Namaste Wahala: Not enough namaste, too much wahala

Namaste Wahala, the film directed by Hamisha Daryani Ahuja was billed as the must-see movie this last Valentine’s Day. It was to be a fusion of the best of Bollywood and Nollywood and that was a very interesting prospect. At least, that’s what I understood from the promotional ad. It’s possible I may have overstretched my expectations, but the story seemed simple enough: A clash of cultures, love being put to the test, etc. All for Valentine! Moreover, I was expecting a version of The Wedding Party (Kemi Adetiba) with a Bollywood twist. If you still can’t tell, I was highly expectant as I counted the days to February 14.

Like The Wedding Party, Namaste Wahala is largely about parental disapproval of children’s marriage partners. While in The Wedding Party, it’s an Igbo boy Dozie Onwuka (Banky W) who wants to marry a Yoruba girl Dunni Coker (Adesua Etomi) to the consternation of both parents, especially the groom’s mother played by Ireti Doyle, in Namaste Wahala, it’s an Indian boy Raj (Ruslaan Mumtaz) who wants to marry a Nigerian girl Chidinma/Didi (Ini Dima Okojie). But Raj’s mother Meera (Sujata Sehgal) wants him to marry Sunita back home in India while Didi’s dad Ernest (Richard Mofe-Damijo) wants her to marry Somto (Ibrahim Suleiman), his valued staff so he can leave his legacy in trusted hands. RMD just happens to play an Igbo father in both films.

According to its producers, Namaste Wahala “an interracial romance hits humorous and heart-wrenching hiccups as the couple’s parents fight tooth and nail against their relationship.” However, that’s somewhat misleading. The parents do not fight “tooth and nail” and there certainly are no heart-wrenching hiccups…For starters, the seriousness of the altar-bound relationship is only “established” via inserted Kannywood-like dance scenes barely 20 minutes into the film. There’s no build-up that explains their love but let’s not jump the gun. Hopefully, by now you get the main gist of Namaste Wahala and just in case you’re not, let’s refresh: Indian boy and Nigerian girl bump into each other at the beach, sparks fly, boy determines to marry a girl because it’s love at first sight for him. On paper, this is as good as any story. What’s not to love?

I wasn’t expecting anything heavy but a light-hearted and fun-filled film. Namaste Wahala doesn’t live up to these expectations. First I must clarify that most of the actors give a good account of themselves, as much as they could with the material at hand. I particularly like Anee Icha, who plays Angie, Didi’s best friend. Yet, I do have some questions. These questions come as a result of my confusion and disappointment: Why didn’t Namaste Wahala remain light-hearted by focusing more on humour? It tries to do too much, tackles too many issues; basically attempting to solve all of the world’s problems. Ernest thinks his daughter must give him a husband, so her husband can carry on with his ‘legacy,’ he doesn’t respect his daughter’s charity work and her work with Leila’s (Hamisha Daryna Ahuja) NGO to support domestic abuse victims. Ahuja to the rescue. By the end of the film, Ernest is fully converted. He now accepts that his daughter Didi is his legacy.

Another question I have is about the character Preemo (Osas Ighodaro): Why does she appear not to have any regard for her boss, Ernest? Why does she put down Didi, his only child at every opportunity she gets, even in his presence? Why is she so angry? What’s the back story to her Mean Girl act? Did Didi do something to her in a previous life? Or does she have something on Ernest, her Oga? Otherwise, which self-respecting Nigerian Oga condones an employee belittling their only child, many times, without provocation? Preemo is supposed to be some hotshot lawyer but made to come across worse than a Disney mean girl (my teenage daughter’s input). In the end, she’s fired like an errant schoolgirl before the principal.  Preemo is too one-sided as a character.

Now, let’s talk about MI’s cameo appearance. MI appears twice in Namaste Wahala but this is about his first appearance. Didi and Raj were home depressed and their friends Emma (Koye ‘K10’ Kekere Ekun) and Angie (Anee Icha) decide they should all go out to a livelier place. When next we see them, they’re ‘balling’ surrounded by coke. I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would leave their home to go drink a coke with formed.

So, one minute, Didi and her friends are having drinks, before you can say short Black boy from Jos, MI is in the shot. We don’t see him approaching the four friends. There’s no explanation as to why he showed up. He doesn’t say anything we can hear; he manages to join the four in gulping down shots of what I believe to be alcohol. MI’s song also happened to be playing at the same time. Product placement here appears to be the sole reason for the four characters being together and not enough thought was given.

I could go on with my questions. The one thing left to ask is: “who’s responsible for Ini’s wigs?” For the sole heiress to her father’s fortune, the wigs don’t do her justice.

Onoshe Nwabuikwu, AIRTIME columnist is a renowned TV/Film critic, and Film scholar. She also has experience in Advertising as a senior Copywriter and Corporate Communications as Communications consultant.