Sujata Day’s debut feature, Definition Please, is about a former spelling bee champion that struggles to live up to her potential. This family dramedy revolves around a Bengali-American family navigating the loss of their husband and father’s first-anniversary memorial. In a twist, unlike most Bollywood films, Definition Please explores the complexities of mental health and how it affects relationships. Presented at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Day invents new Bollywood conventions instead of repeating old tropes.
Monica Chowdry (Day) is an Indian parent’s golden child, she is talented, smart, artistic, and a Scribbs Spelling Bee Champion. Monica spends her time tutoring young children, taking care of her widowed mother, Jaya (Anna Khaja), and spending time with her best friend Krista (Lalaine). She is happy with her life, but there is something else in the back of her mind: her dream job as a research assistant in Cleveland. She doesn’t want to leave behind her sick mother to take care of herself, so she is indecisive about following her dream. Even though she loves to tutor, Monica is a little embarrassed that she never met the standards that Indian parents want their children to become, i.e. “doctors, lawyers, and accountants,” and everyone in her life knows that she can do a lot more than tutor kids. When her brother Sonny (Ritesh Rajan) comes back for their father’s one-year memorial, their complicated relationship and unsolved conflicts come out of the woodwork.
What makes Definition Please different compared to any other Bollywood movie that I have seen before is the exploration of mental health and how it’s detrimental to the family dynamic if untreated. It shows the emotional toll that it takes on the Chowdry family, and the lack of support Sonny received, who is revealed to have bipolar disorder, from his sister. During their childhood, Sonny had taken most of the blame whenever Monica had broken something. He was abused by their father and neglected by his parents, as they only paid attention to their golden child, Monica. Sonny built up so much resentment and anger towards his parents for not giving him the same opportunities as her sister.
Discussing mental health is a taboo in many South Asian families and communities, but Definition Please tackle this subject with transparency. It’s the kind of representation that South Asian movies, especially Bollywood movies, have failed to adapt. In an emotional scene, Sonny blurts out that his mother has never been proud of him, he yells and rips pictures drawn by Monica — there is nothing drawn by Sonny. Jaya and Monica are shocked and appalled at this outburst, but Sonny immediately changes what he says and apologizes. Jaya tries to comfort him, while Monica, stunned, stands in the kitchen unable to speak to her big brother.
Rajan and Day’s performances as the sibling duo is an emotional rollercoaster. Their chemistry works and Rajan expresses the versatility of the role of Sonny throughout the movie, especially in the kitchen scene. Khaja brings the role of an affectionate and loving mother who cares about her children. She carries the heavy emotional baggage of consoling Sonny when he is distressed and her close relationship with Monica is refreshingly beautiful to see on screen.
Definition Please subverts the many tropes of Bollywood, which is known for its male gaze, item girls, and dance numbers. But Day twists these tropes and presents the female gaze as the camera focuses on the men who are introduced in the film, Monica’s middle school crush Ritchie (Jake Choi) and Jaya’s doctor, Dr Chiou (Tim Chiou).
The film covers the expectations of first-generation immigrant children — to reach certain expectations — and the disappointment they receive from their community when they don’t achieve them. Monica and Sonny are guilt-tripped because their parents have given them everything when they moved to America, but they have wasted their talent and potential by diverging away from the cultural norms. But Day doesn’t want to portray Monica in a way that oppresses her freedom. Monica is not burdened with cultural norms and heritage that is expected of her. Monica smokes joints as she paints and hooks up with her middle school crush Ritchie twice within the film.
Day’s family dramedy challenges a lot of the expectations of the South Asian community. It’s a story about a family that struggles with the past, due to death and mental health, and how it affects them as a whole. It’s simple, compelling, and hilarious at the best of times, especially when the family shares beautiful moments together. Definition Please brings a new perspective to Bengali-American experiences, and the relationship between Monica and Sonny is at the heart of this very pleasant film.
