Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Chopsticks is a new Indian-Hindi language comedy produced and distributed by Netflix, continuing the streaming service’s investment in building its global audience. From director Sachin Yardi, it stars Bollywood leading man Abhay Deol as a con man and Mithila Palkar as the unlucky woman who teams up with him to find her stolen car.
Now, I admit, Netflix churns out foreign language films at a frankly alarming rate, and often those films whiz by me without earning a second glance. (I counted at least ten in the month of May alone.) But Chopsticks seems to have caught the attention of Netflix viewers in a way others have not, perhaps because it’s the first Netflix Original Indian film that was both produced and distributed by the streaming service. (Other films such as Lust Stories, were distributed but not produced by Netflix.)
I know you have questions about this new Netflix film, and hopefully, I have the answers you’re looking for. And if I don’t, feel free to send me angry emails detailing the ways I wasted your time. (Kidding. Please do not do that.)
WHAT IS CHOPSTICKS ON NETFLIX? WHAT IS THE PLOT OF CHOPSTICKS?
According to the person who wrote the Netflix description of the film, Chopsticks is about “a gifted by an insecure woman [who] embarks on a transformative journey when she enlists an enigmatic con man to recover her stolen car from an eccentric thug.”
That woman’s name is Nirma Sahastrabuddhi, and she works as a tour guide in Mumbai, leading Chinese tourists around the city while she speaks to them in Mandarin. Despite her nervous nature, she allows a man she thinks is a parking attendant to park her brand new car. It gets stolen! After the police fail to help her, she enlists a charismatic chef/con-man to help her get her vehicle back. Shenanigans ensue.
WHO IS IN THE CHOPSTICKS CAST?
Bollywood actor Abhay Deol is the star power here, who was a big name in Indian films ten years ago, such as 2011’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and 2009’s Dev. D. Mithila Palkar, meanwhile, has gained attention recently for starring in the Netflix Indian series Little Things, though some may also recognize her from her viral video recreating Anna Kendrick’s “cup song” in Hindi, from the American film Pitch Perfect.
There’s also a brief appearance from acclaimed Bollywood veteran Vijay Raaz, who’s been in too many titles to count, but is perhaps best known for films such as Monsoon Wedding, Raghu Romeo, and Run. Other supporting cast include Benafsha Soonawalla, Achint Kaur, and Narendra Khatri.
ARE THE CHOPSTICKS REVIEWS GOOD? WHAT IS THE CHOPSTICKS ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE?
Sadly, it seems the Chopsticks reviews are largely negative so far. There is not yet a critical consensus or Chopsticks Rotten Tomatoes score, but Rohan Naahar of Hindustan Times dubbed the film a “narratively muddled, surprisingly low-stakes ‘comedy,” while Shrishti Negi from News18 called it “wholly disappointing.” But there aren’t many reviews in yet, so it’s still possible, if unlikely, that the film could snag a high score. And hey, you can’t beat the price!
