Nollywood and Bollywood’s first collaboration movie titled “Namaste Wahala” premiered on Netflix on Valentine’s day and your favorite entertainment site, Kemi Filani was one of its first viewers to guide you on if it is worth your time or not!
“Namaste Wahala” is a story of love, romance, laughter, tears and family set over two diverse and rich cultures is set to premiere on Netflix. It’s love at first sight for Raj (Ruslaan Mumtaz) and Didi (Ini-Dima Okojie).
After a chance encounter on the beach, they fell in love and wouldn’t let anything stop them from being together, not even their significantly different cultures and opposing parents.
‘Namaste Wahala’ (Hello Trouble) revolves around the mutual attraction between an investment banker Raj and lawyer and social worker Didi. However, the rough road to impressing each other’s parents awaits them; Didi’s father (Richard Mofe-Damijo) who wants her to marry his Nigerian employee Somto (Ibrahim Suleiman) and Raj’s overbearing mother (Sujata Segal), who is stunned to realise that his only son wants to get married to a Nigerian girl.
According to her, any Indian girl who can cook ‘Chole Bhature’ or ‘Aalloo Paratha’ for her son is good for him. How the lovers overcome the barriers of racial diversity and prove their love seems to form the rest of the story.
Produced by Indian filmaker, Hamisha Daryani Ahuja, the movie stars Mofe Damijo, Ajoke Silva, Ini-Dima Okojie, Ruslaan Mumtaz, Segal Sujata, Adaora Lumina, Ibrahim Suleiman, Big Brother Naija’s Frodd, Imoh Eboh, Osas, Eneeicha, Lyk10, Mexemania, Tience Pay and lots more.
The sound tracks were beautifully produced by M.I. Abaga and DJ Suketu.
Worthy of mention is the styling! We totally loved the rich display and blend of colors in the stylings of the characters; the wardrobe manager did awesome.
As expected the storyline, background, sound and lightning were on point and also, the actors brought in their A games. We didn’t expect any less from them anyway; from Richard Mofe Damijo, to Joke Silva to Indima Okojie, Ibrahim Suleiman, Osas Ighodaro and others…the woman who play Raj’s mum did great as well, however we didn’t exactly feel the role of Hamisha Daryani Ahuja, as Leila…she should have just stuck to her directing and let someone else play the Leila role.
And then, the Broda Shaggi scene was a complete turn out. It was supposed to be funny but it ended up being bleh. It is unrealistic for a Nigerian cab driver to shout on, exchange words and make mockery of his foreign passenger, on first meeting, as a matter of fact they are more pleasant to them in reality, so the scene of Broda shaggi shouting on Raj’s mum and relating impolitely with her wasn’t it at all. Raj and Didi’s best friends were even more hilarious in their roles, they made us laugh effortlessly.
Also, we didn’t get the Indian movie emotion feel from the two major music breaks in the movie, but the chemistry between Raj and Didi didn’t turn out bad. Also, there are no high or low moments in the film and the narrative streams at a stagnant pace throughout, the movie is a kinda interesting to watch.
We loved the mix of culture and languages; from Hindi to Yoruba to Pidgin to Ibo, so sweet!
PS, we are tired of seeing the ‘Wedding party’ mob dancing ending in movies. It was fun watching it in the WEDDING PARTY, and then ISOKEN movie did same and now NAMASE WAHALA…movie producers should please get creative with their happy endings.
You can watch it now on the NETFLIX or check out trailer below:
