A moment from Sambar Salsa

So unravels the latest comedy of international manners to hit London, an NRI romcom in which cultures experience a hissy-fit collision before harmonising into, quite literally, a loving embrace.

An English-language film, Sambar Salsa is written and directed by newcomer Aditya Raj Kapoor (son of Shammi Kapoor) and produced by media mogul Renu Patel. Last Tuesday Renu and some of the actors gathered in London for a launch party just around the corner from St Paul’s cathedral. It was a glitzy enough affair, with producers, PR professionals and journalists all talking movies — champagne flutes in hand.

“There just isn’t a place for independent Asian cinema (in the UK),” Renu, who set up the production company Kaybee Pictures, said after screening some clips from the film. “And that is what we wanted to start. There is a way… you don’t need £10 million to make a good film.”

Renu also talked about promoting new talent, something that Sambar Salsa achieves by putting first-timer Ateesh Rand, a dashing young London-born South Asian, on screen. Ateesh plays the romantic lead Surya Suri. “I have the bug,” he told t2 with a winning, wide-eyed smile. “I just want to get back on set and do more.” And get back on set is exactly what Ateesh will be doing, having sorted out a four-film contract. “I am primarily interested in UK films. I think we need to promote British Asian talent. There’s so much talent out there and it’s not being tapped,” he said.

Two days later I got to see the film in full. It was fluffy and harmless, but something tells me it is unlikely to take Britain by storm. Unfortunately the acting is at times shaky, and most of the humour is just enough to induce a smile rather than a belly laugh. The problem is, as a comedy depicting a prudish, conservative mother (Alamelu Suri, played by Preyanka) coming to terms with her son’s Spanish fiancee, the plot is about as predictable as cloudy skies are over London. You just know from the start that we can’t go home until the matriarch’s tear of acceptance drops.

Nevertheless, there are pleasing moments. The most inspired of these is right at the start when the Spanish fiancee Sasha (played by Roberta Caocci) discovers Alamelu making sambar. “Have you ever tried adding salsa?” Sasha asks, before causing chaos by attempting to tip in a whole pot of the stuff. As a light-hearted way of discussing concerns about the fate of desi-DNA, the food theme is served up here with aplomb.

Also stirred and seasoned pleasingly is the flamenco dance sequence set on a north London high street. It was rather charming, in a surreal sort of way, to see a flamenco dancer’s frilly dress flapping in what looked like a chilly English breeze.

“It’s about fusion and trying to touch people’s hearts,” Renu said at the launch night; “I think we are all sentimental.” But just how sentimental UK cinemagoers are willing to be remains to be seen.