English Vinglish: A Housewife On A Mission

The day after I watched Barfi!, I watched English Vinglish and was reminded that Bollywood can still make fantastic movies. The movie is written and directed by a woman, Gauri Shinde, and stars Sridevi in her first movie since 1997. Clearly Bollywood is answering my pleas for more women in cinema, and doing so with panache.

Sridevi plays Shashi, a Maharashtrian housewife who runs a small business selling ladoos (Indian sweets) to people in her neighborhood. Her kids and husband all speak English, but she doesn't since she was educated at a Hindi-medium school. Various incidents make her feel less-respected and ridiculed by her family - her daughter is clearly embarrassed that she can't speak English, and her husband doesn't think her ladoo business is particularly praiseworthy. Then her sister calls from New York and asks her to help with preparations for her niece's wedding. After much cajoling, Shashi is persuaded to make the terrifying trip to America all by herself.

Once she lands in New York, Shashi feels further overwhelmed and unhappy that she doesn't know the language. A brutal incident in a coffee shop leads her to make a call to the NY Language Center, which promises English fluency in 4 weeks. Keeping the secret from her family, Shashi successfully makes the trek into Manhattan and enrolls in the class that will change her life.

Obviously her fellow students represent an amusing cast of characters, including a Mexican nanny, a Pakistani cab driver, a South Indian IT guy, a French chef, a Chinese hairstylist, and a quiet African man. Their teacher is the flamboyant David, who quickly gets them to delve right into the language, and Shashi proves to be an adept pupil. Her ladoo business, so quickly dismissed by her family, earns her the title of "entrepreneur" from David, and for the first time in her life she feels like she has achievements to boast about. Her younger niece spots her getting out of class one day but promises to keep her secret and supplies her with DVDs to further her English progress. And meanwhile, the French chef, Laurent (played by French actor Mehdi Nebbou, who gives a marvellously understated performance) is falling in love with Shashi, who remains oblivious to his tentative overtures. 

English Vinglish is incredibly funny and zips along its two-hour runtime. Shashi's transformation from mousy housewife to a woman brimming with self-confidence is a wonder to behold and Sridevi delivers a very moving and affecting performance. The cast of characters in the English class are hilarious - they initially fall into certain foreign stereotypes but are so good-natured and charming that they really come into their own. The movie embraces everyone, and no one is deemed the villain of the piece. Instead, it's just a funny, warm tale about human foibles and the importance of loving yourself. I can't recommend it highly enough.