Tandoori Love (Oliver Paulus, 2008): Switzerland

Reviewed by Collier Grimm. Viewed at the 2009 Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Tandoori Love is the ultimate cheese of ‘09s Santa Barbara International Film Festival. As members of an Indian film crew descend on a tiny town in the Swiss Alps, the quirky towns people are bombarded with Indian food, a pre-Madonna Bollywood actress, and lots of terribly written musical numbers. Well, I guess the songs wouldn’t be so bad if the director, Oliver Paulus, hadn’t included subtitles revealing the meaning behind the somewhat pleasing musical arrangements.

Raja, the Bollywood films hired chef, leaves the set when he encounters the girl of his dreams at the local supermarket. Sonja is everything Raja has dreamed of, pale skin, red hair, and covered in freckles. She’s practically Heidi’s re-incarnate. Raja follow Sonja back to the restaurant where she works and in an unbelievable turn of fate, the proprietor of the eatery hires Raja on the spot in hopes of turning his failing restaurant into a success. However, trouble starts brewing when things turn bad on the Bollywooed set, and the films leading lady won’t perform without a home cooked meal.

Will Sonja fall for Raja’s delicious cooking and romantic sonnets, or will the films producers find Raja and drag him away from his true love?

The characters are interesting and the film is visually extraordinary. Cinematographer Daniela Knapp’s has combined the rich colors and foods of Bollywood with the Swiss Alps, to paint a gorgeous backdrop for a mediocre plot. However, the story lacks layers and viewers have little to walk away with. The acting, specifically the Bollywood starlet, is atrocious- but hangs on the edge of theatrical. If Paulus had emphasized the campy and immaculately choreographed Indian song and dance numbers, the film could have more potential. However, the film lacked identity, no obvious genre or style.

I love a good Bollywood-style film, but sadly Tandoori Love just didn’t win me over.