.

The opening scene  was so disturbing that it would make vegans cringe! One word…sausage. Also, a proposal without a ring. But don’t let that stop you. There is a cute little pug named Humphrey who makes it all worthwhile as well as a spoiled bollywood drama queen named Priya (Shweta Agarwal). There is also a very odd, very questionable love triangle. Having to overcome language barriers, scary mothers, and a whole Bollywood crew that is still after him, Rajah somehow manages to stay close to the one he loves.

A crew of Bollywood actors are filming in the Swiss Alps. The film stars Priya, a very annoying and spoiled actress who refuses to do anything unless she gets food. This is where Rajah the cook comes into play.  He becomes sick and tired of the nagging girl and her abuse, and so he seeks bigger and better things. Walking around  with a hunger for food, he was unaware that he would also find a hunger for love.

Rajah is sampling Swiss cuisine at the local supermarket when he sees the Swiss girl of his dreams, Sonja (Lavinia Wilson). Then in true Bollywood fashion he bends down on one knee and bursts out in song. Very confused about what just happened to her, the only thing she can think to do is run away. Rajah even goes so far as to follow his new found love to her fiance’s Swiss restaurant. Her fiance Markus (Martin Schick)  is a very kind but selfish man who is looking for a bit of change. Sick and tired of his mother’s traditional ways of running things, he decides to mix it up a bit. As soon as he tastes Rajah’s cooking he is convinced that Rajah is what he was looking for. Markus replaces his mother’s cook Bruno with Rajah. Markus then goes to work by changing not only the cook but the entire place, until finally the entire place is changed into a very colorful Indian restaurant.

Now that Rajah can be near to the Swiss maiden of his dreams, he is willing to embrace his new change of scene. Whether it is sleeping on the dirty floors or only having the pug named Humphrey to talk to, he manages to endure. Markus, overcome with joy at the changes he has made, is completely oblivious to the fact that his cook has the hots for his wife-to-be. He sends the two to go shopping for a proposal cake and cherries. Sonja, still bothered by Rajah’s presence, can’t help but ask “Why are you still here?” Rajahs only answer is “I left my heart in a supermarket.” Coming to know that Markus was Sonja’s fiance, he realizes that he has no choice but to leave with nothing more then a broken heart.