TV REVIEW: ‘My Big Fat Asian Wedding’ – too lame and light

April 16 2015

Like some nuptials it promised a lot but failed to deliver – a missed opportunity feels our reviewer…

By Tasha Mathur

“I DO WEDDINGS for brown people” proclaimed Raj Somaiya, the events director of Payal Events, a UK based wedding planning company.

That first line (as well as as a few expletives thrown in after every couple of words) set the tone for what proved to be a disappointing “My Big Fat Asian Wedding“, which aired on Tuesday (April 14) night at 10pm on Channel 4.

With an Asian wedding industry estimated to be worth approximately £300 million a year, there was hope that the show would go into a lot more depth into the reasons why Asian weddings costs so much, what goes behind planning such expensive shindigs and how the industry is changing, but audiences were left with a very rushed, brief overlook at four different weddings in just a one hour episode.

Whilst it was clear that the show aimed to look at a variety of weddings, from a small Muslim wedding for 40 guests to an eight-course meal for 500 guests in Leeds, the episode seemed quite disjointed as we were never given an insight into the entire process of what it takes to organise an Asian wedding from start to finish.

However, starting the episode with the mixed race marriage between Rukmini and Craig showed promise. With one in ten marriages consisting of mixed race relationships, it was important for the show to touch on this issue, particularly when it comes to the potential difficulties of planning a wedding that can incorporate two cultures.

The show even went one step further by discussing issues of racism in the country, which Raj faced at school by being called a “burnt sausage”.

“My Big Fat Asian Wedding” clearly aimed to show audiences how far society had come through the Payal Events company itself.

With Raj’s right hand man being an English man, Martin, and hiring British chefs for the authentic catering, it was nice to see an amalgamation of cultures forming to create the happiest day of a couple’s life.

Furthermore, we got to see how Asian families are also integrating into British life through compromising on older traditions and embracing new ones as bride-to-be, Smiti’s Mum explained: “I’m happy she found someone herself” – rather than through an arranged marriage.

Despite the odd touching moment, “My Big Fat Asian Wedding” seemed to simply skim the surface of this multi-million pound industry.

With rushed wedding-to-wedding scenes and no real insight into the trials and tribulations of planning extravagant Asian weddings in Britain, this is a show that is simply for someone looking for an easy watch on a quiet evening – although all that food on display DID look absolutely mouth-watering!

Did you see it – what do you think? Comment on the FACEBOOK post on this subject.

Available in UK only until May 13 2015 http://www.channel4.com/programmes/my-big-fat-asian-wedding