The documentary Meet The Patels is a real-life Indian romantic comedy, which supplies much more than just an in-depth look into the Patel family’s life. It also serves as one of the funniest films in the last year.
The documentary is about filmmaker Geeta V. Patel who follows her brother, Indian-American actor Ravi V. Patel, as he embarks on the quest of finding a wife and meeting his family’s expectations. The brother and sister duo also co-directed the film.
The documentary was filmed over the course of about seven years, and shone a very heartwarming light on the family’s hilarious everyday interactions.
The documentary was originally released in late 2014 but didn’t receive wide release until 2015.
The documentary was extremely successful when it was released, having won the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2014 and was accepted into Toronto’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, among others, such as the award for Best Film and the Audience Award at the Traverse Film Festival 2014.
The film is hilarious, dysfunctional, awkward, heartwarming, and shockingly relatable.
The film begins when Ravi is about to turn 30 years old. Ravi’s mother and father, who were anxious for grandchildren, had been sending him hundreds of emails with photos and matrimonial résumés of Indian girls also named Patel around the country.
Despite being well-meaning, it was slightly awkward since some of these recommendations were coming from mutual friends of mutual friends and family members.
This is just one example of the deeply awkward things his family forced on him while trying to pursue their want for grandchildren.
The best aspect of this film was the undeniable truth it provided. The fly-on-the-wall nature of the storytelling kept it entertaining and in some ways informative.
Every minute of the awkward family contact and loving yet pushy emails was unscripted. This really aided the bond between the family and the audience because the interactions between the Patels was relatable, whereas most Hollywood films are unbelievable and mainly funny because of their outrageous nature.
The documentary is entertaining and definitely a must-see.
Meet The Patels is playing at the Bytowne Theatre until Jan. 19.
