A whiny Indian and a juicy Norwegian 'juleribbe'

It was when Jashan Joshi's face froze and he stopped chewing that I knew.

- SAMAR HALARNKAR

I was steadily getting irritated watching Så var det jul igjen, or in English Christmas As Usual, a Norwegian-English movie about an Indian, the aforementioned Jashan, who goes to the backcountry home of his fiancée.

It irritated me that this Jashan character-repeatedly called Shazam by ma-in-law-to-be-is culturally insular.

Jashan says he's open to experiencing a white, Norwegian Christmas, but it turns out he's anything but, refusing to understand and absorb his girlfriend's culture (although he tries to follow the family into freezing water and ski crosscountry for fun). He makes a mess of the family kitchen and their gastric systems by cooking spicy chicken curry and disrupts a debut solo by his fiancée's little niece in a church choir by talking loudly to mummyji on his cellphone.

Now, you may ask-as indeed my wife did why I was watching this movie. The lead pair appear to have little chemistry. But, it is one of Netflix's leading movies for festive season, and I have a weakness for cross-cultural romcoms.

India-first cheerleaders will be pleased to know that despite Jashan's whininess and disruptive behaviour, it is the girlfriend, Thea, who realises she was somehow wrong and chases him to the airport when he leaves. A year later, the Norwegians are wearing Indian bling, dancing the bhangra, and all is well.

All this irked me, but what irritated me most was Jashan's stricken reaction at his first bite of the juleribbe or pork belly, the centerpiece of the family Christmas meal. He grimaces, he groans, and Thea skitters around fetching him fiery sauces under the table.