Street Date: April 22

Official Synopsis:
Nina’s Heavenly Delights is a surprising love story about a young woman who must take over her father’s Indian restaurant and compete in The Best of the West Curry Competition.  When Nina then falls in love with the beautiful Lisa, she begins to question a world that has been thrown into sudden turmoil.  Can her feelings ever be reciprocated?  And, if they are, what will this mean for Nina and her family? What ensues is a comical and touching exploration of what it means to be true to yourself and true to the ones you love.
  
Our Take:
Nina’s Heavenly Delights is a nice diversionary entertainment that does not explore the themes noted in the synopsis as eloquently as the synopsis itself does.  We are introduced to the titular character first in a flashback, cooking with her father, during the opening credits and then again when the movie begins as she arrives late to her father’s funeral.  Apparently, what we find out is that Nina was to be married to the son/cook of a rival Indian restaurant owner, but she fled from Scotland to England on the day of her wedding and this is her first time home in three years.  So everyone is somewhat peeved at Nina at first for running away; these people include her brother, sister, and mother, not to mention the guy she left at the alter that has not moved on in three years.  Luckily, Nina’s flamboyant gay best friend (and the most interesting character in the movie) is there for moral support (and to salvage the movie). 

What results is a never-ending stream of convoluted secrecy and “don’t let mom find out” scenarios that feel forced to say the least.  Tapping the Bollywood spirit of things, we get a couple of song and dance numbers courtesy of the best friend that liven up the movie.  Close-ups of the food being prepared and cooked will make most viewers rush to their local Indian restaurants or at least to their phones if they deliver.  I could have spent all 94 minutes watching the food being cooked and the dance numbers, but then I would have missed all the forced dramatic conflict.

The release comes with the following special features:

* Photo Gallery.

* Production Commentary.

* The Making Of (20 minutes).

* Trailer.

Nina’s Heavenly Delights is a nice way to waste 94 minutes and get someone in the mood for some Indian cuisine, but other than that, there’s just not much here.  It should be noted that the most glaring omission from the DVD is any sort of recipe or cooking class-type bonus material.

Overall Picture:
Movie: C
DVD: C+

- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer