Alex receives some unexpected assistance from a sympathetic rickshaw driver (Ash Chandler) and one of Reena's friends in Bollywood, Bobby (Sanjay Suri) in his quest, and although the ride isn't exactly smooth, the ending is pretty much what you expect it to be. What makes this movie so special is that unlike some films which are more than the sum of their parts, it's the individual parts that make this one so special. We know before the movie even starts that the two romantic leads are going to end up together — what would be the point otherwise? — it's how they get there that makes or breaks a good romantic comedy. In Faraway Bride the getting there is all the fun.
First of all the director and screenwriter have made some very sensible choices when it comes to plot direction. The first is they don't overplay the whole stranger in a strange land bit with Alex being in India. Instead they let India speak for herself. It's almost as if they've let Mumbai be an extra character in the movie as the camera spends a fair amount of time showing her off. From the traffic jams, the fancy shopping districts, the open air markets and restaurants, the crowed streets, the vistas of the ocean, to the bustle of the harbour, we're given quite the introduction. Of course they're showing her best profile, and we're not seeing her warts, but speaking as someone who hasn't been to Mumbai or India, I felt like I was being shown a clearer picture than is normally portrayed in the West of a large Indian city.
The second thing that helps the movie is the fact that so much of it takes place on a Bollywood sound stage, which gives them an excuse to show a typical Bollywood style movie being made. Yet instead of simply throwing in a couple of big production numbers (don't worry, there are a couple) they've filmed some interesting scenes of Reena being taught her dance routines by her choreographer, Alisha (Neha Dubey). Which brings up item number three that makes the movie work: the subplot of Bobby's relationship with Alisha. When he got his big break and become a Bollywood star he had dropped her like a hot potato, and now he's regretting it big time.
In the roles of the two leads Jason Lewis and Kashmera Shah make for a very comfortable romantic couple on the screen. One thing that Western audiences might not be used to is the lack of flagrant sexual tension between the two leads. Instead, there is more of an undercurrent that runs through their scenes together that actually makes both of their performances a lot more realistic. Of course it doesn't hurt that neither of them are what you'd call difficult to look at.
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