Directed By Nida Manzoor

Starring – Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Renu Brindle

The Plot – A merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, the film follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan (Kansara) who believes she must save her older sister Lena (Arya) from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

Rated PG-13 for strong adult language, violence, sexual material, and some partial nudity

Polite Society – Official Trailer – In Theaters April 28 – YouTube

POSITIVES

In her debut feature length direction, Manzoor conjures an infectiously uproarious genre-blending delight on the dynamics of sisterhood that not only emits an imaginative engagement in nearly every element of its eccentric presentation, but also imbeds the essence of Bollywood bollocks towards an experience that turns out to be anything other than what you expected going into it. This ideal begins immediately from the opening visuals, with swiftly sharp editing and swooshing sound designs conveying a quick cut velocity in scene transitions. This aspect alone helps to maintain the attention and investment of the audience long before we’ve become saddled with the story or its characters, and when combined with the consistency of the story’s pacing, makes 98 minutes of run time fly by, with little that ever deters that factor. Another aspect adding to it is the depth of its characters, which with lead and supporting, are given ample amount of time and engagement with other characters and the audience to illustrate their boldly vibrant and often times unapologetic personalities. Even without the benefit of a sought after R-rating, the material and its fresh-faced ensemble still carry with them an appealing brand of edginess that serves the extent of its often times fantastical approach in spades, allowing them to get as expressive and crazy as they want, with the film and its material being all the better for it. This helps attain notoriety in a few key performances throughout, but especially from Priya Kansara, who is simply a star in the making with endless charisma inside fearless ferocity that make her a wild card to keep an eye on. Kansara not only seamlessly and naturally conjures the spontaneity of teenage emotions, but also the urgency in the desire to save her sister from a life of what she perceives as matrimonial slavery, where she takes grip of a narrative that she never lets go of. Almost equally as vital to the integrity of the experience are eclectic turns from Ella Bruccoleri and Seraphina Beh as a duo of best friend protagonists to Ria who embrace the dangerous side of spying with boisterous excitement, and Su McLaughlin, who as the devil in-law to Ria’s plan, articulates brains and braun to her devious intentions, allowing her to frequently keep her hands dirty. Lastly, the production values instill geographic and cultural relevance to the traditionalism of an Indian wedding, with the Sari’s of wardrobe, and the pageantry of decoration eliciting a permeating beauty that compliments much of the movie’s cinematography. This capably sets the stage for the big showdown promised throughout the duration of the narrative, and with a marriage of color and elegance that radiate breathtakingly in the confines of every corner, saves its biggest set piece of devastation for the moment it truly matters most.

NEGATIVES

You might’ve noticed that I said nothing about the action in a movie that is categorically classified as an action comedy, and that’s because honestly the action to the film didn’t impress me for a lot of reasons. For starters, there’s really not a lot of action in a film that promises so much, with one sequence making up the entirety of the whole first hour, but even the technical components are a bit flawed in their execution, with rampant cinematography, unconvincing fight choreography and trigger-happy editing, which obscured the integrity of their depiction. Part of the problem also lends itself to the air of the movie’s personality finding its way to these moments of physical conflict, with stunted blows and reversals feeling a bit lagging in the way they’re delivered to the opposition. Even if this is intentional towards the integrity of Bollywood action films, where action is so inflated and unnatural that it’s meant to elicit laughs in the ways they’re manufactured, here it simply undercuts the tension and tenacity of its characters involved, arriving on the wrong side of fantastical that unfortunately translates to long-awaited pay-offs. Aside from this, I found the evolution of the narrative to be a bit silly and contrived in its unraveling, leading to a third act reveal that brings science-fiction into the spectrum. For my money, “Polite Society” is best when its feet remain grounded to the consistency of a jealous sisterly narrative, and adding this contradicting element only convolutes the intention, wiping away the sincerity of what made the relationship dynamic special in the first place.

OVERALL
“Polite Society” is a roundhouse right of a debut for Manzoor, who combines style, substance and especially attitude to a bold experience that values fun in the fantastical. With zesty three-dimensional characters unloading razor sharp wit, the film serves as the right kind of lively and boisterous engagement that eventually warms its way into your heart, even if underwhelming action sequences or creative misdirection take the scenic route in getting there.

My Grade: 7/10 or B