Touch of Pink - A Review

I watched Touch of Pink for the second time at a friend's place last Friday, and the movie felt just as fresh, the way it had the first time 2 years ago. The movie's excellent screenplay, whip smart dialogues, excellent performances by most of the actors, and an excellent accompanying soundtrack (dominated by Susheela Raman's seductive voice, but more on that in another post) make it a movie buff's delight. God knows this movie should have been an epochal hit (it has all the makings of one), but the ethnic theme of the movie probably explains why it wasn't (although to my mind, this movie was as crossover as they come). The fact that it's a gay-themed movie is only incidental; the ideas of love, rejection, marriage, and family, around which the movie revolves, are universal.

It's a lovingly-told story about a somewhat dysfunctional Khoja Muslim family: A widowed mother (Nuru, played by Sulekha Mathew) who lives off the generosity of her wealthy sister and her pretentious, ostentatious family in Toronto, a closeted gay son (Alim, played by Jimmy Mistry) who lives with his white boyfriend (Giles, played by Kristen Holden-Ried), and all the confusions that arise in love and relationships when the Nuru decides to pay a visit to Alim, and he is forced to come out to her about his sexuality.

The dialogs are most excellent and very high in bitch-quotient (very reminiscent of the tactics employed by the writers for Desperate Housewives). My only complaint about the movie was that it got a bit preachy with the holier-than-thou ending. But they're just minor quibbles, considering what an excellent movie it was for the most part.

This is how good gay-themed movies are made, as opposed to the somewhat underwhelming Brokeback Mountain. But that's just me. Now, just go watch that movie, y'all.