A Suitable Boy feels like frothy fluff

Indiewire

Mira Nair's period drama based on Vikram Seth's epic novel featuring BBC's first all Indian-led cast -- which debuted Monday in the U.S. on Acorn TV -- is enjoyable but old fashioned, says Jude Dry. "Fans of the BBC’s comedic romantic dramas will find much to enjoy A Suitable Boy," says Dry. "The young leads are charming and easy to root for, and their different approaches to love provide plenty of entertainment. It’s visually appealing, from the bright colors and rich textures of traditional Indian garments to location after location of lavish country estates and city villas. Unfortunately, A Suitable Boy lacks the comedic touch of Downton Abbey or the critical lens of The Crown, languishing somewhere in the middle and coming up short. Without a defined perspective on the class and religious conflict it uses as a narrative backdrop, A Suitable Boy feels like frothy fluff — yummy in the moment but easily forgettable and won’t fill you up."

ALSO:

• A Suitable Boy is like a cartoon, caricaturing a time and a place, squashing and stretching the motion of a sweeping narrative until it suits the action of plot instead of the magnitude of emotion
• Co-creator and director Mira Nair says A Suitable Boy benefitted from the limited series being all the rage these days: "It’s strange that, for Western television, financing (a project like) A Suitable Boy is still considered radical," she says. "In earlier days, the concept of limited series had not set in—now it’s a dime a dozen."
• Nair describes what it takes to condense a 1,400-page novel into six episodes