Kanan Gill (right), who plays Jashan, is the sole driving force of the film.
Film: NETFLIX: Christmas as Usual
Director: Petter Holmsen
Cast: Ida Ursin-Holm, Kanan Gill, Marit Andreassen, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Erik Follestad, Matilde Hovdegard, Veslemøy Mørkrid and Jonas Strand Gravli
Sheetal
Based on a true story, ‘Christmas as Usual’ is a personal film for director Petter Holmsen because it’s his sister Mia Holmsen and brother-in-law Akshay Chawdhry’s love story. And with this come true the wishes of romcom lovers to see an Indian face in the lead of a Christmas movie. Banking on Mia and Akshay’s love story and the juxtaposition of two varied cultures, Indian and Norwegian, the subject is commendable, but not well-executed.
An awkward ‘Yeah, okay fine’ by Thea, a Norwegian girl (played by Ida Ursin-Holm), to a proposal by her Indian boyfriend, Jashan (Kanan Gill), foretells that cultural differences are going to be at the helm of this story. As the newly-engaged couple flies to Norway to celebrate ‘a perfect Christmas’, it turns out to be ‘imperfectly falling apart’.
With so many romantic Christmas comedies behind us, this one does not even come close. It reaches the point of stagnation while we are just 15 minutes into the film and never picks up. In the quest to stick to real events and not upset his family and brother-in-law, less to no thought seems to have been given to writing and screenplay. Every conflict in the film is just touched upon and not delved into deeply. The same goes for the supporting cast, including the director’s own reel character called Simen, played by Erik Follestad.
It’s a big awkward film with zero chemistry. Even with a limited cast, the screenplay did not do justice to the supporting cast. Petter doesn’t answer what drives mother Anne-Lise’s (Marit Andreassen) cold attitude.
While Kanan tries his best to serve his stand-up experience with racism thrown at his character with a touch of humour, the tables turn in the first half when Thea’s sister-in-law, Hildegunn (Veslemøy Mørkrid), reveals a forearm tattoo with ‘Gori’ written in Hindi. While she believes it means ‘inner peace’, Jashan breaks to her that it means ‘the white girl’. So, the racial cards spin both ways.
The sole driving force here is Kanan Gill. In other words, this Norwegian film needed an Indian to land the little punch that it did. Besides him, the film only offers a visual treat of Norwegian Christmas and an introduction to their traditions. Otherwise, it’s ‘yeah, okay fine’.
