Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni make romantic comedy history

When Jonathan Groff met director Roshan Sethi for a romantic comedy role nice indian boy, he asked Sethi to cast Karan Soni as his lover. Groff thought Soni was straight, but dead pool Sethi’s first film actor, The 7th, and I liked his vibe. As it turned out, Grof’s request had already been granted. Not only is Soni gay, but he has also been dating Sethi since 2018. Sethi thought he had to work to woo Groff — “You need famous white people to make independent films,” he half-joked, but in reality Groff was already I was imagining the exact movie as it currently exists.

To hear the story of the trio nice indian boy Listening to the stories of Kismet and Glee (Groff pun intended). “It felt like an emotional threesome,” Soni told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, also half-jokingly. The film unveiled its charm at the SXSW Film Festival on Tuesday, capping off an intensely personal experience for Sethi and the cast.

nice indian boy, originally a play by Madhuri Shekhar, is built around an encounter at a local temple. Naveen (Soni), a down-on-his-luck doctor, catches the eye of dreamy photographer Jay (Groff) while praying, and soon his wish for romance is granted. Jay was adopted into an Indian family and was immersed in the culture, but he was more aware of himself than Naveen, who avoided introducing Jay to his family (Zarna Garg and Harish Patel) until they got engaged. are much more comfortable with their sexuality.the Meeting the Parents: Hindu Edition. But he doesn’t just bring the boy home; White The boy goes home. And, nice indian boy From romantic comedies to comedies of manners to epic wedding comedies.

There’s a reason why same-sex couples aren’t featured in many Bollywood movies. Homosexuality was criminalized in India until 2018, and queerness remains a battleground within Indian customs. Sethi himself did not come out until he was 30, by which time he was a clinical oncologist and had moved to Hollywood as a consultant and writer on medical procedures. Black box and code black. In 2018, he co-produced the Fox Hospital drama. resident. Ready to pursue love in earnest, Sethi joined Raya, a dating app used by many celebrities, in the same year. However, he inadvertently switched his interests to women and was matched with Courtney Love and Chloë Grace Moretz, who both congratulated him when he sent him a message announcing his coming out. When she changed her preference to men, her first match was Soni. They have been together ever since. (Seti is still a part-time doctor.)

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“After I came out, there was this huge softening in all aspects of my life,” he says. “I discovered who I was, deep inside, protected by the stiff cloak I had worn all my life. I wanted to create a romance with Karan. It may sound cliché, but all I was really interested in was meeting Karan and becoming his partner.”

Sethi and Soni wrote together: The 7th, A straightforward romantic comedy co-starring Geraldine Viswanathan.it was a warm-up act nice indian boyThe film opens with a dazzling Indian wedding of Naveen’s sister (Sunita Mani) and ends with another wedding. When the producers sent Sethi the script for the film, adapted by Eric Randall (in the dark), it looked like the clouds had parted. This was what he and Soni had been fighting about his entire life. It was about being gay in a culture that favors elaborate wedding ceremonies unless two men and two women participate.if The 7th Soni says: nice indian boy For them, their first year at university was filled with a new sense of freedom.

“In the middle of making the film, Roshan said, ‘This might be the most personal thing we’ve ever done, so we should soak it in thoroughly,'” Soni recalls. people who make miracles happen and Always Be My Baby. “This ticks so many boxes for our experience, but doing it together is so rare. “We should experience and feel everything,” he said. I remember that. That’s also what Jonathan is telling us. Because that’s all this guy does.he in a moment. He never touches his cell phone between shoots. He loves talking about things. We want to be more like Jonathan. ”

Groff says Keanu Reeves taught him not to use his phone on set. Reeves reportedly struck up a conversation between takes during filming. Matrix Resurrections. Jay is the more optimistic character in the film, so Groff’s underlying existence was life imitating art. But even though the Broadway veteran helped finance the project, he wasn’t the biggest celebrity. That honor went to comedian, podcaster, and TikTok superstar Garg, who recently opened for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on tour. While filming in Vancouver, locals stopped her car in traffic to get her attention. “It was harder for her than anyone else to get anywhere,” Sethi laughs.

However, it wasn’t all elation. Sethi contacted various Hindu religious leaders to find consultants for the wedding scene. Not a single Vancouver priest agreed to participate, including one who has been described as “Canada’s most liberal commentator” and who apparently sent homophobic slurs at Sethi. No matter how shocking, such a reaction emphasized the importance of a film that was focused on being accepted both internally and externally. Sethi and Soni eventually enlisted the help of a Malibu-based priest, who FaceTimed them from his stylish convertible.

For Grof, nice indian boy It was like an analog of looking for, a swoon-worthy HBO series that also features sexy walks and talks. “I was able to be transparent in a way while playing the character and I didn’t feel inhibited,” he says. Karan also spoke about it. Doing gay things makes me feel even more free. When it’s a gay story, it feels very personal. ”

Queer romantic comedies are in full swing at this year’s SXSW.in a farce i don’t know what you’re talking about, Andrew Rannells and Nick Kroll play expectant fathers whose vacation in Italy quickly turns dangerous.Inside Tommy Dorfman good luck with your life, A non-binary teenager (Corey Fogelmanis) is kicked out of his parents’ home and takes shelter with an attractive new companion.And more melancholy high tide, an aimless Brazilian immigrant (Marco Pigossi) finds a spark on a Provincetown beach. Independent filmmakers like Sethi are trying to reinvigorate a genre that has long appealed to gay audiences without centering them.

“Despite the financial and logistical hurdles that arose, it was an experience of pure joy,” Sethi says. “Halfway through, I thought, ‘It’s never going to get any better than this.’ We did it on a topic we love, with people we love.”