On Sunday, February 14, 2021, wrapped in my duvet and lonely as hell, I decided watching other people fictionally fall in love would be the cure for my melancholy. And so I got on Netflix and decided that nothing could be more cheesy than a Nollywood and Bollywood collaboration, and I was right.
Knowing that ‘Namaste Wahala’ was produced and directed by an Indian woman, Hamisha Daryani Ahuja, who has spent most of her life in Nigeria, made me know what to expect – a cheese-fest. But I was worried that even living in Nigeria wouldn’t be enough insight into our culture. A worry she eased with having two Nigerian screenplay writers on board – Diche Enuwa and Temitope Bolade-Akinbode.
‘Namaste Wahala’ which loosely translates to ‘Hello Trouble’ revolves around the mutual attraction between an Indian investment banker, ‘Raj’, played by Ruslaan Mumtaz and lawyer, ‘Didi’, played by Ini Dima-Okojie. They fall in love at first sight and then by some ‘divine’ twist of fate, meet at an event where they both realise that they are close with the host. They spend the entire movie trying to prove to their Nigerian and Indian family that there’s nothing wrong with both cultures coming together in marriage.
The movie is your typical Nollywood romance film. Boy meets girl – they fall in love, they beat the obstacles and live happily ever after. But it also brings in the Indian twists with the music, spontaneous dancing, colourful attires, and the villains. Real Bollywood fans will agree that this makes for a fun watch. It is a plus that the cast consists of Nollywood veterans and fan-favourites, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Joke Silva, Osas Ighodaro, and Ibrahim Suleiman.
The film is set mostly on the Island of Lagos, Nigeria, and some parts of India. It is a rom-com that pays attention to other sub-themes such as ‘father-daughter love’, ‘the ability of professional women to keep homes’, and issues of ‘domestic violence’. The entire conflict shows the parents refusing to allow their children to marry someone from another country, but the movie is too ‘one-note’ to thread into waters of ‘racism’.
The movie had some avoidable issues that make it less than excellent. There were obvious issues with the directing, but it is possible to overlook them. The film is also Hamisha Ahuja’s directorial debut, and there’s no doubt that she learned a couple of lessons from making it. However, the main characters also lacked chemistry, and there were plot holes.
The film is not all bad. The sub-plots make sense, and the viewers get a feeling of vindication when things work out for the other cast members. The addition of the best friends – Emma, Raj’s best friend and Jane (played by Imoh Eboh), Didi’s ‘bestie’ was a sound decision. Both characters added much-needed flavour to the film. The central theme of love is well-communicated, and the costuming is on point.
All in all, Namaste Wahala is the perfect cheese-fest for Bollywood-loving, rom-com adoring fans. As the streaming service, Netflix promoted, it is the ideal film for people who love love and want to feel warm watching a ‘new’ love story.
‘Namaste Wahala’ is now showing on Netflix’.
