Culture Clash: Hallmark Channel’s ‘Christmas with the Singhs’ Portrays Challenges of Interracial Couples
- The film revolves around the newly-engaged Asha and Jake, and how their first Christmas together brings unexpected challenges as their vastly different families clash over traditions, cultural differences, and personalities.
Hallmark Channel kicked off the holiday season this past weekend with several films, including “Christmas with the Singhs.” The film, directed by Panta Mosleh, revolves around Asha Singh (Anuja Joshi) and Jake (Benjamin Hollingsworth), as the newly-engaged couple maneuver their relationship through various ups and downs.
While Christmas is the most cherished time of the year for Asha, “working through the holidays leaves her wishing for a little magic,” says the film’s synopsis. The two meet in a hospital. Jake is injured while trying to help someone and ended up in the emergency room. There he runs into Asha, a nurse practitioner, whom he once went to high school with. The two “connect immediately, a whirlwind romance and an engagement follows,” the synopsis says.
However, “their first Christmas together brings unexpected challenges as their vastly different families clash over traditions, cultural differences, and personalities,” the synopsis notes. Asha and Jake must navigate the chaos and find a way to unite their two worlds during a Christmas with the Singhs. The film also stars Manoj Sood, Michele Scarabelli, Nimet Kanji, and Greg Rogers, among others.
The Fangirlish, in its review, praises the lead actors for their “magnetic” performance. “Though the montage shows the two characters falling for each other, it would not have been sold convincingly if it wasn’t for Anuja and Benjamin,” says the website and YouTube channel that covers entertainment-related topics. ““The two have an onscreen chemistry that just glows, “ the review adds, noting that it is because of the way that they play off of each other that you find yourself drawn in,” the review added.
Joshi is best known to American audiences for her role as Leela Devi across multiple seasons of “The Resident” on Fox. Prior to that she starred in three seasons of the Hindi-language original streaming series “Hello Mini”, as well as in the series “Broken but Beautiful.” Her other television credits include a special episode of “Fantasy Island” on Fox. She is a graduate of NYU Tisch.
Hallmark will air “Christmas with the Singhs” This Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 pm EST/1 pm Central.
