Bir Baba Hindu (2016)

I'm of course a big fan of Turkish cinema, old and new, and I'm also theoretically a fan of Bollywood. Only theoretically because the 3 hour runtimes and sheer volume of movies frightens me away. Still, I appreciate its existence, so when I discovered there was a mix of the two, I was very eager to watch! Enter 2016's Bir Baba Hindu...

Fadıl Karyolane is a lovelorn mafia boss who's tired of the routine gangster lifestyle, and would much rather settle down. But he can't find the courage to say more than a few words to his beautiful Yoga guru Ghundi. One day he finally asks her out during a spiritual exercise, only for her to be kidnapped by mysterious Indian crooks. Determined to rescue her, Fadıl journeys to the heart of India and braves countless threats, deadly animals, and homicidal matriarchs...

Bir Baba Hindu is a fun adventure, and not only showcases its own country's dotty sense of humour, but is also a good tribute to Bollywood too.

Whether or not the movie is weird really depends. If you're wholly unprepared, and have never seen an Asian film in your life, this might surprise you, but for the most part it's a fairly normal movie. In a good way, of course. There are a few specific moments where things get a bit strange, and they are amusingly out-of-left-field.

The humour is plenty of fun. Cheesy in places, and not exactly highbrow, but there's a lot to like, and much made me laugh. One scene I really disliked was the gag involving the ashes near the end. It was too cringy for me, and made it so awkward continuing on. There is a fun ending, with a nice moral, though the wedding coda at the very end confused me. I wasn't quite sure what was happening.

Fadıl is a good protagonist. Fun to watch, and his goofy mafia occupation gives an amusing flavour to the movie. His parents are an amusing pair too, with her being very protective and sweet on him, leading to some amusingly dim moments (the one about the time zones was great), while his father is the opposite. He is often frustrated and annoyed with his son, hoping he quits all this nonsense and gets back to work, and accept his arranged marriage.

With him on this adventure is his number two man Hulusi, who can navigate India better than Fadıl, since he can speak English! Together they suffer multiple pains and indignities, which can get a bit gnarly to watch sometime! They have your typical bumbling partnership, but a scene later on does a really nice job at showing a genuine friendship between them.

The romance between Fadıl and Ghundi is well done. They spend much of the film's mid-section apart, and it's a pretty one-sided crush. This comes to the forefront when they do finally reunite, and Fadıl accepts that shoe doesn't necessarily love him back, but will help her anyway even if it's only as a friend. It's sweet! Naturally she does eventually reciprocate, falling for him as their adventure continues. In fact she gets surprisingly clingy in the last few minutes. It's always a surprise seeing the guy not be the most forward person in a relationship.

Besides her relationship with Fadıl, Ghundi gets a fair bit to do. She was kidnapped by her mother, the toughest mobster in all India, and is the only person alive to talk back to her, coming up with a few ideas to delay her plans, or just really annoy her.

Bir Baba Hindu shows off the similarities and differences of Turkish and Indian cultures well. These places are only two or so countries apart, and even share some words and names, yet for everything that's similar, there are many more differences, and the culture shock is amusing to see. There are moments like when Fadıl is all ready to sacrifice a cow for the Muslim holy day when he's seen by a group of Hindu priests, and has to pretend he was giving the bovine a birthday surprise.

Something I feel the movie does well is romanticising without 'exoticising'. I'm not a big stickler on political correctness gone mad, where people often kick up a mountain out of a molehill. If I do address something, then it's because it's serious business, and if I see genuine exoticism (i.e. exaggerating stereotypes in an ignorant or backhanded way), I call it out. But here there's no need. The movie does a great job. It exaggerates in some ways, sure, but in a friendly way. I liked how it shows off the diversity of religion in India too, from Hinduism, to Sikhism, and Buddhism (as well as Islam, from the leads).

The cast are an enjoyable bunch. Sermiyan Midyat is a fun lead, along with Burak Satıbol. Zeynep Kankonde and Osman Alkaş are amusing in different ways as his parents, while Şafak Sezer is good as an expat magistrate. It's also a nice treat seeing Bülent Kayabaş in a modern film! You may know him as the actor with the famous 'worst death scene'. Indian model and environmentalist Nicole Faria delivers a cute performance, and is absolutely gorgeous! You understand why Fadıl has a crush! I'm impressed by her bilingual acting too. It's cool seeing an Indian actress who knows Turkish, and can act in it.

True to its Bollywood inspirations, Bir Baba Hindu has a decent selection of songs, most of which are taking the piss, in a goodhearted and amusing way. These include the song Don't Touch My Cow, and Happy Birthday Cow. Hindus are sure to get a kick out of this! Where else can you get a movie where not one but two songs are devoted to their favourite animal?

Shot in Turkey and on location in India, this is a very pretty film, and the colours of not only the scenery match really well, but so do the clothing and make-up. There is beautiful lighting too. Responsible for the direction (as well as writing) is lead Sermiyan Midyat, and good on him! He has a really talented eye, and must be one heck of a multitasker to balance three central duties on the film.

Bir Baba Hindu is a fun time to be had, true to both Turkish and Indian cinema, and sure to entertain fans of both...