Critical Reception
Cosmopolitan was selected as one of 10 American PBS programs screened at INPUT 2005, an international conference on the best in public television. It was the only narrative film to have that distinction.
The film has received very favorable print reviews, and was variously described as "charming," "wry," "touching," and "hilarious" by Variety, Newsday, Time Out New York, and The Southeast Asian. The Boston Phoenix noted the film's "superb performances." New Beats remarked that screenwriter Dhawan and director Ganatra "capture the sense of suburban desolation in Gopal's world and the vivaciousness of Bollywood in the fantasy sequences. ... epicting love so realistically with a sense of whimsy ... makes engaging."
The Associated Press called Cosmopolitan a "witty and tender depiction of mature romance." And the Austin Chronicle wrote, "Director Nisha Ganatra has crafted a frothy yet poignant valentine to first-generation immigrants longing for their home country while forging a new life in their adopted one, and a celebration of the romantic lurking within even the most resigned-to-loneliness heart."
Ronnie Sheib in Variety noted the "friendly cross-cultural fireworks" between Roshan Seth and Carol Kane, and stated that "hemistry between leads spikes in quirky arcs, with fantasy Bollywood musical sequences livening up tender moments." Calling the film "charming," he opined that the film "suffers slightly from tasteful restraint and numbers are often more pleasing in concept than execution," but also felt that the film "successfully sidesteps rarified, over-literary small-screen look." Carol Kane as Mrs. Shaw is praised for her nuanced performance: "Such is the power of Kane's oddball sweetness that she is able to invest these scenes with amazing emotional resonance. Overweight and without makeup, Kane has a vulnerability that reads as a rare form of courage." And director Nisha Ganatra is noted for "ground Kane's feyness in workaday experience and middle-aged acceptance, making her the perfect vehicle for Seth's long-delayed voyage of self-discovery."
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