Reel Asian ’21: Our Review of ‘7 Days’

Posted in Reel Asian 2021, What's Streaming? by - November 20, 2021
Reel Asian ’21: Our Review of ‘7 Days’

7 Days tells the story of Rav (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan), a young couple set up on a pre-arranged date by their Indian parents. Rav and Rita both come from families that value ‘tradition’. They do their best to impress one another out of duty for their parents. And yet, their date is full of awkwardness. However, Rav has car troubles and there’s a shelter-in-place announcement due to COVID-19. This leads to Rav having to stay in Rita’s home. So the two begin to see each other at their worst but are unable to get away from one another.

Co-written and directed by Roshan Sethi, 7 Days takes the tropes of traditional rom-coms and somehow makes it feel fresh. Set in the midst of the loneliness of the pandemic, 7 Days shows the daily challenges of isolation at a time of fear (even within the same household).

What’s more, it uses arranged marriage as the backdrop for the relationship. Thus, Sethi is able to explore the challenges of second-generation immigrant children. A generation attempting to balance the expectations of their more traditional parents. Meanwhile, they also seek to live their own lives as well. Rav and Rita’s parents forced them to meet . They do their best to create the image of perfection for one another to see if they are a match.

However, as they spend more time together, those walls begin to come down. They reveal their suffering, frustration and rebellious behaviour that would disappoint their parents. (I should also note that Sethi’s script never paints a negative picture of arranged marriage. Instead, it manages to highlight the challenges for those who have grown up in a Western culture.) Suddenly, this openness allows the couple to explore what love really means, including accepting one another’s brokenness in the process.

  • Release Date: 11/19/2021
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Born at a very early age, Steve is a Toronto-based writer and podcaster who loves to listen to what matters to our culture on screen. When he first saw Indiana Jones steal the cross of Coronado, he knew his world would never be the same and, since then, he’s found more and more excuses to digest what’s in front of him onscreen. Also, having worked as a youth and community minister for almost 20 years, he learned that stories help everyone engage the world around them. He’s a proud hubby, father (x2) and believes that Citizen Kane, Batman Forever (yes, the Kilmer one), and The Social Network belong in the same conversation. You can hear his ramblings on ScreenFish Radio wherever podcasts are gettable or at his website, ScreenFish.net.
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