Nina's Heavenly Delights

I have seen this one before, in pieces on veoh or something. It was charming and so I was fine seeing it again and on DVD where I was sure not to miss anything that was accidentally cut out or because it was blurry and small. I guess I was hoping things were cut and I would get more in the DVD, but alas no.

Yes it, is charming and refreshing not to have to deal with a coming out story on top of a story about Indian food and family. She was at least out to herself and her friends. It didn't dwell at all in the beginning on them falling in love and having it be all secretive and wrought with agony over falling in love with a girl.

If it is Nina's story than her superobjective is to win the cooking competition, but her need is to not run away from who she is. Basically to face her family and tell them the truth. In fact her entire family's need is the same. They all have a secret they need to tell. When she does this, than she will be able to "get the chemistry right" to win the competition. So her falling in love with a girl, and then coming out to her family is just her catalyst for honesty, aka fulfilling her need. It is good, because the love story is handled like most heterosexual romances. It is similar to the Sara's role in The Hustler. This, to me, is the future of gay/lesbian cinema and the kind of films I want to make.

That said, it definitely missed a lot of great opportunities for romantic tension between the two girls and Nina's desire for Lisa was totally glossed over which made the ending weaker to me. They kept talking about what you would do for love, but I had a hard time seeing the two girls in love. Yeah there was a little sexual tension that built as we all thought Lisa was with Nina's brother, but this "surprise" when we find out they aren't together somehow lost a bit of steam. I can't figure out why, but I wanted more tension when they both know each other is gay and they are attracted to each other so when they finally do kiss it is like yeah!! Maybe this had to do with how the club scene was handled. The back and forth and missed glaces at each other were good, but that guy showing up was weird. It was still done rather well. The kitchen scene was hot, but we don't know where that leads and what the consequences of it are. We need some sfermath to see how they both feel about what happened. Once we see they are both totally smitten, WHAM that is when we hit them with a clear THREAT. Something concrete that threatens the bliss. And now we see Nina's desire for Lisa as real because she overcomes this threat to be with her. This kinda happens and we get that weak-sauce allusion to a sex scene that ends waaaaaay to soon. If I get to see this than I start to believe that she could actually be in love with Lisa and not just "movie love" that is convenient for the story. Then I understand why she is so afraid. I get that fear of losing either her or her family that defines love. This really amps up the end and makes me much more invested. Of course the director made the choice to make it more about the food than the love story, but food is passion and desire and I really don't think food and sex are too far removed. Why not wrap them more tightly and visually together? This just makes me more driven to not back off, ever. Keep pushing every scene and script and actor to make sure you are getting the most emotional investment out of everything you put on the screen. Justify the emotions!

The actresses were believable regardless, and darn hot. They pulled off the "love" in the context of the fantasy world, even if it wasn't quite as deep as it could have been. Both have been continuing to do TV projects , but nothing big for either of them yet.