Tribeca 2021: 7 Days
tribeca 2021What's more important: your private love life or your familial bond? This can be a challenging question when it comes to your development as a human being. While it doesn't say much about you and how you react to people, it certainly says something about your personality. If you follow your own dreams and meet people of your choice, then it is most likely that you will be willing to dodge bullets and rarely care about the opinions of other people. If you chose to meet people based on your parents’ choice, then you will most probably have a lot of beliefs in classic values.
With 7 Days, director Roshan Sethi along with producers Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn and the Duplass Brothers serve up one of the first traditional romantic comedies set during the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows two individuals, Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan) who have absolutely nothing in common but are brought to together due to an unexpected dating arrangement by their old-fashioned Indian parents in March 2020. As the awkward afternoon passes by and the individuals get to know each other, neither can fathom what the upcoming week has in store for them. Suddenly, the pandemic outbreak intensifies and the shelter-in-place mandate is issued, forcing Ravi to spend the night at Rita’s place. What starts out as an extremely unpleasant situation for both quickly unravels into one of the most surprising couple of days the pair has ever come across. Both Ravi and Rita have their own busy lives they’re engrossed in, but adapting to a new environment is quite difficult when the proximity is closer than ever before. Petty emotions come into play, as do real ones. Apologies and quasi-apologies are rampant, but we see both change and grow despite the challenges.
Both the lead actors here are accomplished and fit their roles well. Karan Soni is sweet, relaxed and nerdy as Ravi, the immigrant caught between his American and Indian lives. Geraldine Viswanathan, on the other hand, is moody and sparky – much like other millennials nowadays. Their onscreen chemistry is genuinely delightful to watch. Some big issues are explored, such as what obligations do we owe our parents, and should young adults from traditional families follow their own wishes? It's sobering to think there are parents who force their kids to go on dates with random people of their own culture, but this film portrays that in a humorous way. To Western audiences, it may seem distasteful, but the film acknowledges that it's a complex and long-held practice that many Indian families believe is the best way to find their children a partner.
7 Days, much like many other romantic comedies, has its share of cheesy moments and jokes that won’t land with everyone but it is an entertaining watch nonetheless. The COVID-19 pandemic elements add some absurdity to the story which, unsurprisingly, can be quite relatable for various types of audiences.