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Like many people, after seeing the trailer a week before its release to Netflix. I was hyped for the Nollywood-Bollywood Rom-Com. Duh! Who wasn’t? Who didn't like a good Rom-Com movie that’ll give couples and singles a visual experience to melt on valentines day? Right from the announcement, The buzz was on! which is proper to attribute to the rising need for cultural diversity and representation in visual storytelling.
Namaste Wahala received countless reactions from the social media sphere. A lot of takes and inputs about cultural inclusion, Collaboration between two big film industries of our time, or the cute love story between Raj and Didi. Whichever angle you choose to view it is acceptable, but at the end of the day, ‘Namaste Wahala’ is just another Rom-Com added to the long list of Rom-coms. Like usual Rom-coms we are used to seeing, ‘Namaste Wahala’ had its strengths and weaknesses. But due to the cultural theme as the primary story material, the strengths and weaknesses in this 1 hour 46 minutes movie were never seen coming.
Weakness
1. Fast-paced storytelling
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A story in any given genre has nine stages, also known as ‘energy levels’: The opening, Inciting incident, Internal debate, Rising action, Plottwist, Climax, Resolution, Falling action, Ending. I don’t intend to bore you with the literal details of each stage, but I have to say;
The plot progression through these stages was too quick! So quick that it gave little or no room for one to be immersed into the story. In one scene, Didi randomly bumps into Raj; in the next, they are already making wedding plans. Come on!
2. Zero Chemistry: Another effect the fast-paced storytelling had was the inability to build the layers of Raj and Didi’s relationship.
Whether it’s through thought-provoking conversations, conflict, growth, whatever, anything else to make Raj and Didi fall more in love with one another was missing.
For most of the movie, one would assume the only thing binding Raj and Didi was their ‘infatuation at first sight’ encounter at a beach in Lagos, Nigeria.
In love stories, the chemistry between the two lovebirds makes the audience fall in love with them, too, as the story progresses scene by scene. Unfortunately, ‘Namaste Wahala’ didn’t have any of that. I’m talking about on-screen chemistry that will spark off-screen dating rumors between co-stars.
Yes, the acting was commendable but also transparent. Some scenes were cute in some kind of Wattpad storybook template, But that only cemented it to be just another Rom-Com movie that I expected Namaste Wahala’s production wouldn’t settle for.
3. Cringy, Singing, Dancing
I did not watch dance scenes. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t. But I did manage to see a few seconds before I fast-forwarded it to the closing. But those cringy singing scenes killed every percentage of rewatch value this movie has on my Netflix downloads.
4. Intense Sub-Plot
Namaste Wahala’ was clearly defined as a romantic comedy from its announcement. However, at some point, it wasn’t so specific anymore. The subplot regarding domestic violence was intense. So intense that I often wondered what this movie was about. A love story or psychological thriller? For a second, I would often ask myself, “which story is actually being told here”?
5. The best friend Cliche
‘Characters exist only to compliment the main characters’. A trope was very common to Rom-com & teen-fiction movies. I can’t help but assume they knew it was a cliche and tried avoiding that by giving Raj’s best friend a music career aspiration and giving Didi’s best friend a quest to find true love after falling victim to the cruel emotional acts of players. Yet each scene these side characters appeared in would be completely sucked into the main character’s world instead of being in theirs.
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Strengths
- Excellent Casting: At this point, anything Joke Silva and Richard Mofedamijo touches becomes Gold. Bollywood star Ruslaan Mumtaz (Raj) and the 31-year-old Ini Dima-Okojie, brilliantly delivered as Didi. So did Frodd from Big Brother, the actress who played our beloved Indian mother, and Brodda shaggy!! Everyone that appeared on set came with their clown mode turned on.
2. Humor
I wish that scene between the cab driver and Raj’s mother had lasted longer than it did. But, it was a good one. Same with other comedic acts that were effective throughout the film earning the ‘Com’ in Rom-Com. Suppose you know what I mean.
3. Cultural Bliss
It was nice seeing something fresh. This is a rom-com but with a cultural twist and flavor—a cultural blend of 2 colors, Nigerian and Indian, Black and Brown.
4. Didi’s Interaction with the subplot:
Despite the drama in her love life and her dad, Didi never stopped being a badass lawyer. That fire, that stubbornness, that inner-gut feeling, that confidence reminded me a lot of Legendary Annalise Keating from ABC’s ‘How to get away with murder.
5. The Big Picture
Ignore all the flaws and look at The big picture writer-director Hamisha Daryani Ahuja sold right from the movie poster. I mean, Look at their smiles on the film poster. ‘Namaste Wahala’ draws attention to an effective solution to cultural and racial discrimination worldwide. A solution this Romantic-Comedy sang and danced to loud and clear, Love.
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Israel Olorunnisola is a freelance creative. When he is not writing about Film, Music, TV or Pop culture he is telling stories on Wattpad.
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