Review: The indie rom-com ‘7 Days’ proves a resourceful, entertaining romp

The nice and cozy and charming romcom “7 Days,” which takes place firstly of the COVID-19 pandemic (and was shot in September 2020), is an instance of indie filmmaking at its most resourceful. It’s a cleverly executed two-hander set primarily inside a Thermal, Calif., dwelling (a moderately cluttered and dirty one at that) with all however its participating two leads seen solely on video clips and laptop screens or heard by way of speakerphone. Typically you’ve simply gotta make a film.

Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan) are a pair of twentysomething singles introduced collectively by their moms via an Indian marriage web site. Lab researcher Ravi is repressed and neurotic however deeply honest with conventional targets, whereas aspiring artist Rita is a modern-thinking (and appearing) slacker who eats meat, drinks alcohol, has a married lover and fibs to her devoted mother, who’s footing the invoice for her rental digs.

In only-go-with-it rom-com vogue, Ravi and Rita grow to be caught collectively in her home after an ungainly first date results in the short realization that they’ve zero likelihood of marrying one another — a lot much less getting alongside whereas sheltering in place. Oil, meet water; you already know the drill.

Although the tropes of the style dictate {that a} love connection is probably going in retailer, it’s how that foregone conclusion is reached that gives the enjoyment worth in any romcom price its salt — and “7 Days” properly fills the invoice.

The script by Soni and director Roshan Sethi (he co-created the hit TV sequence “The Resident” and co-wrote the upcoming function “Name Jane”) deftly mines and melds such subjects as early pandemic pandemonium, Indian traditions, love, loneliness, soul mates, household bonds, being true to oneself and far more in a single humorous, insightful bundle. And, whereas the movie might ship up a number of features of Indian tradition, it does so with much more good nature than snark.

The nerdy-cute Soni and adorably deadpan Viswanathan, each regulars on the TBS comedy sequence “Miracle Employees,” are terrific collectively as they navigate their polar variations, slowly open up and belief one another, and discover frequent floor in a number of amusing, unpredictable methods — and some extra critical ones.

Additionally enjoyable is a “When Harry Met Sally”-style framing gadget that includes interviews with precise long-term Indian {couples} trying again on their organized relationships.

Regardless of occasional dips in power that often coincide with the root-worthy characters’ personal flailing moments, “7 Days” stays a buoyant and involving jaunt.